(1) Organization of the Department of Transportation (a) History. The Department of Transportation was created by Chapter 512 of the Montana Session Laws of 1991 and implemented by executive order no. 11-91 of the Governor on July 1, 1991.

(b) Divisions. The department consists of 12 divisions, each headed by an administrator. All divisions are further divided into bureaus headed by chiefs.

(i) Administration Division;

(ii) Aeronautics Division;

(iii) Highways and Engineering Division;

(iv) Information Services Division;

(v) Maintenance Division;

(vi) Motor Carrier Services Division;

(vii) Rail, Transit and Planning Division;

(viii) Billings District;

(ix) Butte District;

(x) Glendive District;

(xi) Great Falls District; and

(xii) Missoula District.

The Deputy Director is responsible for assisting the Director of Transportation. There are four service staffs and an internal audit section that report directly to the director. The service staffs are: public information officer, human resources, business process solutions unit, and legal services. The Transportation Commission exercises some oversight over the Highways and Engineering Division. The Aeronautics Board exercises some oversight over the Aeronautics Division.

(c) Director. The Director of the Department of Transportation, appointed by the Governor, heads the department. His duties are specified in 2-15-112, MCA.

(d) Transportation Commission. The Transportation Commission consists of five members appointed by the Governor for terms specified in 2-15-124, MCA. The powers of the Transportation Commission generally relate to awarding construction contracts and designation of highway routes. The Transportation Commission meets once a month, unless otherwise scheduled. The Transportation Commission also exercises quasi-judicial powers over outdoor advertising.

(e) Board of Aeronautics. The Board of Aeronautics consists of nine members appointed by the Governor for terms specified in 2-15-124, MCA. Further descriptions of the functions of the board are found in Title 67, MCA.

(2) Functions of Department Divisions.

(a) Administration Division. The Administration Division provides administrative support services essential to the operation of the department. The division provides accounting, motor fuel and aviation fuel tax collection, payroll, fiscal programming, purchasing, budgeting, cash management, and inventory control.

(b) Aeronautics Division. The Montana Aeronautics Division has two bureaus: Safety and Education and Airport/Airways. These bureaus are responsible for providing for the protection and promotion of safety in aeronautics. The division facilitates the maintenance of airports and the various components of airport infrastructure, including visual and electronic navigational facilities and flying aids. Efforts to foster, promote, and supervise aviation and aviation safety are coordinated through educational efforts and programs, registering aircraft and pilots in accordance with Montana laws and regulations; and coordination and supervision of aerial search and rescue operations. In accordance with the maintenance and safety aspects of the division's overall mission, it administers a loan and grant program to municipal governments to fund airport development and improvement projects.

(c) Highways and Engineering Division. The Highways and Engineering Division is responsible for the design, construction, and preservation of Montana's highway system. The administrator of this division may also be known as the "chief engineer." This person is the department's liaison with the Montana Contractor's Association and sets engineering policy for the department. The division is responsible for statewide surfacing design, location and road design, consultant design, contract plans, traffic, photogrammetry and survey, materials, hydraulic services, construction, right-of-way appraisal and negotiation, and bridge design and construction. In some instances, a district administrator (discussed below) may exercise authority in these areas if a particular matter is better suited to local control. The division consists of two programs: project delivery or preconstruction and construction. Project delivery consists of six bureaus: highways, bridge, right-of-way, consultant design, traffic and safety, and environmental. Construction consists of four bureaus: contract plans, engineering services, administrative services, and materials.

(d) Information Services Division. The Information Services Division provides a full range of services for the department. The division plans and sets policy, and coordinates, designs, installs, and maintains the department's information technology infrastructure. This includes network management, server systems administration, desk top and mobile computer systems administration, database administration, applications development and maintenance, integrated systems development, Internet and Intranet web page developments, data security and disaster recovery services, geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), roadway information collection, user support, training, imaging services, IT research and development, budget development and monitoring, procurement administration, contract administration, records management, and project management. The division also includes the duplicating services section.

(e) Maintenance Division. The Maintenance Division facilitates, coordinates, advises, and provides technical assistance to the districts, other divisions, and bureaus. The district administrator has the authority and responsibility for the maintenance and equipment functions for field operations within the districts. This division establishes a statewide annual work program, plans and allocates budgets, administers the long range building program, develops a statewide operational plan for a mobile radio communication system, purchases and allocates equipment, provides road condition information, manages the motor pool and headquarters shop, provides training and a maintenance manual, and coordinates the department's disaster and emergency activities.

