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House committee votes to
give dairy farmers relief
from weight limits
Dairy farmers in
Washington would be able to move overweight manure spreaders on county
roads under a bill passed by the House Transportation Committee today.
House Bill 1117 is prime sponsored by
Rep. Doug Ericksen, who learned
last summer that dairy farmers were being notified that their manure
spreaders were not legal to move on local roads. According to state law,
the overweight vehicles must be patrolled, flagged, lighted, and signed.
“Many of these are small
farmers just trying to move implements from one area to another. We
shouldn’t place undue restrictions on these kinds of traditional farming
practices,” said Ericksen, R-Ferndale. “We should be able to accommodate
the needs of our local farmers and still keep our roads in working
order.”
Ericksen’s bill permits the movement of overweight manure spreaders on
county roads and also calls on the Legislature to look into policies
regarding the movement of all farm implements.
“What we’ve come to learn
is that dairy farmers aren’t the only ones affected by weight
restrictions,” he said. “We have a lot of overweight farm implements
moving on our roads and its never presented a problem. We’ve just
learned that the law doesn’t account for this kind of traditional
farming activity. We hope to take a look at this over the next few
months and see if we can create a solution that will allow for the
continued movement of farm implements along local roads.”
House Bill 1117 will be referred to the House Rules Committee which
schedules bills for floor action before the House of Representatives.
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For more information, contact:
John
Handy, Assistant Director: (360) 786-5758
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