A. Any person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation owning or possessing a vehicle and required to register the vehicle under the laws of this state for the purpose of transporting farm products in a raw state may receive a harvest permit from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

B. The harvest permit shall be recognized in lieu of registration, fuel permit and intrastate operating authority in this state. The harvest permit shall be issued to the operating motor carrier.

C. Each permit shall be valid for a period of thirty (30) or sixty (60) days. The permit shall identify the time and date of its issuance and shall additionally reflect its effective and expiration dates.

D. The following information shall be required of an applicant for a harvest permit and shall apply to each vehicle to be operated under the permit:

1. Owner of the vehicle;

2. Vehicle registrant;

3. Make, model, year, license plate number, state of registration and VIN of each vehicle which will be operated under the permit; and

4. The operating carrier must provide a certificate that each vehicle is operating under a liability insurance policy valid in Oklahoma for Three Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($350,000.00) or more.

E. There shall be a fee of Twenty Dollars ($20.00) per axle for a thirty-day permit or Thirty-five Dollars ($35.00) per axle for a sixty-day permit, for each vehicle registered pursuant to the Motor Carrier Harvest Permit Act of 2006. Revenue derived from this fee shall be apportioned as follows:

1. One-half (1/2) of the revenue shall be deposited in the Weigh Station Improvement Revolving Fund as set forth in Section 1167 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and

2. The remaining amount shall be deposited in the One-Stop Trucking Fund as set forth in Section 1167 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

F. A harvest permit may be extended in fifteen-day increments. The permit holder shall be required to pay the additional prorated portion of the tag fee at Eight Dollars and seventy-five cents ($8.75) per axle per fifteen-day extension.

G. An application for a harvest permit shall be made to the Corporation Commission. The Corporation Commission shall allow applications to be submitted by facsimile and electronically. The Commission must provide reasonable access for persons to obtain a harvest permit before taking enforcement action.

H. If found to be in violation of the Motor Carrier Harvest Permit Act of 2006 for failure to obtain or maintain a current harvest permit, the operating carrier shall post bond in the amount of the cost of the harvest permit and shall be allowed seventy-two (72) hours to apply for the permit. If the operating carrier makes application within seventy-two (72) hours, the bond amount will be applied toward the harvest permit fee.

I. A harvest permit does not exempt its holder from federal or state safety regulations nor from the state’s size and weight laws or rules.

J. The Corporation Commission may enter into an agreement with any person or corporation located within or outside of the state for transmission of harvest permits by way of facsimile or other device when the Corporation Commission determines that such agreements are in the best interest of the state.

K. The Corporation Commission may promulgate rules to administer the provisions of the Motor Carrier Harvest Permit Act of 2006.

Added by Laws 2006, c. 140, § 2, emerg. eff. May 10, 2006.