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HF 4599

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 03/24/2022 01:59pm

KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.

Current Version - as introduced

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A bill for an act
relating to transportation; amending requirements relating to pavement life-cycle
cost analyses; amending Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 174.185.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 174.185, is amended to read:


174.185 PAVEMENT LIFE-CYCLE COST ANALYSIS.

Subdivision 1.

Definitions.

For the purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply.

deleted text begin (a) "Life-cycle cost" is the sum of the cost of the initial pavement project and all
anticipated costs for maintenance, repair, and resurfacing over the life of the pavement.
Anticipated costs must be based on Minnesota's actual or reasonably projected maintenance,
repair, and resurfacing schedules, and costs determined by the Department of Transportation
district personnel based upon recently awarded local projects and experience with local
material costs.
deleted text end

deleted text begin (b)deleted text end new text begin (a)new text end "Life-cycle cost analysis" new text begin or "analysis" new text end is a deleted text begin comparison of life-cycle costs among
competing paving materials using equal design lives and equal comparison periods.
deleted text end new text begin process
for evaluating the total economic worth of a usable project segment by analyzing initial
costs and discounted future costs, such as maintenance, user, reconstruction, rehabilitation,
restoring, and resurfacing costs, over the life of the project segment.
new text end

new text begin (b) "Minimum requirements" is a combination of pavement, base, and subbase materials
that minimizes the total system cost to achieve the specified design performance
requirements. Design performance requirements are based on design traffic volumes,
reliability, standard deviation, pavement structural characteristics, and various material
properties for structural design.
new text end

new text begin (c) "Pavement" is any material used for paved traffic lanes, typically asphalt or concrete,
including the underlying materials inherent to each pavement alternative considered.
new text end

new text begin (d) "Rounded value" means a measurement that is rounded to the nearest half inch
increment.
new text end

new text begin (e) "Shoulder" is the portion of the roadway contiguous with the traveled way, outside
of the edge of the pavement for accommodation of stopped vehicles, emergency use, and
lateral support of base and surface courses.
new text end

new text begin (f) "Substantial plan development" is the point in time during the plan development
process after which any further activities would preclude any of the feasible alternatives
from being selected or constructed.
new text end

new text begin (g) "Superfluous materials" are materials that are in excess of rounded values and that
are not necessary to meet the minimum requirements for a feasible alternative.
new text end

Subd. 2.

Required analysis.

new text begin (a) new text end For deleted text begin each project in the reconditioning, resurfacing, and
road repair funding categories
deleted text end new text begin any project with 15,000 or more square yards of pavingnew text end , the
commissioner deleted text begin shalldeleted text end new text begin mustnew text end perform a life-cycle cost analysis deleted text begin and shall document the lowest
life-cycle costs and all alternatives considered. The commissioner shall document the chosen
pavement strategy and, if the lowest life cycle is not selected, document the justification
for the chosen strategy. A life-cycle cost analysis is required for projects to be constructed
after July 1, 2011. For projects to be constructed prior to July 1, 2011, when feasible, the
department will use its best efforts to perform life-cycle cost analyses.
deleted text end new text begin and document the
chosen pavement strategy as provided by this section. The commissioner must perform the
life-cycle cost analysis prior to substantial plan development.
new text end

new text begin (b) When conducting a life-cycle cost analysis, the commissioner must:
new text end

new text begin (1) derive initial and future costs from historical data of roadways with similar
characteristics, including but not limited to similar geographical location, rural or urban
classification, traffic volumes, construction practices, staging, and vehicle classification
percentages;
new text end

new text begin (2) determine the analysis period based on the longest design life of all feasible
alternatives or 60 years, whichever is longer;
new text end

new text begin (3) compensate for any life added or lost due to rounding if pavement thickness is rounded
up or down;
new text end

new text begin (4) ensure that each feasible alternative being considered in the analysis meets the
minimum requirements for that alternative and must consider only the pavement, base, and
subbase materials that are required to meet the minimum criteria for that alternative;
new text end

new text begin (5) identify all feasible alternatives, including a full range of rehabilitation strategies for
both rigid and flexible pavements, which must, at a minimum, include thin asphalt overlay
of less than four inches, thin concrete overlay of four inches to six inches, thick asphalt of
greater than or equal to four inches, and thick concrete options greater than six inches;
new text end

new text begin (6) include agency costs, including but not limited to initial pavement, future rehabilitation
and maintenance projects, overhead, design, contract administration, and routine maintenance;
new text end

new text begin (7) add the annual excess fuel consumption costs, as calculated in subdivision 2a, as an
annual pavement cost;
new text end

new text begin (8) identify and use realistic timing of future maintenance and construction practices
using similar characteristics, including but not limited to similar geographical location, rural
or urban classification, traffic volumes, construction practices, staging, and vehicle
classification percentages;
new text end

new text begin (9) include an explanation of the methodology used to produce the cost estimate and
why that method was selected; and
new text end

new text begin (10) include an explanation of the timing selected of rehabilitation and maintenance and
why that timing was selected.
new text end

new text begin (c) The commissioner must not include the following in a life-cycle cost analysis:
new text end

new text begin (1) elements that are the same for all alternatives;
new text end

new text begin (2) life-cycle calculations for shoulder pavement, base, or subbase; and
new text end

