Act No. 62 Page 1 of 7
2023
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 Counsel 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. 62 (H. 479). An act relating to the Transportation Program and miscellaneous
changes to laws related to transportation
Subjects: Transportation; annual Transportation Program; public transit; zero-
fare service; tiered-fare service; Mobility and Transportation Innovations (MTI)
Grant Program; St. Albans District Maintenance Facility; Lamoille Valley Rail
Trail; Rail Trail Community Connectivity Grants; Caledonia County State Airport;
Transportation Alternatives Grant Program; Central Garage Fund; plug-in electric
vehicles (PEVs); plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs); battery electric vehicles
(BEVs); electric bicycles; vehicle incentive programs; Incentive Program for New
PEVs; MileageSmart; Replace Your Ride Program; Electrify Your Fleet Program;
eBike Incentive Program; mileage-based user fee (MBUF); Carbon Reduction
Program; PROTECT Formula Program; complete streets; Vermont State
Standards; U.S. Route 5; micromobility safety; public-private partnerships (P3s);
repeals
This act:
• Transportation Program. Adopts the Agency of Transportation’s (Agency) Proposed
Fiscal Year 2024 Transportation Program (Revised January 27, 2023) except as
amended in the act (Transportation Program), defines terms used throughout the act,
and corrects typographic errors.
• Fiscal Year 2024 Transportation Investments Intended to Reduce Transportation-
Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Reduce Fossil Fuel Use, and Save Vermont
Households Money. Summarizes certain transportation investments.
• Highway Maintenance. Reduces the Highway Maintenance authorization by
$850,000.00 (Transportation Fund monies for operating expenses) and establishes a
two-prong process for the restoration of the reduction to the Highway Maintenance
authorization if there are unexpended fiscal year 2023 appropriations of
Transportation Fund monies or if federal monies are used as one-time monies for
Green Mountain Transit, or both. Also caps the restoration at the $850,000.00
reduction and specifies that further increases to the Highway Maintenance
authorization for fiscal Year 2024 are to be addressed through the Budget Adjustment
Act process.
• Paving; Statewide District Leveling. Swaps $3,000,000.00 in Transportation Fund
monies for $3,000,000.00 in Cash Fund for Capital and Essential Investments (21952)
funds, drawn from the Other Infrastructure, Essential Investments, and Reserves
subaccount.
• One-Time Appropriations. Amends the funding source and amount for two one-time
appropriations as follows:
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o St. Albans District Maintenance Facility: $3,500,000.00 from the Cash Fund for
Capital and Essential Investments (21952) funds, drawn from the Other
Infrastructure, Essential Investments, and Reserves subaccount, as opposed to
$3,500,000.00 in Capital Fund monies; and
o Rail Trail Community Connectivity Grants: $1,000,000.00 from the Cash Fund
for Capital and Essential Investments (21952) funds, drawn from the Other
Infrastructure, Essential Investments, and Reserves subaccount, as opposed to
$3,000,000.00 in General Fund monies.
• St. Albans District Maintenance Facility. Adds the project to the Transportation
Program for Transportation Buildings.
• Rail Trail Community Connectivity Grants. Adds the project, with specified
parameters, to the Transportation Program for Rail.
• Caledonia County State Airport. Authorizes the Agency of Transportation to sell or
lease the Caledonia County State Airport through a request for proposal (RFP)
process (which shall include a request for a business plan) with conditions, including
that current leases and lease terms be honored; repairs and investments in the Airport
be made; the Airport remain available for public use; the State have a six-month right
of first refusal to repurchase the Airport at fair market value if the Airport is sold and
then subsequently resold or transferred; and, if the Airport is leased, the lease cannot
be assigned or subleased without the written approval of the Vermont Secretary of
Transportation. Also requires a fair-market offer and for the Town of Lyndon to be
consulted and given an opportunity to comment throughout the process on any RFPs
prior to issuance and the terms of the purchase and sales agreement or lease
agreement, as applicable. Also repeals the authorization on May 1, 2026.
