Brief (1)
HB 2745 would make the Kansas Highway Advertising Control Act conform with amendments to the federal Highway Beautification Act. Federal law requires states to prohibit billboards along certain highways designated by the Kansas Secretary of Transportation as scenic byways. The bill also would change the definition of primary highways in the Highway Advertising Control Act to conform to recent changes in the federal law. Primary highways would include those on the federal aid primary system and highways on the national highway system.
Background
The Chief of the Bureau of Right of Way of the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) testified in support of the bill. He stated that the Kansas Highway Advertising Control Act was enacted in 1972 to comply with the federal Highway Beautification Act. The federal law has been amended to require states that elect to have a scenic byway program to prohibit the erection of new signs along sections of the interstate and federal-aid primary system designated as scenic byways. The proposed amendment to KSA 68-2232(b), defining business area, will bring Kansas into conformity with the federal prohibition.
He also noted that the federal Highway Beautification Act enacted in 1965 required states to effectively control outdoor advertising along the interstate and federal-aid primary highway systems. He indicated that the federal law has been amended by changing the definition of primary system to mean "the federal-aid primary system in existence on June 1, 1991, and any highway which is not on such system but which is on the National Highway System."
A private citizen from Kansas City, Kansas also appeared before the Committee. She encouraged the state to use federal transportation enhancement funds from the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to remove legal nonconforming billboards.
KDOT reports that there would be no direct costs resulting from the passage of HB 2745. However, Kansas could be penalized $23.0 million per year in federal highway funds if it does not conform to federal law.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html