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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 18, 2017 02:38 PM |
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| From: | Representative Mark Longietti |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Co-Sponsorship: Highways and Bridges Bonding Requirements |
| In the near future, I will be introducing legislation amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes in order to require the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to publish a revised schedule of bonding amounts for vehicles in excess of 10 tons to use state highways and bridges. Current law permits municipalities to require vehicles in excess of 10 tons to apply for a permit and to post a bond to ensure that any damage caused to the roadways will be repaired. However, PennDOT has not increased the bond amount even as the cost of reconstructing and repairing roads and bridges has increased dramatically. As a result, I intend to introduce legislation that would require PennDOT to publish a revised schedule of bonding amounts based on increased or decreased maintenance costs by January 1, 2018, and at least every three years thereafter. This legislation would also create a rebuttable presumption in favor of the municipalities for any state highway damage which occurs while being used by the permittee. In other words, instead of requiring the municipality to show that the permittee damaged the roadway, any damage would legally be presumed to have been caused by the permittee. If this was not the case, the permittee could then offer evidence showing that the damage was caused by some other source. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation to ensure that adequate funding is available to pay for damage to Commonwealth highways caused by vehicles in excess of 10 tons. |
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Introduced as HB737