Act No. 55 Page 1 of 7
2021
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. 55 (H.433). Transportation; motor vehicles; natural resources and energy;
electric distribution utilities; permits; signs; law enforcement
An act relating to the Transportation Program and miscellaneous changes to
laws related to transportation
This act:
• Transportation Program. Adopts the Agency of Transportation’s (Agency)
Proposed Fiscal Year 2022 Transportation Program except as amended in the
act (Transportation Program), defines terms used throughout the act, and
corrects a typographical error.
• Fiscal Year 2022 Transportation Investments Intended to Reduce
Transportation-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Reduce Fossil Fuel Use,
and Save Vermont Households Money. Summarizes certain transportation
investments.
• Maintenance Budget. Swaps $5,325,000.00 in Transportation Fund monies
for federal monies that are available because of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. L. No. 116-260.
• Bridge 61 (Springfield, VT). Moves the Bridge 61 (Springfield, VT) project
from Program Development to Town Highway Bridges. No changes in
authorized spending.
• DMV IT System Replacement. Adds the DMV IT System Replacement
project to the Transportation Program, with an authorization of
$24,500,000.00 and carryforward language, to align with the appropriation of
the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Pub. L. No. 117-2 (ARPA) monies in
the fiscal year 2022 budget bill.
• Statewide Phosphorus Control Planning. Adds a new project for statewide
phosphorus control planning to the Transportation Program, with an
authorization of $3,000,000.00 and carryforward language, to align with the
appropriation of ARPA monies in the fiscal year 2022 budget bill.
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• Municipal Mitigation Assistance Program. Adds an additional $500,000.00 to
the authorization for the Municipal Mitigation Assistance Program to align
with the appropriation of ARPA monies in the fiscal year 2022 budget bill.
• New Haven Train Depot. Authorizes up to $400,000.00 in one-time
Transportation Fund monies in fiscal year 2022 for a grant to the Town of
New Haven to cover a portion of the costs to relocate the New Haven Train
Depot.
• Repeal of U.S. Route 4 Permit. Expresses legislative intent on the timing
behind the repeal of the U.S. Route 4 permit and why the permit can be
repealed effective July 1, 2022, (allows time for the Agency to work with the
Town of Woodstock to make improvements during the summer 2021
construction season and for the Town to make additional improvements that it
deems necessary) and then repeals the permit (23 V.S.A. § 1432(c)) effective
July 1, 2022.
• Town Highway Aid. Mirrors language to match the $3,000,000.00 increase in
the fiscal year 2022 budget bill appropriation for town highway aid that will
be distributed according to and used for purposes allowed under 19 V.S.A.
§ 306(a). The $3,000,000.00 increase shall not be included in future
calculations for the appropriation required under 19 V.S.A. § 306(a).
• Federal Infrastructure Funding. Establishes a process whereby the Agency
can, with approval from the Joint Transportation Oversight Committee
(JTOC), exceed federal monies spending authority in fiscal year 2021 and
fiscal year 2022 and obligate and expend federal monies and up to
$2,000,000.00 in State Transportation Fund monies on certain projects.
• Inclusion of Maintenance for the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT) in the
Annual Proposed Transportation Program. Adds a new subsection (p) to 19
V.S.A. § 10g—the section of codified law that includes the required contents
of the annual proposed Transportation Program that the Agency is required to
provide to the General Assembly—that will require the Agency to include the
cost of maintaining the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT) in the annual
proposed Transportation Program, starting with fiscal year 2023.
• Town Highway Structures and Class 2 Town Highway Roadway Programs in
Fiscal Year 2021. Authorizes the Agency, in fiscal year 2022, to reimburse
municipalities for projects awarded a grant under these programs for costs
incurred during fiscal year 2021.
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• Town Highway Structures and Class 2 Town Highway Roadway Programs
Minimum Total Grant Awards. Amends 19 V.S.A. § 306(e) and (h) to
increase the total annual minimum in grant awards for each program.