• Project Cancellations and Project Addition. Cancels the Bennington Bypass project
but requires the Agency to engage with the Town of Bennington to understand the
planned municipal projects or potential municipal projects, or both, within the
acquired right-of-way and cancels a bridge project in Sheldon but also adds a new
bridge project in Sheldon to the Transportation Program as a Development and
Evaluation project.
• Transportation Alternatives Grant Program. Notwithstands the State statutory
Transportation Alternatives Grant Program grant award cap of $300,000.00 in State
fiscal years 2024 to 2027 to allow for Transportation Alternatives Grant Program
awards to be up to $600,000.00 per award for the anticipated remainder of the
doubling of the amount of federal monies available for the Transportation
Alternatives Grant Program under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
• Central Garage Fund. Amends 19 V.S.A. § 13 to clarify what is an allowed repair
expenditure (19 V.S.A. § 13(a)(2)); eliminates the prohibition on the Agency
increasing the total number of vehicles in the fleet without General Assembly
approval and make technical and phrasing changes (19 V.S.A. § 13(b)); and expands
the definition of equipment (19 V.S.A. § 13(f)). Also notwithstands 19 V.S.A.
§ 13(c)(2)(B) for State fiscal years 2024 to 2026 to allow for the amount appropriated
from the Central Garage Fund for the purchase of new or replacement equipment to
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be based on the prior year depreciation of fully depreciated, but still actively in
service, equipment as a temporary solution to current supply chain issues.
• Public Transit.
o Authorizes $850,000.00 in one-time Transportation Fund monies for public transit
for the Agency to provide to Green Mountain Transit: (1) for zero-fare service
through January 1, 2024, with a resumption of the collection of fares from some
passengers not later than January 1, 2024, and (2) to prepare for the transition to
tiered-fare service (including the acquisition and maintenance of fare-collection
systems) pursuant to a required plan, but directs the Agency to utilize available
federal monies to the greatest extent practicable, provided that there is no negative
impact on any local public transit providers. Also requires Green Mountain
Transit to prepare a plan, which must be filed with the House and Senate
Committees on Transportation by December 1, 2023, for the transition to tiered-
fare service on urban routes with certain parameters, including providing certain
passengers with service at no cost or a reduced cost to the passenger and being
designed, based on reasonable revenue estimates, to generate fare revenue of at
least 10 percent of projected operational costs on urban Green Mountain Transit
routes.
o Requires the Vermont Public Transportation Association, in consultation with the
Agency of Transportation and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, to
provide the House and Senate Committees on Transportation with a written
recommendation by January 15, 2024, on one or more funding sources for the
nonfederal match required of public transit providers.
o Requires the Agency of Transportation, in consultation with the Agency of
Human Services, Division of Vermont Health Access, and the Vermont Public
Transportation Association, to conduct a benefit and risk assessment of the
current system for delivering public transit and nonemergency medical
transportation services (known as the “braided service model”) and file that
assessment with the House and Senate Committees on Transportation, the House
Committee on Human Services, and the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare
by January 15, 2024. Also requires that the assessment include a review of other
approaches in the United States and make recommendations on modifications to
Vermont’s statewide mobility service design in order to make Vermont’s public
transit system as efficient, robust, and resilient as possible while fully maximizing
available federal funding.
• Vehicle Incentive Programs.
o Repeals existing session law related to the Incentive Program for New Plug-In
Electric Vehicles (PEVs), MileageSmart, and Replace Your Ride Program.
o Codifies the Incentive Program for New PEVs, MileageSmart, and Replace Your
Ride Program in 19 V.S.A. chapter 29, with some changes to allow more
flexibility in implementation.
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o Amends prior session law to explicitly specify that the prior authorizations for the
Incentive Program for New PEVs, MileageSmart, and Replace Your Ride
Program from State fiscal year 2023 can be used for the codified versions of the
programs in addition to the versions in session law that are repealed.
o Creates the Electrify Your Fleet Program in session law with an initial
authorization of $500,000.00, less administrative costs.
o Makes changes to the eBike Incentive Program in session law, authorizes an
additional $50,000.00, less administrative costs, for the Program, and directs the
Agency to distribute the $100,000.00, less administrative costs, from 2023 Acts
and Resolves No. 3 (Budget Adjustment Act), Secs. 83 and 85 expeditiously but
to distribute the balance and the new $50,000.00, less administrative costs, under
the Program as modified once that is implemented, which shall be by July 1,
2023.
o Reauthorizes $550,000.00 for the Replace Your Ride Program to the Electrify
Your Fleet Program and the modified eBike Incentive Program, combined.
