(1) An applicant may submit an application for noise mitigation measures to the department between November 1 and March 31 in accordance with the application procedures established by the transportation commission by rule.
(2) An application for noise mitigation measures shall:
(a) Be accompanied by a petition in support of the noise mitigation measures signed by members of no less than seventy-five percent of the households in an eligible area who live no more than four-tenths of one mile from the nearest edge of the right-of-way of the state highway; (b) Specify whether a local government has agreed to provide any of the moneys necessary to construct the noise mitigation measures; and
(c) Specify which noise mitigation measures the applicant proposes for the eligible area.
If local governments in an eligible area have not agreed to provide at least fifty percent of the moneys necessary to construct the proposed noise mitigation measures in the eligible area, an applicant may submit an application for noise mitigation measures under this section only if the eligible area existed as a residential area before the state highway was constructed or widened.
(a) The department shall consider applications received between November 1 and March 31 for noise mitigation measures to be constructed in the state fiscal year commencing the following July 1.
(b) No later than July 1 of each year, the department shall review applications received between November 1 and March 31 of the previous state fiscal year and place applications that meet the requirements of this section on a list of approved noise mitigation measures. The department shall prioritize the measures on the list using a formula that gives equal weight to the following factors:
The hourly equivalent noise level at the first receivers in the eligible area;
The number of homes in the area that will benefit significantly from noise mitigationmeasures; and
The length of time that the area has been an eligible area.
(5) (a) The department shall construct noise mitigation measures on the list of approved measures for which a local government has agreed to provide no less than fifty percent of the necessary moneys in the order of priority established pursuant to subsection (4) of this section, using moneys provided by local governments and any moneys distributed to the department by the department of public health and environment pursuant to part 14 of article 20 of title 30, C.R.S.
After the construction of noise mitigation measures in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subsection (5), the department shall use any moneys provided by local governments or distributed to the department pursuant to part 14 of article 20 of title 30, C.R.S., to construct other noise mitigation measures on the list of approved measures in the order of priority established pursuant to subsection (4) of this section.
If a noise mitigation measure on the list of approved measures is not constructed in astate fiscal year, the applicant may submit an application for the noise mitigation measure for the next state fiscal year.
Source: L. 2006: Entire part added, p. 1256, § 3, effective May 26. L. 2010: (5) amended, (HB 10-1018), ch. 421, p. 2181, § 15, effective June 10. L. 2014: (5)(a) and (5)(b) amended, (HB 14-1352), ch. 351, p. 1596, § 12, effective July 1.