• Class 2 Town Highway Roadway Program Maximum Grant Award. Amends
19 V.S.A. § 309b to increase the existing maximum grant award for the Class
2 Town Highway Roadway Program from $175,000.00 to $200,000.00.
• Incentive Programs for New PEVs.
o Authorizes a total of $3,250,000.00 in one-time Transportation Fund
monies in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 (combined) for the Incentive
Program for New PEVs and the Agency’s partnership with Drive Electric
Vermont. Up to $250,000.00 is available for the partnership with Drive
Electric Vermont, and the balance is available for incentives under the
Incentive Program for New PEVs (with up to 10 percent of that allowed
for administrative costs).
o Amends session law to eliminate the requirement that the Incentive
Program for New PEVs is administered by the Agency through no cost
contracts with the State’s electric distribution utilities.
o Amends session law to change the name of the program from the New
PEV Incentive Program to the Incentive Program for New PEVs.
o Amends session law to allow for one incentive per individual per year,
raises the income eligibility cap under which someone can qualify for the
larger incentive available under the Incentive Program for New PEVs,
expands eligibility to tax-exempt organizations incorporated in Vermont
that provide Vermonters with transportation alternatives to personal
vehicle ownership (maximum of five incentives, can be a combination of
plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles
(BEVs), in fiscal year 2022), and allows for stacking amongst incentive
programs but not within the Incentive Program for New PEVs itself.
• MileageSmart.
o Authorizes $750,000.00 in one-time Transportation Fund monies for
MileageSmart in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 (combined) and $500,000.00
in one-time General Fund monies for MileageSmart in fiscal year 2022,
with up to 10 percent of the total amount that is given out in incentives
(inclusive of carryforward) in fiscal year 2022 available for administrative
costs.
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o Amends session law to change the income eligibility qualification from
qualifying for weatherization services through the Weatherization
Program to 80 percent of the State median income.
• Emissions Repair Program.
o Amends session law to separate out the emissions repair program, which
has never commenced, from what became MileageSmart.
o Re-establishes the emissions repair program with a fiscal year 2022
authorization and transfer to the Department of Environmental
Conservation of $375,000.00 in one-time Transportation Fund monies,
with up to $50,000.00 of that $375,000.00 available for startup costs and
outreach education and up to $125,000.00 of that $375,000.00 available
for administration and development costs.
o Repeals the session law requirement that the Department of Motor
Vehicles, in consultation with the Department of Environmental
Consultation, establish a program of waivers related to the emissions
component of the annual inspection on January 1, 2023.
• Replace Your Ride Program. Establishes the Replace Your Ride Program
with a fiscal year 2022 authorization of $1,500,000.00 in one-time
Transportation Fund monies and up to $300,000.00 of that $1,500,000.00
available for startup costs, outreach education, and costs associated with
developing and administering the program.
• Electric Bicycle Incentives. Authorizes $50,000.00 in one-time
Transportation Fund monies to provide 250 $200.00 incentives for electric
bicycles in fiscal year 2022.
• Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Grant Program in Multi-Unit
Dwellings (MUDs). Requires the Agency to establish and administer a pilot
program within the existing VW EVSE Grant Program that supports the
continued buildout of EVSE at multi-unit affordable housing and multi-unit
dwellings MUDs owned by a nonprofit, with an authorization of
$1,000,000.00 in one-time Transportation Fund monies in fiscal year 2022.
The program is expanded to all MUDs if there is still funding available after
the first round of grant awards, and a report on the outcomes of the pilot
program is due to the House and Senate Committees on Transportation not
later than January 15, 2022.
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• EVSE Network in Vermont. Establishes as a State goal having, as
practicable, a level 3 EVSE charging port available to the public within five
miles of every interstate exit in the State and 50 miles of another level 3
EVSE charging port available to the public along a State highway and requires
the annual filing of an up-to-date map showing the locations of all level 3
EVSE available to the public with the House and Senate Committees on
Transportation by January 15 each year until the goal is met.
• Zero-Fare Public Transit in Fiscal Year 2022. Specifies that it is the General
Assembly’s intent to use available federal monies (through the Coronavirus
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Pub. L. No. 116-136 (CARES Act);
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. L. No. 116-260; and the
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Pub. L. No. 117-2 (ARPA)) to provide
zero-fare public transit on urban and rural routes in fiscal year 2022, as
practicable.
