1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to capital investment; setting a cap on grant amounts in the local bridge 
1.3 	replacement and rehabilitation program;amending Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 
1.4 	174.50, subdivision 7.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 174.50, subdivision 7, is amended to read:
1.7 		Subd. 7.Bridge grant program; rulemaking. (a) The commissioner of transportation 
1.8 	shall develop rules, procedures for application for grants, conditions of grant administration, 
1.9 	standards, and criteria as provided under subdivision 6, including bridge specifications, in 
1.10 	cooperation with road authorities of political subdivisions, for use in the administration of 
1.11 	funds appropriated to the commissioner and for the administration of grants to subdivisions.
1.12 	(b) The maximum use of standardized bridges is encouraged. Regardless of the size of 
1.13 	the existing bridge, a bridge or replacement bridge is eligible for assistance from the state 
1.14 	transportation fund if a hydrological survey indicates that the bridge or replacement bridge 
1.15 	must be ten feet or more in length.
1.16 	(c) As part of the standards or rules, the commissioner shall, in consultation with local 
1.17 	road authorities, establish a minimum distance between any two bridges that cross over the 
1.18 	same river, stream, or waterway, so that only one of the bridges is eligible for a grant under 
1.19 	this section. As appropriate, the commissioner may establish exceptions from the minimum 
1.20 	distance requirement or procedures for obtaining a variance.
1.21 	(d) Political subdivisions may use grants made under this section to construct or 
1.22 	reconstruct bridges, including but not limited to:
1.23 	(1) matching federal aid grants to construct or reconstruct key bridges;
2.1 	(2) paying the costs to abandon an existing bridge that is deficient and in need of 
2.2 	replacement but where no replacement will be made; and
2.3 	(3) paying the costs to construct a road or street to facilitate the abandonment of an 
2.4 	existing bridge if the commissioner determines that the bridge is deficient, and that 
2.5 	construction of the road or street is more economical than replacement of the existing bridge.
2.6 	(e) Funds appropriated to the commissioner from the Minnesota state transportation 
2.7 	fund shall be segregated from the highway tax user distribution fund and other funds created 
2.8 	by article XIV of the Minnesota Constitution.
2.9 	(f) The maximum grant amount for a local bridge replacement or rehabilitation project 
2.10 	under this section is $7,000,000.

2.11 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.