Second Regular Session Sixty-sixth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO INTRODUCED LLS NO. 08-0869.01 Jason Gelender HOUSE BILL 08-1312 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Levy, SENATE SPONSORSHIP Gordon, House Committees Senate Committees Transportation & Energy A BILL FOR AN ACT Concerning transportation planning, and, in connection therewith, establishing new transportation system performance efficiency and sustainability goals, requiring consideration of land use planning issues and adverse impacts during the transportation planning process, and specifying other new requirements related to state, regional, and local transportation planning. Bill Summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not necessarily reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted.) Establishes goals of the transportation planning process. Requires the regional transportation process to provide decision makers, affected stakeholders, and the public with specified analyses and information prior to the proposal of a revised plan for comment and throughout the transportation planning process. Requires a regional transportation plan, which each regional planning commission must adopt, to provide for the most cost-effective investment of available resources that will achieve the greatest progress toward the newly established goals of the transportation planning process and comply with other specified requirements. Specifies deadlines for the adoption of regional transportation plans that comply with the new requirements of the act and updates of the plans. Specifies resource-, impact-, and progress-related information to be included in plan updates. Specifies requirements for the preparation of the statewide transportation plan by the transportation commission (commission) including requirements for the integration and consolidation of regional transportation plans into the statewide transportation plan. Specifies limited circumstances in which the commission may decline to incorporate priorities contained in a regional transportation plan into the statewide transportation plan. Requires the commission to promulgate rules to govern specified elements of the transportation planning process. Prohibits funding of transportation projects that increase highway capacity unless regional and statewide transportation plans and a corridor development plan that govern the area where the project is located have been adopted. Specifies the manner of adoption of and substantive requirements regarding corridor development plans. Requires the commission to allocate funding for transportation projects that add new capacity or increase mobility based on demonstrated progress toward achievement of the goals of the transportation planning process. Makes legislative findings and declarations. Defines terms. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. 43-1-1101, Colorado Revised Statutes, is REPEALED AND REENACTED, WITH AMENDMENTS, to read: 43-1-1101. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that: (a) Growth in vehicle travel is exceeding the growth in the state's ability to fund expanded highway capacity under constitutional funding limitations. (b) Revenues from traditional transportation funding sources such as motor fuel excise taxes will decline per mile of vehicle travel as future vehicle fuel efficiency increases. (c) The economic well-being of Colorado requires that the state maintain acceptable levels of transportation system performance in order to provide cost-effective mobility for citizens and the transport of goods. (d) Maintaining mobility within the resource limitations currently available to the state, counties, and local governments requires that transportation investments be limited to projects, programs, and services that will achieve the most cost-effective enhancement in the performance of existing highways and transit services and facilities. (e) Transportation investments must be coordinated with land use planning to achieve cost-effective enhancements in regional and statewide mobility. (2) The general assembly further finds and declares that: (a) Transportation sources account for nearly one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. (b) The risks of disruption of the state economy from climate change, including loss of water supplies, reduction in snow season, reduced crop production, increased damage from wildfires, and widespread forest damage from insect pests, require reductions in greenhouse pollutants from all sectors, including the transportation sector. (c) Planning for growth within each community is best done by local governments. (d) Local land use decisions have regional impacts, including impacts on the regional and statewide transportation systems, which should be taken into account when land use decisions are made. (e) The transportation planning process must be coordinated with local land use planning to achieve optimal transportation system performance with available resources while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation activities. (f) The transportation planning process must produce transportation plans for metropolitan planning areas and a statewide transportation plan that comply with the requirements of the federal transportation planning process, as amended by Pub. L. 109-59. SECTION 2. 43-1-1102 (1), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8) (a), Colorado Revised Statutes, are amended, and the said 43-1-1102 is further amended BY THE ADDITION OF THE FOLLOWING NEW SUBSECTIONS, to read: 43-1-1102. Definitions. For the purposes of this part 11, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Committee" means the transportation advisory planning committee created by section 43-1-1104. (1.5) "Corridor development plan" means a plan that provides for the coordination of local land use and development policies, economic incentives to be implemented in a corridor, and the access and management plan adopted by a facility operator to optimize progress toward the goals of the transportation planning process. (1.7) "Corridor of statewide concern" means a transportation corridor located in more than one transportation planning region that serves as a major transportation link between regions of the state or carries a significant portion of vehicles traveling through