Act No. 184 Page 1 of 9
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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. 184 (H.736). Transportation; motor vehicles; natural resources and energy;
Burlington International Airport; Transportation Board; signs; permits;
weight, length, and height restrictions; sustainable building components;
transportation network companies
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 2023 Transportation Program except as amended in the
act (Transportation Program) and defines terms used throughout the act.
• Fiscal Year 2023 Transportation Investments Intended to Reduce
Transportation-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Reduce Fossil Fuel Use,
and Save Vermont Households Money. Summarizes certain transportation
investments.
• Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Along the State Highway
Network. Authorizes $6,250,000.00 in investments in level 3 electric vehicle
supply equipment (EVSE) along the State highway network and updates the
State’s goals for level 3 EVSE along the State highway network to have a
level 3 EVSE within one driving mile of every exit of the Dwight D.
Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways and 25
driving miles of another level 3 EVSE along the State highway.
• Vehicle Incentive Programs. Authorizes the following for the existing vehicle
incentive programs and the existing public-private partnership with Drive
Electric Vermont:
o $12,000,000.00 for the Incentive Program for New PEVs;
o $3,000,000.00 for MileageSmart;
o $3,000,000.00 for Replace Your Ride;
o $50,000.00 for an incentive program for electric bicycles; and
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o $2,000,000.00 for the public-private partnership with Drive Electric
Vermont.
• Base MSRP for the Incentive Program for New PEVs. Increases the Base
Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for battery electric vehicles
(BEV) that are eligible for an incentive through the Incentive Program for
New PEVs from $40,000.00 to $45,000.00 and eliminates the Base MSRP cap
if the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) will be issued a special registration plate
or predominately used to provide accessible transportation to the incentive
recipient or a member of the incentive recipient’s household. Maintains the
$40,000.00 Base MSRP cap for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV).
• Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST) Authorizations. Authorizes
the Agency of Transportation to spend $50,000.00 in one-time General Fund
monies in grants to the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST) to
support the Law Enforcement and Safety Program and $750,000.00 in one-
time General Fund monies in grants to VAST to support the Equipment Grant-
in-Aid Program, with certain parameters on awards.
• Bridge Formula Program for Off-System Bridges. Establishes the policy for
how increased federal funds, available because of the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), for off-system bridges will be used to fully
cover construction—but with engineering (PE) and right-of-way (ROW)
staying at 80% federal, 10% State, and 10% municipal—for:
o all off-system bridges in the Fiscal Year 2023 Transportation Program for
Town Highway Bridges that: (1) were not authorized for federal funds for
the construction phase prior to the Fiscal Year 2023 Transportation
Program and (2) are either listed as a front-of-book project or a
development and evaluation (D&E) project; and
o all off-system covered bridges and historic truss bridges in fiscal years
2023 through 2029 based on the statutory prioritization
with the balance of available federal funds going to town highway bridges
advanced based on the statutory prioritization. Also amends the Fiscal Year
2023 Transportation Program to swap $689,082.00 in Transportation Fund
monies and $589,082.00 in municipal monies for $1,278,164.00 in federal
monies and adds covered bridges and historic truss bridges to the candidate
list in Town Highway Bridges.
• Program Development and Town Highway Aid. Reduces the Program
Development (operating expenses) authorization by $54,211.00 in
Transportation Fund monies and increases the Town Highway Aid
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authorization by $54,211.00 in Transportation Fund monies to fund Town
Highway Aid at the statutorily required amount.
• Town Highway Structures and Class 2 Roadway Grant Programs and
Maintenance. Increases the authorization for the Town Highway Structures
Grant Program by $866,500.00 in Transportation Fund monies, increases the
authorization for the Class 2 Roadway Grant Program by $951,250.00 in
Transportation Fund monies, reduces the Maintenance authorization by
$1,817,750.00 in Transportation Fund monies, and establishes a process for
reappropriating up to $1,817,750.00 in unencumbered base Transportation
Fund monies appropriated for fiscal year 2022 for Maintenance in fiscal year
2023.
• Mobility and Transportation Innovation (MTI) Grant Program. Funds the
Mobility and Transportation Innovation (MTI) Grant Program with
$500,000.00 in Transportation Fund monies and $1,000,000.00 in General
Fund monies, with not less than $1,250,000.00 going to support microtransit
projects.
