Impacts of Energy Developments on U.S. Roads and Bridges (2015)

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36 chapter four CASE EXAMPLES OF STATE AND LOCAL PRACTICES INTRODUCTION The information in the following sections was taken primar- ily from detailed interviews with individuals from several organizations in five states. In addition, detailed information from the published literature and survey responses for each of the five states has been incorporated into this chapter. The chapter is organized by (a) road system impacts that agencies have observed and are addressing and (b) effective practices that generally come in the form of (1) techniques for addressing engineering design challenges; (2) tools to assess costs; (3) use of contractual agreements; and (4) meth- ods to mitigate for impacts on safety. These topic areas com- prise the different subsections within each of the sections in this chapter. The findings are also summarized by state and topic area in Table D1 of Appendix D. Because of the continually evolving nature of energy sec- tor activities, technology, regulations, and implementation of research and strategies, the information in this chapter is such that it requires frequent updating. Selection Criteria for Focus States Colorado, Iowa, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Texas were the five states selected for more detailed investigation. There were a number of reasons these states were selected to be focus states. One reason is that they represent a geographic distribution that includes both cold and warm climates. The states of North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Texas have all witnessed a significant growth in energy development, and their respective responses in the DOT survey indicated that significant impacts have been observed on their state and local highways and bridges. Although North Dakota, Penn- sylvania, and Texas have experienced major oil, gas, and coal energy development, the state of Iowa was selected because of its major activities in the wind and biofuel energy sectors. In the west, Colorado represents a variety of energy develop- ment sectors, as well as significant state laws and organiza- tional focus on revenue generation through severance taxes. The states of Pennsylvania and Iowa are both unique in that their use of contractual agreements has placed the responsi- bility for funding or making repairs to roadway infrastructure on the energy companies. North Dakota and Texas reported an increase in energy development truck–related crashes and fatalities associated with energy-related traffic and have developed methods to quantify the economic impacts of energy development. Summary of Findings from Focus States The interviewees from the five focus states consistently observed that, as a result of a shortage in state or local funds for maintaining and rehabilitating roadways used by the energy industry, the energy developers also sustain signifi- cant costs to maintain their vehicles that operate on the dam- aged roadways and also suffer increased haul times for the construction, development, and maintenance of their opera- tions. The most frequently reported engineering approach employed by both DOTs and local agencies for address- ing pavement damage is to (1) increase the lane widths (and add a paved shoulder); (2) increase the pavement thickness; and (3) stabilize the surface layers of unpaved roadways. There are examples of both local agencies and DOTs that have adjusted their pavement design standards or construction specifications to provide for conveyance of the heavy loads associated with energy development activities. A need for increased resources and funding was reported to address pavement and bridge deterioration and roadway improvements at intersections by adding turning lanes, seasonal posting of roads and bridges, strengthening of pavement structures, and the increase of turning radii at intersections. PRACTICES USED TO ADDRESS ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS IN COLORADO Introduction According to the Colorado DOT, energy development activ- ities related to coal, natural gas, oil, wind, solar, and bio- fuels are impacting the state’s roadways. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (2013) reported that Colorado’s vast fossil fuel resources include the Niobrara shale, with resource estimates running as high as two billion barrels of oil. Between 2007 and 2012, crude oil production in Colorado rose 89% and marketed natural gas production rose 38%. In 2013, 64% of the electricity generated in Colorado came from coal, 20% from natural gas, and 17% from renewable energy resources. The greatest concentration of energy power plants and development activities are in the Denver area and in western Colorado.

37 Routt County Routt County reported that transportation related to the oil and gas industries has impacted its 900 miles of road (of which only 170 miles are paved). Routt County reported the addi- tion of four new wells per year over the past few years, with five more projected in the near future. The county has seen the development of a total of 80 wells over the past 50 years. Routt County began energy development relatively recently, and it has instituted mitigation measures such as increasing the pave- ment thickness in preparation for energy development activi- ties. Truck traffic volumes have increased, and movement of large pieces of equipment has been impacting roadway widths, intersections, and curve design elements. A structural analysis of geotechnical requirements was identified as a need, as was a permit from the Planning Department that would require mitigation efforts including improvements to the roadway structure based on traffic impacts. The permit request also addresses impacts on wildlife in the county. Because of the need for pavements as thick as 8 or 9 inches, and the restric- tions on roadway width, the county is still analyzing the opti- mal way to increase pavement strength while using thinner pavement lifts, possibly by the use of geosynthetics. The Colorado DOT is involved with Routt County in assess- ing access and turning movements at intersections with state roads because new movements are exceeding the thresholds at which acceleration/deceleration and turning lanes would be required. Many of the added lanes could be temporary; there- fore, the locations where improvements are most needed will be determined. It was reported that the energy companies are expected to pay for these improvements, including any signage improvements associated with these operations. For instance, the county is blading (emulsion skimming) more frequently on gravel roads and maintaining signs that the energy com- panies have placed, although on a few occasions the energy company has been asked to repair a damaged road associated with its operations. The county pointed to the need for a long- term maintenance requirement; however, currently the county has no established method of counting the amount of traffic generated by the energy development industry. The county conducts both pre- and post-inspections of road and bridge conditions, but reported that adequate staff- ing could become a constraint as the energy development expands. Exhibit 111 included in Appendix B (available at www.trb.org; search NCHRP Synthesis 469) outlines the per- mit requirements for oil and gas exploration in Routt County for energy development companies. Both the Routt County and Colorado DOT have OS/OW permit requirements, and the energy companies are required to mitigate for dust on unpaved roads through dust stabilization. El Paso County El Paso County reported implementing a process to pro- vide limited regulations to address the impacts of energy As a result of the significant amount of energy activity, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) was established to foster the responsible development of Colorado’s oil and gas natural resources and administer a regulatory program. Through the program, each county has a Local Governmental Designee (LGD) who is the recognized individual at that local government to receive copies of all state oil and gas permit applications. The LGD may make comments to the COGCC regarding any permit applications and serves as a liaison between the COGCC, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA), local government, the oil and gas industry, local oil and gas operators, and the public (Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission 2014). Road System Impacts Energy development activities use all available roads, includ- ing those owned by the state, county, and other local jurisdic- tions. Colorado DOT has reported an increase in the amount of truck traffic impacting approximately 31% to 60% of roads, with most of the impacts concentrated on secondary roads. Colorado DOT has observed damage to both pave- ments and bridge structures as a result of the heavy loads and increased volume of truck traffic, both on the state and local road networks. Colorado DOT The Colorado DOT is initiating a more extensive study on oil and gas energy development impacts through its Planning Office. Colorado DOT enforces OS/OW load permit require- ments. The legal gross load limit on the secondary road system is 85,000 pounds. There are annual permits, includ- ing one that allows up to 200,000 pounds gross and 17 feet width, which require no reporting. In the absence of recorded violations, their impacts on the roads remain unknown. The number of permit requests has risen by 3% to 8% since 2009. Samples of two local agency OS/OW permits (Spe- cial Transport Permit and Weld County Access Permits) are presented in Appendix B. Colorado DOT reported observ- ing incidences of overstressing under-capacity bridges because of the existence of heavy loads, but there is a lack of data that attribute this damage to the energy industry. Generally, Colorado DOT has not yet entered into any maintenance agreements with energy companies for the repairs and maintenance of state roads. An exception is a 10-mile section of State Highway 317 in northwest Colo- rado that has an agreement between Colorado DOT Region 3, Moffat County, and Shell Energy Company covering the repairs, restoration, and improvement of the road. The post- ing of bridges is done on a regular basis according to the load limits as outlined in the Colorado DOT bridge rating manual (Colorado DOT 1995) and bridge design manual (Colorado DOT 2012).