• Coordinated Intermodal Connections Review. Requires the Agency, in
coordination with certain providers, to review and implement coordinated
intermodal connections, to the extent practicable, to ensure efficient and
accessible intermodal transportation in Vermont. The Agency is also directed
to work with transportation providers to support the cross promotion of
intermodal connections.
• Plug-In Electric Vehicle (PEV) Electric Distribution Utility Rate Design.
Requires electric distribution utilities to offer PEV rates for public and private
EVSE not later than June 30, 2024, and establishes considerations as part of
the Public Utility Commission’s review. The act also establishes an extension
process, grandfathers in certain rates, and requires annual reporting to multiple
committees through January 2025.
• Public Transportation Electrification Plan. Requires the Agency, in
consultation with the State’s public transit providers, to prepare a long-range
plan that outlines the costs, timeline, training, maintenance, and operational
actions required to move to a fully electrified public transportation fleet, with
the long-range plan required to be filed with the House and Senate
Committees on Transportation not later than January 31, 2022.
• Airport and Rail Signs; Banners. Amends 10 V.S.A. § 494 (Vermont’s
sign/billboard law) to allow the Agency to approve and erect signs directing
individuals to State-owned airports and intercity passenger rail stations
(includes Amtrak) located within 25 miles of a limited access highway exit
(10 V.S.A. § 494(6)(C)) and require authorization from the legislative body of
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the municipality where a banner is located in the case of banners across the
highway right-of-way (10 V.S.A. § 494(18)).
• Site Plan Review. Amends 24 V.S.A. § 4416(b) to clarify coordination
requirements between the site plan approval process at the local level and the
Agency’s State Highway Access and Work Permit (Section 1111 Permit).
• Subdivision Approval. Adds a new subsection (e) to 24 V.S.A. § 4463 to
ensure coordination requirements between the subdivision approval process at
the local level and the Section 1111 Permit.
• Section 1111 Permit Amendment Fees. Amends 19 V.S.A. § 1112(b) so that
Section 1111 Permit amendments have a fee of $0.00, as opposed to the
applicable initial permit fee.
• Improvements of High-Use Corridor Segments for Bicyclists. Requires the
Agency to continue to improve highways as required under 19 V.S.A. § 2310
in order to enhance safety and accessibility on highways, with a particular
focus on high-use corridors identified in the On-Road Bicycle Plan prepared
in April 2016, or a subsequent update. This act also specifies what to consider
when making improvements, including: traffic volume; scope of project; and
other factors, such as environmental or right-of-way impacts.
• Work Zone Highway Safety Automated Traffic Law Enforcement Study and
Report. Requires the Agency, in consultation with the Department of Public
Safety and Associated General Contractors of Vermont, to study and report on
the use of automated traffic law enforcement systems in work zones and
provide recommendations to the House and Senate Committees on Judiciary
and on Transportation not later than January 15, 2022.
• Transportation Equity Framework. Requires the Agency, in consultation with
the State’s 11 Regional Planning Commissions (RPCs), to undertake a
comprehensive analysis of the State’s existing transportation programs and
develop a recommendation on a transportation equity framework that can be
used by the Agency to advance mobility equity, which is a transportation
system that increases access to mobility options, reduces air pollution, and
enhances economic opportunity to Vermonters in communities that have been
underserved by the State’s transportation system.
Multiple effective dates, beginning on June 3, 2021
See chart on following page.
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Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 19-306, 19-309b, 10-494, 24-4416, 19-1112(b), 19-1112
As Passed By the House -- Official: 19-306, 19-309b, 10-494, 24-4416, 19-1112(b), 19-1112
As Passed By the House -- Unofficial: 19-306, 19-309b, 10-494, 24-4416, 19-1112(b), 19-1112
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Official: 19-306, 19-309b, 10-494, 24-4416, 19-1112(b), 19-1112, 23-1432(c), 23-1432
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Unofficial: 23-1432(c), 23-1432, 19-306, 19-309b, 10-494, 24-4416, 19-1112(b), 19-1112
As Enacted: 23-1432(c), 23-1432, 19-306, 19-309b, 10-494, 24-4416, 19-1112(b), 19-1112