SB84: AN ACT establishing procedural requirements to improve implementation of the 10-year highway plan.

SB 84 – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

02/15/07 0135s

23Jan2008… 2642h

2007 SESSION

07-0678

06/09

SENATE BILL 84

AN ACT establishing procedural requirements to improve implementation of a 6-year transportation improvement plan.

SPONSORS: Sen. Clegg, Dist 14; Sen. Gottesman, Dist 12; Sen. Letourneau, Dist 19; Rep. Graham, Hills 18; Rep. Campbell, Hills 24; Rep. Manney, Hills 7

COMMITTEE: Transportation and Interstate Cooperation

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill establishes procedural requirements to improve implementation of a 6-year transportation improvement plan.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

02/15/07 0135s

23Jan2008… 2642h

07-0678

06/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven

AN ACT establishing procedural requirements to improve implementation of a 6-year transportation improvement plan.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 State Transportation Improvement Plan. RSA 240 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

CHAPTER 240

STATE 6-YEAR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM

240:1 Legislative Intent. The plan is intended to serve as the guideline for transportation projects in the state for the next 6 years.

240:2 Project Priority. To the extent practicable the projects shall be implemented in the order shown in the report.

240:3 Implementation of Plan.

I. The department of transportation shall be responsive to requests for information relative to the plan.

II. The plan shall include a list of projects intended to be under construction in the next 6 years with dates and costs of construction. However, preliminary studies, design, and right of way funding for long term projects that have been approved by the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation (GACIT) and the department of transportation shall be included in the plan.

III. Projects listed in the plan shall be listed by the year the funds are to be expended and the 6 years of the plan shall be financially constrained.

IV. Projects listed in the plan, except projects which are solely for infrastructure preservation, shall be prioritized based on a department of transportation methodology that examines the certainty of a project relative to its scope, cost, constructability, permitibility, and public support, provided that the project has the following:

(a) Preliminary design.

(b) Environmental evaluation.

(c) A public participation process.

(d) Available and adequate funding.

V. The following shall be considered for any project proposed for the plan:

(a) Safety.

(b) Multimodalism.

(c) Land use.

(d) Infrastructure preservation.

(e) Overall corridor improvement.

VI. Every 2 years, the department of transportation shall propose to the general court a list of projects to be removed from the 6-year plan if the department determines that any project:

(a) Has significantly changed in scope; or

(b) Is no longer financially and environmentally feasible; or

(c) Lacks the necessary permits; or

(d) For other reasons is unnecessary or unlikely to proceed.

VII. Inflation shall be included in the costs calculated in the 6-year plan and shall also be included in calculating the necessary revenues.

VIII. The department of transportation shall meet quarterly with GACIT which shall consist of. 11 members including the governor or appointee, 5 executive councilors, the chairperson of the senate finance committee or designee, the chairperson of the house finance committee, or designee, the chairperson of the public works and highways committee, or designee, the chairperson of the transportation and interstate cooperation committee, or designee, and the commissioner of the department of transportation, or designee.

IX. GACIT shall review:

(a) Department of transportation financial status and issues.

(b) The status and issues of transportation projects.

(c) Other ongoing initiatives and issues.

X. GACIT shall provide the first statewide review of the plan as drafted by the department of transportation with input from the regional planning commissions.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.