new text begin (3) any superfluous material that is included as part of the feasible alternative but is not
required to meet the minimum requirements of the feasible alternative, including any material
that may be included due to the designer's preference or recommendation in the department's
Pavement Design Manual. This clause does not preclude the commissioner from selecting
a pavement strategy that uses superfluous materials, but the superfluous materials must not
be a factor in making the selection.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2a. new text end

new text begin Excess fuel consumption calculation. new text end

new text begin (a) For purposes of this subdivision,
the following terms have the meanings given:
new text end

new text begin (1) "diesel fuel price" means the Midwest nonhighway diesel fuel price effective for the
date the calculation is performed as provided by the United States Energy Information
Administration;
new text end

new text begin (2) "gasoline fuel price" means the Midwest regular gasoline price effective for the date
that calculation is performed as provided by the United States Energy Information
Administration;
new text end

new text begin (3) "heavy commercial annual average daily traffic (HCAADT)" means the heavy
commercial annual average daily traffic provided by the department's data and based on the
traffic forecasting and analysis system;
new text end

new text begin (4) "heavy-duty MPG" means the latest fleet average miles per gallon of heavy-duty,
short-wheelbase vehicles as provided by the United States Energy Information
Administration;
new text end

new text begin (5) "heavy-duty fuel savings factor" means the percentage of rigid pavement savings
anticipated for heavy commercial vehicles as provided by department research, state or
federal agencies, or relevant academic research projects;
new text end

new text begin (6) "light-duty fuel savings factor" is the percentage of rigid pavement savings anticipated
for passenger vehicles as provided by department research, state or federal agencies, or
relevant academic research projects;
new text end

new text begin (7) "light-duty MPG" means the latest fleet average for miles per gallon of light-duty,
short-wheelbase vehicles as provided by the United States Energy Information
Administration;
new text end

new text begin (8) "passenger annual average daily traffic (PAADT)" means the passenger annual
average daily traffic provided by the department's data and based on the traffic forecasting
and analysis system; and
new text end

new text begin (9) "project length" means the centerline miles for the project.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner must determine the annual excess fuel consumption cost as
provided in this subdivision. The commissioner must use the same HCAADT or PAADT
for the duration of each analysis period.
new text end

new text begin (c) The passenger excess cost is equal to the product of PAADT, gasoline fuel price,
light-duty fuel savings factor, project length, and 365 divided by light-duty MPG.
new text end

new text begin (d) The heavy commercial excess cost is equal to the product of PAADT, gasoline fuel
price, heavy-duty fuel savings factor, project length, and 365 divided by heavy-duty MPG.
new text end

new text begin (e) The annual excess fuel consumption cost is the sum of passenger excess cost and
heavy commercial excess cost.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2b. new text end

new text begin Public review and collaboration. new text end

new text begin (a) Before finalizing a pavement selection,
the commissioner must post a draft of the life-cycle cost analysis and the draft pavement
selection on the department's Office of Materials and Road Research website for 21 days.
During this period, the commissioner must allow the public to submit questions and
comments. The commissioner must collaborate with the person who submitted the question
or comment, where necessary, to ensure the commissioner fully understands the question
or comment. The commissioner must respond to each comment or question in writing, which
must include a description of any associated changes that will be made to the life-cycle cost
analysis.
new text end

new text begin (b) After the public review period closes, the commissioner must make revisions to the
life-cycle cost analysis in response to questions or comments received. If the commissioner
revises the type of pavement from concrete to asphalt or from asphalt to concrete, the
commissioner must post the revised life-cycle cost analysis for public review in accordance
with paragraph (a).
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2c. new text end

new text begin Selection. new text end

new text begin (a) After the public review period required in subdivision 2b and
any subsequent changes to the analysis, the commissioner must select the pavement strategy
and prepare a document of justification. At a minimum, the document of justification must
include:
new text end

new text begin (1) all comments and questions received during the public review and the commissioner's
responses to each;
new text end

new text begin (2) an explanation of why the pavement strategy was selected;
new text end

new text begin (3) if the lowest life-cycle cost is not selected, justification for why a strategy with a
higher life-cycle cost was selected;
new text end

new text begin (4) identify any superfluous materials, quantify the superfluous materials' associated
costs, and provide the rationale for the superfluous materials inclusion.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner must submit the analysis and document of justification to a licensed
professional engineer for review. A life-cycle cost analysis is not considered final until it
is certified and signed by a licensed professional engineer as provided by Minnesota Rules,
part 1800.4200.
new text end

new text begin (c) For all projects that began construction on or after January 1, 2022, the commissioner
must store all life-cycle cost analyses and documents of justification on the department's
website in a manner that allows the public to easily access the documents.
new text end

new text begin (d) After completing the certification and signature requirements of paragraph (b) and
the posting requirements of paragraph (c), the commissioner may advance the project to
substantial plan development.
new text end

Subd. 3.

Report.

The commissioner deleted text begin shalldeleted text end new text begin mustnew text end report annually to the chairs and ranking
minority members of the senate and house of representatives committees with jurisdiction
over transportation finance beginning on January 1, 2012, the results of the analyses required
in subdivision 2new text begin , the public review required by subdivision 2b, and the final selection and
document of justification required by subdivision 2c
new text end .

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2022, and applies to life-cycle
cost analyses that are started on or after that date, except that subdivision 2b and any
references to subdivision 2b are not effective until July 1, 2023.
new text end