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2012 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Transportation

Chairman: Stephen D. Newman

Clerk: Nick Galvin, Bonnie Shelhorse
Staff: Alan Wambold, Nicole Brenner
Date of Meeting: February 22, 2012
Time and Place: 1/2 hour after adjournment in Senate Room A
REVISED

H.B. 34 Advertising; Commissioner of Highways may enter into agreements with local governing body regarding.

Patron: Albo

Advertising within highway limits.  Allows the Commissioner of Highways to enter into agreements with any local governing body authorizing local law-enforcement agencies or other local governmental entities to act as agents of the Commissioner regarding unlawful advertising on highways and collection of penalties and costs.

H.B. 72 Highway work zones; required to be marked with warning signs with attached flashing lights.

Patron: Bell, Richard P.

Highway work zones.  Requires highway work zones to be clearly marked with warning signs and attached flashing lights.

H.B. 85 HOV lanes; extends sunset provision on use by vehicles with clean special fuel license plates.

Patron: Greason

HOV lanes; use by vehicle with clean special fuel license plates.  Requires the Commissioner of Highways to report annually to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Transportation Committees on those HOV facilities whose high traffic volume has resulted in a degraded condition as identified by federal law.  This report is to be used by the Chairmen as the basis for recommendations for further restrictions or use of HOV facilities by clean special fuel vehicles.

H.B. 87 Aircraft; person who projects laser in direction thereof is guilty of Class 1 misdemeanor.

Patron: Knight

Projecting a laser at an aircraft; penalty.  Provides that any person, except as authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration or the armed forces of the United States, who projects a laser at an aircraft and interferes with the operation of the aircraft threatening life and safety and therefore is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

H.B. 477 Interstate Highway System; allocation of funds for maintenance.

Patron: Albo

Highway maintenance funds.  Provides that when allocating funds for the interstate system of highways, the primary system of state highways, and the secondary system of state highways that the Commonwealth Transportation Board shall consider achieving a minimal level of disparity among highway construction districts. The bill also provides that the Board shall release for public review a comparison of the proposed allocation of funds by highway construction district.

H.B. 599 Northern Virginia Transportation District; responsibility of VDOT, et. al., for long-range planning.

Patron: LeMunyon

Northern Virginia Transportation District; long-range planning.  Establishes responsibilities for various entities for long-range transportation planning for the Northern Virginia Transportation District.

H.B. 601 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority; board membership.

Patron: LeMunyon

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority; board membership. Provides that in appointing Virginia members of the Board of Directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission shall include the Secretary of Transportation or his designee as a principal member on the WMATA Board of Directors. Other requirements for appointment and removal from the board are also specified.

H.B. 686 License plates, special; issuance to veterans of Operation Desert Shield or Operation Desert Storm.

Patron: O'Quinn

Special license plates; veterans of Operation Desert Shield or Operation Desert Storm.  Authorizes the issuance of special license plates to veterans of Operation Desert Shield or Operation Desert Storm and exempts those license plates from minimum prepaid order requirements.

H.B. 806 Overweight and oversize vehicle permits and fees; provides a method of assigning cost-based fees.

Patron: May

Overweight vehicle permits and fees.  Provides a uniform method of assigning cost-based fees based on the amount that a vehicle is overweight. The bill also allocates payment of fees into specific funds. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2013.

H.B. 1042 Driver's licenses; extends expiration date for certain active military personnel.

Patron: Keam

Expiration of driver's licenses; active duty military.  Extends the grace period for driver's license expiration from 90 to180 days after the return from service outside the United States of active duty military personnel, a member of the diplomatic service, or a civilian employee of the U.S. government or a federal agency or contractor.

H.B. 1043 Vehicle registration; grace period for replacement of plates, etc., for member of armed forces, etc.

Patron: Keam

Grace period for vehicle registration.  Extends the grace period for replacement of plates or decals and for vehicle registration to the spouse and dependent children accompanying a member of the armed services of the United States, a member of the United States diplomatic corps, a civilian government employee, or a contractor working for the government of the United States who is serving outside the United States.

H.B. 1183 Virginia Port Authority; amends several provisions governing conduct of business.

Patron: Cosgrove

Virginia Port Authority.  Amends several provisions governing the conduct of the Authority's business.  The bill extends to 2017 the sunset date for the International Trade Facility tax credit, the Barge and Rail Usage tax credit, and the Virginia Port Volume Increase tax credit.  The bill also increases from three to five the number of members who can serve on the Board of Commissioners of the Virginia Port Authority collectively from the Cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach.

H.B. 1217 Sergeants David Lambert Highway & Brandon Asbury Highway; designates portions of Routes 19 and 609.

Patron: Morefield

Sergeant David Lambert Highway; Sergeant Brandon Asbury Highway.  Designates a portion of Virginia Route 19 the “Sergeant Brandon Asbury Highway” and all of Virginia Route 609 in Virginia the “Sergeant David Lambert Highway.”

H.B. 1248 Transportation; assignment of general fund revenue, report.

Patron: Lingamfelter

Transportation construction, operation and maintenance, and funding.  Provides for the construction, maintenance, and funding of transportation by (i) increasing the dedicated transportation allocation of the sales and use tax from 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent, phased in over seven years, with the additional revenue dedicated for highway maintenance and operation, (ii) increasing transportation's share of year-end surpluses to 75 percent, and (iii) allowing the Governor to provide appropriations each year to transportation from a portion of revenue growth.

The bill also authorizes the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) to name highways, bridges, interchanges, and other transportation facilities for private entities if an annual naming rights fee is paid, with the revenue dedicated to highway maintenance and operation. The bill also charges the CTB with greater responsibilities involving integration of land use and transportation planning and authorizes the CTB to withhold federal and state funds for certain local or regional capital improvement projects if those projects are inconsistent with the Statewide Transportation Plan or the Six-Year Improvement Program. Provision is made for use of "revenue-sharing" funds for secondary highway system maintenance projects carried out by local governments. The bill also provides for special allocations by the CTB for bridge reconstruction, high priority highway projects, and reconstruction of highways with particularly deteriorated pavements. It also provides for the performance of maintenance projects directly by VDOT when it can be demonstrated to the Commissioner or the CTB that VDOT can do it at lesser cost than an outside contractor.

H.B. 1263 VDOT Integrated Directional Sign Program; maintenance, etc., of signs and impact of changes.

Patron: Marshall, D.W.

VDOT Integrated Directional Sign ("Logo Sign") Program.  Provides for a broad-based evaluation of the "Logo Sign" Program by the Highway Commissioner.

H.B. 1290 Pedestrians; posting of right-of-way signs in City of Falls Church.

Patron: Scott, J.M.

Right-of-way of pedestrians; posting of signs in certain localities.  Adds Falls Church to the list of localities authorized to post highway signs requiring motorists to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians.

S.B. 686 Electronic titling program; allows DMV to establish for new motor vehicles.

Patron: McWaters

Department of Motor Vehicles; electronic titling.  Allows the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish an electronic titling program for new motor vehicles.