OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-904
AN ACT CONCERNING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
OFFICE OF THE STATE TRAFFIC ADMINISTRATION AND THE
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, THE DISSOLUTION OF
THE NORWALK TRANSIT DISTRICT AND ROUTE SHIELD
PAVEMENT MARKINGS.
As Amended by Senate "A" (LCO 8785)
House Calendar No.: 602
Senate Calendar No.: 250
Primary Analyst: PM 5/26/23
Contributing Analyst(s): LG, BP, MR
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
State Resources State Resources -
Revenue Gain/
Loss
See Below See Below
Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection
CHEAPR
(nonlapsing GF) -
See Below
See Below See Below
Judicial Dept. (Probation) GF - Potential
Cost
Minimal Minimal
Transportation, Dept. TF - Cost 27,500 None
Note: GF=General Fund; TF=Transportation Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Various Municipalities Cost Potential Potential
Explanation
Section 5 requires the University of Connecticut's Connecticut
Training and Technical Assistance Center to conduct mandatory
training for traffic authorities. The center currently provides such
training to municipalities at a cost of $100 per participant and this 2023SB-00904-R01-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 4
section results in a cost for traffic authorities to the extent that they are
not currently participating in this program.
Sections 7 and 8 add requirements for DOT regarding the
Connecticut Public Transportation Council (currently the Connecticut
Commuter Rail Council). Specifically, these sections require DOT to
maintain records of requests received by the council, provide monthly
on-time performance and ridership reports, and make quarterly
presentations at council meetings. This is not expected to result in
additional costs to DOT because the department already tracks the
relevant data and regularly attends and presents at current Connecticut
Commuter Rail Council meetings.
Section 13 provides a new exception to the general prohibition of
commercial traffic on parkways for certain vehicles described in the bill,
and results in minimal revenue loss from fines.
Section 14 changes driving commercial vehicles on state parkways
from a regulatory violation to a statutory violation and raises the fine
for these violations. The fine for this violation is currently $50 with $42
in surcharges. The increase is to $500 for first violations and to $1,000 for
subsequent violations which results in a potential gain in revenue.
Sections 16 through 31 make various changes to laws concerning
airports, aircraft, and the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA). Section
23 allows, rather than requires, the state to fund 90% of eligible capital
improvements at private airports. According to CAA, this requirement
has rarely been exercised; however, to the extent that the state no longer
contributes funding for capital improvements at private airports, this
section results in a potential cost savings. The remaining provisions in
these sections either conform to current practice or otherwise do not
have a fiscal impact to the state or municipalities.
Section 32 requires DOT to establish, beginning in FY 31 and
biennially thereafter, a transportation carbon dioxide reduction target
for the state, and requires DOT to implement a plan to ensure that
projects included in the federally-mandated state transportation 2023SB-00904-R01-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 4
improvement plan do not exceed the established target, with certain
exclusions outlined in the bill. This is not expected to result in additional
costs to DOT because the department is expected to have the relevant
expertise
Sections 34 requires DOT to conduct an evaluation of constructing
noise barriers for Type II projects (i.e., retrofit of existing highways), to
establish a priority list of such projects, and to submit the results to the
Transportation Committee by February 1, 2024. This is not expected to
result in an additional cost because, according to the DOT, the
department is currently undertaking such an evaluation.
Section 37 requires DMV to establish a 12-month noise testing pilot
program at five of its emissions stations and to submit the results of such
program to the Transportation, Appropriations and Finance, Revenue,
and Bonding Committees by January 1, 2025. The cost of such a program
depends on planning decisions to be made by DMV but is not expected
to be significant.
Section 38 expands eligibility, under the Connecticut Hydrogen and
Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate (CHEAPR) voucher program
administered by the Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection (DEEP), for the medium- and heavy-duty voucher program
that DEEP is allowed to establish, based on certain vehicle classification
standards. There is no fiscal impact as the bill does not result in
additional costs to the program. However, expansion of the program
could result in funds being spent faster from the CHEAPR account than
they otherwise would have, under the bill. This section also makes other
changes that are not anticipated to result in a fiscal impact to the state
or municipalities. There is currently a balance of $5,147,090 in the
CHEAPR account, which is a separa te, non-lapsing account
administered by DEEP.
Section 39 creates unclassified misdemeanors for violations related
to street takeovers and motor vehicle stunts which results in a potential
cost to the Judicial Department and a potential revenue gain from fines.
On average, the marginal cost for supervision in the community is less 2023SB-00904-R01-FN.DOCX Page 4 of 4
than $800 each year.
1
Sections 41 through 51 designate names on certain roads and bridges
which will result in a one-time cost in FY 24 of approximately $27,500 to
DOT for highway signs.
Section 52 makes any CAA purchase of a municipally-owned airport
subject to the approval of the legislative body of the host municipality
and does not result in a fiscal impact.
The other aspects of the bill are technical in nature, conform to agency
practice, or otherwise do not result in a fiscal impact to the state or
municipalities.
Senate "A" eliminates the original bill and its associated fiscal impact,
and results in the impact described above.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation, the number of violations, or
as otherwise described.
The preceding Fiscal Impact statement is prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely
for the purposes of information, summarization and explanation and does not represent the intent of the General
Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of
informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is
consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any
specific department.
1
Probation marginal cost is based on services provided by private providers and only
includes costs that increase with each additional participant. This does not include a
cost for additional supervision by a probation officer unless a new offense is
anticipated to result in enough additional offenders to require additional probation
officers.