• Mileage-Based User Fee.
o Provides legislative intent for plans to implement a mileage-based user fee
(MBUF), specifically to:
▪ start collecting an MBUF from all battery electric vehicles (BEVs) starting on
July 1, 2025, which is expected to be the first day of the first fiscal year when
more than 15% of new pleasure car vehicles are plug-in electric vehicles;
▪ start subjecting pleasure car plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) to an
increased annual or biennial registration fee on July 1, 2025, but not an
MBUF;
▪ work towards collecting a fee on kWhs dispensed through certain electric
vehicle supply equipment (EVSE); and
▪ not commence collecting an MBUF until authorizing language is codified and
effective.
o Adds the design of an MBUF to the Transportation Program and authorizes the
Agency to apply for a federal grant for the design of an MBUF, the nonfederal
match for State fiscal year 2024, and the use of contractors and consultants to
design an MBUF.
o Provides the skeletal design parameters for an MBUF, which include that an
MBUF is collected within 60 days of the closure of the mileage reporting period,
which is usually the period between annual inspections but could be a different
period if there is a terminating event (transfer of vehicle and/or registering the
vehicle in another state).
o Requires reporting back to the House and Senate Committees on Transportation,
House Committee on Ways and Means, and Senate Committee on Finance by
January 31, 2024, with an implementation plan, language required for
codification, annual reporting requirements, an outline of what is expected to be
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adopted through rule, and an update on what is happening on a national level and
with other states.
• Agency Efforts to Implement the Federal Carbon Reduction Program and PROTECT
Formula Program and Address Prioritization and Equity. Elaborates upon what will
be prepared as part of the State’s development of a Carbon Reduction Program
(required to get certain federal formula funds under the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act (IIJA)) and the State’s Resilience Improvement Plan to establish how it will
use federal monies available under the Promoting Resilient Operations for
Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Formula
Program established under the IIJA and requires the Agency to develop
recommendations for the integration of carbon reduction, resilience, and equity
factors into its project prioritization system.
• Report on Transportation Policy Statutes. Requires the Agency to provide a written
report summarizing the work completed to implement the Federal Carbon Reduction
Program and PROTECT Formula Program and address prioritization and equity and
recommendations on how to amend codified law to reflect that work to the House and
Senate Committees on Transportation by November 15, 2023.
• Complete Streets.
o Makes technical changes and removes the language on what is required related to
complete streets for certain State-managed projects from 19 V.S.A. § 10b.
o Repeals the section on what is required related to complete streets for certain
municipally managed projects (19 V.S.A. § 309d).
o Adds a new chapter on complete streets (19 V.S.A. chapter 24) that:
▪ adds a definition for “complete streets” (19 V.S.A. § 2401);
▪ adds a section on the State’s policy related to complete streets (19 V.S.A. §
2402);
▪ specifies what is required if certain State- or municipally managed projects do
not incorporate complete streets principles; that the Agency or municipality
determination is final and shall not be subject to further review; and requires,
for State-managed projects, that the written determinations be posted and, for
municipally managed projects, be available for public inspection at the office
of the municipal clerk (19 V.S.A. § 2403); and
▪ requires annual reporting on complete streets and the maintenance of a web-
accessible and web-searchable public data source of information related to
certain State-managed projects (19 V.S.A. § 2404).
o Establishes a timeline for the implementation of the public data source by January
1, 2024.
o Requires the Agency, in consultation with the Vermont League of Cities and
Towns and regional planning commissions, to design and implement a program to
provide training on complete streets to municipalities.
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• Vermont State Standards. States that the Agency will be preparing replacements to
the current Vermont State Standards and related documents in accordance w