1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to transportation; amending major local bridge requirements under the 
1.3 	local bridge program;amending Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 174.50, 
1.4 	subdivisions 6d, 7.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 174.50, subdivision 6d, is amended to read:
1.7 		Subd. 6d.Major local bridges. (a) The commissioner may make grants pursuant to this 
1.8 	subdivision only if an enacted appropriation specifically references this specific subdivision. 
1.9 	The commissioner must not make grants pursuant to this subdivision if an enacted 
1.10 	appropriation references this section generally.
1.11 	(b) When authorized as provided in paragraph (a), The commissioner may make a grant 
1.12 	to any political subdivision for replacement or rehabilitation of a major local bridge with a 
1.13 	total bridge cost estimate of $7,000,000 or more. If in any year money appropriated for local 
1.14 	bridge replacement and rehabilitation projects under that references this specific subdivision 
1.15 	remains available after all identified and eligible projects under this subdivision have been 
1.16 	funded, the commissioner may use remaining funds to make grants under this section for 
1.17 	replacement or rehabilitation projects with a total bridge cost estimate of less than $7,000,000.

1.18 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

1.19 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 174.50, subdivision 7, is amended to read:
1.20 		Subd. 7.Bridge grant program; rulemaking. (a) The commissioner of transportation 
1.21 	shall develop rules, procedures for application for grants, conditions of grant administration, 
1.22 	standards, and criteria as provided under subdivision 6, including bridge specifications, in 
2.1 	cooperation with road authorities of political subdivisions, for use in the administration of 
2.2 	funds appropriated to the commissioner and for the administration of grants to subdivisions. 
2.3 	The commissioner must publish all rules, procedures, conditions, standards, and criteria on 
2.4 	the department's website. Grants under this section are subject to the procedures and criteria 
2.5 	established in this subdivision and in subdivisions 5 and 6.
2.6 	(b) The maximum use of standardized bridges is encouraged. Regardless of the size of 
2.7 	the existing bridge, a bridge or replacement bridge is eligible for assistance from the state 
2.8 	transportation fund if a hydrological survey indicates that the bridge or replacement bridge 
2.9 	must be ten feet or more in length.
2.10 	(c) As part of the standards or rules, the commissioner shall, in consultation with local 
2.11 	road authorities, establish a minimum distance between any two bridges that cross over the 
2.12 	same river, stream, or waterway, so that only one of the bridges is eligible for a grant under 
2.13 	this section. As appropriate, the commissioner may establish exceptions from the minimum 
2.14 	distance requirement or procedures for obtaining a variance.
2.15 	(d) Political subdivisions may use grants made under this section to construct or 
2.16 	reconstruct bridges, including but not limited to:
2.17 	(1) matching federal aid grants to construct or reconstruct key bridges;
2.18 	(2) paying the costs to abandon an existing bridge that is deficient and in need of 
2.19 	replacement but where no replacement will be made; and
2.20 	(3) paying the costs to construct a road or street to facilitate the abandonment of an 
2.21 	existing bridge if the commissioner determines that the bridge is deficient, and that 
2.22 	construction of the road or street is more economical than replacement of the existing bridge.
2.23 	(e) Funds appropriated to the commissioner from the Minnesota state transportation 
2.24 	fund shall be segregated from the highway tax user distribution fund and other funds created 
2.25 	by article XIV of the Minnesota Constitution.
2.26 	(f) The commissioner must maintain a local bridge project list that includes every local 
2.27 	bridge replacement or rehabilitation project which has approved plans. The list must include 
2.28 	the total bridge cost estimate for each project. The commissioner must update this list 
2.29 	annually. The commissioner must publish the list on the department's website.
2.30 	(g) The commissioner is prohibited from awarding a grant of $7,000,000 or more under 
2.31 	this section for a local bridge replacement or rehabilitation project, except:
2.32 	(1) for major local bridges as provided in subdivision 6d; or
3.1 	(2) if every other local bridge replacement or rehabilitation project with a total bridge 
3.2 	cost estimate of $7,000,000 or less on the local bridge project list required by paragraph (f) 
3.3 	has been fully funded.
3.4 	(h)(g) The commissioner must publish on the department's website a list of all projects 
3.5 	that were considered for funding. The list must identify the projects that were selected and 
3.6 	the projects that were not selected. For each project that was not selected, the commissioner 
3.7 	must include the reason it was not selected. This paragraph does not apply when there is no 
3.8 	funding from any source for the program in a fiscal year.

3.9 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.