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Subcommittee adopts DOT technical fixes, advances contentious amendments on eminent domain, NEPA reporting and fees
Summary
A legislative transportation subcommittee approved several technical and procedural amendments — including DOT clarifications on tolling and DMV coordination — and carried over more disputed proposals involving eminent domain for regional transportation authorities, NEPA assignment reporting, congestion mitigation fees and municipal annexation responsibilities for further work.
A legislative subcommittee on transportation met Feb. 24 to consider 22 amendments to a broad DOT-related bill, approving several technical fixes and procedural clarifications while deferring more contentious policy changes for additional drafting.
The panel unanimously adopted Amendment 3, a Department of Transportation package described by a DOT representative as “technical and clarifying in nature” that revises provisions on tolling, turnpike facilities, road swaps and bond-resolution language and requires county transportation committees to publish county transportation plans on county websites. A voice vote also approved amendments to coordinate DOT and DMV data for toll enforcement and a Home Builders Association change to collect development congestion mitigation fees at certificate of occupancy and raise the single-family subdivision threshold from five to 10 units.
Senator Sutton introduced a notable amendment to clarify how regional transportation authorities (RTAs) may exercise eminent domain. Sutton said the change would allow RTAs to acquire rights-of-way and easements — including fee-simple title — even where no physical structure exists, and emphasized it would not alter Title 28 eminent-domain procedures and would limit condemnations to public use. Several senators, including Jennifer Pickens, voiced concern that the language could be read as an expansion of RTA eminent-domain authority; members agreed to carry the amendment over for further legal review.
An amendment from the Coastal Conservation League would require DOT to produce a NEPA manual, adjust public-interest fee-waiver treatment under FOIA, and either annually report on DOT’s NEPA activities or publicly state its intent to renew any memorandum of understanding (MOU) with USDOT and accept public comment for 30 days. DOT staff noted the manual and an annual report serve different purposes; senators asked staff to consider folding reporting into existing accountability documents. The committee carried the item for additional drafting.
Lawmakers also debated a suite of transportation-fee items. Senator Rice proposed lowering a proposed electric-vehicle (EV) biennial alternative-fuel fee from $400 to $300 and retaining a $200 biennial fee for hybrids; the proposal would add a $30 biennial fee for electric motorcycles. Senators discussed practical collection and fairness, including concerns about double payment when EV owners also pay for charging at private stations. Senator Pickens called for parity with gasoline vehicles based on average miles driven; other members floated a refundable credit to avoid double payment. Those amendments were carried over for further negotiation.
Other measures advanced or cleared for later work included a trucking-association amendment requiring DOT approval before localities post weight restrictions or bridge postings, and an amendment to require mutual consent between DOT and counties before transferring roads to local control while removing a statutory requirement that transferred roads meet state maintenance standards. The committee also discussed an annexation provision that would make municipalities responsible for highway projects serving annexed and rezoned county land to the logical termini; members raised concerns about patchwork jurisdiction and long-term maintenance burdens and carried that amendment over.
The chair said the committee would reconvene to continue consideration, noting the meeting ran over and several items required more detailed legal and technical drafting. The session adjourned with no final vote on the most contentious amendments.
Quotes from the hearing highlight the tone of the meeting: “Amendment number 3 is really technical and clarifying in nature,” the DOT representative told the committee, while Senator Sutton said the eminent-domain change is a clarification “not [an] expansion,” and Senator Pickens warned the language could still open “a can of worms.”
Next steps: the subcommittee carried over numerous amendments (including the RTA eminent-domain clarification, NEPA reporting options, congestion-fee changes, and annexation/maintenance responsibility) for redrafting and anticipated another meeting to complete consideration.
