Act No. 59 Page 1 of 7
2019
This act summary is provided for the convenience of the public and members of the
General Assembly. It is intended to provide a general summary of the act and may not be
exhaustive. It has been prepared by the staff of the Office of Legislative Council without
input from members of the General Assembly. It is not intended to aid in the
interpretation of legislation or to serve as a source of legislative intent.
Act No. 59 (H.529). Transportation; motor vehicles; natural resources and energy;
judiciary
An act relating to the Transportation Program and miscellaneous changes to
laws related to transportation
This act:
• Transportation Program Adopted; Definitions. Adopts the Agency of
Transportation’s (“Agency”) Proposed Fiscal Year 2020 Transportation
Program (Revised February 21, 2019) except as amended in the act
(“Transportation Program”), defines terms used throughout the act, and
corrects a typographic error in the Transportation Program.
• Fiscal Year 2020 Transportation Investments Intended to Reduce
Transportation-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Reduce Fossil Fuel Use,
and Save Vermont Households Money. Summarizes certain transportation
investments.
• Toll Credits. Contingently, based on whether the Agency’s fiscal year 2019
maintenance of effort requirement is attained and toll credits are approved by
the Federal Highway Administration in fiscal year 2020, reduces spending
authority in Program Development by the amount of toll credits approved, but
not to exceed $845,416.64, in transportation funds and increases spending
authority in Program Development by the amount of toll credits approved, but
not to exceed $845,416.64, in federal funds.
• Program Development—Roadway. Reduces spending authority for
Burlington MEGC M 5001(1) in Program Development by $5,000,000.00,
with $150,000.00 coming from transportation infrastructure bond funds,
$4,750,000.00 coming from federal funds, and $100,000.00 coming from
local match and changes the funding source of $150,000.00 in spending for
Waterbury FEGC F 013-4(13) from transportation funds to transportation
infrastructure bond funds.
• Program Development—Traffic & Safety. Increases spending authority for
Shelburne – South Burlington – NHG SGNL(51) in Program Development by
$115,000.00 with all $115,000.00 coming from federal funds.
• Municipal Mitigation Assistance Program. Decreases spending authority for
grants in the Municipal Mitigation Assistance Program by $800,000.00 in
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special funds from the Clean Water Fund and contingently, based on whether
the Agency’s fiscal year 2019 maintenance of effort requirement is attained
and toll credits are approved by the Federal Highway Administration in fiscal
year 2020, increases spending authority for grants in the Municipal Mitigation
Assistance Program by $200,000.00 in transportation funds.
• State Aid for Town Highways. Contingently, based on whether the Agency’s
fiscal year 2019 maintenance of effort requirement is attained and toll credits
are approved by the Federal Highway Administration in fiscal year 2020,
increases spending authority in the Town Highway Aid Program by
$680,416.64 in transportation funds.
• Maintenance Program. Increases spending authority in the Maintenance
Program by $100,000.00 in transportation funds.
• Public Transit Program. Reduces spending authority in the Public Transit
Program for the Opioid Treatment Pilot by $200,000.00 in transportation
funds.
• Aviation Program. Reduces spending authority in the Aviation Program for
the Clarendon SRE Building by $100,000.00 in transportation funds.
• Voluntary Cancellation of Municipal Projects. Permits the Agency to cancel a
municipal project upon the request or concurrence of the municipality
provided that notice of the cancellation is included in the Agency’s annual
proposed transportation program.
• Project Cancellations. Cancels the Colchester – Improvements to the Mill
Pond/Severence Road intersection project in the Bike and Pedestrian Facilities
Program and the Belvidere BO 1448 ( ), Springfield BO 1442 (40), and
Woodstock BO 1444 ( ) projects in the Town Highway Bridge Program.
• Project Additions. Adds the Colchester – Bayside Intersection Roundabout
and Stormwater Improvements project to the candidate list of the Program
Development—Traffic & Safety Program and the Shelburne – South
Burlington – Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures project to the
Transportation Program in the Program Development—Traffic & Safety
Program, with a spending authorization of $65,000.00 in spending from
$13,000.00 in transportation funds and $52,000.00 in federal funds.
• Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Grant (Rail).
Authorizes the Agency to accept the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage
Development (BUILD) grant awarded in federal fiscal year 2019 for the
Vermont Regional Freight Rail Corridor Upgrade Project in the amount of
$20,000,000.00.
• Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Grant
(Rail). Authorizes the Agency to accept the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure
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and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant in the amount of $2,082,519.00 for
the Windsor-St. Albans CRISI (17) Vermonter Amtrak Safety Project, which
is added to the Transportation Program with a spending authorization of
$2,082,519.00 in federal funds.
• Central Garage. Transfers $355,358.00 from the Transportation Fund to the
Central Garage Fund, reduces authorized spending in fiscal year 2020
operating expenses in the Central Garage by $39,904.00 in internal service
funds, and modifies the existing formula that governs the amount of the
annual transfer from the Transportation Fund to the Central Garage Fund to
have a minimum transfer of $1,355,358.00 starting in fiscal year 2021 that
must be adjusted annually from inflation based on the percentage increase in
the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers (CPI-U) during the two most recently closed State fiscal years.
• Appropriation for State Aid for Town Highways. Modifies the existing
formula that governs the appropriation for State aid for town highways to
adjust annually for inflation based on percentage increases during the two
most recently closed State fiscal years.
• Public Transit. Modifies public transit policy goals and weighting, modifies
how the Agency distributes State and federal funds to public transit systems,
and requires the Agency to study and report on methods to increase public
transit ridership in Vermont by January 15, 2020 and costs/construction
timeline to upgrade the State-owned railroad line between Montpelier and
Barre to meet commuter rail standards by December 1, 2019.
• State Highway Condemnation and Acquisition. Clarifies that notice goes to
owners of property to be acquired, adds a definition for “survey,” and
specifies that acquisition of property through condemnation or conveyance in
lieu of condemnation shall not require subdivision approval.
• Public-Private Partnership (P3). Clarifies how “partnership” and “partner” are
used in the subchapter of Title 23 on public-private partnerships.
• Highway Work; Minimum Wages. Clarifies that it is the Agency and not the
“board” that shall fix the minimum wages that a contractor is bound to pay in
specifications and advertisements for bids on highway work.
• Junior Operator Use of Portable Electronic Devices. Establishes the minimum
and maximum civil penalties for first and second or subsequent violations of
the existing prohibition on a person under 18 years of age using a portable
electronic device while operating a motor vehicle on a highway.
• School Bus Driver Blood Alcohol Concentration Limitation. Expands when
an individual’s blood alcohol concentration cannot be more than 0.02 to cover
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anyone operating a vehicle when the operation requires an operator’s license
with a school bus endorsement.
• Evidentiary Blood Sample. Expands who can draw an evidentiary blood
sample to also include an intermediate or advanced emergency medical
technician; specifies where an evidentiary blood sample can be drawn to
include at a medical facility, police or fire department, or other safe and clean
location as determined by the individual withdrawing blood; prohibits a law
enforcement officer, even if trained to withdraw blood, acting in that official
capacity, from withdrawing blood for the purpose of determining the presence
of alcohol or another drug; and establishes a $75.00 maximum fee that can be
charged for an evidentiary blood sample.
• Plug-In Electric Vehicle Definition. Adds a definition for a plug-in electric
vehicle.
• Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Definition. Adds definitions for electric
vehicle supply equipment and electric vehicle supply equipment available to
the public.
• Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment as Weights and Measures. Adds electric
vehicle supply equipment available to the public to the definition of weights
and measures and requires the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets to
report on the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s progress
towards adopting code on electric vehicle fueling systems, along with a
recommendation for an annual licensing fee for electric vehicle supply
equipment available to the public.
• Net Metering at Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. Excludes from the
definition of a net metering system a plant for generation of electricity that
primarily supplies electricity to electric vehicle supply equipment for the
resale of electricity.
• Vehicle Incentive and Emissions Repair Programs. Establishes the vehicle
incentive and emissions repair programs, which provide point-of-sale
vouchers for the purchase or lease of new plug-in electric vehicles and the
purchase of used highly efficient vehicles and point-of-repair vouchers to
repair certain motor vehicles that failed the on board diagnostic (OBD)
systems inspection, and requires the Department of Labor to report on whether
to establish a program to provide vehicle repairs to certain Vermonters and
how to fund such a program by February 1, 2020.
