This bill amends existing laws regarding the installation of transmission lines on highway rights-of-way in Iowa. It mandates that the Department of Transportation (DOT) engage in coordination with utility or transmission line developers upon written request to explore potential locations for transmission lines within identified highway corridors. The DOT is required to assign a project coordinator within thirty days of receiving such requests and must share all known plans regarding future highway projects that may affect the placement of transmission lines. Additionally, the bill prohibits the DOT from denying longitudinal transmission line installations on primary road rights-of-way unless it poses a public safety risk or interferes with highway functionality, and it requires the DOT to publicly disclose reasons for any denial within ninety days.

Furthermore, the bill modifies the DOT's responsibilities concerning the development of an accommodation plan for utility use of freeway right-of-way, removing the requirement for extended payment and lease agreements for continuous funding of the living roadway trust fund, and instead limiting such agreements to a maximum term of twenty years. It also expands the locations where transmission lines can be constructed to include the right-of-way beside roads and highways, while ensuring that these installations do not interfere with public use of highways or streams, nor unnecessarily disrupt land use by occupants.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 306.47, 306A.3, 314.20, 478.18