Source: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/DOCS/1998/BILLS/PASSED/H-760.HTM
Timestamp: 2018-07-22 00:55:58
Document Index: 140202703

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 10', '§ 706', '§ 706', '§ 306', '§ 842', '§ 843']

AN ACT RELATING TO THE STATE'S TRANSPORTATION CAPITAL PROGRAM AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PLAN
(3) In the engineering and construction program for project Moretown (Project No. STP EGC RSEGC RS 0167(9)), by deleting construction funding for budget yearFY 1999 of $250,000.00, by amending total funding from $636,077.00 to $386,077.00 and by amending the state share to $19,304.00 and the federal share to $366,773.00.
(4) In the engineering and construction program for project Shelburne-South Burlington (Project No. NHEGC FEGC 019-4(19)), by amending PE funding for budget year FY 1999 from $220,000.00 to $110,000.00, by amending ROW funding from $1,542,000.00 to $771,000.00, by amending construction funding from $2,238,000.00 to $1,119,000.00, by amending total funding from $4,000,000.00 to $2,000,000.00, by amending the state share to $100,000.00 and the federal share to $1,900,000.00.
(9) In the rail, air and public transportation program in the statewide project for operating assistance for public transit operators in budget year FY 1999 by amendingfunding for the categories "other" and "total" from $5,543,631.00 to $5,708,631.00 and by amending the state portion from $2,425,000.00 to $2,590,000.00. This increased funding shall be allocated as follows: $50,000.00 for Central Vermont Transit Authority for a pilot project for a public transit voucher system; and $115,000.00 to increase the 5310 program for the elderly and disabled.
(12) It is the goal of the general assembly to limit total expenditures on the Rutland MultiModal Transit Center project (MMTC(1)) to the fullest extent possible under the terms of current contracts. The agency of transportation shall put into place allappropriate internal controls necessary to accomplish this goal. At a minimum, the agency shall utilize the following internal controls: contract management, enforcement and monitoring procedures, cost-control procedures, financial controls and construction management procedures. On or before June 1, 1998, the secretary of transportation shall submit a status report of the agency's progress in implementing internal controls on the Rutland MultiModal Transit Center project to the chairs of house and senate committees on transportation.
(a) To enable the state of Vermont to take advantage of additional federal funds that may be made available, the secretary of transportation is authorized to accelerate projects in the state's transportation capital program and project development plan. The secretary of transportation shall report quarterly to the members of the joint transportation oversight committee and members of the house and senate committees on transportation on any changes in the scheduling of the projects in the transportation capital program or project development plan and shall additionally submit the report required in 19 V.S.A. § 10h,relating to cost overruns.
(b) In the event additional federal funds are available to the state before or during state FY 1999, these funds may be expended on projects for which federal funds can be obligated, especially infrastructure improvements to the state-owned railroad lines between Bellows Falls and Rutland and between Hoosick Jct., NY and Burlington. This project shall be undertaken so as to complete the work as soon as possible, working from south to north, but beginning with the first segments which are ready for construction and use by Amtrak. These funds may also be expended on highway paving projects including VT 110. Notwithstanding 32 V.S.A. § 706, the secretary of transportation, with the approval of the secretary of administration, is authorized to transfer balances of unexpended state funds carried forward from prior years, except those involving town highway programs, from one component of the agency to any other component of the agency during FY 1999 in order to match additional federal aid.
(d) The agency of transportation shall examine financing options and report to the house and senate committees on transportation by January 15, 1999 alternatives for financing major projects under active consideration (Bennington Bypass, Circumferential Highway, Hoosick Jct., NY to Burlington railroad upgrade, Bellows Falls to Rutland railroad upgrade, US 7 improvements). Alternatives should include conventional financing out of cash flow, innovative financing provided under federal regulations,financing through the state infrastructure bank and debt financing.
