ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
utility relocation
reimbursement; transportation projects
Entitles a utility company
to reimbursement of utility relocation costs in federal transportation
projects.
Relocation of utility
facilities is currently governed by case law.
The general rule is that a utility company maintains its structure and
rights in a public street subject to the right of the state or political subdivision
to use its streets for governmental purposes.
A permit, franchise, easement or
other right accorded to a utility company by public authority to maintain
structures in public streets requires the utility company, at its own expense,
to remove, relocate and maintain a structure, when necessary for the state or
political subdivision to carry out a function in the interest of public health,
safety or welfare, whether the city has fee title or a mere easement in the
street.
According to the Federal
Highway Administration, a utility company must have prior rights in the
right-of-way to qualify for federal funding of relocation costs. Prior rights must be based on an agreement
with the original land owner or public agency regarding the utilities’ right to
be on the property.
The
Federal Highway Relocation Act authorizes a state to pay for the cost of
relocation of utility facilities necessitated by the construction of a project
on any federal-aid system. However, the
act prohibits the payment to the utility if the reimbursement is in violation
of state law or violates a legal contract between the utility and the state.
When federal funds are
involved in a project, the federal funding law may spell out how and if the
monies can be used to pay costs of utility relocation. This legislation has an unknown fiscal
impact to any federal funds associated with federal transportation projects due
to the unpredictability of the amount of federal funding and the cost of utility
relocation. The Arizona Department of
Transportation (ADOT) anticipates an administrative cost for implementation of
this legislation.
1. Requires the owner or operator of a utility to relocate any utility facility or equipment if construction of a federal interstate highway system project or mass transit project requires the relocation of the utility.
2. Requires the state, ADOT or another state entity to reimburse the utility company for relocation costs, determined by the utility company, for relocation required by construction of a federal interstate highway system project after the completion of the relocation.
3. Requires the state, ADOT, another state entity, a county, city, town or another political subdivision to reimburse the utility company for 80 percent of the relocation costs, determined by the utility company, for relocation required by construction of a federal mass transit project after completion of the relocation.
4. Permits the utility company reasonable time to relocate the utility facility and equipment.
5. Contains definitions.
6. Provides for a general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Staff
February 6, 2001