Sedona

    SB1100 Would Increase the Allowable Weight of OHVs

    2 Comments
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    By Craig Swanson
    President, Keep Sedona Beautiful

    Sedona News – Keep Sedona Beautiful recently learned about SB1100, a new bill that would increase the maximum allowable weight of OHVs from 2,500 to 3,500 lbs.  This bill has already passed the Arizona Senate on a 19-10 vote and is now being considered by the Arizona House of Representatives.  

    Wednesday, March, 22, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. the bill will be discussed and voted on in the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.  If it passes through this committee, it will go to the full House for a vote.  

    By increasing the allowable weight of OHVs, manufacturers will certainly create bigger, faster and more powerful machines.  Bigger more powerful machines will cause even more damage to our public land, more dust that kills trees and vegetation and pollutes our air, more noise and more serious rollovers and accidents. 

    There are 3 ways to comment on this legislation:

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    1. Request to Speak: This is the Arizona Legislature’s website, but in order to use their website to comment on a bill, you have to activate your account from a computer at the capitol.  If you have not done that yet, this option won’t work for you.  If you have an activated account, you know what to do!  https://apps.azleg.gov/
    2. Email Members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: A list of members is included below.  By adding each of their email addresses to your email, you can send one email and reach all of them with your request that they instead refer this issue to the OHV Study Committee.
    3. Call Members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: Please consider making a phone call to each of them, asking them to instead refer this issue to the OHV Study Committee.

    Here are a few talking points:   

    • This issue should be referred to the Arizona Off-Highway Vehicle Study Committee for a full review and recommendation. This is exactly why the OHV Study Committee was formed.
    • Heavier machines will cause additional damage to the environment and additional dust that will kill more trees and vegetation.
    • Heavier machines will cause additional air pollution in the way of dust and exhaust
    • Accidents and rollovers will be far more serious for heavier, more powerful machines traveling at higher speeds.
    • The noise from bigger, faster, more powerful engines will be devastating for anybody who lives or recreates near a road traveled by OHVs.

    Members of the Arizona House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee:

    This is a list of their email addresses that you can cut-and-paste into one email that you send: 

    ncarter@azleg.gov, pcontreras@azleg.gov, dcook@azleg.gov, jgillette@azleg.gov, chernandez@azleg.gov, tmartinez@azleg.gov, smontenegro@azleg.gov, kpayne@azleg.gov, mquinonez@azleg.gov, kseaman@azleg.gov, lsun@azleg.gov, mtsosie@azleg.gov, jwilmeth@azleg.gov

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    2 Comments

    1. Jon Thompson on

      The suggestion that the issue be referred to the OHV Study Committee sounds like the best route. However, do we know why the higher weight limit is of interest? I’m sure all the manufacturers are developing EV models, which, like other EVs, would be substantially heavier. (If that’s why, they similarly might also be more stable, because EV battery weight is low and evenly dispersed. And they’d be much quieter, too.) If that’s the reason for the bill, it might be better to amend it to allow higher weight only for all-electric models, so as not to hinder the transition from gas to electric for any vehicle type. But again, that’s something the OHV Study Committee should address, and quickly.

    2. Blair C Mignacco on

      SB1100 sounds like a critical mass event for Sedona, closely following hotel neighborhoods.