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Chapter 174

Section 174.03

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174.03 DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER.
    Subdivision 1. Statewide transportation plan; priorities; schedule of expenditures. In
order to best meet the present and future transportation needs of the public, to insure a strong
state economy, to make most efficient use of public and private funds, and to promote the more
efficient use of energy and other resources for transportation purposes, the commissioner shall:
(1) three months after notification that the department is ready to commence operations
and prior to the drafting of the statewide transportation plan, hold public hearings as may
be appropriate solely for the purpose of receiving suggestions for future transportation
alternatives and priorities for the state. The Metropolitan Council, regional development
commissions, and port authorities shall appear at the hearings and submit information concerning
transportation-related planning undertaken and accomplished by these agencies. Other political
subdivisions may appear and submit such information at the hearings. These hearings shall be
completed no later than six months from the date of the commissioner's notification;
(2) develop, adopt, revise, and monitor a statewide transportation plan, taking into account
the suggestions and information submitted at the public hearings held pursuant to clause (1).
The plan shall incorporate all modes of transportation and provide for the interconnection and
coordination of different modes of transportation. The commissioner shall evaluate alternative
transportation programs and facilities proposed for inclusion in the plan in terms of economic
costs and benefits, safety aspects, impact on present and planned land uses, environmental effects,
energy efficiency, national transportation policies and priorities, and availability of federal and
other financial assistance;
(3) based upon the statewide transportation plan, develop statewide transportation priorities
and schedule authorized public capital improvements and other authorized public transportation
expenditures pursuant to the priorities;
(4) complete the plan and priorities required by this subdivision no later than July 1, 1978.
Upon completion of the plan and priorities, the commissioner shall prepare and periodically
revise, as necessary, the schedule of authorized public transportation expenditures. The plan,
priorities, and schedule are exempt from the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.
    Subd. 1a. Revision of state transportation plan. The commissioner shall revise the state
transportation plan by January 1, 1996, January 1, 2000, and, if the requirements of clauses (1)
and (2) have been met in the previous revision, by January 1 of every third even-numbered
year thereafter. Before final adoption of a revised plan, the commissioner shall hold a hearing
to receive public comment on the preliminary draft of the revised plan. The revised state
transportation plan must:
(1) incorporate the goals of the state transportation system in section 174.01; and
(2) establish objectives, policies, and strategies for achieving those goals.
    Subd. 2. Implementation of plan. After the adoption and each revision of the statewide
transportation plan, the commissioner shall take no action inconsistent with the revised plan.
    Subd. 3. Relationship with national and local plans. The statewide plan shall recognize
established national transportation policies. The plan shall include matters of local or regional
concern if this inclusion is needed to insure a comprehensive, statewide perspective on
transportation policies and priorities. The commissioner shall recognize and attempt to
accommodate the local or regional transportation plans. However, the statewide plan shall
supersede a local or regional plan to the extent inconsistent on a matter which the commissioner
demonstrates is of statewide concern. A political subdivision may challenge the commissioner's
determination that a portion of a local or regional plan is superseded by the statewide plan. The
subdivision shall institute the challenge by filing a petition with the commissioner within 30
days after being notified by the commissioner that the local or regional plan is superseded. The
challenge shall be resolved by the commissioner as a contested case pursuant to chapter 14.
    Subd. 4. Other duties. The commissioner shall:
(1) construct and maintain transportation facilities as authorized by law;
(2) cooperate with, and may provide technical and financial assistance to, the Metropolitan
Council and regional development commissions in the regional transportation planning process,
in accordance with mutually acceptable terms and conditions;
(3) cooperate with, and may provide planning and technical assistance upon the request of,
any political subdivision or other governmental agency in accordance with mutually accepted
terms and conditions, except as otherwise restricted by law; and