38 roads especially for turning radii at key intersections, and struc- tural damage assessment of roads and bridges. Colorado DOT Pavement research is being done at Colorado DOT with the AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design® software to predict the expected pavement performance at the various loads and truck axle configurations on affected highways near energy develop- ment areas. Similar research has been conducted to analyze the pavement remaining service life by the eastern Federal Lands Highway Division of the Federal Highway Administration (Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division 2008). At the county level, additional staffing for pre-and post- inspection of infrastructure conditions will be necessary if expanded energy development occurs, as well as a staffing expansion to address the increase in permitting activity. Tools to Assess Costs and Contractual Agreements The Colorado shale oil boom is increasing revenues for oil companies and counties in which the drilling takes place, but was reported to have mostly minimal benefit to the state on the whole. Although thousands of wells are being drilled, mainly in Weld County in the Niobrara shale formation, many tax payments are being reduced by tax credits, which equal up to $208 million a year (Lewandowski and Wobbekind 2013). The size and role of energy taxes vary across the western U.S., with Colorado having one of the lowest rates. In contrast, some states have raised more and turned it into a statewide benefit. For example, the state of Wyoming collects about $1 billion a year and uses the money to fund highway and water projects and to provide grants to all cit- ies and towns based on population. A portion goes to a trust fund, now valued at $6.2 billion, whose interest, dividends, and capital gains go to the Wyoming general fund. Montana is using oil and gas taxes for statewide property tax relief. However, in Colorado half of the state severance tax is dis- tributed to the state Department of Natural Resources, while the other half is distributed to the counties impacted by oil and gas development. The severance tax also funds water and wildlife projects across the state, and contributes to cov- ering the cost of state oversight of oil and gas and minerals. Colorado produced 49 million barrels of oil in 2012, worth an estimated $4.1 billion, and approximately 80% of the oil was derived from Weld County. The Colorado Legislative Council study stated that the state tax on oil and gas in 2012 was $118.3 million, which represents a small portion of the $10.6 billion in overall state tax collections. The Colorado severance tax is a tax imposed on nonrenewable natural resources that are removed from the earth in Colorado. The tax is calculated based on the development to county roads and bridges. Several compa- nies have drilled by fracking, but to date damages have not been reported on impacted county roads because the energy companies have cooperated in maintaining gravel roads that will be involved when production commences. After opera- tions cease, the county will require the roads to be returned to original conditions, but in some cases roadway improve- ments may be required if the original condition involved a road that was already planned for rehabilitation. Afterwards, any rehabilitated roads would be eliminated from the net- work of potential haul routes. Energy companies are required to provide a haul route plan to the county and to obtain a per- mit, which would include a maintenance agreement between the county and the company. Load postings are used at present to warn motorists of the danger from trucks in the area. Daily inspections of roadways used by energy developers occur, depending on the activity and type of work permitted in the right-of-way (ROW). The county has a designated LGD for oil and gas and a page on the county website that contains the regula- tions and the specific El Paso County Oil and Gas permit form application. La Plata County La Plata County includes 220 miles of paved road and 440 miles of gravel or unpaved roads and witnessed oil indus- try growth and impact on roads in the 1990s and mid-2000s. Although the oil industry has departed for other areas of the country, the county reported pavement failures such as rut- ting, potholes, alligator cracking, and shoulder deterioration during the period when energy activities were under way. Ini- tially, La Plata County performed the pavement repairs, but later memoranda agreements for maintenance were executed for the oil companies to perform maintenance. Samples of memoranda of agreements can be viewed at the links pro- vided in Appendix C. A sample Colorado Special Transport Permit is included in Appendix B (available at www.trb.org; search NCHRP Synthesis 469). La Plata County did lose one bridge to an overweight water truck. Bridge postings are primarily identified in its normal inspections. The county administers an OS/OW permit sys- tem and, until two years ago, used the state weight limit and design criterion of 85,000 pounds before increasing it to the current 110,000 pound limit. Practices for Addressing Engineering Design Challenges In the survey, Colorado DOT identified three challenges: increased maintenance needs on secondary roads; the lack of funds to repair poor roads and bridges; and systematic meth- ods to determine impacts on roads. Additional challenges included routing/permitting, geometric improvements to the

39 El Paso County El Paso County reported concerns with the increase in fre- quency and volume of traffic and the resulting impact on degrading roadway surface conditions. Deteriorated surface conditions could become a safety issue by causing traffic to cross over into oncoming lanes of traffic. As a result, El Paso County has instituted both public service and other media announcements to warn the traveling public. La Plata County Although it reported observing higher ADT on narrow two- lane roads, La Plata County has not witnessed a significant increase in crashes. The county deployed regulatory warning signage and also expanded an aggressive dust stabilization program to help prevent the loss of gravel on unpaved roads. PRACTICES USED TO ADDRESS ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS IN IOWA Introduction In addition to its long-standing agriculture and husbandry industries, Iowa has had significant growth in the wind and biofuels industries, which have been impacting both state and local roads and bridges. According to the Energy Infor- mation Administration, energy development activities are distributed throughout the state of Iowa (Iowa DOT 2013). Iowa leads the nation in percentage of total wind energy generation. According to the Iowa Wind Energy Association (2013), Iowa in 2013 produced approximately 27% of all the electricity generated in the state by means of wind turbines, a national record. Iowa has 3,198 utility scale wind turbines in operation, along with 100 wind projects producing electric- ity. Iowa landowners with wind turbines on their land have more than $16 million dollars annually in lease payments (Iowa Wind Energy Association 2014). According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (2013), Iowa is the largest producer of ethanol in the United States and in 2013, Iowa was ranked third nationally for the generation of net electricity from non-hydroelectric renew- able energy resources. The Center for Transportation Research and Education at Iowa State University reported that Iowa has become a leader in renewable energy, particularly biofuels (e.g., crop-based ethanol) and wind energy (2010). Large, heavy turbine com- ponents and machinery that are used to construct wind farms in Iowa must be transported along rural roads and bridges. The turbine components are continually increasing in size and weight, and the next generation of biofuels (e.g., cel- lulosic biofuels made from switchgrass and corn cobs) will increase the quantity of raw material being shipped on the gross income from crude oil, natural gas, carbon dioxide, oil (including shale oil), and gas severed from the earth in Colorado (Colorado State Department of Revenue 2012). A study by the University of Colorado in 2012 quantified the economic and fiscal contributions of Colorado’s oil and gas industry in 2012 (Lewandowski and Wobbekind 2013). The oil and gas industry generated $29.6 billion output in Col- orado’s economy and directly contributed almost $1.6 billion to public revenue in 2012. Weld County receives the largest share of the severance money, as a result of receiving 60% of the drilling permits issued in the state in 2013. The severance tax is Colorado’s main levy on oil and gas and ranges from 3% to 5% of sales. However, energy produc- ers absorb the bulk of local property taxes (referred to as the ad valorem tax) as a credit against the state tax. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs provided grants through the Energy Impact Grant program. The funds were provided for the maintenance and improvements of impacts resulting from the development of oil and gas. In La Plata County, additional funding was made available through the board of county commissioners to address the impacts of energy development. Funds were obtained through the prop- erty taxes on revenues occurring from the production of oil and gas. La Plata County In La Plata County, approximately 100 oil and gas compa- nies have created a coalition that coordinates closely with the county. The coalition, which has a manager, was reported to have a constructive relationship with the county for many years. When road damage was recorded by the county, dis- cussions were initiated with the coalition and resulted in repairs being made to the roads or a cooperative approach being established to resolve the issue. Additionally, mem- oranda of understanding were developed to enhance com- munications. As part of this, former farm-to-market roads were assessed as to their potential to be used as haul roads to allow for programming improvements in capital improve- ment programs. La Plata County reported a population growth that occurred adjacent to roads that were built on private land by oil and gas companies. Although the residents expected that these roads would be eventually incorporated into the county road system, the county passed a resolution that absolves it of the responsibility for maintaining these private roads. Practices to Mitigate for Impacts on Safety In Colorado, the State Patrol collects and monitors crash sta- tistics. To date, the counties of Routt, La Plata, and El Paso have not observed any significant truck traffic crashes.