the state in interstate commerce. (3.2) "Economic incentives" means requirements established by local ordinance, rules promulgated by the commission, or policies adopted as part of a regional transportation plan that contribute to achieving the goals of the transportation planning process, including but not limited to: (a) Tolls or access fees that vary as a function of travel demand, time of day, or vehicle occupancy; (b) Vehicle greenhouse gas emission fees that create an incentive to use cleaner engines, fuels, or energy sources that emit less greenhouse gases per mile of travel; (c) Economic policies and programs that create incentives for employers to cash out parking privileges of employees; (d) Transit pass, community ride share, vehicle-share programs, or other incentives for employees, students, residents, and customers to promote alternatives to personal vehicle use; and (e) Impact fees designed to encourage development that facilitates mobility without reliance on personal vehicle use. (3.3) "Greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation system" means the annual tons of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gas pollutants emitted in significant amounts, as may be determined from time to time by the air quality control commission, from all mobile and stationary sources associated with the transportation system, including but not limited to emissions from the production, refining, transport, storage, distribution of motor fuels used in Colorado, and the use of such fuels in surface and air transportation and watercraft. Emissions shall be reported separately for the highway passenger, highway freight, rail, aviation, and watercraft sectors of the transportation system using emission factors published by the United States environmental protection agency or air quality control commission so that the effect of policies and plans on future emissions can be quantified. (3.4) "Increase highway capacity" means the creation or construction of any new or additional lane miles or interchanges that expand access to existing highway facilities or the conversion of limited access lanes to general purpose lanes. (4) "Metropolitan planning organization" means a metropolitan planning organization designated under the "Federal Highway Aid Act", 23 U.S.C. sec. 134 (d) and the federal "Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964", as amended, Pub.L. 88-365, codified at 49 U.S.C. sec. 1601 et seq. (5) "Regional planning commission" means a metropolitan planning organization for any metropolitan planning region that has been designated pursuant to federal law, or a regional planning commission formed under the provisions of section 30-28-105, C.R.S., for any other transportation planning region designated by the commission. (6) "Regional transportation plan" means a technically based, long-range, future mobility needs assessment investment plan adopted by a regional planning commission for any planning and management region. (6.5) "State-of-the-art transportation demand models" means an available method for estimating and evaluating the potential benefits for making progress toward the goals of the transportation planning process that could be achieved by implementing economic incentives, potential land use policies, and other strategies that affect travel demand. A model shall be considered available for this application if it has been applied by any other transportation planning agency for the development or evaluation of a transportation plan, or if the regional planning commission has tested the model and determined that it is reliable for the intended application. (7) "State plan" or "state transportation plan" means the comprehensive statewide transportation plan formed adopted by the commission pursuant to the provisions of section 43-1-1103 (5) section 43-1-1103 (7). (8) (a) "Transportation planning region" means a region of the state as defined by the rule or regulation process required by section 43-1-1103 (5) section 43-1-1106. The maximum number of such regions shall be fifteen unless such number is increased pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (8). (9) "Transportation system performance" means: (a) The annual person hours of travel delay in a transportation planning region and for such shorter periods of measurement and for such smaller geographic areas, such as a corridor, to be determined by the commission pursuant to section 43-1-1106; (b) Accessibility to employment, schools, medical facilities, recreation and entertainment facilities, places of worship, and public services for children, the elderly, disabled, and others in the population who do not drive as measured by travel time using publicly available modes of transportation; and (c) Reducing travel delays or improving levels of service by reducing vehicle miles traveled in any transportation planning region or corridor; and (d) Any other performance measures adopted by the commission pursuant to section 43-1-1106. (10) "Vehicle miles traveled" means the annual miles traveled by motor vehicles on public highways as determined by the methods and procedures prescribed by the commission pursuant to section 43-1-1106. Vehicle miles traveled shall be determined separately by class for passenger, freight, and service vehicles to provide information needed to assess the impact of policies affecting each type of use. SECTION 3. 