Sec. D-1. 23 MRSA §1801, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 492, Pt. C, §26, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
Municipal transportation assistance funds must be targeted to the capital needs of rural roads and highways and must also reflect urban maintenance responsibilities on state and state aid roadways.
Municipal transportation assistance funds must be adjusted according to increases or decreases in Highway Fund resources available for transportation.
Responsibility for decisions regarding maintenance and improvement of roads must follow the principle that roads that primarily serve regional or statewide needs must be the State's responsibility, roads that primarily serve local needs must be a local responsibility and roads that primarily serve as minor collector routes may be improved through a partnership between municipalities and the State.
The Legislature recognizes that without municipal participation the State has few resources to make necessary capital improvements to state aid minor collector highways.
The purpose of the Urban-Rural Initiative Program established in this subchapter is to provide equitable financial assistance to communities for their use in improving local roads, maintaining state roads in urban compact areas and assisting the State in making capital improvements to state aid minor collector highways.
In order to meet the purposes set out in this section, the Urban-Rural Initiative Program has a Rural Road Initiative and an Urban Compact Initiative as components.
Sec. D-2. 23 MRSA §1802-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1995, c. 678, §1 and affected by §7, is repealed.
Sec. D-3. 23 MRSA §1802-A, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:
1-A. Capital improvement. "Capital improvement" means any work on a road or bridge that has a life expectancy of at least 10 years or restores the load-carrying capacity.
Sec. D-4. 23 MRSA §1803-B, as amended by PL 1995, c. 678, §3 and affected by §7, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
§1803-B. Rural Road Initiative and Urban Compact Initiative
1. Distribution and use of funds. Funds from the Urban-Rural Initiative Program must be distributed to each eligible municipality, county or Indian reservation under the Rural Road Initiative and the Urban Compact Initiative.
A. Rural Road Initiative funds must be distributed as follows.
(1) Funds are distributed at a rate of $600 per year per lane mile for all rural state aid minor collector roads and all local roads lo-cated outside urban compact areas as defined in section 754, except that funds are distributed at a rate of $300 per year per lane mile for all seasonal town ways.
(2) Effective July 1, 2000, funds must be used for capital improvements as defined by this chapter, or for capital improvements to state aid minor collector roads as described in subsection 4. Prior to July 1, 2000, funds may be used only for the maintenance and improvement of public roads.
B. Urban Compact Initiative funds must be distributed as follows.
(1) Funds are distributed at a rate of $2,500 per year per lane mile for summer maintenance performed by municipalities on state and state aid highways in compact areas as defined in section 754. For each lane mile beyond the 2nd lane on a highway with more than 2 lanes, funds are reimbursed at a rate of $1,250 per lane mile for summer maintenance in compact areas. Funds are distributed at a rate of $1,700 per year per lane mile for winter maintenance performed by municipalities on state highways in compact areas as defined in sections 754 and 1001 regardless of the number of lanes.
(2) Funds must be used only for the maintenance or improvement of public roads.
C. The Urban-Rural Initiative Program payment defined as the combined Urban Compact Initiative and Rural Road Initiative annual payment to any municipality, county, or Indian reservation may not be less than the fiscal year 1999 Local Road Assistance Program payment.
D. Beginning July 1, 2001, the annual funding dedicated for the Urban-Rural Initiative Program must bear the same percentage relationship to the sum of the General Fund and Highway Fund allocation to the department for highway purposes as was provided during fiscal year 2000-01. On July 1, 2001 and every July 1st thereafter, the commissioner shall administratively adjust the base funding and the reimbursement rates per lane mile proportionately according to revenue available.
2. Retention of allocation for Urban-Rural Initiative Program. Prior to apportioning funds to each municipality, the department shall retain sufficient funds from the allocation for the Urban-Rural Initiative Program to ensure equitable funds are provided for roads in unorganized areas and for administration.
3. Payment of funds. One quarter of the funds apportioned to each municipality must be paid by the State to the municipality before September 1st, December 1st, March 1st and June 1st each year.