40 County Commission has been proactive by passing pre- development planning and zoning regulations to avert some impacts from energy development activities. The Resolution Approving Conditional Use Permit Fees for Wind Energy Facilities in Johnson County and Ordinance Amending the Johnson County Unified Development Ordinance to Permit Private Wind Generators as Accessory Uses and Distributed Wind Generators as Conditionally Permitted Uses outline the proactive county ordinances and regulations, and are shown in Appendix B (available at www.trb.org; search NCHRP Synthesis 469). Story County Story County roads have been impacted by the construction of wind farms since 2008. More than 100 turbines have been installed, with impacts primarily occurring during their instal- lation owing to the large amounts of gravel deliveries for the concrete pads and side roads. In order to sustain operations, the county turned maintenance over to the energy company. Dust control was needed and ongoing during construction. As an example, the concrete pavement on a 4-mile stretch of road was damaged during installation of a wind farm and required ongoing maintenance to be executed by county forces. How- ever, after completion of construction the energy company provided Story County with $500,000 for permanent pave- ment repairs to remedy the actual damage. The County Planning and Zoning staff had executed an agreement that includes a pre- and post-inspection, entitled the Story County Conditional Use Permit. A sample of a Planning and Zoning Conditional Use Permit is included in Appendix B and details the restrictions and requirements for wind farms as well as the compensation to be received by the county. The county did not experience damage to bridges except for some smaller timber structures, because the bridges had been posted with load limits, and the energy company had complied. Additionally, Story County has had a corn ethanol plant in operation for more than eight years and another energy company has begun the construction of a major cellulosic ethanol plant in the nearby city of Nevada. The energy com- pany indicated their emphasis will be on educating farmers within approximately 35 miles of their plant on how to most effectively gather, transport, and store the cornstalks to be used in the cellulosic production process because of all the issues with transporting and storing the bulky product (i.e., cellulosic ethanol from corn stover is fundamentally differ- ent than the corn-ethanol process in that the corn is easier to transport and store). Delaware County Delaware County also reported impacts, mostly on gravel roads, from the construction of wind farms over the past two years. The county conducted both pre- and post-inspections roads. As a result, a need was reported for turning radii on local roads to be considered thoroughly, as the length of wind turbines increases. The costs of renewable energies for Iowa’s transportation system were reported to include both the costs for maintain- ing roads and the costs of enticing a company to build a bio- fuels plant or wind farm within a jurisdiction, paid for by both cities and counties. The study also reported survey findings from 96 coun- ties regarding the types of biofuels production plants or wind energy farms in place, under construction, or in the planning stage. Key findings of the study included: • County-owned, paved roadways typically deteriorated within a couple years of the biofuels facility open- ing. Likewise, expenditures for pavement repairs and maintenance increased both during and after facility construction. • For wind farms, the major damage occurred during con- struction activities and predominantly on gravel roads. • Counties lacked adequate revenues to continue full maintenance on all roads and to address the reduced pavement life resulting from additional haul loads. • The impact calculator estimates the number of truck- loads and maintenance costs, but does not factor in the impacts of construction/plant maintenance traffic or safety-related costs (e.g., addition of turning lanes). • County road maintenance expenditure data reporting is not standardized, which sometimes complicated the estimation process. Road System Impacts Much of Iowa’s rural transportation infrastructure is near or beyond its original design life. It is estimated that the demand of total intercity freight by all modes will grow significantly from 19.3 billion tons to 37.2 billion tons in 2035, greatly impacting Iowa’s transportation infrastructure. Trucks are the dominant transportation mode of corn to ethanol plants, traveling mostly on the secondary road system. Therefore, the increased traffic volume could deteriorate the infrastructure, as there has been a steady increase of vehicles and large truck traffic on secondary and local roadways. Johnson County Energy development activities use all available roads, including those owned by the state and counties or local jurisdictions. Johnson County, home of the University of Iowa, is the third most populated county in the state. Wind farm energy companies have purchased many properties for future development and, in preparation, the Johnson County engineer contacted other counties impacted by wind farm activities in order to benefit from any lessons learned. The

41 permits, although the new automated permitting system is helping. However, once off the state highway system, trucks are required to have a county road permits. Iowa DOT has a goal of integrating local jurisdiction truck permitting into the automated state system, to allow for more effective rout- ing of heavy trucks on roads that can handle the weight and volume of energy industry activities. Although the Iowa DOT has identified geometric improve- ments for improving the turning radii at key intersections, the lack of adequate funding remains a challenge. The wind turbine blades are large and require a large radius. The need for additional rights-of-way presents further challenges. Although Iowa DOT is also exploring the use of intersection alterations such as roundabouts, these innovations do not address the issue of geometric restrictions resulting from the size requirements of vehicles moving equipment. The Iowa DOT has increased pavement structural capacity on its state roads to address the impacts of the ethanol industry, such as on US 20, a major route that has experienced an increase in grain-hauling traffic. Gkritza et al. (2011) reported that county engineers in Iowa have adjusted pavement design standards to a higher level, at an additional cost, to provide for increased heavy loads associated with renewable energy. Counties offered financial concessions to biofuel companies such as cash, infrastructure matches, tax abatements, and funds to get biofuel plants to build within their jurisdictions. In addition, the counties used any available federal funds for economic development to pave needed routes and roadways. Johnson County Johnson County has about 900 miles of road network, of which 250 miles are paved. The maintenance budget is approximately $300,000 annually. In order to serve the agri- cultural and husbandry industries over the years, pre- and post-inspections of roads have been institutionalized as rou- tine practice. At impacted locations such as intersections, the county has increased the concrete pavement thickness. An aggressive dust control program using calcium and mag- nesium chloride for stabilization has been incorporated for unpaved roads. During freeze/thaw periods, the county posts roads to a maximum of 8-ton loading. Delaware County Delaware County has increased pavement widths, pavement thickness, and shoulder stabilization to address impacts from the energy industry. Geosynthetics on county gravel roads and cement stabilization of subbases are among the practices being implemented. In the wind farm area, dust stabiliza- tion was necessary during construction and costs were reim- bursed by the energy industry. of roadways, and the energy company then reimbursed the county for resulting damages through the issuance of a build- ing permit and an agreement. An ordinance was developed to require each wind farm site to have a permit, the ordi- nance regulating the placement of wind energy conversion on properties in unincorporated areas of Delaware County through the Maintenance Agreement for Elk Farm-Elk Wind Energy LLC Delaware County, Iowa, as well as the Dela- ware County One-Stop Permit, included in Appendix B. An example of a building permit (Commercial Wind Energy Conversion System Building Permit Application) for the Delaware County is also included in Appendix B (available at www.trb.org; search NCHRP Synthesis 469). The city of Dyersville annexed a portion of the county where the ethanol plant was constructed to gain revenue through property taxes. The road adjacent to the etha- nol facility is a county road that for a limited time was restricted to a 10-ton weight limit. However, Iowa counties can only embargo roads for 90 days; this is done typically during spring thaw periods. The county reported that his- torically the husbandry industry with manure hauling has had a greater impact on roads and bridges than the energy industry. Iowa DOT At the state level, Iowa DOT is involved with the routing of truck traffic onto roads known to have better-paved surfaces. The Iowa DOT recently implemented an automated truck OS/OW permitting system that considers and reviews all bridges and pavement conditions and restrictions associated with energy plant locations, to recommend preferred routes. The permit outlines which routes developers should use for transport; however, the industry’s transport requirements are continuously evolving. Permits are tracked by payload on OS/OW vehicles, but not by a specific industry. The permit- ting system will have the capability of reporting by energy industry, with permits structured as a flat fee. Practices for Addressing Engineering Design Challenges Iowa DOT Iowa DOT reported that the establishment of effective com- munications between state and local jurisdictions with the energy companies can create a constructive and collabora- tive environment, which enhances pre- and post-construction and operations. Some of the approaches reported by Iowa DOT to address engineering design challenges included (1) systematic routing of trucks combined with permit- ting, (2) geometric improvements to the roads (especially for turning radii), and (3) assessing the structural damage to roads and bridges. It was reported that additional staffing is needed at Iowa DOT to handle the large growth in providing

42 Property Tax Assessed Value Wind turbine property can be assessed at a maximum of 30% of the total acquisition and construction cost. A tax abate- ment period of six years allows 5% of the assessed value to be added to the county tax rolls each year. The increase in assessed value after the abatement period passes for turbines currently operating in Iowa is estimated at $2.6 billion. Practices to Mitigate for Impacts on Safety Iowa Department of Transportation The Iowa DOT reported that they have not witnessed any significant increase in crashes and fatalities associated with the growth of the energy industry activities. The Iowa DOT safety office, several counties, and the Iowa State University Center for Transportation Research and Education have confirmed that the energy industry (especially wind and bio- fuels), along with the long-standing agricultural and hus- bandry industries, have not generated a significant increase in safety crash statistics. The Iowa DOT district offices proactively review pro- posed facilities along with local jurisdictions and attempt to provide appropriate improvements in intersections to handle large blade and turbine/energy cell deliveries and the use of signage enhancements. Each Iowa DOT district includes the Safety, Engineering Design, and Bridge offices in planning improvements. However, the OS/OW equipment and the increase in volume of activity have necessitated resources to address several factors: pavement and bridge deteriora- tion and road improvements at intersections; the addition of left- and right-hand turn lanes; strengthening of pave- ments and bridges; seasonal bridge and road postings; and improvements to intersections to increase turning radii. The Avenue of the Saints Corridor, which runs through 13 coun- ties in Iowa, was recently upgraded to a four-lane corridor from a two-lane road and added capacity that is generating many positive benefits for the state (Iowa Department of Transportation 2013). PRACTICES USED TO ADDRESS ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS IN NORTH DAKOTA Introduction The state of North Dakota has experienced an unprecedented and exponential growth in energy development over the past several years in the coal, oil, natural gas, biofuels, and wind sectors. The western portion of North Dakota is sustaining energy industry expansion and economic prosperity because of ongoing development of shale oil formations in the Bak- ken and Three Forks formations, which geographically cover half of the entire state. As a result, many roads that were once used only for local access and agricultural purposes are now being exposed to high truck traffic volumes serving the Tools to Assess Costs and Contractual Agreements Although there are not specific partnerships between the energy industry and Iowa DOT, the state does maintain com- munications with energy industries. The state does not have maintenance agreements with energy companies; however, these agreements exist at the county level. Although there is not currently any state-level funding to support energy indus- try development, the Rural Energy for America program offers grants for projects that support economic develop- ment and job creation and growth. In addition, counties are using Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to finance projects. The Iowa DOT is not collecting data on social or environmental impacts, but does track the increased tax base. Many kinds of authorities levy property taxes in Iowa, including counties, cities, school districts, townships, commu- nity college districts, hospital districts, fire protection districts, and sanitary sewer districts. Each geographic area is subject to a unique set of taxing authorities that constitute a property tax district, and there are nearly 13,000 such districts in Iowa. A city or county can establish a TIF area to direct property tax revenue toward investments in one or multiple property tax districts in which they have jurisdiction. TIF is a practice in which municipalities can use anticipated increases in property tax revenues to finance infrastructure improvements for public purposes. Iowa state legislation permits cities and counties to designate TIF areas for the purposes of promoting economic development. For example, Story County established a TIF for wind farms (although the funds are not exclusively for use on infrastructure repairs, pavement improvements, and road improvements). Approximately $30 million over 20 years will be generated. Once a TIF area is established, subsequent increases in property value in the area are designated as the increment. Property tax revenues associated with the value of the incre- ment, including those taxes levied by all contributing juris- dictions such as school districts, are diverted to the city or county that established the TIF. The purpose of the TIF is to enable the city or county to incur debt in order to fund local infrastructure improvements. These improvements are expected to then spur economic development that results in increases in property value over the base year. Such increases are intended to increase the tax base of all overlapping juris- dictions once the TIF expires, while the debt is paid off over time using the taxes diverted to the TIF. In Iowa, TIFs may be financed through issuance of general obligation bonds, whereby a municipality pledges its full faith and credit to repayment. The use of TIF in Iowa has expanded markedly in the last decade, and the number of TIF urban renewal areas increased by 43% (Girardi 2013). The amount of taxable value in TIF increments has more than doubled during the same period, accounting for nearly $300 million in property tax revenues in fiscal year 2014 and 5.9% of total property tax revenues in Iowa.