(e) In the event there are no additional federal funds for railroad infrastructure improvements authorized under ISTEA, notwithstanding 32 V.S.A. § 706 the secretary of transportation, with the approval of the secretary of administration, is authorized to transfer balances of unexpended state funds carried forward from prior years, except those involving town highway and public transit programs, from one component of the agency to any other component of the agency during FY 1999, for the purpose of adding two new rail projects as follows:
(f ) Notwithstanding the authority granted by subsections (a) and (b) of this section, any federal funds that have not been specifically allocated in the fiscal year 1999 transportation capital program and project development plan shall not be expended until the secretary of transportation has briefed the joint transportation oversight committee, at a meeting called by the chair, on the agency's plans for expenditure of these additional federal funds. Input received from the joint transportation oversight committee shall be considered by the agency in light of priorities established by H.760 of the 1998 Session.
The sum of $275,000.00 is appropriated from the transportation fund for FY 1999 tothe department of buildings and general services for the purchase of land in the town of Colchester, now or formerly owned by Arbortech, Inc., to be used as a site for relocation of some functions now conducted at the agency of transportation district #5 maintenance facility at Fort Ethan Allen.
The commissioner of buildings and general services is authorized to use funds appropriated under Sec. 19b of No. 38 of the Acts of 1997 to purchase land to allow for collocation of agency of transportation and department of motor vehicles activities at the scale house site in North Ferrisburgh.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection 309a(a) of this title, grants provided to towns under the class 2 town highway resurfacing program shall be matched by local funds sufficient to cover one-third of the project costs. The secretary may adopt rules to implement the class 2 town highway resurfacing program. Class 2 town highway resurfacing projects receiving funds pursuant to this subsection shall be the responsibility of the applicant municipality.
(d) Notwithstanding subsection 309a(a) of this title, grants provided to towns under the town highway bridge maintenance program shall be matched by local funds sufficient to cover at least one-third of the project costs. The secretary may adopt rules to implement the town highway bridge maintenance program. Town highway bridgemaintenance projects receiving funds pursuant to this subsection shall be the responsibility of the applicant municipality.
(a) The sum of $500,000.00 is appropriated from the transportation fund for FY 1999 to the agency of transportation for the rehabilitation program for class 2 town highways that are rural major collectors, as established by Sec. 5 (amending 19 V.S.A. § 306) of this act.
§ 842, except that its action shall be completed within 15 days after the rule is filed or June 26, 1998, whichever occurs first. Rules adopted under this expedited procedure may be effective as soon as four days after adoption and have the full force and effect of rules adopted pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25 and may supersede or amend existing rules. When filed with the secretary of state and the legislative committee on administrative rules, such rules shall be deemed to be in full compliance with 3 V.S.A. § 843 and shall be accepted by the secretary of state if filed with a certification by the secretary of transportation that the rule is required to meet the purposes of this section.
(b) After consultation with the department of buildings and general services and upon receiving satisfactory evidence of release of any leasehold interest of Vermont Railway, Inc., the secretary of transportation, as agent for the state, is authorized to convey toDennis M. Brooks and Sharon M. Brooks, in consideration of payment of a sum representing fair market value, a parcel of land in the town of Bennington, county of Bennington and State of Vermont, located between the westerly line of Depot Street and the easterly line of the former Rutland Railway Corporation's Chatham subdivision, said parcel being part of the land and premises conveyed by April 11, 1872 quit-claim deed of Henry Putnam to the Bennington & Glastenbury Railroad, Mining & Manufacturing Co., which instrument is recorded in the Bennington land records at book 47, page 452. The deed shall reserve the right to salvage rails and other track materials.
The evaluation shall include consideration of the engineering and construction requirements and financing options to achieve the increased clearance. The secretary of transportation shall report to the house and senate committees on transportation by January 15, 1999 on the results of this evaluation and on any recommended course of action.
(f) When appropriate, the agency shall make maximum use of federal funds in anyrailroad project that includes rail-highway crossings. The agency shall weigh the effect of using such funds on the project's schedule.
(15) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for fiscal year 1997, $1,488,300.00 is appropriated from the transportation fund to the agency of transportation for the Milton transportation improvement project. The Milton project funds shall be used for some or all of the following activities:
(a) The agency of transportation shall produce a public transportation policy plan, a progress report on which shall be submitted to the house and senate committees on transportation by January 15, 1999. The policy plan and its progress report shall besupervised by the public transit advisory council created in subsection (c) of this section and shall include recommendations for legislation necessary to implement the plan and report.
