S3501

An Act concerning the administration of Transportation Trust Fund projects and supplementing Title 27 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. For each capital project funded by the authority, including transportation projects and public transportation projects, the authority, in conjunction with the department and the New Jersey Transit Corporation, may contract with consulting engineers to prepare an estimated project schedule (1) for the acquisition of rights-of-way and (2) for the construction of each project. The consulting engineer shall also estimate the amounts which shall be required during each six-month period for estimated costs of construction of each project. Thereafter, at least once in each six-month period during the construction of a project, the authority may require the consulting engineers to prepare a progress report updating the project schedule for the acquisition of real property for each project and construction progress, which may include comparisons of the actual time elapsed, actual costs, estimated time to completion, and estimated total cost between the most recent six-month period and those same actual and estimated times and costs in prior progress reports. Copies of each progress report shall be maintained on the authority’s website and shall be submitted to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature.

b. For funds provided by the authority to the department or the New Jersey Transit Corporation for non-project costs, the authority may contract with an outside consultant to prepare a report which tracks, according to State capital program line items in each annual appropriations act, an estimated schedule for the expenditure of appropriated funds, and a description of how funds are being expended, including, but not limited to, contracts to be paid from each capital program line item, the amount of staff or outside consultants to be paid from each capital program line item, and measurable policy outcomes relating to each capital program line item which shall be required during each six-month period until an appropriation has been fully expended. Once in each six-month period in which the State appropriations of non-project transportation capital funds in a given fiscal year have not been fully expended, including if that period extends beyond the fiscal year of the original appropriation, the authority may cause the outside consultant to prepare a progress report covering the expenditure of appropriated funds and any progress in accomplishing the purpose of given appropriations, which may include comparisons of the actual time elapsed since the initial appropriation, actual expenditures from the appropriation, estimated time to completely expend appropriated funds, and estimated measurable outcomes for the entire appropriation between the most recent six-month period and those same actual and estimated times and outcomes in prior progress reports. Copies of each progress report shall be maintained on the authority’s website and shall be submitted to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature.

2. a. In order to ensure the expeditious completion of public highway projects, the department shall coordinate with municipalities and counties to expedite project delivery.

b. The department shall develop, in conjunction with county officials, an annual highway project priority list for each county. The department shall present to county officials in each county a list of State highway pavement areas rated below acceptable condition and structurally deficient State bridges located in the county. The county may select highway pavement areas and bridges from that list that it deems to be priority repairs to be placed on the highway project priority list. Once a project has been added to the highway project priority list, the department shall have three fiscal years to advance that project through all phases of work and complete the project, regardless of which phase of work the project is in at the time it is added to the highway project priority list.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the annual highway project priority list, as well as any reports, lists, surveys, data, or other documents created for the purpose of preparing the annual highway project priority list, shall not be subject to discovery or admitted into evidence in any federal or State court proceeding or considered for other purposes in any action for damages arising from any occurrence at a location mentioned or addressed in any such annual highway project priority list, reports, lists, surveys, data, or documents.

c. A county may add projects to the highway project priority list each fiscal year with an estimated total cost that is equivalent to or less than the amount that is to be granted to that county in that fiscal year from the formula established in subsection e. of section 25 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-25) through the Local County Aid Program.

d. If a project on the highway project priority list is not completed within three years of that project’s inclusion on the highway project priority list, a county may notify the department that the county intends to take over the project.

e. Once the department has been notified of a county’s intent to take over a project on the highway project priority list, the department and notifying county shall confer regarding whether the decision to allow the county to take over the project is cost-effective and will expedite completion of the project. The department shall have the discretion to determine whether to transfer the project to the county based on whether the transfer is cost-effective and will expedite completion of the project. If the department agrees to transfer the project, the department shall have 90 days from the date it agrees to the transfer to transfer all aspects of the project to the engineering department of the notifying county.

f. The costs of any project transferred to a county pursuant to this section shall be fully funded by the department on a reimbursement basis. If the cost of the project exceeds existing capital program appropriations for that project, the department shall include in the capital program any additional amounts needed to complete the project.

g. The highway project priority list shall contain only State transportation projects. If a State project on the highway project priority list is transferred to a county pursuant to the provisions of this section, completion of the project shall continue to be funded through department capital program appropriations. Grant funds awarded through the Local Aid Program pursuant to section 25 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-25) shall not be used on any project on the highway project priority list.

h. If the department and a county agree that a county is better suited to advance a project on the highway project priority list, the department may also enter into an agreement with the county to transfer a project to the county notwithstanding that the project has been on the list for less than three years.

i. All transportation project included in the highway project priority list and transferred by the department pursuant to subsection e. or subsection h. of this section shall comply with section 24 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-24), chapters 32 through 35 of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and any other provision of law concerning the State’s public bidding requirements and business set-aside programs.

3. a. As used in this section:

“Project bundle” means any group of transportation projects that are combined into a single contract under the bundling program.