43 and approximately $930 million is identified for county and township roads. Other critical needs were identified, such as enforcement resources, safety in the presence of heavy vehicles, grade crossing safety, two-lane roadway capacity, and hazardous and emergency response. An article by Oldham (2012) stated that one road in Mountrail County, North Dakota, was originally designed to carry 10 tractor-trailers a day. Recently, county officials counted 800 trucks, most of which were related to the oil drilling in the Bakken shale formation, within a 24-hour period. The Bakken Formation runs from Canada through North Dakota and Montana. Oil companies pay a combined 11.5% in annual taxes on oil extraction and production, supplying state coffers with $2.6 billion since 2008. North Dakota sends roughly 30% of the oil tax receipts back to energy-producing counties and cities. Significant sinkholes have developed on heavily traveled energy transport routes. The county needs an estimated $600 million to rebuild and pave the 1,600-mile system. Practices for Addressing Engineering Design Challenges Agencies in North Dakota have been incorporating various strategies to address engineering challenges with recon- struction, widening and resurfacing, unpaved roads analysis based on increased frequencies of blading and graveling and increased gravel costs, and higher routine maintenance for both paved and unpaved roads. Adjustments have been made on an experimental basis to traditional pavement designs by county engineers in an attempt to armor roads that are expe- riencing heavy truck traffic. Ward County As an example, Ward County has used cement-treated sub- bases, surface treatments from 12 to 16 inches thick on major collectors, and geosynthetic materials such as geogrids. Although Ward County is not a major oil-producing county, a significant volume of through-traffic has been present on county roads, because of the gravel support from suppliers in the City of Minot area and wind farm development. A par- ticular challenge was reported to occur during the traditional freeze and thaw periods annually between March and June. Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute The UGPTI reported in an interview that it will research the feasibility of an energy collection road system, aimed at alle- viating congestion and improving safety. Part of the study is to track the truck distributions and to develop prediction mod- els for their trip distributions in the future, to better predict the impacts to infrastructure and to better assign appropriate truck routes. The study will focus on defining the artery of energy sector. A presentation by Tolliver (2014) reported that the development also has had a significant impact on infra- structure, estimated at $340 million of additional road and bridge investments over the next 20 years. The North Dakota Pipeline Authority (2013) reported that the vast majority of oil is currently being transported by truck. The annual oil pro- duction in fall 2013 was reported to be 930,000 barrels/day with a projection of nearly 1.5 million barrels/day in the next 30 years. The projected Bakken/Three Forks development was estimated to be 1,100 to 2,700 wells per year with 40,000 to 70,000 wells in the next 30 years. Truck traffic movements associated with a Bakken well include about 2,300 loaded and empty trucks carrying fresh and waste water, fracking tanks, sand, and scoria/gravel (Tolliver 2014). Other truck movements include rigging and drilling equipment as well as transporting mud, cement, and pipes (Tolliver 2014). Despite the county governments and municipalities in North Dakota having received revenues from severance and sales taxes, the demand for repair of roads, bridges, and staff costs (i.e., hiring more employees to handle issues related to energy development impacts) was reported to significantly exceed the amount of funding these local agencies are gener- ating (Raimi and Newell 2014). Road System Impacts North Dakota DOT reported that all available roads are being used by energy developers, including roads owned by the state, county, other local jurisdictions, and tribal roads. Oil-related traffic patterns are dynamic and vary spatially and temporally. Different modes may be used more or less intensively in different stages of energy development. Rural collectors and the local road system are heavily impacted, with road infrastructure frequently inadequate to handle the increased truck traffic. These roads require substantial initial and ongoing investment (Tolliver 2014). Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute Although the North Dakota DOT is heavily involved with the planning and programming of improvements to state and local roads, the state legislature has taken the lead in the oversight and funding of impact studies from the energy development using the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (UGPTI) at North Dakota State University. An interview conducted with the UGPTI staff indicated that these studies have included detailed forecasts of traffic to and from individual spacing units; annual truck traffic estimates over 20 years; models calibrated with observed traffic data for a base year; estimated truck ADT converted to ESALs for pavement analysis; and annual paved road condition forecasts. The UGPTI conducts these studies and will pro- vide an update for the North Dakota State and Local Road Needs spanning 2013 to 2015. A large-scale investment state highway program is estimated at $2.5 billion over two years,

44 property taxes on oil and gas producing properties. A brief description of the various financing techniques used in North Dakota is presented in Table 16 and comes from the Office of State Tax Commissioner: State of North Dakota (2014). Practices to Mitigate for Impacts on Safety In fall 2013, the UGPTI issued a briefing that indicated that western North Dakota continues to experience an economic boom resulting from energy industry expansion (UGPTI 2013). The report found that traffic safety issues are result- ing on roads that were once used only for local access and agricultural purposes and are now experiencing high truck volumes to serve the expanding oil sector. Approximately half of the counties, within a 17-county area affiliated with oil production, are above the state average for crash risk considering all crash types on rural roads. The details on the North Dakota Traffic Safety: Oil Counties document are presented in Appendix B. In addition, the estimated cost of all crashes in the region more than doubled between 2008 and 2012. During this period, the total crashes and fatali- ties have increased from 2,959 crashes, 651 injuries, and 38 fatalities to 5,535 crashes, 1,287 injuries, and 83 fatalities. The total estimated cost has risen from $125.9 million to the county’s major collector systems network in the four major oil-producing counties of Williams, Dunn, McKenzie and Mountrail, and then maximize access to the oil development fields by means of parallel, periodically spaced paved roads. The study aims to then identify the roads that are to be reconstructed first and to suggest these roads be designed to standards such that they would be able to accommodate 105,500-pound vehicles during the entire year The idea is to start with an optimally planned roadway infrastructure system and assign the most resources to that first. Subse- quently, the majority of the heavy trucks would be chan- neled onto these reconstructed roads in order to minimize impacts on other roads. The UGPTI also analyzed state highway construction data and reported that the difference in the cost of pavement overlay repairs is estimated to be approximately 30% of total reconstruction costs. Tools to Assess Costs and Contractual Agreements In North Dakota, the state legislature imposes oil and gas gross production tax and an oil extraction tax in lieu of Type of Financing and Operating Agreement Description Oil Gross Production Tax A 5% rate is applied to the gross value at the well of any oil that is produced, except on royalty interest on oil produced from a state, federal, or municipal holding and/or from an American Indian holding within the boundary of a reservation. Gas Gross Production Tax The tax on gas is an annually adjusted flat rate per million cubic feet of all nonexempt gas produced in North Dakota. The annual adjustments are made according to the average producer price index for gas fuels. Oil Extraction Tax The oil extraction tax is levied on the extraction of oil from the earth. The gross value of oil production at the well is taxed at 6.5%, except for any parts that are specified as being exempt. Coal Conversion Facilities The coal conversion facilities privilege tax is imposed on electrical generating plants that have at least one generating unit with a capacity of 10,000 kilowatts or more. The tax is also levied on other coal conversion facilities that consume 500,000 tons or more of coal per year and on coal beneficiation plants. The tax is applied in lieu of property taxes on the plant itself, but the land upon which the coal plant is located would still be subjected to the property tax. Coal Severance Tax The coal severance tax is imposed on all coal severed for sale or industrial purposes. Some exceptions to the tax include coal used for heating buildings in the state, coal used by the state or any political subdivision of the state, and coal used in agricultural processing and sugar beet refining plants in the state or in adjacent states. The tax is applied in lieu of sales and use taxes on coal production and in lieu of property taxes on minerals in the earth. The coal is taxed at a flat rate of 37.5 cents per ton and an additional 2 cents per ton tax is levied for the Lignite Research Fund in North Dakota. A 50% reduction in the 37.5 cent tax is permitted for coal burned in a cogeneration facility designed to use renewable resources in order to generate 10% or more of its energy output. Counties may grant a partial or complete exemption from the 70% portion (attributable to the counties) of the 37.5 cent tax for coal that is shipped out of state. Tribal/State Oil and Gas Tax Revenue Sharing Agreement Beginning in fiscal year 2009, the North Dakota state legislature authorized the Governor to enter into an agreement that shared tax revenue from oil and gas production within the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. This agreement resulted in $183.6 million in revenue to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes between 2011 and 2013. Legacy Fund The constitution in North Dakota requires that 30% of all oil and gas tax revenues are deposited into the state’s Legacy Fund for the future. The Legacy Fund received $1.271 billion between 2011 and 2013. Source: Office of State Tax Commissioner, State of North Dakota (2014). TABLE 16 TYPE OF FINANCING AND OPERATING AGREEMENTS USED IN NORTH DAKOTA

