FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: January 11, 2023
Time Requested: 10:20 PM |
| Agency: |
Transportation, WV Department of |
|---|
| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 1059 |
Introduced |
HB2484 |
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|---|
| CBD Subject: |
|
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FUND(S):
State Road Fund
Sources of Revenue:
Special Fund
Legislation creates:
Increases Existing Expenses
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
Summarize in a clear and concise manner what impact this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
House Bill 2484 would force the West Virginia Division of Highways (DOH) to institute a means and method specification for asphalt placement in order to ensure the paving seams are not located where the striping paint needs to be placed. Roadways are build with certain cross slopes and crowning requirement. The reason that the paving seams match up with where the striping paint is installed on the larger majority of projects is that those locations are easiest and thus cheapest to construct. Therefore, FDOH estimates that these requirements could cause the bid prices for our paving projects to increase up to 25 percent. This would have no impact on revenues.
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2023
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2024
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
11,250,000 |
45,000,000 |
45,000,000 |
| Personal Services |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Current Expenses |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
Please explain increases and decreases in personal services, current expenses, repairs and alterations, assets, other costs and revenues, including assumptions and data sources and delineation between start-up and ongoing costs. Please also include a long-range schedule of costs and revenues if fiscal impact is expected to vary in future years.
DOH estimates that HB2484 could increase paving project costs 25 percent due to construction practice changes that would be forced on the contractors due to changes in specifications to abide by the language in the bill. DOH' paving program is an average of $180,000,000. The paving season runs from April to November. Thus, we estimate the impact at a quarter for FY23. For FY24, DOH estimates the full 25 percent increase. There is not enough data or evidence to predict if these changes would positively impact the pavement service life or decrease pavement maintenance costs.
Memorandum
Please identify any areas of vagueness, technical defects, reasons a bill would not have a fiscal impact, and/or any special issues not captured elsewhere on this form.
House Bill 2484 implies that line painting on the pavement seams causes potholes to form. While DOH would agree that the pavement seams are typically an area where issues such as potholes occur more frequently, there are other more well-known reasons for the formation of potholes than line painting for those defects. DOH is actively working on specifications with industry to mitigate this. Monthly, DOH holds public specifications, materials procedure and publication meetings to ensure we are allowing all ideas from industry, DOH, and other interested parties a voice in our specification and construction practices. This bill seems to imply that the DOH is not utilizing construction plans and specifications that are geared toward preventing early potholes in the pavement surface and in pavement seams. While this bill bans the placement of paving seams where paint is applied, it does not say how far from a paving seam that the line would be allowed.
Additionally, the cause of potholes is much more varied than where seams (joints) occur. Water penetration along with freeze-thaw cycles are the primary cause of potholes. Mix-design alone can be an issue but is not the primary one. Water penetration occurs for many reasons including joint consolidation, subgrade support, adjacent shoulder support, under drains clogging, etc. The bill does not address these and will result in many construction claims trying to fit all of these into mix-design or joint/paint causes.
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Lorrie Hodges
Email Address: lorrie.a.hodges@wv.gov