The
Idaho Transportation Department is raising fees for various
oversize load permits, hoping to stem a $645,000 annual deficit in
the cost of administering the program.
Vehicle Size and Weight Specialist Regina
Phipps said permit fees were last increased in 2007.
“We're required to recoup the administrative
cost of running the (permitting) program,” Phipps told the Senate
Transportation Committee Tuesday. “We did a cost study … that
indicates we're $645,000 short of collecting our costs.”
The
committee unanimously approved a proposed rule change raising
several permit fees by $18 to $70, depending on the type. Most of
the increases deal with non-reducible loads, Phipps said, because
they take more ITD staff time to evaluate the proposed travel
routes, check bridge widths and load limits, and monitor other
criteria to ensure the loads can be transported safely.
Language was also added authorizing the
department to require reimbursement for “extraordinary services”
provided during the planning and permitting of oversize loads that
need traffic control plans.
Phipps said that amendment wasn't specifically
directed at the Imperial Oil megaloads. Nevertheless, opponents
have repeatedly questioned whether ITD was losing money on the
megaloads due to the shear volume of permits being
requested.
Imperial Oil and other firms have discussed
potentially hundreds of oversize loads traveling from Lewiston to
Montana and on to Alberta via U.S. 2 and U.S. 95.
In a
separate rule change, the committee eliminated language that said
oversized loads typically wouldn't be approved if they delayed
traffic by more than 10 minutes, as well as a reference capping the
width of oversized loads on interstate highways to 24
feet.
The
10-minute limit was a factor in the lawsuit that unsuccessfully
challenged four ConocoPhillips megaload permits.
Phipps said the rule was changed to bring it
into compliance with a bill approved last session. That legislation
dealt specifically with farm equipment, but “once we open a rule,
we can do other cleanup,” she said.
A
rule requiring oversize loads “to provide for the frequent passing
of vehicles” remains in place. ITD “defines that as 15 minutes,”
Phipps said.