45 ment and operations. As a result, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (Pennsylvania DOT) and municipalities are reporting pavement deterioration in the form of rutting, crack- ing (both alligator and longitudinal), poor ride quality, base failures, and potholes. The locations of Marcellus shale deposits and gas wells in Pennsylvania run through state parks and forests and federal lands, such as the Allegheny National Forest, and a number of maps can be viewed on the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research website (2010). The Duke University Shale Public Finance report (Raimi and Newell 2014) discussed that a large portion of the state’s impact fee for unconventional natural gas well drilling is directed to the municipalities and counties impacted by the energy development activities. The report also cited that roadway repair costs were relatively minor for townships owing to the road maintenance agreements they have in place with energy companies. Road System Impacts Energy developers in Pennsylvania use available roads includ- ing the interstate and those owned by the state and munici- palities. A report by Scheetz et al. (2013) investigated the condition of seven bridges exposed to increased heavy truck traffic and found the presence of deterioration in the wearing surfaces, decks, and parapets. The report also concluded that pavement rutting significantly increased with an associated increase in energy activity and was the most common form of deterioration encountered. This damage was noted to be espe- cially pronounced on secondary and municipal roads because of the increase in heavy truck traffic. $257 million. Severe injury truck crashes in the oil region increased by more than 1,200% between 2008 and 2012, whereas the remainder of the state experienced a 147% increase over the same period. Rural road crashes involving large trucks in the oil coun- ties has also risen between 2008 and 2012, representing about one-third of all crashes in the region in 2012 as shown in Figure 7. The marked increase in traffic and crashes that result in serious injuries and fatalities prompted a group of safety stake- holders including the North Dakota Department of Transporta- tion, the North Dakota Petroleum Council, the North Dakota Highway Patrol, and other groups to encourage roadway safety through the development of a public awareness campaign. The campaign is entitled ProgressZone, and since 2011 has been reminding motorists in the oil-producing part of the state to be patient and exercise caution with five core messages (North Dakota Petroleum Council 2012). PRACTICES USED TO ADDRESS ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS IN PENNSYLVANIA Introduction The energy sector in Pennsylvania has grown exponentially in the past several years in the extraction of natural gas. For example, 20% of the total Marcellus shale wells drilled in Pennsylvania are found in Lycoming County and in 2012, the county led the state in number of wells drilled for that year. The municipal and state roads in the region were never designed to carry the level of truck loading, exacerbated by the dynamic loading from water trucks that transport water to and from the well sites, associated with natural gas well develop- FIGURE 7 Oil county crashes in North Dakota organized by vehicle type (Source: UGPTI 2013).

46 the company makes the roadway repairs necessary and after the road is inspected and approved by Pennsylvania DOT. Practices for Addressing Engineering Design Challenges Pennsylvania DOT The Pennsylvania DOT reported that partnering with the Marcellus Shale Coalition is a practice that it considers being greatly effective. The Pennsylvania DOT and the Marcellus Shale Coalition have been meeting every one to two months since 2010 and share perspectives on issues related to energy development and Pennsylvania DOT’s policies and infra- structure, ideas for addressing problems, and evaluation of the ideas and solutions proposed. The consistent communication between both parties has helped to resolve many issues. The information from the meetings is shared with the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS) through the Pennsylvania DOT Municipal Services Manager. In addi- tion, the Pennsylvania DOT Bureau of Municipal Services has staff that is dedicated to ensuring local agencies are using safe practices and the appropriate standards on roadways impacted by energy development activities. For state roadways posted with weight restrictions, the Pennsylvania DOT establishes the initial condition of the posted roads through pre-hauling inspections (which gener- ally include photos and videos) and also regularly monitors roadway conditions and safety through routine roadway con- dition surveys which are not typically video recorded. As part of the EMA used for posted roads, the energy com- panies are responsible for inspecting the roads that they use and have built, reconstructed, or repaired. An interview with an engineering consultant to one of the energy companies operating in Bradford County reported that in order to priori- tize roadways for the energy company to repair, the consul- tants conducted monthly visual inspections and photographic documentation of the roadways using a three-tiered pavement distress condition rating system. The Pennsylvania DOT sur- veys the roadways as quality verification and invoices the user for the cost incurred. The roadway condition surveys are performed on a routine basis by the Pennsylvania DOT Dis- trict and a 2014 average cost of $10.83 per mile is assigned. Another practice which has been reported as effective by Pennsylvania DOT for the repair of low-volume roadways is the use of full depth reclamation (FDR) of pavements, a process in which an emulsified asphalt or Portland cement was used to strengthen the existing roadway structure after it has been pulverized. This mode of repair resulted from a study funded by Pennsylvania DOT that specifically sought to develop standards, specifications, and a standard practice for use in FDR projects (Morian et al. 2012). The study collected information from two separate FDR projects (one using chem- ical stabilization and another using emulsion stabilization) Lycoming County An interview with staff in Lycoming County indicated that the municipalities own approximately two-third of the roadways and 200 of the 700 bridges and have varying levels of abili- ties to deal with the impacts of energy development on their infrastructure. In order to address this issue, the Pennsylvania LTAP offered a posting and bonding course to educate local agencies on how to legally enforce weight limits and to col- lect costs from energy developers for the infrastructure dam- ages. Pennsylvania DOT can post its roadways with a weight restriction and then for the user to haul on the roadway, it must obtain a permit which requires an EMA (including a mainte- nance plan and security). Municipalities can pass ordinances in order to allow posting and bonding of roadways or can choose to use Roadway User Maintenance Agreements. Bradford County Information from interviews indicated that in Towanda in Bradford County, there was more damage observed on 20-feet wide roads as opposed to 22-feet wide roads, as a result of the width of truck axles and where their wheel paths lined up in the lane. The 22-feet wide roads included road- way embankments, some paved shoulders, drainage infra- structure, and culverts. The county did report that residents did report congestion resulting from the number of trucks present on the main roads and intersections because of the sizeable growth in population. Pennsylvania DOT At the state level, it was reported that one major issue is the impact to interstates and other National Highway System routes that are not posted and bonded which are also experi- encing an increase in truck traffic. The state is limited in terms of methods for collecting funding from energy developers to address repairs or reconstruction of these roadways, which are the most expensive to rebuild. For example, an ongo- ing project on US 15, a route heavily used by the natural gas energy sector, is projected to cost $20 million to reconstruct the concrete pavements after only a 20-year service life. For roadways posted with weight restrictions, the Penn- sylvania DOT issues road use permits and occasionally must suspend, and possibly revoke, the permits when the repairs (necessitated by the excess maintenance they have caused) are not made on the roadways. One energy company in Cameron County had a permit issued for moving its drill- ing trucks and other equipment over a state route and it was revoked because the company failed to deal with severe damage of the roadway in a timely manner (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation 2010). Under the terms of the energy company’s EMA, it must proactively monitor pave- ment conditions and immediately begin repairs as needed to keep the road safe. The permits are generally restored once