(3) Appropriate, reliable and detailed funding and contracting process with providers and effective programs which provide for predictability, timeliness, efficiency, and fair allocation among all of the involved providers in the following areas: operating assistance, including performance funding and the 90 percent rule; capital assistance, including federal earmarks; congestion mitigation air quality program; elderly and disabled transit programs; and rideshare and van pool programs. The progress report shall give priority to the issues addressed under this subsection and shall recommend practices, policy and implementation procedures to be used by the state and the providers of services.
(5) The minimum levels of coordination that should exist between the public transit systems and the agency of human services programs that provide client transportation and other state level agencies that provide funding for passenger transportation services. The plan shall address appropriate mechanisms that can be used to best ensure coordination,including how to improve the effectiveness of, and compliance with, section 5090 of Title 24.
(c) A public transit advisory council is created and shall consist of the following 12 members: the secretary of the agency of transportation or designee; the two representatives of the Vermont Public Transportation Association, designated by the executive committee of that organization; a representative of the Chittenden County Transportation Association, designated by that organization; the secretary of the agency of human services or designee; the secretary of the agency of commerce and community development or designee; a representative of Vermont Center for Independent Living, designated by that organization; two representatives of the Vermont Association of Planning and Development Agencies, designated by that organization; a nonprofit purchaser of elderly public transit services to be appointed by the commissioner of aging and disabilities; one member of the senate, appointed by the committee on committees; and one member of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker. The chair of the advisory council shall be the secretary of the agency of transportation or the secretary's designee.
(e) For purposes of this section, "international trade corridor" means a transportation route that connects Canada and the states of Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine, which is essential to the development and expansion of international trade, and its related economic benefits, through the provision of intermodal connections and the carriage of a high percentage of the truck-borne commodities that are transported between Canada and the states of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
(1) Move a vehicle stopped, parked or standing contrary to section 1101 of this title, or to require the driver or other person in charge to move the vehicle to a position offthe paved or main-traveled part of the highway;
The agency of transportation, on behalf of the state of Vermont, is authorized to enter into an agreement with the state of New Hampshire whereby the ownership of the Maidstone bridge in Maidstone is shared equally with New Hampshire and to enter into an agreement whereby the repair and maintenance of the bridge is shared equally between the two states.
(1) Furnish research services and secretarial services of a fiscal nature to the *[committee]* committees on appropriations, the senate committee on finance, the house committee on ways and means, the committees on transportation and the joint fiscalcommittee;
(10) to delegate to loan officers the power to review, approve and make loans under the van pool loan program, subject to the approval of the manager. Loans shall beapproved in an aggregate amount sufficient to procure seven to fifteen passenger vans at a resonable market price. Loan repayment terms shall be available for a period from three to five years. No funds may be disbursed for any loan approved under this provision until three working days after the members of the board are notified by facsimile or overnight delivery, mailed or sent on the day of approval, of the intention to approve such a loan. If any member objects within that three-day period, the approval will be held for reconsideration by the members of the board at its next duly scheduled meeting.
(c) All proposed airports, restricted landing areas, and other air navigation facilities, shall be first approved by the *[agency]* board before they are used or operated. A municipality or person proposing to establish an airport, restricted landing area, or a seaplane landing area, shall make application to the *[agency]* board for a certificate of approval of the site selected and the general purpose or purposes for which the airport, restricted landing area, or seaplane landing area is to be established to insure that it shall conform to minimum standards of safety and shall serve public interest. A municipality or officer or employee, or any person shall not operate an airport, restricted landing area, seaplane landing area, or other air navigation facility for which a certificate of approval hasnot been issued by the *[agency]* board.
