No. CS/CS/CS/SB 260
Filed under Local Government.
Removal, Storage, and Cleanup of Electric Vehicles; Requiring counties to establish a daily administration storage fee for the proper storage of certain electric vehicles; providing a maximum amount for such fees; defining the terms “daily administration storage fee” and “proper storage”; requiring any wrecker service or towing-storage wrecker or operator to collect and submit specific data to the Division of State Fire Marshal relating to stored damaged or submerged electric vehicles by a specified date; providing that motor vehicle insurers are not required to pay certain costs, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDCounties must charge a daily fee -- up to three times the normal towing-storage rate -- to store an electric vehicle after a crash that visibly damages its battery, or after saltwater submersion.
That fee keeps applying until a local agency inspects the vehicle and verifies the battery is safe and not at risk of catching fire.
Municipalities can adopt their own version of this fee instead, and once they do, the county's fee stops applying inside city limits.
For two years starting in 2027, wrecker and storage operators must report data on these vehicles to the State Fire Marshal, who must analyze fire risk and recommend best practices by 2029.
AICounties must charge a daily administration storage fee -- up to three times the amount set under paragraph (c) -- to store an electric vehicle crashed with visible battery damage or submerged in salt water, and the fee keeps applying until a local agency verifies the battery is no longer a fire risk.
AIFrom January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2028, wrecker and towing-storage operators must collect and submit data on stored damaged or submerged electric vehicles -- including the VIN, damage description, remaining battery charge, storage dates, and any fire-related incidents -- to the Division of State Fire Marshal, using a form the agency must create.
AIA new statute clarifies that nothing in the county or municipal storage-fee provisions requires a motor vehicle insurer to pay any cost beyond what its contract with the insured already covers.
AIThe specialized storage requirement, and the fee tied to it, continues only until the appropriate local agency has inspected the vehicle and confirmed its damaged battery is safe and not in danger of starting a fire.
AIMunicipalities may adopt their own daily administration storage fee instead of the county's, and once a municipality does, the county's fee ordinance stops applying inside that municipality's boundaries.
AIBy March 1, 2029, the State Fire Marshal must report to the Senate President and House Speaker, assessing the fire threat from storing battery-damaged electric vehicles and recommending best practices -- after which this entire reporting paragraph expires on July 1, 2029.
AIThe daily administration storage fee is added to the reasonable fees a towing-storage operator may charge under the vehicle-lien statute, tying it into the existing lien and fee-collection framework for towed vehicles.