|
Senate Bill 1420 |
Senate Author: Hinojosa et al. |
|
Effective: See below |
House Sponsor: Harper-Brown et al. |
Senate Bill 1420 amends provisions of the Parks and Wildlife Code, Occupations Code, and Transportation Code relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas Department of Transportation. The bill continues the department until September 1, 2015, requires the rural member of the five-member Texas Transportation Commission to be a registered voter of a county with a population of less than 150,000, and prescribes the duties of the chief financial officer of the department. The bill also requires the department to operate a telephone hotline to report alleged fraud, waste, or abuse or a violation of the department's ethics policy and to establish a compliance program to oversee criminal or other investigations occurring on department property or involving department employees.
In addition to across-the-board sunset provisions and other provisions, Senate Bill 1420 establishes an environmental review process for certain highway projects and requires the commission to adopt rules to implement the process not later than March 1, 2012. The bill defines the roles and responsibilities of the Texas Department of Transportation and a local government sponsor in the preparation and review of environmental review documents and establishes certain review deadlines. The bill requires the department to report to the commission and the legislature on projects being processed, and it requires the department by rule to establish an environmental review certification process for department employees. The bill also authorizes the department, a county, a regional tollway authority, or a regional mobility authority to provide financial assistance to a state or federal agency to expedite an environmental review.
Current law requires the department to develop a statewide transportation plan that contains all modes of transportation. Senate Bill 1420 requires the plan to cover a 24-year period and to contain, among other items, specific, long-term transportation goals for the state and measurable targets for each goal. The bill requires the department to analyze its progress in attaining those goals and to make the information available on its Internet website and to also make available reporting systems for project information and transportation expenditures. A unified transportation program to guide the development of and authorize construction of transportation projects over a 10-year period also is required. The bill requires the department to update the program annually to include the annual funding forecast and list of major transportation projects required by the bill and requires the commission to use the program's funding categories to specify the formulas for allocating funds to districts and metropolitan planning organizations.
Senate Bill 1420 authorizes the department or certain regional mobility authorities to enter into a comprehensive development agreement with a private entity for certain specified highway or transportation projects, as appropriate, and terminates that authority, with a certain exception, on August 31, 2015. The bill establishes deadlines for obtaining the appropriate environmental clearance and developing a full financial plan for the projects and requires the deadlines to be met before the department or an authority may enter into an agreement. The bill also authorizes the department or a regional mobility authority to use the design-build method to construct or improve a highway project with a construction cost estimate of at least $50 million or to construct, finance, or improve a transportation project, as appropriate. The bill prohibits until August 31, 2015, the department from entering into more than three design-build contracts in each fiscal year and limits an authority to two contracts in any fiscal year. The bill prohibits a contract from granting to a private entity a leasehold interest in a project or the right to operate or retain revenue from the operation of a project. The bill sets out procedures and requirements that the department or an authority and a design-build contractor must follow.
Senate Bill 1420 transfers the regulation of oversize and overweight vehicles from the department to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles by January 1, 2012. The bill specifies certain powers and duties that are retained by the department, including the authority to set maximum weights. The bill also makes it an offense to erect an off-premise sign on a rural road without a license issued by the commission and establishes requirements for such a license. Provisions relating to comprehensive development agreements for certain projects take effect June 17, 2011; all other provisions take effect September 1, 2011.