(d) The application for a certificate of approval of the site selected shall be in writing and substantially describe the property involved and the general purposes for which it is to be acquired and the manner in which the acquisition is asserted to serve the public interest. The application shall designate the names of all owners or persons known to be interested in lands adjoining the property and their residences, if known, and shall contain such further matter as the *[agency]* board by rule shall determine. The application shall be supported by documentation showing that the proposed facility has received municipal approval. After evaluating the application, the *[agency]* board shall issue its order giving notice of the time and place of hearing on the application. The applicant shall give notice of the proceedings to all persons owning or interested in adjoining lands by delivery of a true copy of the application and order for hearing by registered or certified mail to the last known address of each of the persons; the notice to be mailed at least twelve days prior to date of hearing. Notice of the hearing and a general statement of the purpose shall be published at least once in a newspaper of common circulation in the town where the property described in the application is situated at least two days before the date of the hearing, and a similar notice shall be posted in a public place at least twelve days before the hearing. Upon compliance by the applicant with the foregoing provisions for notice, the *[agency]* board shall hear the applicant and all parties interested on the question of approval of the site or sites and shall consider and determine whether in the public interest the application ought to be granted. Whenever the *[agency]* board makes an order granting or denying a certificate of approval of an airport, or a restricted landing area, approval to use or operate an airport or a restricted landing area or other air navigation facility, an aggrieved person may *[appeal to the board]* have the decision reviewed on the record by the superior court pursuant to Rule 74 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure.
(e) In determining whether it shall issue a certificate of approval for the location of any proposed airport or restricted landing area, the *[agency]* board shall take into consideration the agency's recommendations, the proposed facility's location, size andlayout, the relationship of the proposed airport or restricted landing area to a comprehensive plan for statewide and nationwide development, existence of suitable areas for expansion purposes, absence of hazardous obstructions in adjoining areas based on a proper glide ratio, the nature of the terrain comprising the airport location and adjoining areas, the nature of the uses to which the proposed airport or restricted landing area will be put and the possibilities for future development, and shall determine that the use will serve the public interest.
(h) *[The]* In emergency circumstances, the agency may suspend temporarily and in nonemergency circumstances the board may revoke both temporarily and permanently, any certificate of approval *[issued by it]* when it shall determine that an airport, restricted landing area, or other air navigation facility is not being maintained or used in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the rules promulgated. *[Initial review of temporary suspension by the agency shall be by the board]* A person aggrieved by a temporary suspension issued by the agency may appeal to the board within 30 days of the agency's decision. Unless otherwise ordered by the board, the temporary suspension shall remain in effect pending final determination of the appeal.
(c) The board may delegate the responsibility to hear quasi-judicial matters, and other matters as it may deem appropriate, to a hearing examiner or a single board member, to hear a case and make findings in accordance with chapter 25 of Title 3, except that highway condemnation proceedings shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions ofchapter 5 of this title. A hearing examiner or single board member so appointed shall report his or her findings of fact in writing to the board. Any order resulting therefrom shall be rendered only by a majority of the board. Final orders of the board may be *[appealed to a]* reviewed on the record by the superior court pursuant to Rule 74 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure.
*[(6)]*(7) in coordination with the agency, hold public hearings for the purpose of obtaining public comment on the development of state transportation policy, the mission of the agency, and state transportation planning, capital programming, and program implementation.
(h) Unless otherwise provided by law, when an appeal is allowed from the agency to the board, the appeal shall be taken by filing a notice of appeal with the secretary within 30 days of the date of the agency decision from which the appeal is taken. The secretary shall promptly forward the notice of appeal to the board, together with the agency's record ofdecision.
(a) Advancement or Cancellation of Projects. If capital projects in the program for the current fiscal year are delayed for any reason, the secretary of transportation is authorizedto advance other projects in the same or subsequent years. No project shall be decertified or canceled without the approval of the general assembly.
(b) Rt. 78; Memorandum of Agreement. The agencies of transportation and natural resources shall jointly review and evaluate the Route 78 projects in light of the "Cooperative Memorandum of Agreement between the Vermont Agency of Transportation and the Agency of Natural Resources regarding Wetland Mitigation or Compensation of Transportation Projects in Vermont", dated November 1997. On orbefore January 15, 1999, the agencies shall file a report containing the results of the review with the house and senate committees on transportation.