Sec. 11.04.02.07. Emergency Movement

A. Emergency Status.

(1) An emergency exists when there is a danger of:

(a) Loss of life;

(b) Serious bodily injury;

(c) Fire;

(d) Severe property damage;

(e) Hazardous material leakage; or

(f) Major interruption to the flow of traffic on any part of the State highway system.

(2) A potential permittee with an oversize or overweight vehicle, expecting to respond to emergency situations, shall send a written request for emergency response status to the Director, Office of Traffic and Safety.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of regulations under this chapter and COMAR 11.04.01, 11.04.03, and 11.04.04, a person may move rescue, construction, or utility equipment which is oversize or overweight to the scene of an emergency in order to provide or assist in providing relief without having a permit in hand, and at any time, under one of the procedures in §B of this regulation.

B. Procedures.

(1) If, at the time the owner or operator of the equipment learns of the emergency and decides that a move must be made, and the office of the Unit is open for business, the procedure established below shall be followed:

(a) The owner or operator shall telephone and advise the Unit's headquarters office of the nature of the emergency, the route proposed to be traveled, and the characteristics of the oversize or overweight equipment to be moved;

(b) The move may be made only after the Unit has approved the proposed move, has given a permit number, and has advised the Maryland State Police concerning the proposed move;

(c) The Telecommunications Section, Electronic Systems Division, of the Maryland State Police shall send instructions, as necessary, to State Police and other appropriate authorities in areas affected by the move;

(d) The Unit shall issue a special hauling permit the same day and shall charge the owner or operator the appropriate fee.

(2) If, at the time the owner or operator of the equipment learns of the emergency and decides that a move must be made, and the office of the Unit is not open for business, the following procedure shall be followed:

(a) The owner or operator shall telephone the Statewide Operations Center at 1-800-543-2515, located at the State Highway Administration's Office of Traffic and Safety in Hanover, Maryland;

(b) The Statewide Operations Center will upon being notified by a permittee of the need for an emergency move notify an on-call representative for the Unit and will provide the permittee's telephone number directly to the on-call representative who will call the permittee to obtain pertinent information concerning the emergency move relative to the proposed route of travel, and the characteristics of the oversize or overweight equipment to be moved;

(c) The move may be made only after the designated Unit representative has approved the proposed move and has advised the Telecommunications Section, Electronic Systems Division, of the Maryland State Police concerning the proposed move;

(d) The Telecommunications Section, Electronic Systems Division, of the Maryland State Police shall send instructions, as necessary, to State Police and other appropriate authorities in areas affected by the move;

(e) The Unit shall issue a special hauling permit the next working day and shall charge the owner or operator the appropriate fee.

(3) After the emergency:

(a) The permittee or user shall obtain a permit for the return move and shall be subject to all normal permit provisions; and

(b) The Unit may require the permittee to submit on a form and in a manner prescribed by the Unit, a report describing the emergency.