(4) develop, revise, and monitor a statewide rail transportation plan as part of the statewide
transportation planning process, including a study and evaluation of alternative methods for
insuring adequate and economical transportation of agricultural commodities, supplies, and other
goods to and from rural areas of the state. The plan shall include an analysis of rail lines in the
state for the purpose of determining (i) eligibility of rail lines for assistance under federal and
state rail assistance programs, (ii) eligibility of rail lines for inclusion in the state rail bank, and
(iii) the actions required by the state to insure the continuation of rail service that meets essential
state needs and objectives.
    Subd. 5. Regional transportation planning. The Metropolitan Council, pursuant to
section 473.146, and the regional development commissions shall develop regional long-range
transportation policy plans in cooperation with the commissioner and local units of government.
Upon promulgation of the statewide transportation plan, and periodically as necessary thereafter,
each regional policy plan shall be reviewed and amended, if necessary, by the appropriate
regional agency to insure that the regional policy plan is not in conflict with the statewide
transportation plan.
    Subd. 5a.[Repealed, 1984 c 654 art 3 s 153]
    Subd. 6. Social, economic, and environmental effects. The commissioner shall consider the
social, economic, and environmental effects resulting from existing and proposed transportation
facilities and shall make continuing efforts to mitigate any adverse effects. The commissioner
shall utilize a systematic, interdisciplinary approach which shall insure the integrated use of the
natural, social, and physical sciences and the environmental design arts in plans and decisions
which may affect the environment.
    Subd. 6a. Economic analysis of nonhighway alternatives. If the commissioner considers
congestion pricing, tolls, mileage pricing, or public-private partnerships in order to meet the
transportation needs of commuters in the department's metropolitan district between 2001 and
2020, the commissioner shall, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Council and the regional
railroad authorities in the district, compare the economics of these financing methods with the
economics of nonhighway alternatives for moving commuters. The commissioner shall analyze
the economics as they relate to both individuals and to the transportation system.
    Subd. 7. Energy conservation. The commissioner, in cooperation with the commissioner
of commerce through the state energy office, shall evaluate all modes of transportation in
terms of their levels of energy consumption. The commissioner of commerce shall provide the
commissioner with projections of the future availability of energy resources for transportation.
The commissioner shall use the results of this evaluation and the projections to evaluate
alternative programs and facilities to be included in the statewide plan and to otherwise promote
the more efficient use of energy resources for transportation purposes.
    Subd. 8. Salaries and expenses. Salaries and expenses of the department relating to highway
purposes shall be paid from moneys available in the trunk highway fund. The funds provided in
sections 360.011 to 360.076 and 360.301 to 360.91 shall be expended by the commissioner of
transportation in accordance with the purposes prescribed by those sections. Funds appropriated
pursuant to the authority conferred by any constitutional article shall be expended in conformity
with the purposes and uses authorized thereby.
    Subd. 9. Forecast of revenues and expenditures. In cooperation with the Department of
Finance and as required by section 16A.103, the commissioner shall prepare in February and
November of each year a forecast of highway user tax distribution fund and trunk highway fund
revenues and expenditures. The forecast must include an analysis of economic information and
the potential impact on highway user fund revenues, historical growth rate information, and
other variables affecting revenue assumptions and forecasted future growth rates. The forecast
must include an analysis of trunk highway bonding and the necessary debt service payments,
and assumptions regarding federal transportation funds. The commissioner shall review the
forecast information with the chairs of the senate and house of representatives committees with
jurisdiction over finance, ways and means, and transportation finance and with legislative fiscal
staff no later than one week following the release of the forecast and shall inform the chairs and
staff of changes made from previous forecasts.
History: 1976 c 166 s 3; Ex1979 c 1 s 16; 1980 c 534 s 14; 1980 c 558 s 1; 1980 c 614 s 96;
1981 c 356 s 180; 1982 c 424 s 130; 1982 c 617 s 17,18; 1983 c 289 s 115 subd 1; 1987 c 186 s
15; 1987 c 312 art 1 s 10 subd 2; 1991 c 298 art 1 s 2,3; 1994 c 635 art 2 s 6; 1997 c 159 art 2 s
37; 1998 c 403 s 17,18; 1Sp2001 c 4 art 6 s 25; 1Sp2003 c 19 art 2 s 41; 2007 c 143 art 4 s 2

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes