LB138 LB138
2023 2023
LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 138
FINAL READING
Introduced by Bosn, 25; Geist, 25; Raybould, 28; Brewer, 43; DeKay, 40.
Read first time January 06, 2023
Committee: Transportation and Telecommunications
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to transportation; to amend sections 3-107,
2 13-1205, 39-1348, 60-484.05, 60-484.06, 60-4,120, 60-4,142,
3 60-4,144, 60-4,172, 60-4,181, 60-601, 60-605, 60-611, 60-640,
4 60-678, and 66-4,100, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and
5 sections 39-847, 39-1351, 60-107, 60-119.01, 60-169, 60-302.01,
6 60-336.01, 60-386, 60-3,113.04, 60-3,193.01, 60-462, 60-462.01,
7 60-479.01, 60-4,111.01, 60-4,115, 60-4,122, 60-4,132, 60-4,134,
8 60-4,138, 60-4,147.02, 60-4,168, 60-501, 60-628.01, 60-6,265,
9 60-2705, 60-2909.01, 75-363, 75-364, 75-366, 75-369.03, 75-392, and
10 75-393, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022; to provide for
11 the use of the Highway Cash Fund for administrative costs of the
12 Division of Aeronautics of the Department of Transportation; to
13 provide powers and duties; to change the required county
14 contribution for bridge replacement; to provide for adjustments to
15 threshold amounts for road construction contracts; to adopt updates
16 to federal law and update certain federal references; to change
17 provisions of the Motor Vehicle Operator's License Act as
18 prescribed; to define and redefine terms; to provide for the
19 regulation of electric bicycles as prescribed; to change and provide
20 for certain penalties; to harmonize provisions; to provide operative
21 dates; to repeal the original sections; and to declare an emergency.
22 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Section 3-107, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
2 amended to read:
3 3-107 (1) The division shall have general supervision over
4 aeronautics within this state. It is empowered and directed to encourage,
5 foster, and assist in the development of aeronautics in this state and
6 encourage the establishment of airports and other air navigation
7 facilities.
8 (2) The Department of Transportation may budget for and pay any of
9 the costs related to the administration of the division, including, but
10 not limited to, employee salaries and benefits, out of the Highway Cash
11 Fund, as the Director-State Engineer determines, in his or her sole
12 discretion, to be in the best interest of transportation in Nebraska.
13 Such costs do not include costs related to the construction,
14 reconstruction, repair, operation, or maintenance of airport
15 infrastructure, including runways, concrete surfacing, hangers or capital
16 improvements, buildings, and structures.
17 (3) No state funds for the acquisition, engineering, construction,
18 improvement, or maintenance of airports shall be expended upon any
19 project or for any work upon any such project which is not done under the
20 supervision of the division. When any airport which has received state
21 grant funds pursuant to the State Aeronautics Act ceases to be an airport
22 or a privately owned public use airport, the division shall, consistent
23 with all other provisions of state and federal law, seek to recover so
24 much of the state funds provided to the airport as it may and shall
25 deposit any such funds so recovered into the Aeronautics Cash Fund.
26 Sec. 2. Section 13-1205, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
27 amended to read:
28 13-1205 The department shall have the following powers, duties, and
29 responsibilities:
30 (1) To collect and maintain data on the level of public
31 transportation services and needs in the state and identify areas not
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1 being adequately served by existing public or private transportation
2 services;
3 (2) To assess the regional and statewide effect of changes,
4 improvement, and route abandonments in the state's public transportation
5 system;
6 (3) To develop a six-year statewide transit plan and programs for
7 public transportation in coordination with local plans and programs
8 developed by municipalities, counties, transit authorities, and regional
9 metropolitan transit authorities;
10 (4) To provide planning and technical assistance to agencies of the
11 state, political subdivisions, or groups seeking to improve public
12 transportation;
13 (5) To advise, consult, and cooperate with agencies of the state,
14 the federal government, and other states, interstate agencies, political
15 subdivisions, and groups concerned with public transportation;
16 (6) To cooperate with the Public Service Commission by providing
17 periodic assessments to the commission when determining the effect of
18 proposed regulatory decisions on public transportation;
19 (7) To administer federal and state programs providing financial
20 assistance to public transportation, except those federal and state
21 programs in which a municipality, county, transit authority, regional
22 metropolitan transit authority, or other state agency is designated as
23 the administrator; and
24 (8) To develop and administer a safety oversight program to oversee
25 rail transit systems operated by the state, an interstate agency, or any
26 political subdivision; and
27 (9) (8) To exercise all other powers necessary and proper for the
28 discharge of its duties, including the adoption and promulgation of
29 reasonable rules and regulations to carry out the Nebraska Public
30 Transportation Act.
31 Sec. 3. Section 39-847, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
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1 2022, is amended to read:
2 39-847 (1) Any county board may apply, in writing, to the Department
3 of Transportation for state aid in the replacement of any bridge under
4 the jurisdiction of such board. The application shall contain a
5 description of the bridge, with a preliminary estimate of the cost of
6 replacement thereof, and a certified copy of the resolution of such
7 board, pledging such county to furnish up to twenty fifty percent of the
8 cost of replacement of such bridge. The county's share of replacement
9 cost may be from any source except the State Aid Bridge Fund, except that
10 where there is any bridge which is the responsibility of two counties,
11 either county may make application to the department and, if the
12 application is approved by the department, such county and the department
13 may replace such bridge and recover, by suit, one-half of the county's
14 cost of such bridge from the county failing or refusing to join in such
15 application. All requests for bridge replacement under sections 39-846 to
16 39-847.01 shall be forwarded by the department to the Board of Public
17 Roads Classifications and Standards. Such board shall establish
18 priorities for bridge replacement based on critical needs. The board
19 shall consider such applications and establish priorities for a period of
20 time consistent with sections 39-2115 to 39-2119. The board shall return
21 the applications to the department with the established priorities.