5. State aid minor collector capital projects. State aid minor collector capital projects as determined by the department are financed with contributions of Rural Road Initiative funds not to exceed 33% of project costs with the remainder provided by the State. Local funds other than Rural Road Initiative funds committed to the projects are matched by state funds at the discretion of the department and at a ratio that may exceed 33% of local funds. If the department is not allocated sufficient funds to match offered municipal funds, then the department must reject or defer any new municipal offers and award matching funds to municipalities with pending offers based on a priority order consistent with an established departmental 6-year plan for state aid minor collector capital projects.
6. Municipal, county or Indian reservation administration. Municipalities or counties or Indian reservations may choose to administer rural minor collector capital projects based on mutual agreement guided by policies and procedures adopted by the department. The state share must be available prior to construction or contract. Municipal, county or Indian reservation equipment and material contributions are included as part of the contribution of Rural Road Initiative funds. Project cost overruns or savings are shared by the municipality, county or Indian reservation and the State according to the cost-sharing ratio established in subsection 5. State savings must be used for the purposes of state aid minor collector capital projects within the State. Municipal, county or Indian reservation savings may be used for any purpose allowed pursuant to subsection 1, paragraph A. At the discretion of the municipality, county or Indian reservation, project cost savings including matched state funds may accrue entirely toward additional or expanded minor collector state aid capital projects within that same jurisdiction.
Sec. D-5. 23 MRSA §1804, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 492, Pt. C, §26, is amended to read:
§1804. Municipal, county or Indian reservation requirements
To be eligible to receive funds from the Local Road Assistance Program Urban-Rural Initiative Program, each municipality, county or Indian reservation shall, prior to August 1st each year, certify in a manner acceptable to the department that the funds will be are used only for the maintenance or improvement of public roads in a manner consistent with this chapter. To be guaranteed to receive state matching funds for any Rural Road Initiative funds directed to state-aid minor collector capital projects, each municipality, county and Indian reservation, prior to May 1st of each even-numbered year, shall submit a 6-year plan to the department describing the intended state aid minor collector projects to be financed with funds currently available, funds provided over the 6-year period beginning July 1st of the following year and any other funds or financing. The report must include details sufficient to estimate needed state matching funds, and must indicate whether the municipality intends to administer the project. The report also must describe any funds held in reserve for future state aid minor collector projects.
Sec. D-6. 23 MRSA §1805, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 492, Pt. C, §26, is repealed.
Sec. D-7. 23 MRSA §1914, sub-§9, as amended by PL 1995, c. 390, §2, is further amended to read:
9. Jurisdiction by local authority in compact areas. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, administration of this chapter by the Department of Transportation does not apply to on-premise on-premises advertisements located in compact or built-up sections areas of an urban compact municipality, as defined in section 754, the administration of which is the responsibility of local authority. In compact or built-up areas of an urban compact municipality adjacent to the interstate, the Department of Transportation is responsible for the administration of this section. The "compact or built-up section" of any town or city is the territory contiguous to any highway that is built up with buildings devoted to business or dwelling purposes that are situated less than 200 feet apart for a distance of at least 1/4 of a mile.
Sec. D-8. 35-A MRSA §2502, sub-§1, ¶¶A and B, as amended by PL 1993, c. 163, §1, are further amended to read:
A. The Department of Transportation, when the public way is a state, state-aid or federal-aid highway, except for state or state-aid highways in the compact areas of urban compact municipalities having a population over 6,000 as defined in Title 23, section 754;
B. The municipal officers or their designees, when the public way is a city street or town way or a state or state-aid highway in the compact areas of urban compact municipalities and having a population over 6,000 as defined in Title 23, section 754; and
Sec. D-9. 35-A MRSA §2502, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1993, c. 163, §2, is repealed.
Sec. D-10. Maine Revised Statutes amended; revision clause. Wherever in the Maine Revised Statutes the words "Local Road Assistance Program" appear or reference is made to that program or those words, they are amended to read and mean "Urban-Rural Initiative Program," or "program" and the Revisor of Statutes shall implement this revision when updating, publishing or republishing the statutes.
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