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2009 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 756
Requesting the Secretary of Transportation to support and assist in the establishment of a Virginia Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 26, 2009
Agreed to by the Senate, February 24, 2009

 

WHEREAS, there are 14 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) operating in the Commonwealth of Virginia, all duly established pursuant to federal transportation legislation, 23 C.F.R. 450.300 series; and

WHEREAS, these MPOs are especially important in that, pursuant to federal legislation, they are, as the lead agencies, responsible for conducting the cooperative metropolitan transportation planning and programming process in their respective regions; and

WHEREAS, the transportation planning and programming decisions made by these MPOs presage the future investment and expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars of public moneys on an annual basis; and

WHEREAS, while these MPOs are necessarily independent, whether large or small, they have numerous common interests at both the policy and technical levels, and they seek to interpret and adhere to the requirements of the same federal legislation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Secretary of Transportation be requested to support and assist in the establishment of a Virginia Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (VAMPO). The VAMPO will augment, not supplant, the duties of the individual MPOs in carrying out their respective metropolitan transportation planning and programming functions

The Secretary of Transportation is further requested to assist the Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions and the Transportation Planning Board for the National Capital Area with the determination of the scope of VAMPO activities and responsibilities best suited to the professional needs of the Commonwealth of Virginia or adopt other measures to enhance the effectiveness, professionalism and confidence of the state's MPO organizations.

In consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, Virginia's Metropolitan Planning Organizations are requested to organize the VAMPO, define its mission, and report on statutory changes, if any, that are needed to improve the statewide planning and programming of transportation programs and projects to improve and streamline the Virginia transportation development process.

The Secretary of Transportation shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary and report of its progress in meeting the requests of this resolution no later than the first day of the 2010 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary and report shall be submitted for publication as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.