Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1979 )

--- . . .r., The Attorney General of Texas March 21, 1979 MARK WHITE Attorney General Honorable Don Henderson, Chairman Opinion No. Mw-7 House Transportation Committee State Capitol Re: Registration of machinery Austin, Texas 70767 used to transport and apply fertilizer. Dear Representative Henderson: You have requested our opinion regarding the registration of machinery used to transport and apply fertilizer. The 65th Legislature enacted two separate statutes dealing with the ragktration of fertilizer machinery. Article 6675a-2, V.T.C.S., which ‘23 Main. Suite 610 specifies the requirements for registering motor vehicles, provides that ,O’ n. TX. 77coz ‘1 4701 owners of . . . implements of husbandry operated or moved temporarily upon the highways shall not be required to register such . . . implements of husbandry. ,Article 667%-2(b). House Bii 1324,65th Leg., 1977, ch. R9, at 252, amended 313 N. Tmh. sun4 F the definition of Ymplements of husbandry”to include. whn.lx,6601 13a63-4347 self-propelled machinery specifically designed or especially adapted for applying plant food materials or egricultural chemicals and not designed or adapted for the sole purpose of transporting the materials or chemicals, but shall not include any passenger car or ~trwk. V.T.C.S. art. 6675a-l(r). House Bill 1324 also amended the traffic regulations to provide: No person may operate on a public highway at a speed greater than thirty (30) miles per hour any ~self- emWed machinery specifically designed or especially adapted for applying plant fcod materials or agricultural chemicals and not designed or adapted p. 19 Honorable Don Henderson - page Two IMW-7) for the sole purpose of transporting the materials or chemicals, unless the machinery is registered mder Chapter 86,GeneraJ Laws, Acts of the Ust Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929, as amended (Article 6675s~1,et seq., Vernon’sTexas Civil Statutes). V.T.C.S..art. 6701d,S 169Afe). The Other relevant statute enacted by the 65th Legislature, House Bill Sl, Acts, 65th Leg., 1977,oh. 184, at 373, added another provision to the traffic regulations: Section L In this Act, “fertilizer” includes agricultural limestone.. Sec. 2. The annual license fee for the registration of motor vehicles designed or modified exclusively to transport fertilizer to the field and spread it, and used only for that purpose, is $50. Sec. 3. The width requirements in Subsection (a), Section 3, Chapter 42, General Laws, Acts of the 4lst Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929, as amended (Article 67Old-U, Vernon% Texas Civil Statutes), do not apply to a vehicle registered’under Section 2 of this Act ,whichhas a width of 136inches ce less at its widest point. V.T.C.S. art. 670%lla. Thus, there is a category of fertilizer ‘ma&ii to which both House Bill 1324 and House ,Bill 61 are applicable: certain motor vehicles designed or modified bdth to transport and apply fertilizer. Since the former~statute provides an exemption from registration, and the latter fiies an annual registration fee of $50, it has been contended that the two statutes are in irreconcilable conflict. In our cpinion, they may be harmonized and both given effect. House Bill 1824, when read together with article 6675a-2(b), exempts from .registration certain self-propelled machinery designed or adapted for applying fertiizer. The statute then rescinds the exemption for one clam of fertilizer ~machinery- those operated at speeds of greater than 30 miles per hour. As to such machinery, registration is stillrequired. House Bill 81 does not itself require any vehicle to be registered. Rather, it merely specifies a fee when registraticn is required. The fee is imposed mn re ’ tered fertilizer machinery which is &signed or modified for both transporting and sprea +kiYhus,itis g. applicable to certaii kinds of machinery described by House Bill 1324but not exempt from ~tration tbzreunder by virtue of their operation at speeds greater than 30 miles per . ln answer to your specific questions, we believe that the passage of House Bills 81 and 1324 has somewhat altered the law set forth in, Attorney General Opinion M-l288 (1972),which applied the test of “primary design and use” to a particular vehicle. We need not determine the extent to which the “primary design and use” test has survived the enactment of the two statutes, however, since we are confident that the vehicle described in Opinion M-l288 retains its exemption from registration, so long as it is not operated at speeds greater then 30 miles per hour. P. ‘20 Honorable Don Henderson - Page Three (r4w-7) In Motor Vehicle Snformatiem Circular No. 10-77, dated August 26,1977, the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation interpreted House Bill 1324 to provide an exemption from registration only for those motor vehicles which “have been built from the 9 a~ machinery for the exclusive purpose of spreading fertilizer.R (emphasis inigiY%tf . In our opinion, such a construction imposes a requirement not present in the statute and is im%nsistent therewith. As we have indicated, fertilizer machinery is exempt fmm registration if it is included within the definition of vimplements of husbandryvin article 6675a-lb) and is not operated at speeds greater than 30 miles per hour. SUMMARY Selfpropelled machinery which does not come within the statutory defmition of passenger car or truck and which is designed or adapted for applying fertilizer ls exempt from registration under article 6675a, et V.T.C.S., so long aa such ma&inery is not 7iF operated at spee greater than 30 miles per hour. Very truly yours, - MARK WHITE Attorney General of Texas JOHN W. PAINTER, JR. First Assistant Attorney General TRD L. HARTLEY Executive ~AssistantAttorney General Prepared by Rick Gilpin Assistant Attorney General APPROVED: OPINIONCOMMITTRE C. Robert Heath, Chairman Watson Arnold David B. Brooks Rick Gilpin WilRamG Refd Lambeth Townsend Bruce Youngblood p. 21