Government-Owned Vehicles Control and Coordination Act of 2000
Bill 13-575

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A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Councilmember Carol Schwartz introduced the following bill, which was referred to the Committee on Public Works and the Environment.

To centrally coordinate and control the fleet of government-owned vehicles.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the "Government-Owned Vehicles Control and Coordination Act of 2000.".

Sec. 2. General provisions

(a) Purposes

(1) To centralize the control, procurement, and assignment authority of vehicles owned or leased by the District government for use by its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, and independent agencies in the Fleet Services Division of the Department of Public Works.

(2) To provide for the identification and inventory of all vehicles owned or leased by the District government and assign such vehicles in a manner to achieve full efficient use of such vehicles.

(b) Applicability

This Act shall apply to all vehicles owned or leased by the District government with the exception of vehicles owned or leased by the Metropolitan Police Department, Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, and the District of Columbia Public School.

(c) Definitions

For the purposes of this Act, the following terms:

(1) "Agency" means the District of Columbia government's departments, agencies, instrumentalities, including agencies which are subordinate to the Mayor and independent agencies, boards and commissions established by the Mayor or the Council, and the courts of the District of Columbia, but excluding the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority, the Metropolitan Police Department, Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, and the District of Columbia Public School.

(2) "Director" means the Director of the Department of Public Works.

(3) "Employee" shall mean, for the purposes of vehicle assignment, an individual working for the District government for wages or salary.

(3) "Fleet Management Division" shall mean the administrative unit under the Department of Public Works, responsible for the control, coordination, maintenance, assignment, and procurement of vehicles.

(4) "Vehicle" shall mean any automobile sedan, station wagon, sport utility vehicle (SUV), truck, mini-van, van, or passenger bus owned or leased by the District government agencies.

Sec. 3. Control and coordination of vehicles.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, the Fleet Management Division is hereby designated as the exclusive authority to control and coordinate the use, maintenance, and assignment of vehicles. The Director of the Department of Public Works shall be the exclusive contracting officer for all procurement, management, leasing, and disposition of vehicles. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, no employee shall exercise control over or operate a vehicle without having been assigned such vehicle for specific purposes by the Director.

(b) Within 30 days after the effective date of this Act, no other agencies or employee covered by this Act, shall exercise procurement or leasing authority over vehicles.

(c) Within 60 days after the effective date of this Act, all agencies and employees covered by this Act, shall provide the Director with a list of vehicles in their possession and transfer the ownership and possession of such vehicles to the Director.

(d) Within 6 months of the effective date of this Act, the Director shall submit to the Mayor and the Council, a detailed inventory of all vehicle. The inventory shall be maintained by the Director on a centralized automated database and shall contain such information in such detail as may be required by regulations promulgated under this Act and such information or detail as directed by the Mayor from time to time. At a minimum, the inventory shall contain the number of vehicle, type/ model/year, registration numbers, and assignments.

Sec. 4. Assignments.

(a) Generally.

(1) Agencies covered by this Act shall be responsible for determining their needs for vehicles. Subject to a request from an agency, Fleet Management Division shall assign vehicles, temporarily or permanently, based upon that agency's specific official needs and purposes. The assignment shall be on a first-come, first-served basis.

(2) Requests for an assignment vehicles, by an employees or agencies, shall be made on a form to be designed by the Director, signed by an agency head or his/her designee, and forwarded to the Fleet Management Division, at least 10 calendar days prior to the date of need. In cases where temporary assignment is requested to replace permanently assigned vehicle under repairs, no agency head signature shall be required. Requests four-wheel drive, special-use vehicles, or sport utility vehicles (SUVs) shall require written justification, verified by historical data, and accepted by the Director.

(3) Should a request for an assignment be denied, the requesting agency head or his/her designee, may appeal the denial through Fleet Management Division to the Director within 10 days of the denial.

(b) Permanent assignment.

(1) Vehicles may be permanently assigned individually to an employee, the Mayor, or the Chairman of the Council, for official purposes, when official duties or positions demand the permanent assignment as determined by an agency head or when those duties are routinely related to public safety or expose the employee to life-threatening situations. Subject to an exemption by the Mayor, a vehicle assigned under this subsection shall be driven for a minimum of 1000 miles-per- month

(3) Vehicles may be permanently assigned to an agency to conduct official business subject to the determination of the agency head or his/her designee. Vehicles so assigned cannot be driven or used continuously by one employee and must be made available to all employees approved for the use of the vehicle, provided that thorough records of such approval, including photocopies of employees' drivers licenses and a log of mileage, are kept by the agency. A vehicle assigned under this subsection shall be driven for a minimum of 2,500 miles-per-quarter or shall be subject to a recall by the Fleet Management Division.

(2) Fleet Management Division shall schedule replacement of permanently assigned vehicles based on mileage, time in service, economy, and nature of use of each vehicle. If replacement is required, permanently assigned vehicles must be returned to an assigned garage, with all the materials issued by the Fleet Management Division. Drivers must turn their vehicles to the Fleet Management Division official designated to receive the vehicle.