47 Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has developed guidelines for the spreading of brine on unpaved roads to control dust. These guidelines can be found under the authority of Clean Streams Law, the Solid Waste Manage- ment Act, and Chapters 78 and 101 of the Rules and Regula- tions (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection 2013). Another source of guidance is the Environmentally Sensitive Road Maintenance Practices for Dirt and Gravel Roads manual (Bloser et al. 2012) that addresses reducing the runoff and sediment pollution to nearby vegetation and for- ests from low-volume transportation corridors, such as rural roads and trails. The practices in the manual are also designed to reduce the long term maintenance costs on the roads. Southwest Pennsylvania Commission The Southwest Pennsylvania Commission is the regional plan- ning agency that serves the Pittsburgh ten-county area. In the SPC’s 2040 Transportation and Development Plan, a discus- sion exists on shale development that addresses items such as regional conditions, the number of permits issued, and the influence on local economy and the roadway and railway trans- portation system (Southern Pennsylvania Commission 2011). The Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Com- mission has produced a Marcellus shale freight transportation study that contains both a quantitative analysis of truck traffic impact and also a qualitative analysis of routes most likely to be impacted. The projections show a peak traffic year of 2022, in which there will be double the existing quantity of daily truck traffic; however, the trips are not assigned to specific roadways to assess VMT, pavement damage, and other indicators. Tools to Assess Costs and Contractual Agreements The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has various means to assess costs through three types of agreements: maintenance; cooperative; and, contribution. The municipalities generally use the Road Use Maintenance Agreement. The Pennsylvania DOT uses the EMA and occasionally uses either the contribu- tion or cooperative agreement for the partnering of repair work. It is also unique in its use of maintenance agreements between the energy development companies and the Pennsylvania DOT. Posting and Bonding Ordinances In Pennsylvania, the regulations related to any posted and bonded roads in Chapter 189 of the 67 Pa. Code apply to haulers from most industries including energy develop- ment (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 2012). Addition- ally, Pennsylvania DOT’s Statement of Policy for Letters of Local Determination (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to develop a best practices manual for Pennsylvania DOT. The conclusions of the study resulted in the development of a process for identifying future FDR candidate projects and in establishment of criteria to choose which method is best suit- able, including general mixture design suggestions for use in future projects. As a result of this report, Pennsylvania DOT is currently in the process of implementing a FDR speci- fication for Pennsylvania DOT Publication 408 Construc- tion Specifications in order to ensure consistent quality for its use on low-volume roads impacted by energy develop- ment activities, as well as all state-owned roadways within the Commonwealth. Some energy companies reported use of cement-soil stabilization with an asphalt overlay to be more economical as compared with Pennsylvania DOT standards. The pavement repair process consisted of exca- vating down 12 to 15 inches to crush any existing aggregate and to rototill. Another 12 to 15 inches of aggregate was then mixed with cement and water, placed, and compacted with a drum roller. Finally, a 4.5-inch asphalt overlay was constructed and covered by another 1.5 inches of an asphalt wearing course. Lycoming County The interview with Lycoming County reported that in many cases, the energy companies are building and repairing the roadways beyond the minimum requirements in the Pennsyl- vania DOT design standards in order to prevent the need for continual maintenance. For example, many locally owned roadways in the county have been upgraded and paved by the energy companies to limit the amount of required main- tenance and to eliminate environmental impacts such as dust control. Additionally, Lycoming County was reported to be unique in that it is routinely inspecting locally owned bridges with spans that are shorter than 20 feet. The county began inspecting bridges and culverts of all sizes coinciden- tal with the initiation of energy development locally and found that approximately 35% of bridges were structur- ally deficient. The Pennsylvania ACT 89 Legislation is a funding mechanism used by municipalities in the county to address the backlog of structurally deficient bridges since the energy companies generally are not repairing bridges. The Pennsylvania DOT Posted and Bonded Roads pro- gram is referred to and included as an example document in Appendix B (available at www.trb.org; search NCHRP Synthesis 469). One unique practice observed in Lycom- ing County was the use of jumper bridges. Some energy companies built new temporary bridge decks over exist- ing older bridges in order to bypass the permitting pro- cess. Although this was not observed to be a widespread practice, the energy companies were able to dismantle the jumper bridges after drilling was complete and post- inspection by the county found that the roadways underneath were relatively undamaged.

48 As part of the comprehensive Pennsylvania ACT 13 leg- islation passed in 2012, an impact fee on energy companies was levied based on the level of drilling activity (PA ACT 13 2012). The fees collected are deposited to the Pennsylvania Utility Commission and then distributed to municipalities and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania programs. As an example, Lycoming County and their 52 local municipalities collec- tively received approximately $25 million from PA ACT 13. Maintenance Agreements The interviews with Pennsylvania DOT explained that in Pennsylvania, an excess maintenance agreement, security bond, and permit are all required from an energy develop- ment company in order to ensure that it repairs damages caused to infrastructure. The excess maintenance agree- ment requires the energy development company to restore and maintain the condition of the roads and bridges used for transportation that support energy development activities to its pre-hauling activity condition or better. Some energy developers choose to upgrade the roadway prior to beginning their hauling operations. Energy development companies are required to annually submit a roadway maintenance plan to inform Pennsylvania DOT of how they will repair damages when they occur and who will be contacted in order to evaluate and complete the work. The process for submission and review of the mainte- nance plan is illustrated in Figure 8 and is presented in Form M4902-MP in Appendix B (available at www.trb.org; search NCHRP Synthesis 469). 2012) applies to at-risk (distressed) industries and small local haulers (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 2012). The regula- tions are managed through the Pennsylvania DOT mainte- nance manual (Publication 23), as presented in Chapter 15 (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation 2013). Out of the 40,000 miles of state-maintained roadways, almost 30% (11,300) miles are posted with a weight restriction. Typi- cally around 5,000 miles of these roadways are bonded, of which approximately 2,400 miles of roadways are bonded by unconventional oil and gas energy developers. The Chapter 189 regulations apply to municipalities; however, the Chapter 190 Letters of Local Determination do not. The Pennsylvania DOT provides helpful information, forms, and geographic informa- tion systems (GIS) mapping of posted roads and bridges on its website, which are listed in Appendix C. Also, a sample of the Pennsylvania DOT’s New Bridge Posting Memorandum is presented in Appendix B. Legislation on Financing Pennsylvania DOT and local agencies in Pennsylvania have been partnering with energy development companies and have reported this practice to be effective in minimizing the amount of roadway damage induced by heavy trucks. Post- ing the roadway with weight restrictions, as well as entering into agreements with energy development companies for the roadway maintenance, are used. In addition, the Pennsylva- nia DOT reported that the ACT 89 Legislation, that states the utilization of user fees to establish a funding source for transportation needs and assists in addressing the backlog of roads and bridges needing repairs. FIGURE 8 Steps in the process for maintaining roads bonded by unconventional energy industries in Pennsylvania.

49 integral part in the economy of Texas as it provides a large number of jobs in a number of different industries (explo- ration, drilling, production operations, material production, equipment manufacturing, technology development dealing with the energy industry). Between 2000 and 2012, there were approximately 16,650 drilling permits issued annually corresponding to an average of 13,413 wells drilled annually during the same 12-year period. Recently, Texas has experienced a boom in energy related activities as a result of the extraction of oil and natural gas as well as wind power generation (Boardman et al. 2012). Many short and long term impacts of the state’s transporta- tion infrastructure are not properly documented as a result of this boom in energy related activities. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (2013) reported that the majority of energy activity is taking place in eastern Texas with some concentrated developments also in west Texas and along the northern border with Oklahoma. The majority of counties in Texas that have experience with energy development within their jurisdictions must fund roadway repairs that essentially equal the amount of new rev- enue gained from property taxes (Raimi and Newell 2014). For the most part, the municipalities have been capable of maintaining the condition of their roads with revenues from sales taxes depending on the size of the municipal roadway network. However, both counties and municipalities in Texas have had to address the costs of hiring more staff to deal with issues related to energy development. Road System Impacts The numerous damaging impacts to infrastructure in Texas have been documented in a number of studies that were discussed in chapter two. In Texas, the impacts of heavy machinery used in energy production are observed not only on the lower volume roadway networks but also onto the interstate highways in Texas. In a report by the Texas DOT, trucks weighing in excess of 80,000 pounds were reported to already be impacting farm-to-market roads in areas such as the Eagle Ford Shale region and the effects are extend- ing to major highways (Texas Department of Transportation 2013). Overweight permitted trucks and conventional trucks carrying loads such as water and sand used for hydraulic fracturing utilize rural, state maintained roads that were not designed for those loading scenarios. There are projects currently underway and planned for the future to address, repair, and rehabilitate the major freeways that are being impacted. In 2013, there were 709,123 OS/OW permits issued by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (up from 527,453 permits in 2009) which represented a significant increase. Likewise, the number of investigations into illegal and unper- mitted loads has increased between 2012 and 2013. The Pennsylvania DOT Publication 23 Chapter 15 pro- vides information on the contents of a Maintenance Plan. Because of the freeze/thaw seasonal limitations on many roads and bridges between February and April, the excess maintenance agreements and maintenance plans must show the materials that will be used for repairs of roads during the thaw period, when the repairs will be made, by whom the repairs will be made, the notification plan for communicating the need for repairs to Pennsylvania DOT and the action plan for addressing any roadway damage. In addition, any trucks that hauled on the weight-restricted roads were required to have documentation and authorization (i.e., a permit issued after the maintenance agreement was official) that they were hauling for the energy companies. Practices to Mitigate for Impacts on Safety In Pennsylvania, it was reported that the counties generally do not record accident data. In the Scheetz et al. report (2013), the findings related to safety showed that the enhanced heavy truck traffic has a weak correlation to increased severity of traffic accidents. The report went on to conclude that limited data and a lack of a good baseline for comparison were the reason behind the limited strength of associated observa- tions. In addition, the Marcellus Shale Coalition has a safety subcommittee that hosts an annual Safety Day conference. Pennsylvania DOT also remarked that the use of training has been effective for improving safety in impacted regions. Lycoming County Lycoming County reported that its observation in recent years was that the number of accidents increased slightly because of the significant increase in truck traffic. It was also reported that some energy developers have been observed to not respect the established speed limits, even when there are obvious challenges created by either insufficient road- way geometry or by inclement weather conditions. In order to address this safety issue, Lycoming County created a natural gas task force partnership with the local chamber of commerce and other community representatives that are impacted by energy development activities, in order to offer information and suggestions to the energy companies operat- ing inside the county. PRACTICES USED TO ADDRESS ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS IN TEXAS Introduction The energy sector in Texas is a significant contributor to the state and national economy with approximately one-half of the oil and gas drilling rigs in the United States located in Texas. In the last decade, an annual average of approximately 12,000 new or reworked wells are being drilled. According to a study by Fry et al. (2013), the energy sector is a crucial and

