§ 54-3-102 — Conformance with statewide transportation plan - Development of alternatives - Environmental evaluation - Hearings

(a) This chapter applies to the operation of user fee facilities on new facilities opened on or after July 1, 2023, and on existing facilities where one (1) or more new vehicle lanes is added to the facility on or after July 1, 2023. (b) The development of a user fee facility project by or under the authority of the department must be in accordance with the department's long-range statewide transportation plan. The department shall specifically identify a proposed user fee facility or user fee facility project in the transportation improvement program furnished to the general assembly in support of the commissioner's annual funding recommendations. (c) Prior to submitting to the general assembly a transportation improvement plan in which a user fee facility project is included, the department shall submit the proposed user fee facility project to the board for approval, as provided in this chapter. Further development of the user fee facility project must not occur until the user fee facility project has been approved by the board and, if applicable, by the general assembly in accordance with this subsection (c). Prior to approval of the project, the board shall provide written notice of the proposed user fee facility project to the speakers of the senate and the house of representatives, the chairs of the finance, ways and means committees of the senate and the house of representatives, the chair of the transportation and safety committee of the senate, and the chair of the transportation committee of the house of representatives. If any state agency proposes to assist in funding the user fee facility project with state or federal-aid funds, then the project is subject to the approval of the general assembly pursuant to the express provisions of the general appropriations act in which the funds must be specifically appropriated by reference to the project. (d) The development of a user fee facility project by or under the authority of the department must consider alternatives to the project; the economic, social, and environmental effects of the user fee facility project; and the findings of the environmental evaluation process and public comments, including comments from a metropolitan planning organization or rural planning organization, or both, in which the project is located, before developing final construction plans for the user fee facility. If the proposed project involves federal aid funding or constitutes a major federal action, then the department's environmental evaluation process is subject, as applicable, to the federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq.). If the proposed project does not involve federal aid funding and does not otherwise constitute a major federal action, then it is subject to environmental evaluation and documentation in accordance with such policies and procedures as the department may establish. (e) The development of a user fee facility project by or under the authority of the department is subject to public hearings conducted in accordance with such procedures as the department may establish. The department shall hold the public hearings at convenient locations during the environmental evaluation of the project and prior to plans for the user fee facility project being finally adopted. (f) The environmental evaluation and public hearing requirements of subsections (d) and (e) do not apply to the authorization, sale, or issuance of bonds under this chapter.

Legislative History

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 159, s 17, eff. 4/17/2023. Acts 2007 , ch. 597, § 3.