Bill Text: HI SR159 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Urging The Department Of Transportation To Convene An Intergovernmental Task Force To Recommend Policy And Provide Guidance To Assist The County Of Hawaii In The Establishment And Formation Of A Metropolitan Planning Organization Or A Regional Transportation Planning Organization.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-06-06 - Certified copies of resolutions sent, 06/06/22. [SR159 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SR159-Amended.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	159
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO CONVENE AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL TASK FORCE TO RECOMMEND POLICY AND PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO ASSIST THE COUNTY OF HAWAII IN THE ESTABLISHMENT AND FORMATION OF A METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION OR A REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLANNING ORGANIZATION.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act has allocated $358 million to the Metropolitan Planning Organization Highway Planning Funding and $107 million to Metropolitan Planning Organization Transit Planning Funding to expend within the next five years; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1962 required that metropolitan planning organizations be established to serve as a forum for collaboration among local communities and government agencies and to direct federal funds toward projects that increase access to opportunity and prosperity through improved multimodal pedestrian, bicycle, and transit options; and

 

     WHEREAS, metropolitan planning organizations are designated by agreement between the Governor and local governments that together represent at least seventy-five percent of the affected population, including the largest incorporated city based on population, or in accordance with procedures established by applicable state and local law; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Transportation has the responsibility to support statewide transportation goals in the State and work together with the counties to accomplish transportation goals in their respective islands; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are two established metropolitan planning organizations operating in the State of Hawaii, one located in the County of Maui and the other in the City and County of Honolulu; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the 2020 United States Census data, 200,629 people reside in the County of Hawaii, where the ability to deliver quality public transportation services is hampered by the sheer geographic distance between urban and rural areas; and

 

     WHEREAS, in December 2021, the Council of the County of Hawaii passed Resolution No. 262-21, urging the County's Department of Planning to assess the feasibility of establishing a metropolitan planning organization for the County of Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, in June 2022, data points for urbanized areas will be made available by the United States Census and such data will be provided to the United States Department of Transportation and the Governor of the State of Hawaii for determination of metropolitan planning organization formation for urban areas of fifty thousand people or greater; and

 

     WHEREAS, when the population for Kailua-Kona, Hilo, or Puna exceeds forty-five thousand people, the Department of Transportation is requested to begin the interim process of establishing a metropolitan planning organization with the County of Hawaii in cooperation with the Governor in accordance with title 23 U.S.C. §134(b) and title 49 U.S.C. §5303(c); and

 

     WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the policy board of the metropolitan planning organization to make decisions that are the result of the continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive transportation planning process and the organization's staff to support and provide technical resources to the policy board; and

 

     WHEREAS, the County of Hawaii does not have a metropolitan planning organization; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the Department of Transportation is urged to convene an Intergovernmental Task Force to recommend policy and provide guidance to assist the County of Hawaii to establish and form a metropolitan planning organization or a regional transportation planning organization should the County of Hawaii not meet the population threshold of the formalization of a metropolitan planning organization, according to the 2020 census; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is urged to provide the Intergovernmental Task Force with a list of highway projects to be executed within the next four years from the State Transportation Improvement Program to support the development of the metropolitan planning organization's transportation improvement program; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Intergovernmental Task Force is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, if needed after review of existing state and federal regulation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Intergovernmental Task Force be dissolved upon submittal of its report; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Transportation, Mayor of the County of Hawaii, Councilmembers of the County of Hawaii, Director of Mass Transit Agency, and Director of Planning and Public Works of the County of Hawaii.

Report Title: 

County of Hawaii; Metropolitan Planning Organization; Department of Transportation; Task Force; Transportation Improvement Program; Certification