Resolve, To Establish the Road Usage Charge Task Force
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1150
Committee: Transportation
Sponsors: McLEAN, MIRAMANT, BERRY, BRYANT, GILLWAY, GRANT, PARRY, SCHNECK

Legislative Document
No. 1150
H.P. 813
House of Representatives, March 23, 2017
Resolve, To Establish the Road Usage Charge Task Force
Reference to the Committee on Transportation suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative McLEAN of Gorham.
Cosponsored by Senator MIRAMANT of Knox and
Representatives: BERRY of Bowdoinham, BRYANT of Windham, GILLWAY of Searsport, 
GRANT of Gardiner, PARRY of Arundel, SCHNECK of Bangor.
Sec. 1.  Task force established.  Resolved:  That the Road Usage Charge Task 
Force, referred to in this section as "the task force," is established to guide the 
development of a pilot program to assess the potential for mileage-based revenue 
collection for the State's highways and bridges as an alternative to the gas tax system. 
1.  Membership.  The task force consists of 10 members as follows: 
A.  Three members appointed by the President of the Senate as follows: 
(1)  One member who represents a statewide civil engineering group; 
(2)  One member who represents a statewide transportation consumer 
organization or other public interest organization; and 
(3)  One member of a statewide business association; 
B.  Three members appointed by the Speaker of the House as follows: 
(1)  One member who represents a privacy rights advocacy organization; 
(2)  One member who represents a regional planning agency; and 
(3)  One member who represents the telecommunications industry; 
C.  The Commissioner of Transportation or the commissioner's designee, who serves 
as chair; 
D.  The Secretary of State or the secretary's designee; 
E.  The Executive Director of the Maine Turnpike Authority or the executive 
director's designee; and 
F.  The Commissioner of Public Safety or the commissioner's designee. 
2.  Duties.  The task force shall study road usage charge alternatives to the gas tax, 
make recommendations on the design of a pilot program to test alternative road usage 
charge approaches, gather public comment on issues and concerns related to the proposed 
pilot program and provide recommendations on the criteria to be used to evaluate the 
pilot program.  In studying alternatives to the current gas tax system and developing 
recommendations on the design of a pilot program to test alternative road usage charge 
approaches, the task force shall take into consideration the following: 
A.  The availability, adaptability, reliability and security of methods that might be 
used in recording and reporting highway use; 
B.  The necessity of protecting all personally identifiable information used in 
reporting highway use; 
C.  The ease and cost of recording and reporting highway use; 
D.  The ease and cost of administering the collection of taxes and fees as an 
alternative to the current system of taxing highway use through motor vehicle fuel 
taxes; 
E.  Effective methods of maintaining compliance with the proposed usage charge 
alternatives; 
F.  The ease of tracking location data, even when personally identifiable information 
has been removed from the data; 
G.  Increased privacy concerns when location data is used in conjunction with other 
technologies; and 
H.  Public and private agency access, including law enforcement, to data collected 
and stored for purposes of the road usage charge to ensure privacy rights are 
protected. 
The task force shall consult with highway users and transportation stakeholders, including 
representatives of vehicle users, vehicle manufacturers and fuel distributors, as part of its 
duties. 
3.  Meetings.  The task force shall meet as necessary to complete the assigned duties. 
4.  Staffing.  The Department of Transportation shall provide staff support to the task 
force within existing resources. 
5.  Compensation.  Members of the task force do not receive compensation for their 
time, travel or other expenses. 
6.  Report.  The task force shall complete its work no later than January 8, 2018 and 
shall submit its report and recommendations to the Joint Standing Committee on 
Transportation no later than February 5, 2018.  The report must include, but is not limited 
to, a discussion of the following issues: cost; feasibility; implementation; jurisdiction; use 
of revenues; security and compliance, including a discussion of processes and security 
measures necessary to minimize fraud and tax evasion rates; privacy, including 
recommendations regarding public and private access, including law enforcement, to data 
collected and stored for purposes of the road usage charge; and data collection 
technology, including the advantages and disadvantages of various types of data 
collection equipment. 
7. Authority to submit legislation.  Following receipt and review of the report, the 
Joint Standing Committee on Transportation may submit legislation relating to the 
subject matter of the report to the Second Regular Session of the 128th Legislature. 
SUMMARY 
This resolve establishes a task force to guide the development of a pilot program to 
assess the potential for mileage-based revenue collection for the State's highways and 
bridges as an alternative to the gas tax system.  The task force is required to submit a 
report and recommendations to the Joint Standing Committee on Transportation no later 
than February 5, 2018.  Following receipt and review of the report, the Joint Standing 
Committee on Transportation has authority to submit legislation relating to the subject 
matter of the report to the Second Regular Session of the 128th Legislature.