Requires the department of transportation to issue a notice of completed application upon receipt and following an initial review of the application and determining that the application is complete or identifying additional information required or to be submitted by the applicant and requires the commissioner of transportation to establish regulations regarding the time within which such application is processed.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3806
SPONSOR: Bronson TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the highway law, in relation to applications for permits
for work within the highway right of way
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of the legislation is to require the department of transpor-
tation to issue a notice of completed application upon receipt and
following an initial review of such application for permits to work in
state highway right-of-ways.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Such regulations shall provide that the department shall
issue a written notice or complete application to an applicant for a
highway work or use and occupancy permit within twenty-one days of
receipt of the application following an initial review of the applica-
tion and either making a determination that the application is complete
or identifying any additional information required or to be submitted by
the applicant. The regulations shall also provide that the department
shall: complete the review of the application and issue a permit within
forty-five days of issuing the notice of application; and provide that
any application that is pending for more than forty-five days without a
permit being issued shall be deemed approved and, upon payment of a. one
hundred dollar permit fee, the applicant shall not be required to take
further action with regard to the permit application.
Section 2: Effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Since the enactment of the use and occupancy fee for fiber-optic deploy-
ment in the State Department of Transportation owned right-of-way,
significant delays have developed within the permitting process. To
ensure the rapid deployment of fiberoptic utilities to provide essential
broadband and telecommunications services across the state, a timelier
process is required by the State Department of Transportation. This
legislation will provide specific, timeframes to ensure certainty within
the permitting process to allow essential projects to proceed on sched-
ule.
With the influx of federal funding for broadband expansion and the
potential for a Federal Infrastructure stimulus package, it is likely
that there will be a significant increase in projects that will require
permitting, which will burden the already backlogged process.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: A6010; referred to Transportation
2021-2022: A7361A; referred to Transportation
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3806
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 30, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the highway law, in relation to applications for permits
for work within the highway right of way
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The second undesignated paragraph of section 52 of the
2 highway law, as amended by chapter 297 of the laws of 1972, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 The commissioner of transportation shall establish regulations govern-
5 ing the issuance of highway work permits, including the fees to be
6 charged therefor, a system of deposits of money or bonds guaranteeing
7 the performance of the work and requirements of insurance to protect the
8 interests of the state during performance of the work pursuant to a
9 highway work permit. With respect to accommodation of fiber optic util-
10 ities within the state highway right of way, the regulations shall addi-
11 tionally provide that the department shall issue a written notice of
12 complete application to an applicant for a highway work permit or use
13 and occupancy permit within twenty-one days of receipt of the work
14 permit application. Within such time of submission for an accommodation
15 of fiber optic utilities, an initial review of the application shall be
16 conducted and the department shall either make a determination that the
17 application is complete, or identify any additional information required
18 to be submitted by the applicant for the application to be considered
19 complete. With respect to accommodation of fiber optic utilities, the
20 regulations shall also provide that the department shall: complete the
21 review of the application and either issue or deny a work permit and/or
22 use and occupancy permit within forty-five days of issuing the written
23 notice of complete application; and provide that any application that is
24 pending for more than forty-five days without a permit being issued
25 shall be deemed approved. If the work permit and/or use and occupancy
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06033-01-5
A. 3806 2
1 permit is denied, the department shall identify and provide specific
2 reasoning and basis for the denial. With respect to driveway entrance
3 permits, the regulations shall take into consideration the prospective
4 character of the development, the traffic which will be generated by the
5 facility within the reasonably foreseeable future, the design and
6 frequency of access to the facility, the effect of the facility upon
7 drainage as related to existing drainage systems, the extent to which
8 such facility may impair the safety and traffic carrying capacity of the
9 existing state highway and any proposed improvement thereto within the
10 reasonably foreseeable future, and any standards governing access, non-
11 access or limited access which have been established by the department
12 of transportation.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect ninety days after it shall have become
14 a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of
15 any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on
16 its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before
17 such effective date.
