Efforts to raise legal weight limits and increase enforcement of coal trucks in West Virginia died last week
in a special session of the state Legislature.
Gov. Bob Wise introduced the bill, which would have increased the legal weight limit for coal trucks on designated roads from 80,000 pounds to 120,000 pounds – an increase that in reality would be a decrease, because coal trucks loaded to twice the legal weight limit have become common in the face of lax state enforcement. The bill also would have created stricter penalties and set a lower speed limit for coal trucks.
However, massive public outcry against the bill overwhelmed state lawmakers with e-mails and phone calls, and they adjourned the special session without passing the bill. In addition to the campaign against the weight increase by unions, environmentalists and the AARP, some legislators said the bill failed because the governor’s office did not do a very good job educating legislators or the public about the last-minute proposal.
“In reality this is a (weight) decrease, but the governor’s people never bothered to tell the public that,” said delegate Lidella Wilson Hrutkay, according to the Associated Press.
This is not the last the state will see of the issue. Both House and Senate leaders say they plan to pursue coal truck regulation legislation in next year’s regular session. In the meantime, Public Safety Secretary Joe Martin told the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail, administration officials will continue to enforce the current laws, including the 80,000-pound maximum weight limit.