March 13, 2025
Mr. Johnson introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
To amend title 23, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Transportation to waive vehicle weight limitations for certain logging vehicles, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Safe Routes Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Vehicle weight exemption for certain logging vehicles
Section 127 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
(z) Certain logging vehicles
(1) In general
The Secretary shall waive, for a covered logging vehicle, the application of any vehicle weight limit established under this section.
(2) Application of weight tolerances
The waiver under this subsection shall only apply with respect to a State legal weight tolerance in effect on the date of enactment of this subsection.
(3) Definition of covered logging vehicle
In this subsection, the term covered logging vehicle means a vehicle that—
(A)
is transporting raw or unfinished forest products, including logs, pulpwood, biomass, or wood chips;
(B)
is traveling a distance of not more than 150 air miles on the Interstate System from the point of origin to a storage or processing facility; and
(C)
meets applicable State legal weight tolerances and vehicle configurations for transporting raw or unfinished forest products within the boundaries of each State in which the vehicle is operating.