43-1-1103, Colorado Revised Statutes, is REPEALED AND REENACTED, WITH AMENDMENTS, to read: 43-1-1103. Transportation planning - definitions. (1) A twenty-year transportation plan shall be required for each transportation planning region that includes the metropolitan area of a metropolitan planning organization. Any other group of municipalities within a transportation planning region, acting through a regional planning commission created pursuant to section 30-28-105, C.R.S., may also prepare and submit such a transportation plan. (2) The goals of the transportation planning process are as follows: (a) To invest in the most cost-effective, long-term maintenance and operation of existing transportation facilities and services and preserve future transportation corridors; (b) To achieve the best feasible performance of the transportation system with the resources available as measured by: (I) Person hours of travel delay; (II) Accessibility for those who do not drive; (III) Efficiency in the transport and delivery of goods and services; and (IV) Reducing vehicle miles traveled; (c) To minimize the emission of greenhouse gases to the greatest extent feasible consistent with achievement of the goal set forth in paragraph (b) of this subsection (2). (3) The regional transportation planning process shall provide decision makers, affected stakeholders, and the public with the following analyses and information prior to proposal of a revised plan for comment: (a) Estimates of future increases in population and employment in the transportation planning region for a twenty- and thirty-year planning horizon; (b) Assessments of likely distributions of population and employment in the transportation planning region based upon alternative land use scenarios selected for the purpose of testing which scenarios would result in the least increase in vehicle miles traveled on the existing transportation network; (c) An analysis, prepared by the department for the statewide transportation plan only, and prepared by metropolitan planning organizations that use state-of-the-art transportation demand models to evaluate transportation investment strategies in combination with the land use scenarios selected for testing, available economic incentives, and other strategies to determine which combination of land use, transportation system enhancements, economic incentives, and other policies will achieve the least increase in vehicle miles traveled, the best regional transportation system performance, and the lowest overall greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation system for each ten-year period during a thirty-year planning horizon; (d) Based upon resources reasonably expected to be available to the region for each ten-year period, a determination as to which combination of potential land use strategies, transportation facilities, services, economic incentives, and policies must be implemented to advance the goals of the transportation planning process in the most cost-effective manner; and (e) An analysis of the economic, public health, and environmental impacts of the proposed projects and services considered in each scenario, an estimate of the public and private costs of the impacts, and an estimate of the costs of eliminating or minimizing adverse impacts to the extent feasible. (4) A regional transportation plan shall identify the maintenance and operations service levels, new capacity projects, transportation services, service enhancements, economic incentives, and other policies to be implemented based upon the evaluations, potential land use strategies, and determinations made in accordance with subsection (3) of this section. The plan shall provide for the most cost-effective investment of available resources that will achieve the greatest progress toward the goals of the transportation planning process. (5) (a) Any regional planning commission formed for the purpose of conducting regional transportation planning for any transportation planning region shall be responsible, in cooperation with the state and other governmental entities, for carrying out transportation planning for the region represented by such commission to adopt a plan that meets the requirements of this part 11. (b) Any regional planning commission that is not a federally designated metropolitan planning organization shall receive funding from the department to develop and update the regional transportation plan to meet the requirements of this article. (c) In the absence of a locally generated regional transportation plan by a duly formed regional planning commission, the department shall include these areas in the statewide transportation plan and shall be responsible for completing the planning and analysis required by this section to incorporate the needs and recommendations of the region in an equitable and consistent manner with other regions of the state. (6) A regional transportation plan that meets the requirements of this part 11 shall be adopted no later than three and one-half years after the effective date of this subsection (6) and updated every fourth year thereafter. Each update or revision of the regional transportation plan adopted for any region pursuant to this section shall: (a) Identify public and private resources available to the region for transportation investments; (b) Determine and allocate, consistent with the rules adopted by the commission pursuant to section 43-1-1106, the resources needed to maintain and preserve existing facilities to avoid or remedy safety hazards to users and to minimize the overall long-term maintenance and operating costs of the transportation system; (c) Following the allocation required by paragraph (b) of this subsection (6), determine the priority for the allocation of available resources for capital investments to implement any new capacity projects, service enhancements, economic incentives, and other policies to be implemented for the region giving greatest priority to investments that provide for the most expeditious attainment of the goals of the planning process; (d) Identify the significant adverse impacts analyzed pursuant to paragraph (e) of subsection (3) of this section that can be minimized or eliminated by land use policies and allocate resources as part of project costs to eliminate significant adverse impacts if such impacts cannot be eliminated by land use policies or if available land use mitigation strategies are not adopted as part of the corridor development plan. Where eliminating adverse impacts is not practicable, adverse impacts shall be minimized to the extent feasible. (e) Include a report describing actual conditions with respect to each of the factors related to demonstrating whether the region is making progress toward achieving the goals of the transportation planning process and an explanation why proposed and adopted changes in the regional transportation plan are expected to make progress toward achieving the goals of the transportation planning process during the four years following the adoption of each proposed plan update. (7) (a) The department shall integrate and consolidate the regional transportation plans for the transportation planning regions into a comprehensive statewide transportation plan that achieves the goals of the