A California Senate panel has OK’d a bill that would expand the list of who can be fined for making truckers wait at port terminals in the state.

The bill, AB1971, would modify AB2650, which was signed into law by the governor in September 2002. That law requires every marine terminal in California to operate in a way that keeps trucks from idling any more than 30 minutes while waiting to load or unload. The new bill, AB1971, would take fines in the existing law and expand them to port operators.

Under AB2650, marine terminal operators who try to divert trucks to freeways or staging areas away from the ports to avoid the law face an additional fine. And the new law also prohibits the terminals from passing the cost of the fines on to truck owners and operators. Terminal operators could face a $250 fine for every truck left idling more than 30 minutes; if the terminal diverts the idling trucks, that fine increases to $750.

The law also requires each state air quality district to determine the level of monitoring and enforcement necessary based on the truck idling problem that exists within the district.

Under AB1971, those fines would expand to include terminals that make truckers “queue,” or wait in line. It would also expand the duties of air-quality districts to cover queuing trucks as well as idling ones. Lowenthal also sponsored the original law, AB2650.

The Senate Transportation Committee gave its stamp of approve to the bill, voting 8-0 in favor of the measure June 16. It is now before the Environmental Quality Committee.