Local Farm Vehicle Flexibility Act

Local Farm Vehicle Flexibility Act

This bill prohibits the Department of Transportation from terminating, reducing, limitoing, or otherwise interfering with the amount or timing of grants a state is otherwise eligible to receive as a result of any minimum standard or exemption the state gives a covered farm vehicle or the driver of such vehicle less stringent than federal requirements for commercial motor vehicles and drivers.

A covered farm vehicle means any motor vehicle meeting certain gross weight requirements and:

• registered or otherwise designated by a state for use in, or transportation activities related to, the operation of farms;
• operated by a farm or ranch owner or operator, or an employee or family member;
• transporting to or from a farm or ranch agricultural commodities, livestock, agricultural supplies, or machinery; and
• not used in the operations of a for-hire motor carrier, nor transporting materials requiring a placard.

A covered farm vehicle may also be one meeting these requirements but operated pursuant to a crop share farm lease agreement, owned by a tenant under that agreement, and transporting the landlord's portion of the crops.