(b) Temporary assignment.

(1) Temporary assignments are intended to meet the needs of agencies or employees who require transportation for official purposes on a short-term bases.

(2) Vehicles may be assigned temporarily to an employee or agency for official purposes, or as replacements while permanently assigned vehicles are being repaired. The temporary assignment shall be for a particular use or trip. With proper justification, temporary assignment may be made for a period not to exceed 30 calendar days.

(3) Vehicles for temporary assignment shall be centrally controlled and housed by the Fleet Management Division, and shall be assigned from a motor pool and returned to the motor pool after the assignment.

(4) The Fleet Management Division shall monitor the motor pool to determine the availability of vehicles for temporary assignments and the feasibility of assigning permanent vehicles to agencies that frequently request temporary assignments.

(5) Temporarily assigned vehicles shall be returned immediately upon completion of a trip or at the end of use to the motor pool from which they were originally dispatched with all the material issued by the Fleet Management. Drivers must turn their vehicles to the Fleet Management Division official designated to receive the vehicle.

Sec. 5. Recall

The Fleet Management Division shall recall any assigned vehicles if any of the following occurs:

(a) If the vehicles is used for any purposes other than official business;

(b) If reports, forms, or mileage logs are inaccurate, incomplete, or unacceptable to the Fleet Management Division and corrections are not made within 5 days of being notified;

(c) If false information is willfully and knowingly submitted on any forms, reports, or mileage logs;

(d) If reports, forms, or mileage logs are not properly signed;

(e) If vehicle abuse occurs. Abuse shall include, but not limited to the following:

(1) Improper care and maintenance of the vehicle, including excessive and extended filth of vehicle;

(2) Willful damage to the vehicle, including the destruction of interior or exterior parts of the vehicle with foreign objects;

(3) Reckless disregard for the proper operation of the vehicle;

(f) If substantial violations of motor vehicle laws are committed, including excessive moving or standing violations;

(g) If other rules and regulations are willfully violated; and

(i) In the case of a permanently assigned vehicle, if the vehicle is not being driven the quarterly or monthly mileage as provided by this Act, and lower mileage cannot be justified.

Sec. 6. Operations.

(a) A travel log, to be designed by the Fleet Management Division, shall be assigned to each vehicle. The travel log must be retained in the vehicle at all times during an assignment, and shall be filled accordingly by the operator of the vehicle, with information to include, but not limited to the odometer gas/fuel gauge at the beginning and at the end of a trip, purpose of the trip, time/date of the trip, and the identity of the driver. Travel log shall be submitted at the end of temporary assignment or in the case of permanent assignment, at the beginning of every month during such assignment. The Fleet Management Division shall keep a record of the travel logs.

(b) All vehicles on assignment shall contain instructions on where and how to obtain gasoline for the vehicle. Except when a vehicle is used for out-of-city trips, gasoline purchases shall be obtained from Department's facilities or other establishments authorized for such purpose by the Department.

(c) Employees operating a vehicle must have a valid driver's license and, if assigned by an agency to obtain a vehicle, must show the license before obtaining the vehicle. A photocopy of such license must be retained for record purposes, by the Fleet Management Division. Vehicles. Employees shall use a vehicle for official business only. It shall be unlawful for any employee to 12
use a vehicle for any private purpose whatsoever.

(d) Under no circumstances may an employee operate a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating beverages, drugs, or substances; or transport, except in the performance of law enforcement duties, these items in a vehicle.

Sec. 7. Fiscal impact.

(a) Each agency to which a vehicle is assigned, shall be charged for the costs associated with operating the vehicle. The charge shall be by per-mileage. Vehicles permanently assigned to individuals or agencies shall be billed for the minimum-use miles per month as provided in this Act or for actual mileage, whichever is greater. Vehicles temporarily assigned shall be billed for 30 miles per day or for actual mileage, whichever is greater, except that monthly mileage charge shall apply if the vehicle is assigned temporarily to replace a permanently assigned vehicle under repairs. If a vehicle is checked out after 5:00 p.m., no minimum fee will be charged for that day; and if a vehicle is returned before 9:00 am., no minimum fee will be charged for that day. A minimum fee, however, will be charged for a temporary assignment of less than 24 hours if the 30-mile minimum is not met.

(b) The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the Committee Report as the fiscal impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code §1-233(c)(3).

Sec. 8. Rulemaking.

Within 180 days after its effective date, the Mayor shall make rules to implement the provisions of this Act. Such rules shall be submitted to the Council and shall be approved or disapproved by a resolution of the Council.

Sec. 9. Effective Date

This act shall take effect upon its enactment (approval by the Mayor, or in the event of veto by the Mayor, override of the veto by the Council), and approval by the Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority as provided in section 203(a) of the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995, approved April 17, 1995 (109 Stat. 116; D.C. Code §47-392.3(a)), a 60-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(2) of the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code §1-233(c)(2)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.