HB76: HB76 Transportation, Department of; require public hearings for local transportation projects of significant impact

Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 32-2-3), the Department of Transportation must hold public hearings for major transportation facilities and statewide transportation plans, but many local road projects done in partnership with a county, municipality, or private entity have not been subject to those hearing requirements. HB76 adds a new definition for a 'local transportation project of significant impact' and requires the department to hold hearings for those projects too. The bill defines a project of significant impact as one where the department helps consult, design, or build a road or transportation project with a county, municipality, or private entity, involving major changes such as roadway extensions, new roadways, or reconfigured intersections, and that was not already covered by local zoning notice or approval rules. It also updates the general public participation language in the law to explicitly include these projects and directs the department to write rules for these hearings similar to its existing planning hearing rules.

• Adds a new legal definition of a 'local transportation project of significant impact' to Georgia's transportation planning law (O.C.G.A. § 32-2-3).
• Requires the Department of Transportation to hold public hearings for these local projects even when they are not already subject to local zoning notice or approval requirements.
• Directs the department to write hearing rules for these projects that are substantially similar to its existing rules for statewide transportation plan hearings.
• Updates the law's description of what public hearings must cover to explicitly include the design and impact of local transportation projects of significant impact.

County and municipal governments partnering with the state on road projects, private entities involved in transportation construction or design, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and residents near local road projects such as roadway extensions, new roads, or major intersection redesigns.

Residents near a road project that a county or city builds with state help, such as a new roadway or a reconfigured intersection, would gain a guaranteed chance to weigh in through a public hearing, even in cases where no local zoning process already required one.

• Section 1 adds paragraph (2.1) to subsection (a), defining a 'local transportation project of significant impact' as a road or transportation undertaking involving the department and a county, municipality, or private entity with major changes like roadway extensions or new roadways.
• Section 1 revises subsection (f) to add a new paragraph (3) requiring hearings for these local projects, with rules similar to those used for planning hearings.
• Section 1 also amends the hearing-purpose language so it explicitly covers 'the design and impact of local transportation projects of significant impact.'
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, the standard closing provision for this type of amendment.

1. 2025-01-27House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-01-17House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-01-16House Hopper (House)

• Stacey Evans (D, HD-057)Primary sponsor
• Vance Smith (R, HD-138)
• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)

• transportation planning
• public hearings
• road construction
• local government projects
• Georgia DOT