22 (2) The plans and specifications for each bridge shall be furnished
23 by the department and replacement shall be under the supervision of the
24 department and the county board.
25 (3) Any contract for the replacement of any such bridge shall be
26 made by the department consistent with procedures for contracts for state
27 highways and federal-aid secondary roads.
28 (4) After the replacement of any such bridge and the acceptance
29 thereof by the department, any county having jurisdiction over it shall
30 have sole responsibility for maintenance.
31 Sec. 4. Section 39-1348, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
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1 amended to read:
2 39-1348 (1) Except as otherwise provided in sections 39-2808 to
3 39-2823, when letting contracts for the construction, reconstruction,
4 improvement, maintenance, or repair of roads, bridges, and their
5 appurtenances, the department shall solicit bids as follows:
6 (a) (1) For contracts with an estimated cost, as determined by the
7 department, of greater than two hundred fifty one hundred thousand
8 dollars, the department shall advertise for sealed bids for not less than
9 twenty days by publication of a notice thereof once a week for three
10 consecutive weeks in the official county newspaper designated by the
11 county board in the county where the work is to be done and in such
12 additional newspaper or newspapers as may appear necessary to the
13 department in order to give notice of the receiving of bids. Such
14 advertisement shall state the place where the plans and specifications
15 for the work may be inspected and shall designate the time when the bids
16 shall be filed and opened. If through no fault of the department
17 publication of such notice fails to appear in any newspaper or newspapers
18 in the manner provided in this subdivision, the department shall be
19 deemed to have fulfilled the requirements of this subdivision; and
20 (b) (2) For contracts with an estimated cost, as determined by the
21 department, of two hundred fifty one hundred thousand dollars or less,
22 the department, in its sole discretion, shall either:
23 (i) (a) Follow the procedures given in subdivision (a) (1) of this
24 subsection section; or
25 (ii) (b) Request bids from at least three potential bidders for such
26 work. If the department requests bids under this subdivision, it shall
27 designate a time when the bids shall be opened. The department may award
28 a contract pursuant to this subdivision if it receives at least one
29 responsive bid.
30 (2) The Department of Transportation may adjust the amounts in
31 subdivisions (1)(a) and (b) of this section annually on October 1 by the
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1 percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers
2 published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
3 Statistics, at the close of the twelve-month period ending on August 31
4 of such year. The amounts shall be rounded to the next highest one-
5 thousand-dollar amount.
6 Sec. 5. Section 39-1351, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
7 2022, is amended to read:
8 39-1351 (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section,
9 any person desiring to submit to the department a bid for the performance
10 of any contract for the construction, reconstruction, improvement,
11 maintenance, or repair of roads, bridges, and their appurtenances, which
12 the department proposes to let, shall apply to the department for
13 prequalification. Such application shall be made not later than five days
14 before the letting of the contract unless fewer than five days is
15 specified by the department. The department shall determine the extent of
16 any applicant's qualifications by a full and appropriate evaluation of
17 the applicant's experience, bonding capacity as determined by a bonding
18 agency licensed to do business in the State of Nebraska or other
19 sufficient financial showing deemed satisfactory by the department, and
20 performance record. In determining the qualification of an applicant to
21 bid on any particular contract, the department shall consider the
22 resources available for the particular contract contemplated.
23 (2) The department may, in its sole discretion, grant an exemption
24 from all prequalification requirements for (a) any contract for the
25 construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, or repair of
26 roads, bridges, and their appurtenances if the estimate of the department
27 for such work is two hundred fifty one hundred thousand dollars or less
28 or (b) any contract for the construction, reconstruction, improvement,
29 maintenance, or repair of roads, bridges, and their appurtenances if such
30 work is of an emergency nature.
31 Sec. 6. Section 60-107, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
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1 2022, is amended to read:
2 60-107 Cabin trailer means a trailer or a semitrailer, which is
3 designed, constructed, and equipped as a dwelling place, living abode, or
4 sleeping place, whether used for such purposes or instead permanently or
5 temporarily for the advertising, sale, display, or promotion of
6 merchandise or services or for any other commercial purpose except
7 transportation of property for hire or transportation of property for
8 distribution by a private carrier. Cabin trailer does not mean a trailer
9 or semitrailer which is permanently attached to real estate. There are
10 four classes of cabin trailers:
11 (1) Camping trailer which includes cabin trailers one hundred two
12 inches or less in width and forty feet or less in length and adjusted
13 mechanically smaller for towing;
14 (2) Mobile home which includes cabin trailers more than one hundred
15 two inches in width or more than forty feet in length;
16 (3) Travel trailer which includes cabin trailers not more than one
17 hundred two inches in width nor more than forty feet in length from front
18 hitch to rear bumper, except as provided in subdivision (2)(k) of section
19 60-6,288; and
20 (4) Manufactured home means a structure, transportable in one or
21 more sections, which in the traveling mode is eight body feet or more in
22 width or forty body feet or more in length or when erected on site is
23 three hundred twenty or more square feet and which is built on a
24 permanent frame and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a
25 permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities and
26 includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems
27 contained in the structure, except that manufactured home includes any
28 structure that meets all of the requirements of this subdivision other
29 than the size requirements and with respect to which the manufacturer
30 voluntarily files a certification required by the United States Secretary
31 of Housing and Urban Development and complies with the standards
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1 established under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and
2 Safety Standards Act of 1974, as such act existed on January 1, 2023
3 2022, 42 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.
4 Sec. 7. Section 60-119.01, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
5 2022, is amended to read:
6 60-119.01 Low-speed vehicle means a (1) four-wheeled motor vehicle
7 (a) whose speed attainable in one mile is m