50 not done any permitting and rely on Texas DOT for the per- mitting of OS/OW trucks. A few of the county bridges have deteriorated over time and the county observed during their biannual inspections that the heavy trucks affiliated with energy development have accelerated the bridge deteriora- tion process. In terms of roadway impacts, the county has not experienced any catastrophic types of damage as a result of energy development in the area and thus, it does not have a system in place to prioritize roadway work and perform maintenance on an as-needed basis. Practices for Addressing Engineering Design Challenges The interviews indicated that the Texas DOT District Main- tenance offices are responsible for the design and repairs of impacted roadways on the state highway network that service the energy sector. Texas DOT Pavements A two-part Texas A&M University Transportation Institute study is currently under way that will last approxi- mately three years and is funded by the Texas DOT Mainte- nance Division. The first part of the study is concerned with establishing and evaluating which practices are currently used by the Texas DOT Maintenance personnel considering both routine (e.g., patching, shoulders, etc.) and non-routine (e.g., strengthening roadways, chip seals, new base layer materials, etc.) maintenance and reconstruction activities. The second part of the study focuses on aspects of pavement design (including the cross-sectional width, layer thickness, and shoulder materials and widths) for the impacted farm- to-market roads. Expanding the cross-sectional width would be beneficial to these roadways because their current narrow footprint is not able to handle the size and loadings of the trucks serving the energy industries. The Texas DOT intends to widen pavements a certain amount along horizontal curves and to design for enhanced drainage on the vertical curves. As part of the study, the performance of repairs and rehabili- tation strategies will be tracked to use in the development of a decision tree that will tie together pavement performance and life-cycle cost. In terms of the pavement strategies, the agencies in Texas normally add gravel on top of a base layer and then two additional courses on top for farm-to-market roads. The two- course surface treatment (or application of seal coats) has been used both in southern and western Texas in the vicin- ity of the energy fields. Through interviews it was stated that in some areas, the asphalt or concrete pavements have been reconstructed to gravel in order to reduce the long-term maintenance costs for local agencies. Recently, the use of stabilizers has been done for unbound layers on roadways impacted by energy development activi- Texas DOT Interviews with Texas DOT indicated that the majority of pavement damage has occurred through premature fatigue cracking failures and problems with the unpaved shoulders. One example provided was the Texas state route SR-72, where four to six inches of asphalt pavement deteriorated excessively (due mostly to fatigue cracking and pumping of fines) and required major rehabilitation within six to eight months. Texas DOT is funding research to determine how wide the pavement cross section should be and whether using 2- to 4-foot shoulders would be an effective practice to reduce shoulder damage in the continual presence of 11-foot wide trucks. There are no shoulders on some of the impacted farm-to-market roads and Texas DOT is considering whether to eventually widen these roads to 28 feet. A report from Quiroga et al. (2012) estimated that the heavy traffic associated with energy development in Texas is incurring approximately $1 billion dollars in roadway repairs annually to rural roads managed by Texas DOT and another $1 billion dollars annually to locally owned road- ways. These estimates do not include cost estimates of any additional related damage to state or U.S. arterials and free- ways. The report also projected that vehicle operating costs are expected to increase by between $0.5 and $1.5 billion dollars annually for energy companies and that haul times are expected to increase the cost of well development and service an additional $1 to $2 billion annually. One interview indicated that a significant challenge for practitioners and researchers in Texas is to determine with a certain level of accuracy how heavy the truck loads really are. The traffic load data from the Railroad Commission, Depart- ment of Public Safety, and the Texas DOT WIM stations has been collected. However, in the case of the WIM data, the majority of the traffic data was measured on interstates or major routes in Texas as opposed to the rural roadways which are most often damaged first. The significant impacts to bridges by heavy trucks that support energy development activities have been frequently documented in recent years in Texas. One of the Texas DOT districts interviewed stated that even if trucks hauling in heavy equipment are able to find a path that does not use or cross over a bridge, the workers and other vehicles associated with energy activities will use a route that is the shortest, and in most cases, will cross bridges. The bridges are being dam- aged by the increased volume in heavy trucks as in the case of the pavements and as a result, there is a lot of superstructure damage being observed, especially on timber bridges. Tarrant County In Tarrant County, which contains an urbanized road network within its jurisdiction and is nearby Fort Worth, they have

51 compared with two different pavement life models [MODU- LUS (Liu and Scullion 2001) and OTRA (Fernando and Oh 2004)] in order to estimate the remaining life of pavements on roads impacted by energy developers. The researchers concluded that the extra trucks and weights associated with energy development have significantly shortened the life of pavements on roads in those areas. Figure 9 illustrates the impact of the research conducted by Boardman et al. (2012) and indicates that the majority of pavements have a remain- ing service life of two years or less. Bridges The Texas DOT reported that of the $250 to $260 million a year it receives for funding infrastructure projects, approximately 25% of this amount is directed to off-system bridges. As a result, the 5.8% of bridges which were structur- ally deficient in 2000 has now been reduced to less than 2% of structurally deficient bridges in 2014. If a bridge is unable to withstand the state’s legal load limit (20,000 pound single axle, 34,000 pound tandem axle, and 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight), then it will be posted. If equipment going to or coming from the oil fields is overweight, the energy companies can request a permit to run OS/OW; however, they would not be permitted to cross a posted bridge, including bridges off of the Texas DOT net- work (approximately one-third of all of the 53,000 bridges in Texas). Because the issue of trucks being over height has been more prevalent in Texas [e.g., in Odessa (near the Perm- ian Basin) 37 DOT bridges were impacted with over height issues within one year], one practice was to launch a pub- licity campaign, providing both pamphlets at truck stops, broadcasting by radio, and printing billboards in both En - glish and Spanish to remind drivers about overpass height restrictions. Other practices used to address the issue of over height trucks include signing all bridges under 18 feet height on the Texas DOT system and accelerating the raising ties. The applications include the addition of portland cement concrete or lime (for areas in southern Texas where there is mostly clay subgrade soil) and asphalt emulsions. Sta- bilization of the base layer has been done by taking the existing base material and adding 2% to 3% cement, which is then overlaid by new gravel or the two-course chip seal surface treatments. The use of a cement-treated base was reported as being effective; however, the application method and layer thickness are not yet standardized. Other places have used cold in place recycled pavement or FDR, both of which are more environmentally friendly mainte- nance strategies. Training workshops conducted by Texas DOT technical specialists and Texas A&M University are planned for every three to six months with Texas DOT maintenance personnel both in the southern and western Texas districts impacted by energy development. The workshops and associated meet- ings will be focused on roadway improvement techniques and to discuss topics such as subgrade performance, pave- ment stabilization methods, etc. Recently, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute was funded by the Texas DOT to measure the economic, oper- ational, and safety impacts of increased levels of energy- related activities on infrastructure within the state highway network ROW and to develop recommendations for mitigat- ing and managing risks to infrastructure. One engineering tool developed is a geodatabase that consists of existing and anticipated energy developments (Boardman et al. 2012). Part of the research project was to develop a methodology to assess the cost impacts of energy development based on the predicted reduction in pavement life and average trends in construction and maintenance expenditures. Research was conducted on pavements near energy development areas in three Texas DOT districts (Abilene, Fort Worth, and Lub- bock) using field testing equipment, the FWD and a ground penetrating radar device. The results from the field tests were FIGURE 9 Analysis of remaining service life of pavement near energy development areas in Texas (Source: Boardman et al. 2012).