transportation planning process. The formation of the state plan shall be accomplished through a statewide planning process established by rules promulgated by the commission in accordance with article 4 of title 24, C.R.S. The state plan shall: (I) Include, but shall not be limited to: (A) An emphasis on multi-modal transportation considerations, including the connectivity between modes of transportation; and (B) Procedures for evaluating the travel demand, transportation and greenhouse gas benefits of potential land use policies, coordination with county and municipal land use planning, including examination of the impact of land use decisions on transportation needs, the adoption of investment policies, and programs that provide incentives for the adoption of county and local land use plans and policies that are consistent with the goals of the transportation planning process and the regional transportation plan for the area; and (II) Be adopted by the commission after notice and an opportunity for submission of comments by regional planning commissions, governments with local land use planning authority, transit agencies, users of transportation facilities and services, and the public. (b) The commission shall incorporate the priorities contained in each regional transportation plan into the statewide transportation plan unless the commission finds, after notice and an opportunity for public hearing, that: (I) Priorities adopted in a regional plan are inconsistent with achieving the goals of the transportation planning process statewide or in a corridor of statewide concern; (II) A regional transportation plan is not consistent with the requirements of this section or was not developed and adopted in compliance with the rules promulgated by the commission pursuant to section 43-1-1106; or (III) A regional transportation plan is not consistent with federal transportation planning requirements that must be satisfied to qualify for federal approval of the state transportation improvement program. (c) If the commission rejects the priorities adopted by the regional planning commission pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (7), the regional planning commission shall revise the plan to correct the deficiencies identified by the commission. SECTION 4. Part 11 of article 1 of title 43, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended BY THE ADDITION OF THE FOLLOWING NEW SECTIONS to read: 43-1-1106. Commission rules. (1) No later than one year after the effective date of this subsection (1), the commission shall propose rules consistent with the requirements of this part 11 for comment and public hearing. The commission shall promulgate such rules in accordance with article 4 of title 24, C.R.S., no later than eighteen months after the effective date of this section. (2) The commission shall promulgate rules that provide guidance to regional transportation commissions and the department for the development and adoption of regional transportation plans that comply with the provisions of this part 11. The rules shall, at a minimum: (a) Prescribe procedures to promote and facilitate involvement in the planning process by local governments, transit agencies, representatives of transportation system users and beneficiaries, and the general public, including but not limited to disclosure of and access to databases; methods for data acquisition and development; descriptions of analytical methods and assumptions used in developing, quantifying, analyzing, and evaluating planning scenarios; the presentation of plan elements and proposals on publicly accessible web sites; and the making of proposed plans and all related technical information and analyses available at least thirty days in advance of any deadline for comment; (b) Prescribe procedures for ensuring an opportunity for interested stakeholders to present their views directly to the decision-making body; (c) Prescribe procedures for developing summaries of comments received and staff responses to comments and making comments and responses publicly available prior to presentation of major issues to the decision-making body; (d) Develop, after evaluating the suitability of metrics and methods currently in use by metropolitan planning organizations in Colorado and consulting with such organizations, uniform statewide metrics and methods for measuring baseline and estimating future: (I) Person miles traveled in each transportation planning region; (II) Vehicle miles traveled in each transportation planning region; (III) Transportation system performance in a transportation planning region; and (IV) Greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation system; (e) Establish, after evaluating the suitability of methods and procedures currently in use by metropolitan planning organizations in Colorado and consulting with such organizations, minimum procedures for testing and validating transportation demand models used in the transportation planning process; (f) Establish criteria for designating corridors of statewide concern; (g) Establish the baseline year and the methods to be applied to determine the baseline for each of the factors relevant to determining progress toward the goals of the transportation planning process; (h) Establish procedures for: (I) Not later than three and one-half years following the effective date of this subparagraph (I), the adoption of new or revised regional transportation plans that comply with the requirements of this article and the criteria and procedures adopted by the commission; and (II) Not later than four and one-half years following the effective date of this subparagraph (II), the revision of the statewide transportation plan to incorporate the regional transportation plans adopted pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (h); and (i) Establish guidelines for the department to allocate to each transportation planning region at least one year prior to the deadline for adoption of an updated regional transportation plan the share of available resources that will be made available for investment in new capacity and services in such region in order to provide reliable estimates of the resources that will be available to each planning region for each four-year planning period. (3) Any procedures required by paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subsection (2) of this section shall not apply to a metropolitan planning organization that has adopted comparable procedures to satisfy federal requirements for public involvement. 