MACo Associate Director Leslie Knapp, Jr., testified in opposition before the House Environmental Matters Committee this week on legislation that would require every local jurisdiction responsible for highway maintenance to establish and implement a road salt management program. HB 903 would require that these plans be put in place by October 31, 2011 and specifies that if a local jurisdiction does not implement a plan, the State Highway Administration would do it for them.
Mr. Knapp expressed concern with the administrative and fiscal impacts the development of these plans would have on local jurisdictions. MACo raised comparable concerns with the Senate cross-filed bill, SB 775.
[...] As previously reported, MACo opposed SB 775 due to the administrative and fiscal effect the development of these plans would have on local governments. In response to these concerns, the Education Health and Environmental Affairs Committee amended the bill to remove the mandate that would be placed on local governments and require the SHA to develop a guidance document. [...]