• Public Utility Commission Tariff Design Report. Requires the Public Utility
Commission to report on steps necessary to implement fees on plug-in electric
vehicle charging and how to address net metering and net metering credits by
December 15, 2019.
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• Fees for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Owned or Controlled by the
State. Permits State agencies that own or control electric vehicle supply
equipment to establish, set, and adjust fees at less than its costs, to cover its
costs, or to equal the retail rate charged for the use of electric vehicle supply
equipment available to the public for three years starting on July 1, 2019.
• Public Utility Commission Jurisdiction Over Electric Vehicle Supply
Equipment. Specifies that the Public Utility Commission does not have
jurisdiction over persons otherwise not regulated by the Public Utility
Commission that engage in the siting, construction, ownership, operation, or
control of a facility that sells or supplies electricity to the public exclusively
for charging a plug-in electric vehicle and that these persons may charge by
the kWh but shall not be treated as an electric distribution utility for doing so.
• State Vehicle Fleet. Requires the Commissioner of Buildings and General
Services, to the maximum extent practicable, to purchase and lease hybrid or
plug-in electric vehicles for the State fleet with a minimum of 50%, bumped
to 75% on July 1, 2021, of newly purchased and leased vehicles being hybrid
or plug-in electric vehicles and requires the Commissioner to, whenever
possible and provided that the vehicles are comparable and meet the State’s
needs, only purchase or lease the lowest-cost year of the selected make and
model and only the latest year model when it is the least expensive.
• Transportation Alternative Grants Program. Eliminates the Transportation
Alternatives Grant Committee but vests the responsibilities of the eliminated
committee with the Agency and specifies that awards under the Transportation
Alternatives Grant Program shall not exceed $300,000.00 per grant allocation.
• Emissions Inspections. Requires all motor vehicles registered in the State to
undergo an annual visual emissions and safety inspection but only motor
vehicles registered in the State that are 16 model years old or less to undergo
an annual on board diagnostic (OBD) systems inspection and requires the
Department of Motor Vehicles to update the Periodic Inspection Manual
accordingly through rulemaking within 14 days after passage and the tablet
software used by inspection stations accordingly by July 1, 2019.
• Feebate and Vehicle Incentive Programs Funding Report. Requires the
Agency, in consultation with the Joint Fiscal Office, to report on whether
Vermont should establish a time-of-acquisition vehicle feebate program and
how to fund vehicle incentive programs by October 15, 2019.
• Weight-Based Registration Report. Requires the Agency, in consultation with
the Joint Fiscal Office, to report on the feasibility of implementing an annual
motor vehicle registration fee system by December 15, 2019.
• Sign Law Violations. Eliminates the criminal fine and possible term of
imprisonment for a violation of the sign law, 10 V.S.A. chapter 21, and
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replaces it with a $50.00 civil penalty and gives the Vermont Judicial Bureau
jurisdiction over violations of the sign law related to the prohibition on
outdoor advertising.
Multiple effective dates, beginning on June 14, 2019
See chart on following page.
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H.529 FY20 Transportation Program
FY19 FY20
Line # All funding sources FY20 vs FY19
As Passed As Passed
1 Administration-finance-planning
2 Central Admin & Finance 14,655,914 15,497,069 841,155
3 Policy & Planning 11,086,484 11,192,221 105,737
4 Transportation Board 271,543 282,191 10,648
5 Department of Motor Vehicles 31,360,732 33,150,701 1,789,969
6 Sub-total 57,374,673 60,122,182 2,747,509
7 Facilities
8 Rest Areas 744,802 679,706 -65,096
9 AOT Buildings 1,578,050 907,746 -670,304
10 Sub-total 2,322,852 1,587,452 -735,400
11 Alternate modes
12 Public Transit 29,020,229 33,824,399 4,804,170
13 Aviation 13,799,763 9,244,636 -4,555,127
14 Pedestrian & Bike Facilities 10,866,048