SB 85

This bill implements the legislative changes recommended by the Legislative

Audit Bureau in LAB's January 2017 report regarding the state highway program.

Under current law, DOT administers a major highway projects program. With

limited exceptions, a major highway project is either 1) a project having a total cost

of more than $30,000,000 and involving a) construction of a new highway 2.5 miles

or more in length; b) reconstruction or reconditioning of an existing highway that

relocates at least 2.5 miles of the highway or adds one or more lanes five miles or more

in length to the highway; or c) improvement of an existing multilane, divided

highway to freeway standards or 2) a project having a total cost of at least

$75,000,000. For both categories of major highway projects, DOT annually adjusts

the total cost threshold based on an inflation index.

For major highway projects of the first type, the project must generally receive

the approval of the Transportation Projects Commission and the legislature

(generally referred to as “enumeration") before the project may be constructed. For

major highway projects of the second type, DOT must submit a report to TPC and

request TPC approval to proceed with the project under a passive review process.

Once approved by TPC, the project is considered enumerated as a major highway

project under the statutes.

Among the requirements of the program, DOT must provide TPC with any

studies and cost estimates with respect to a proposed project that are requested by

TPC.

This bill specifies that when DOT provides a full project cost estimate under

this requirement, the estimate must include all costs associated with the project,

including all costs before enumeration, design engineering and construction

engineering costs, the costs of environmental studies, and costs of the project that are

paid by another program of the department. A full project cost estimate must also

include the expected date of completion and an estimate of the effects of construction

cost inflation and unexpected costs on the cost of the project.

Also under current law, every six months, DOT must submit a report to the TPC

that summarizes the current status of each major highway project and identifies all

actual and estimated project costs, itemized by major cost categories, as of the date

of preparation of the report. The project information included in these reports must

be reported on both a cumulative basis from the inception of the project and on an

updated basis for the period since the department's last report.

Under this bill, these reports must also include for each project the full project

cost estimate of the project made for the commission as of the date of the commission's

approval of the project. This bill also specifies that the report must treat separately

and as described in the enumerating statute each project.

This bill also requires DOT to annually prepare and submit to certain

legislative committees a report that provides all of the following information for each