• One-Time Public Transit Monies. Authorizes $1,200,000.00 in General Fund
monies to the Agency to distribute to public transit providers to, as practicable
and in the sole discretion of the public transit provider, provide zero-fare
public transit on routes other than commuter and LINK Express and restore
service to pre-COVID-19 levels. Also requires a report to the House and
Senate Committees on Transportation not later than January 15, 2023 on (1)
changes in public transit ridership and (2) what is needed to fund zero-fare
public transit going forward.
• Burlington International Airport Working Group. Authorizes $150,000.00
($15,000.00 in Transportation Fund monies and $135,000.00 in federal
monies) for a newly created, working group to, with the assistance of an
independent third-party consultant with expertise in airport governance,
discuss current issues of regional concern regarding the Burlington
International Airport (Airport), explore opportunities for regional
collaboration regarding the Airport, analyze what actions could address any
issues of regional concern at the Airport, and make recommendations on
actions, including a change in the governance structure of the Airport, that
could address issues of regional concern regarding the Airport. Also
establishes the membership of the working group, what needs to be reviewed,
the timeline, and other administrative matters.
• Carbon Reduction Program Monies. Requires the Agency to consult with the
Vermont Climate Council and ensure that within the Agency’s proposed
Transportation Programs for fiscal years 2024, 2025, and 2026 all federal
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monies that are proposed by the State for expenditure under the Carbon
Reduction Program are allocated toward projects that align with the
recommendations of the Climate Action Plan (CAP) issued under 10 V.S.A.
§ 592.
• Vermont State Standards. Requires the Agency to develop a plan for updating
the Vermont State Standards for the Design of Transportation Construction,
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation on Freeways, Roads, and Streets (Vermont
State Standards) and related documents to create context sensitive, multimodal
projects that support smart growth as recommended in the Revising the
Vermont State Standards (VSS) M2D2: Multimodal Development and
Delivery Work Plan, March 2015 and budget for the plan to update the
Vermont State Standards and related documents in the Agency’s proposed
Transportation Program for fiscal year 2024 Transportation Program. Also
requires the Agency to make staff available to the House and Senate
Committees on Transportation for an oral presentation on the plan beginning
on January 15, 2023.
• Transportation Alternatives Grant Program. Repeals obsolete language (prior
fiscal years) and requires that, starting in fiscal year 2024 and in most
instances, 50 percent of Transportation Alternative Grant Program funds be
reserved for municipalities for environmental mitigation projects related to
stormwater and highways.
• Amendments to Fiscal Year 2022 Transportation Program. Eliminates the
requirement that electric bicycle incentives funded for fiscal year 2022 be
$200.00, which will give the Agency flexibility in administration; allows up to
$5,000.00 from administrative cost allowances for Replace Your Ride to be
used to administer the electric bicycle incentives; and clarifies that level 1 and
2 EVSE are eligible for grant awards under the EVSE Grant Program that was
funded for fiscal year 2022.
• Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Integration Program. Establishes the Bicycle
and Pedestrian Planning Integration Program to support the continued
development and buildout of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and
requires consultation between the Agency and the regional planning
commissions (RPCs).
• Transportation Board. Makes conforming revisions to Titles 5 and 9 in
response to an amendment to 19 V.S.A. § 5(c), made by 2016 Acts and
Resolves No. 167, Sec. 6, to provide that in virtually all instances appeals
from the Transportation Board go to the Supreme Court and adds clarifying
language, including subsection headings, to 19 V.S.A. § 5.
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• Common Carrier Assessments. Repeals Title 5 chapter 5, which is now
obsolete because the common carrier assessment that was formerly in 5
V.S.A. § 63 was repealed by 1988 Acts and Resolves No. 160, Sec. 1, but the
balance of the chapter containing administrative provisions (5 V.S.A. §§ 64–
67) was not repealed.
• On-Premises Signs. Amends 10 V.S.A. § 493(1), and the allowance for on-
premises signs, to measure the distance from the on-premises sign to a main
entrance based on a straight line, and not a line measured along the centerline
of the highway, if the change in elevation from the sign to the main entrance is
more than 100 feet.
