00                            HOUSE BILL NO. 473                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to transportation."                                                                                    
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1.  AS 44.42.050 is amended by adding new subsections to read:                                           
04            (e)  The commissioner shall update each analysis of the costs and benefits of                                
05       new transportation projects prepared under (a) of this section to reflect increased                               
06       preconstruction, construction, and maintenance costs of the project identified during                             
07       preconstruction planning for the project.  If the initial costs of preconstruction                                
08       planning, including preliminary engineering and design and environmental assessment                               
09       or impact analysis, for a new surface transportation project, including a trail project                           
10       and transportation enhancement, have increased by more than 50 percent since the                                  
11       initial project agreement to pay those costs for the project was entered into with the                            
12       Federal Highway Administration, or since the initial approval of the project by the                               
13       legislature, then before submitting a preliminary design or environmental document to                             
14       the Federal Highway Administration for approval or before commencing final design                                 
15       or construction of the project, the commissioner shall include the following                                      

01       information regarding the project in the annual update of the state transportation plan                           
02       under (a) of this section:                                                                                        
03                 (1)  an explanation of the reasons why the preconstruction costs for the                                
04       project have increased by more than 50 percent;                                                                   
05                 (2)  anticipated further increases in preconstruction, construction, and                                
06       maintenance costs over the life of the project;                                                                   
07                 (3)  an updated analysis of the costs and benefits of the project that                                  
08       reflects increased costs, computed to the maximum extent feasible in terms of a                                   
09       benefit-to-cost ratio;                                                                                            
10                 (4)  a retrospective examination of whether the methods of contracting                                  
11       for professional services, including by time and expense contract, for nonconstruction                            
12       services including preliminary engineering, design, environmental analysis, or right-                             
13       of-way services could have been reduced by alternative means of contracting, more                                 
14       effective ceiling prices, or greater oversight of costs and contract performance; and                             
15                 (5)  other information useful for assuring that new transportation                                      
16       projects are well planned, efficiently managed, intermodal, and financially                                       
17       constrained, as required by state and federal law.                                                                
18            (f)  Transportation projects that have a benefit-to-cost ratio greater than one are                          
19       presumed efficient and projects that have a benefit-to-cost ratio of less than one are                            
20       presumed inefficient.