“Transportation Project Bundling Program” or “bundling program” means a department process where multiple transportation project design contracts, funded in whole or in part by the Transportation Trust Fund, are combined into a single transportation project design contract for the purposes of saving the department time or money.

b. The Transportation Project Bundling Program is hereby established within the department to save time and money on transportation projects by allowing multiple transportation projects to be combined into a single design contract.

c. All transportation projects, including but not limited to, transportation projects contained in the department’s bridge inspection, safety, and pavement asset management systems, and any transportation assets identified by the department as being in need of repair, shall be included in the bundling program if the projects meet all of the following criteria: (1) the transportation projects are similar in complexity, in the same capital investment strategy (CIS) asset category, or are in reasonable geographical proximity to one another; (2) the transportation projects are of similar size or design; and (3) the inclusion of transportation projects in the bundling program will provide the department with cost or time savings.

d. The commissioner shall develop the bundling program with the following minimum requirements:

(1) The department shall annually develop a preliminary list of transportation projects that are intended to be included in project bundles. The department shall identify project bundles for different regions of the State for geographically combinable transportation projects and project bundles on a Statewide basis for similar transportation project types and similar CIS asset categories. The preliminary list shall include all transportation projects meeting the eligibility requirements established in subsection c. of this section;

(2) The department shall notify any local government entity that is substantially impacted by the project bundles recommended for inclusion in the bundling program. The department shall also distribute the preliminary list to the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission; and

(3) Once the department has obtained all of the necessary approvals for transportation projects in the bundle from applicable governmental entities, the department shall annually, publicly issue a final list of transportation projects to be included in the bundling program, prior to issuing the respective contracts for project bundles.

e. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, transportation projects determined to be eligible and recommended for inclusion in the bundling program by the department shall not require specific itemization in a capital budget, but any capital funds expended on the bundling program shall be provided for in a single capital program line item for each project bundle under the bundling program.

f. Any transportation projects included in the bundling program established pursuant to subsection b. of this section shall comply with section 24 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-24), chapters 32 through 35 of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and any other provision of law concerning the State’s public bidding requirements and business set-aside programs.

4. a. There is hereby established within the Department of Transportation, the New Jersey Transportation Research Center, hereinafter referred to as the center.

b. The center shall be located within the Department of Transportation, and the center shall award research contracts to New Jersey public research institutions of higher education to conduct the research activities of the center. The award of those research contracts shall be subject to all relevant existing State and federally established public bidding regulations and processes.

c. The center shall identify specific areas of transportation expertise at New Jersey public research institutions of higher education, where all research undertaken by the center in that area of expertise is to occur, and shall be subject to all relevant existing State and federally established public bidding regulations and processes.

d. The Commissioner of Transportation shall appoint a director for the center. The duties of the director shall include but not be limited to:

(1) Administering and operating the center;

(2) Overseeing research undertaken by the center;

(3) Establishing and maintaining relationships with New Jersey public research institutions of higher education; and

(4) Supporting New Jersey public research institutions of higher education in obtaining and maintaining University Transportation Center status under the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration’s University Transportation Center Program.

5. The Department of Transportation shall adopt regulations pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to effectuate the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

6. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill revises the process by which capital projects authorized to be paid for through the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund are to be administered.

Capital Program Consultant Reports

The Transportation Trust Fund Authority (authority) may hire engineering consultants to generate bi-annual reports which identify, for each transportation project and public transportation project, the progress achieved in expending capital funds and the progress achieved in completing capital projects. The authority may also hire an outside consultant to generate a bi-annual report on all non-project line items in the annual capital program that are not included in the engineering consultant’s report. This report is to focus on the progress achieved in expending funds appropriated in the capital program and provide a description of how those funds are being expended, including but not limited to, contracts, employment levels, and measurable outcomes relating to each capital program line item.

Highway Project Priority List

The bill requires the Department of Transportation (department) to develop an annual highway project priority list for each county. The highway project priority list is a list of State highway projects chosen by the counties in which the projects are located, from a secondary list provided by the department to the counties of all structurally deficient State bridges and State highway pavement areas in less than acceptable condition. The annual highway project priority list, and all documents created for the annual highway project priority list are not to be subject to discovery or admitted into evidence in any federal or State court proceeding. The dollar amount of projects that a county can add to the list each year is limited by the amount of grant money a county is statutorily scheduled to receive each year through the local county aid program. If the State is unable to complete a project on the highway project priority list within three fiscal years, the county can confer with the department, and if the department finds that allowing the county to take over the project is cost-effective and will expedite completion of the project, the department can transfer the project to the county. The department is to remain responsible for the cost of the project and provide payments to the county for the cost of the project on a reimbursement basis. If the department and county agree that a county is better suited to complete a project on the list, the department and county can also form an agreement and transfer the project in less than three years. For all projects on the list, regardless of whether a county has taken over completion of a project, local aid program funds are not to be used for these projects. All projects are State projects and are to be funded with department capital appropriations. Projects on the list that are transferred to a county are still required to adhere to all existing State procurement laws, including those applying to bidding and business set-asides.

Project Bundling

The bill requires the department to bundle the design of certain transportation projects funded, in whole or in part, by the Transportation Trust Fund. Projects that are eligible to be bundled are projects of similar complexity, project type, or geographic proximity, that are of similar size or design, and whose inclusion in the program will save the department time or money. The purpose of the program is to save costs and time by allowing multiple transportation projects to be designed under a single contract. Contracts issued under the bundling program are still required to adhere to all existing procurement laws, including those applying to bidding and business set-asides.

New Jersey Transportation Research Center

This bill establishes the New Jersey Transportation Research Center (center) within the department. The Commissioner of Transportation is to appoint a director of the center. The director is to award research contracts to New Jersey public research institutions of higher education (institutions). The center is to identify specific areas of expertise for institutions. The institutions are to conduct research for the center in their areas of expertise, pursuant to research contracts that are awarded in a manner that is subject to all relevant existing State and federally established public bidding regulations and processes. In addition to operating and administering the center and awarding research contracts, the director is responsible for supporting institutions in obtaining and maintaining status as University Transportation Centers under the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration University Transportation Centers Program.