(a) Uniform business license tax fee payments collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to Section 7232 shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the General Fund. All other funds collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to Section 7232 shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund. The following fees shall be paid to the department:

(1) For-hire motor carriers of property shall pay, according to the schedule in subdivision (c), fees indicated as the safety fee, Carrier Inspection Fee, and uniform business license tax fee, based on the size of their motor vehicle fleet.

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(2) (A) Private carriers of property with a fleet size of 10 or less motor vehicles shall pay a safety fee of thirty-five dollars ($35). Private carriers of property with a fleet size of 11 or more motor vehicles shall pay, according to the schedule in subdivision (c), fees indicated as the safety fee, based on the size of their motor vehicle fleet. Any carrier that does not pay a uniform business license tax fee shall not operate as a for-hire motor carrier.

(B) Private carriers of property shall pay, according to the schedule of fees in subdivision (c), fees indicated as the carrier inspection fee based on the size of the motor vehicle fleet.

(b) “Fleet size” as used in this section, does not include vehicles described in subdivision (e) of Section 34500.

(c) (1) A seasonal permit may be issued to a motor carrier of property upon payment of fees indicated as the safety fee and one-twelfth of the fee indicated as the uniform business license tax fee, rounded to the next dollar, for each month the permit is valid. The original seasonal permit shall be valid for a period of not less than six months, and may be renewed upon payment of a five-dollar ($5) fee, and one-twelfth of the fee indicated as a uniform business license tax fee for each additional month of operation.

(2) Notwithstanding the fee schedule in paragraph (1), except for the carrier inspection fee, motor carriers of property with 10 or fewer trucks shall not pay fees higher than they would have paid under the fee schedule applicable as of January 1, 1996.

(d) Failure to pay fees required by this section, within the appropriate timeframe, shall result in additional delinquent fees as follows:

(1) For a delinquency period of more than 30 days and less than one year, the penalty is 60 percent of the required fee.

(2) For a delinquency period of one to two years, the penalty is 80 percent of the required fee.

(3) For a delinquency period of more than two years, the penalty is 160 percent of the required fee.

(e) Funds derived from safety fees, including delinquency fees, shall remain in the Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund and shall be available for appropriation by the Legislature to cover costs incurred by the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of the California Highway Patrol in regulating and inspecting motor carriers of property pursuant to Division 14.8 (commencing with Section 34500) and Division 14.85 (commencing with Section 34600) of the Vehicle Code.

(f) All Carrier Inspection Fees, including delinquency fees, collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund. An amount equal to the Carrier Inspection Fees collected shall be made available for appropriation by the Legislature from the Motor Vehicle Account to the department for the purpose of conducting truck terminal inspections and roadside safety inspections required by § 34514 of the Vehicle Code.

(g) It is the intent of the Legislature that the fee schedule established in subdivision (c) shall not discriminate against small fleet or individual vehicle operators or result in a disproportionate share of those fees being assigned to small fleet or individual vehicle operators. It is further the intent of the Legislature that the amount made available for appropriation pursuant to subdivision (f) shall fully defray the costs of the department for the purposes of the truck terminal inspections conducted pursuant to § 34501.12 of the Vehicle Code and roadside safety inspections required by § 34514 of the Vehicle Code.

(h) Commencing January 30, 2017, and every five years thereafter, the Department of the California Highway Patrol shall report to the Department of Motor Vehicles the amount that the Department of the California Highway Patrol expended in the previous fiscal year to conduct the inspections and otherwise administer the requirements of Section 34501.12 and 34514 of the Vehicle Code. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall compare this amount to the revenue it collected, net of its collection costs, during the same fiscal year from carrier inspection fees received pursuant to this section. Based on this comparison, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall, effective July 1, 2017, and every five years thereafter, adjust the carrier inspection fee specified in subdivision (c) to ensure that the net revenues from the carrier inspection fee are sufficient to cover the Department of the California Highway Patrol’s reasonable costs for the activities described in this subdivision.

(i) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2016.

(Repealed (in Sec. 3) and added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 500, Sec. 4. (AB 529) Effective January 1, 2014. Section operative January 1, 2016, by its own provisions.)