• Right-of-Way (1111) Permit Fees. Amends 19 V.S.A. § 1112 to only assess
the right-of-way (1111) permit fee for stormwater utility connections that are
subsurface, and only for the collective-direct connection to the State highway
subsurface stormwater system, as opposed to each direct connection
individually.
• Site Plan Review. Amends 24 V.S.A. § 4416(b) to change “shall”
(mandatory) to “may” (permissive) and strike “any” to eliminate the
requirement that the Agency include all permit conditions in the site plan
review process letter (would still be included in the right-of-way (1111)
permit itself).
• Smugglers’ Notch Restrictions. Amends 23 V.S.A. § 1006b to have the civil
penalty for violating the Smugglers’ Notch restrictions be assessed against the
employer of the operator of the vehicle, if operating in the scope of
employment, or the operator of the vehicle, if operating for personal purposes,
for violations and have the vehicle prohibition to be based on length of vehicle
and not type of vehicle.
• Restrictions on the Use of Covered Bridges; Other Limits; Liability for
Damages; Recovery of Expenses.
o Repeals 19 V.S.A. § 313, municipal authority to restrict the use of covered
bridges, but adds the authority back (in updated form) as 23 V.S.A.
§ 1397a.
o Repeals 19 V.S.A. § 315, fines for violating covered bridge restrictions,
but adds increased civil penalties ($1,000.00 for a first violation,
$2,000.00 for a first violation that substantially impedes the flow of traffic,
and doubled for a second or subsequent conviction within a three-year
period) for violating covered bridge restrictions as 23 V.S.A. § 1434(c).
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o Amends 23 V.S.A. § 1399(b), exceptions to weight limits, to expand the
exclusion for municipal and volunteer fire apparatus that can be operated
in excess of weight limitations to also include law enforcement motor
vehicles.
o Amends 23 V.S.A. § 1400d, agricultural service vehicle exemptions, to
exempt agricultural service vehicles from the prohibition on operating in
excess of covered bridges limits.
o Amends 23 V.S.A. § 1492, liability for damages, to update very outdated
internal citations and adds subsection 1434(c) to the list of violations that
trigger liability for damages to the public highway or bridge.
o Repeals 23 V.S.A. § 1112, recovery for expenses for emergency services
from operating on a closed highway, but adds broader language that
allows a municipal, county, or State entity that deploys rescue services to
aid stranded operators or move disabled vehicles in certain instances to
recover from the operator or operator’s employer, provided that the
operator was acting during or incidental to the operator’s scope of
employment, the costs of providing rescue services as 24 V.S.A. § 2296a.
o Amends 23 V.S.A. § 1400b, filing of weight restrictions, to eliminate the
requirement that municipalities file a complete copy of the list of special
weight limits for town highways in the municipality by February 10 of
each year.
o Makes other technical and conforming revisions.
• Statement of Policy on Sustainable Building Components. Adds 19 V.S.A.
§ 10m to address the Agency’s statement of policy on the use of sustainable
building components in all maintenance, construction, and improvement
projects within the State’s Transportation Program.
• Authority for State to Collect Fees for Use of State EVSE. Amends 32 V.S.A.
§ 604 to require the Agency and the Department of Buildings and General
Services to make staff available to standing committees beginning on January
15 each year to give an oral presentation on the State’s efforts to collect fees
at State owned/controlled EVSE and any significant national trends with
regards to the pricing of EVSE. Also extends the sunset on 32 V.S.A. § 604
to July 1, 2025.
• Authority for Secretary of Transportation to Relinquish Portions of the State
Highway and State Highway Right-of-Way to the Town of St. Albans.
Extends the Secretary of Transportation’s authority to enter into an agreement
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with the Town of St. Albans to relinquish a segment of the State highway
right-of-way for what was to be known as the Vermont Route 207 Extension
until June 30, 2032, and authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to, until
June 30, 2032, enter into an agreement with the Town of St. Albans to
relinquish a segment of Vermont Route 36.
• Regulation of Transportation Network Companies (TNC). Extends the sunset
of the local regulation preemption savings clause so that municipalities with a
population of more than 35,000 re