HB 7057 — AN ACT CONCERNING THE INSTALLATION OF SOUND BARRIERS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.

House of Representatives General Assembly RaisedFile Bill No.

7057402 January Session, 2025 LCOHouse Bill No.

48057057 ReferredHouse toof Representatives, April 1, 2025 The Committee on TRANSPORTATIONTransportation Introducedreported by:through REP.

(TRA)BERGER-GIRVALO ANof ACTthe CONCERNING111th THEDist., INSTALLATIONChairperson OFof SOUNDthe BARRIERSCommittee BYon THEthe DEPARTMENTpart OFof TRANSPORTATION.the House, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE INSTALLATION OF SOUND BARRIERS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.

ThisHB7057 act/ shallFile takeNo. effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

Section402 1 fromHB7057 passageFile New section LCO 4805 1 of 2 Raised Bill No.

7057402 TRAThis Jointact Favorableshall LCOtake 4805effect 2as offollows 2and shall amend the following sections:

Section 1 from passage New section TRA Joint Favorable HB7057 / File No.

402 2 HB7057 File No.

402 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do 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.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 26 $ FY 27 $ Transportation, Dept.

TF - Cost See Below See Below Note:

TF=Transportation Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to develop a schedule and fund the construction of certain noise barriers.

According to DOT, the bill's requirements include funding noise barriers at 37 locations at a cost of more than $320 million over a 15-20 year period.

Of the total cost, DOT expects the state portion to be at least $83 million,withtheremaining costseligiblefor federalreimbursement.

The bill's noise barrier projects are not included in the department's current capital plan.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to the timing of the noise barrier construction projects over the next 15-20 years.

To the extent the state’s costs are financed using bonded dollars, the long-term cost would increase due to interest costs and be spread out for up to 20 years after the final barrier was installed.

HB7057 / File No.

402 3 HB7057 File No.

402 OLR Bill Analysis HB 7057 AN ACT CONCERNING THE INSTALLATION OF SOUND BARRIERS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.

SUMMARY This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT), by October 1, 2025, to (1) develop, and later revise as needed, a funding schedule for constructing noise barriers for Type II projects (i.e.

retrofit projects) and (2) fund construction according to this schedule.

The funding schedule must be based on the department’s existing priority list for these noise barriers.

The bill also requires DOT to publish the schedule and status of each construction project on its website.

A “Type II project” is generally a federal or federal-aid highway project for noise abatement on an existing highway (see BACKGROUND).

EFFECTIVE DATE:

Upon passage BACKGROUND Noise Barriers State and federal regulation and policy separate noise barriers into two types, based on whether they are associated with an existing or new source of noise.

Under federal regulations, noise barriers must mitigate increased traffic noise exceeding allowable levels resulting from new highway or bridge construction or reconstruction (i.e.

Type I projects).

The federal government generally pays most of the noise barrier costs as part of the approved project.

Federal regulations allow federal funds to be used for retrofitting an area with noise barriers (i.e.

Type II projects) if a state adopts a Type II program that includes a federally approved priority ranking system (23 C.F.R.

§ 772.7).

HB7057 / File No.