43-1-1107. Approval of projects for funding. (1) After the deadline for the incorporation of revised regional transportation plans into the statewide transportation plan, projects that increase highway capacity shall not be authorized to expend state or federal funds on construction and shall not be granted any approval by the department unless: (a) A regional transportation plan for the transportation planning region where the project is located has been updated to comply with the requirements of section 43-1-1103 (3), (4), and (6); (b) The updated regional transportation plan has been incorporated into the statewide transportation plan by the commission pursuant to section 43-1-1103 (7); and (c) A corridor development plan that meets all requirements of this section has been adopted by all jurisdictions with project funding and land use authority for the corridor containing the project. (2) (a) A corridor development plan shall be adopted by intergovernmental agreement among: (I) All the jurisdictions with land use authority in the corridor where the project is located; (II) The department, metropolitan planning organization, or other agency responsible for programming the funds for the project; and (III) Regardless of the funding source, the department if a project included in the plan adds capacity to a state highway, a highway on the national highway system, or an interstate highway. (b) After a corridor development plan has been adopted by the approval of an intergovernmental agreement pursuant to this subsection (2), the corridor development plan may be amended only by consent of all parties to the intergovernmental agreement. (3) Before a corridor development plan may be adopted by intergovernmental agreement, the plan shall: (a) Provide for development consistent with the land use assumptions used to develop the regional transportation plan for the region or require other land use and development policies or economic incentives that are demonstrated to more effectively achieve the goals of the transportation planning process; (b) Contain a plan adopted by the facility owner and operator to manage access to and operation of the transportation facility that is designed to support and be integrated with the land use and development policies or economic incentives adopted to achieve the goals of the transportation planning process; (c) To the extent feasible, include land use and development policies, design features, and access limitations to minimize or eliminate the significant adverse environmental, health, social, and economic impacts of the transportation projects planned for the corridor that were identified during the planning process or the environmental review of the project; (d) Include the applicable land use ordinance or other legally enforceable mechanism for ensuring compliance with the requirements of the plan by private land owners and governmental users of land; and (e) For projects that are not of statewide concern, be accepted by the regional planning commission or commissions that approved funding for the project as consistent with the requirements of this section. (4) For projects of statewide concern, the commission may approve funding for a project adopted as part of the statewide transportation plan for which a corridor development plan has not been adopted by all jurisdictions with land use authority in the corridor where the project is located if the department adopts and implements an access plan for the facility that bars local access to, and postpones the opening to traffic of, any new interchanges planned within each jurisdiction that has not approved an intergovernmental agreement that provides for implementation of a corridor development plan for the project. (5) Projects that receive budgetary authority for the commencement of construction for any budget year prior to the deadline for the adoption of a regional transportation plan in section 43-1-1103 (6) may continue to receive annual budgetary authority for completion of the project after the deadline specified in subsection (1) of this section without complying with this section. Projects that have not received budget authorization for construction prior to the deadline specified in section 43-1-1103 (6) shall not be authorized for construction unless they are included in a regional transportation plan that meets the requirements of section 43-1-1103 and the project meets the requirements of this section. 43-1-1108. Allocation of new funding for new capacity and services. (1) The commission shall allocate any resources that become available for new capacity in addition to those resources that were forecast and allocated for new capacity or increased mobility in the most recently adopted, fiscally constrained statewide transportation plan to transportation planning regions based upon demonstrated progress toward achieving the goals of the transportation planning process set forth in section 43-1-1103 (2) (b). (2) For purposes of demonstrating progress pursuant to this section, the department shall: (a) Use the methods prescribed by the commission for determining baseline vehicle miles of travel in the baseline year to determine the baseline vehicle miles of travel per person for each transportation planning region; (b) Determine the expected reduction or change in vehicle miles traveled per person for each transportation planning region based on the most recently adopted regional transportation plan; and (c) Allocate new resources during each four-year planning period to those regions that demonstrate the greatest progress toward achieving the goals set forth in section 43-1-1103 (2) (b). SECTION 5. Effective date. This act shall take effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly that is allowed for submitting a referendum petition pursuant to article V, section 1 (3) of the state constitution, (August 6, 2008, if adjournment sine die is on May 7, 2008); except that, if a referendum petition is filed against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part, if approved by the people, shall take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by proclamation of the governor.