52 An August 2013, the Texas DOT commissioned a study to explore several partnership approaches between energy companies, county officials, and other organizations (Miller and Sassin 2014). It cited that in Texas the cost of energy development impact on the farm-to-market system is an additional $890 million of maintenance needs annually. The approaches included a proactive performance-based approach which strengthens pavements and armor roads prior to energy development; a reactive performance-based approach which assesses impact fees associated with road maintenance after the damage; a stand-alone impact fee not attached to actual deterioration; and, a final approach which considers policy changes to the Texas Transportation Code, which allows coun- ties to promote transportation infrastructure projects affected by energy production. Posting and Bonding Ordinances In Texas, the state and local agencies have adopted reac- tive, proactive, and legislative approaches to revisit roadway maintenance methods and frequency, as well as providing different levels of rehabilitation dependent upon the level of damage sustained. In addition, Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has developed standard permitting operations for OS/OW vehicles and lowered the maximum load limits on roads and bridges for restricted access by large energy- related loads. Legislation on Financing The Texas Legislature has established innovative methods of developing and financing transportation projects. One such tool used by local entities to advance transportation projects is a transportation reinvestment zone (Texas Department of Transportation 2014). The local governing body designates a zone in which it will promote a transportation project. Once the zone is created, a base year is established and the incre- mental increase in property tax revenue collected inside the zone is used to finance a project in the zone. For example, Tarrant County has applied for funding in this program and a proposed fee system is being developed to tie excessive road degradation to vehicles causing the damage which are directly involved in the energy extraction industry (Fry et al. 2013). The mechanism for charging fees is proposed to be based on actual vehicle weight with variations, such as different axle configurations and other factors that would influence the distribution of the loads. The proposed weight-distance fee system includes a few key elements. For example, fees are applied to all commercial vehicles with a destination within counties comprising an energy zone; however, the fees are not for application to any travel outside of these counties or through these counties. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Division of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement would be responsible for managing the fee system using the same of bridges (by six to 12 months) in the Texas DOT’s work program in order to accommodate energy activities in the Eagle Ford shale region. The engineering standards for bridges depends mostly on the origination of funds; that is, if Texas DOT funds a bridge repair or reconstruction project then the Texas DOT standards are used and its website includes all of the design standards and plans. Tarrant County In Tarrant County, many of the locally owned roadways do not have shoulders and therefore the pavement edges have been deteriorated quickly by the heavy truck traffic. In areas that were most problematic, the county addressed these impacts by widening the roadways with a stabilized base and an asphalt surface or with a two-course asphalt surface. Gonzalez County It was reported in an interview that an issue in Gonzalez County in which a bridge collapsed was a result of a truck driver finding (and using) an alternate route that had a shorter haul distance. As a result, the truck drove over a bridge that was posted and the overloaded bridge collapsed. Another bridge approximately two miles away was also destroyed in a similar manner, whereas a third bridge which was already scheduled for rehabilitation was collapsed by a heavy truck before the Texas DOT was able to start construction to repair the bridge. In order to address these findings, some counties and energy companies came in to reinforce bridges on these routes, but without conducting a full set of engineering analy- sis to strengthen the bridge. In some cases, timber bridges have been replaced by concrete culverts and, for shorter simple span bridges, energy companies have placed a jump bridge, defined by Texas DOT as essentially a sizable steel box that is laid across and over the bridge that prevents any damage structurally to the bridge itself. When energy com- panies are finished working in the area, they generally will remove the jump bridge and take it to the next location in which they will be impacting bridges. Tools to Assess Costs and Contractual Agreements In recent years, the state of Texas has established various means to assess costs through permitting, along with legisla- tion related to the financing of activities for handling impacts resulting from energy development. Some counties in Texas have reported in interviews that they used both informal and formal maintenance agreements with the energy develop- ment companies.

53 The county and Texas DOT agreed to share responsibly in repairing roads in need and to maintain the roads over time. The relationship between the Texas DOT and county is as follows; the county is responsible for the purchasing of all materials necessary to address road issues while Texas DOT performs the repairs and provides the labor needed to com- plete the projects. It is then the responsibility of the county to maintain the roads for five years or until energy activity in the area decreases. Tarrant County Tarrant County is unique because it is a metropolitan county in the Fort Worth area and therefore it has a good funding base from taxes for their roadways, which are considered to be in good condition. There are 350 road miles in the county which serves the Barnett Shale energy development fields surrounding Fort Worth. Tarrant County reported that it will receive $2.5 million (out of the total $225 million) from the state fund that is generated by taxing the energy companies. Practices to Mitigate for Impacts on Safety A number of reports were found in the literature review that pointed to the safety problems and proposed solutions for roadways impacted by energy development in Texas. A sum- mary of these includes: • Texas Transportation Commission awarded a $150 mil- lion contract for much needed road work resulting from the states oil and gas boom. This money came from the $225 million that the legislature passed through the house bill 1025 for energy sector road improvements. The bill 1025 permits for the Texas DOT to begin repair- ing and rehabilitating roadways damaged by heavy trucks and increased traffic in the region. • In 2012, reported crashes rose by 6% and fatalities rose by 13% in Texas’s five energy areas of Eagle Ford Shale, Permian Basin, Barnett Shale, Granite Wash, and Haynesville/Bossier. • A $150 million design–build contract has been let by Texas DOT and will address safety concerns by widen- ing damaged roadways to better accommodate the increasing levels and volumes of heavy vehicles and by improving mobility. • In September 2013, $75 million was awarded for repairs in Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Odessa, and San Angelo districts as a result of the state of Texas iden- tifying more than $400 million in immediate roadway safety needs for severe damage caused by the increased traffic associated with oil and gas industries. • In addition to the $400 million for immediate safety issues, an additional $1 billion per year is needed to restore roadways that have been heavily impacted by energy developments to “good” or “better” conditions. administrative systems already established for the permitting of OS/OW vehicles. In this way, truck owners would be given the option of applying for a travel permit (for a certain period of time for a destination within an energy zone) directly through the Division of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement or to use a certified in-vehicle device through in-vehicle telematics ser- vice providers (a third-party service who collect reporting information and payments for Texas DOT) as their method of reporting mileage to pay the fee. Fry et al. (2013) also suggested that in order to account for the truck weight, Texas DOT could consider mandating the use of technologies that differentiate the truck from the load being hauled and subse- quently charge a fee to each entity of the truck (i.e., the truck itself and the load) separately. The state legislature’s bill SB 1747 is expected to allo- cate additional funds specifically to infrastructure (State of Texas 2013). Texas DOT is funded through the state legisla- tion, of which there is currently $225 million for road and bridge infrastructure impacted by energy development, and $150 million has been allocated to a major design-build con- tract in south Texas. During the November 2014 election, an amendment will be voted on that would obligate the $1 to $1.3 billion to Texas DOT which has been held in the Rainy Day Fund (intended for a period of economic challenges) to be used to help repair the impacted roadways. A copy of the Texas DOT County Transportation Infra- structure Fund Grant Agreement is presented in Appendix B (available at www.trb.org; search NCHRP Synthesis 469). This grant program was created by the 83rd Legislature in Senate Bill 1747 and is solicits counties to apply for eligi- ble grant awards for all eligible applicant counties. Eligible counties for transportation infrastructure projects are those located in areas of Texas that are impacted by increased oil and gas production. Maintenance Agreements Thus far, the state of Texas does not have any agreements with energy companies; however, there are a number of coun- ties that do have agreements for the rebuilding of roadways to prior conditions before the energy activities existed. For example, in the past Tarrant County would present the energy companies with evidence of damages resulting from the heavy trucks and then partner with the companies (i.e., the county performed the road maintenance and then invoiced the energy company for the effort and materials) on a project- by-project basis. LaSalle County Texas DOT announced a resolution to manage the mainte- nance of roads heavily used in the energy sector of LaSalle County, Texas (Texas Department of Transportation 2013).

54 tiple bridge collapses and accidents related to the width and height of bridges. It was reported that a large number of nar- row one-lane bridges exist that require drivers to wait until a truck or vehicle is completely crossed in order to advance and cross over the bridge. It was noted that communities are now calling in complaints about trucks on narrow bridges and as a result, the Texas DOT has increased signage on nar- row bridges. Tarrant County In Tarrant County, there have been very few safety issues and the county law enforcement monitors truck speeds which may prove effective for reducing the incidences of speeding. Texas DOT From the interviews, it was reported that on state highways where there are increasing traffic volumes on narrow (20 to 24 feet wide) bridges, heavy trucks have been observed to impact each other (by smacking mirrors) as they pass. In some instances on other roadways this is causing an increase in accidents in general (including fatalities) and particularly in the number of run-off-the-road incidents. In many cases, the bridges were already programmed for repairs before the accidents occurred. The Yoakum region (Texas DOT District 13) of Texas is not far from San Antonio and includes mostly rural areas with nearly 4,000 bridges. In this area, there have been mul-