The governors of Louisiana and New Hampshire recently signed transportation P3 enabling bills into law.
Although the Louisiana Transportation Authority already is permitted to use P3s, Act 519, which was introduced as SB 549, extends this authority to the state’s Department of Transportation and Development.
The law also stipulates that a quarter of all P3 projects the department conducts must be located outside a metropolitan planning area. This subset of projects must be approved by House and Senate transportation, agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and rural development committees.
The law, which took effect June 13, specifically prohibits the department from accepting unsolicited proposals.
The law also sets up a public-private partnership transportation infrastructure oversight commission, whose members are appointed by the governor and other state officials, to review and recommend suitable projects to the commissioner. The commission is required to hold at least one public meeting to solicit feedback on draft requests for proposals, followed by a 30-day comment period.
This is the first law the state has enacted authorizing the use of P3s to procure infrastructure projects.
“Senate Bill 549 will help build innovative public-private partnerships that are critical to moving commuter rail forward,” Gov. Maggie Hassan said in a June 16 statement upon signing the bill. She also expressed dismay over legislature’s refusal to include her proposal to build a commuter rail line from Boston to Nashua and Manchester, N.H., in the 10-year transportation plan. Hassan had previously signed into law a bill authorizing a study to assess the feasibility of using P3s for such projects.
NCPPP
June 30, 2016