(f) Motor Carrier Services Division. The Motor Carrier Services Division protects the federal government's and Montana's investment in Montana's highway system and ensures the safety of the traveling public through regulation of the commercial motor carrier industry and enforcement of state and federal commercial motor carrier laws, rules, and regulations. This division's responsibilities include commercial vehicle size and weight enforcement, commercial vehicle and commercial vehicle driver safety enforcement, enforcement of Montana's dyed fuel laws, oversize/overweight permitting, commercial vehicle and fleet vehicle licensing, administration of the International Registration Plan (IRP) for Montana, administration of the PrePass weigh station bypass program for Montana, and administration of Montana Commercial Vehicle Information System Network (CVISN) program and administration of the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP). The division is comprised of the Helena-based licensing and permitting bureau, operations bureau, and enforcement bureau. In addition, the enforcement bureau includes both permanently staffed weigh stations and a statewide mobile enforcement program.

(g) Rail, Transit and Planning Division. The Rail, Transit and Planning Division is responsible for planning highway improvement programs. Its activities include collection and analysis of information on the condition and use of all state highways, multimodal planning, maintenance of records on various sources of highway funding, analysis of projects entering the federal-aid construction program, coordination of the agency response to access requests for major developments, management of nonmetro federal transit programs, management of federal highway traffic safety programs, and providing planning assistance to units of local government. The division has five bureaus: program and policy analysis, data and statistics, multimodal planning, state highway traffic safety, and project analysis. There is also a division support unit.

(h) Districts. The cities of Billings, Butte, Glendive, Great Falls, and Missoula each contain a district office and each district is a separate division. The administrative head of each such office is the district administrator (DA). The DA has authority over certain contractual, budgetary, and personnel matters within the district; however, such authority must be exercised in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies. Each DA is responsible for administration of the Department of Transportation District, including: preconstruction design, construction, maintenance on all interstate, primary, and some secondary and urban roads in the district. Also, the DA has the overall responsibility for equipment, materials, right-of-way, administrative services, personnel management, budgets, and public relations within the district. The DA may assume some of the authority listed above under the Highways and Engineering Division. The district office is also the initial contact with the public, in most cases, for encroachment permits, utility occupancy, approaches, and outdoor advertising.

(3) Service Staffs. Service staffs are attached directly to the director's office and have the following functions:

(a) Human Resources. Human Resources is responsible for employee relations, personnel, organizational development, labor contract negotiations, grievance processing, and civil rights services.

(b) Legal Services. This staff is comprised of several attorneys and a paralegal. It is headed by the chief legal counsel. The staff, with some minor exceptions, handles the legal representation of the department, including: condemnation and other project related matters, contract claims, accounts receivable, human resources, tort defense, outdoor advertising, and fuel tax.

(c) Public Information Officer. This person is generally responsible for the department's contacts with the news media and with generating legal notices, public service announcements, and other news releases.

(d) Internal Audit. This section provides internal audit functions for the department by investigating issues and disputes for the director. It also performs motor fuel tax and fee audits.

(e) Business Process Solutions Unit. This unit is responsible for transitioning the department from its legacy financial systems, defining and documenting the department's related business processes, and improving and integrating those financial systems and business processes.

(4) Information or Submissions. General inquiries regarding the department may be addressed to the director. Specific inquiries regarding functions of each division or other area may be addressed to the administrator of that division. All requests for hearings, declaratory rulings, and for participation in rulemaking, may be addressed to the director unless the notice in the Montana Administrative Register makes specific provisions for submissions.

(5) Personnel Roster. Addresses of the director and each division are as follows:

Director, Montana Department of Transportation, Room 201, 2701 Prospect Avenue, P.O. Box 201001, Helena, Montana 59620-1001

Administration Division, Room D101, 2701 Prospect Avenue, P.O. Box 201001, Helena, Montana 59620-1001

Aeronautics Division, 2630 Airport Road, P.O. Box 200507, Helena, Montana 59620-0507

Highways and Engineering Division, Room 217, 2701 Prospect Avenue, P.O. Box 201001, Helena, Montana 59620-1001

Maintenance Division, Room 217, 2701 Prospect Avenue, P.O. Box 201001, Helena, Montana 59620-1001

Motor Carrier Services Division, 2550 Prospect Avenue, P.O. Box 4639, Helena, Montana 59604-4639

Rail, Transit and Planning Division, 2960 Prospect Avenue, P.O. Box 201001, Helena, Montana 59620-1001

Billings District, 424 Morey Street, P.O. Box 20437, Billings, Montana 59104-0437

Butte District, 3751 Wynne, P.O. Box 3068, Butte, Montana 59702-3068

Glendive District, 503 North River Avenue, P.O. Box 890, Glendive, Montana 59330-0890

Great Falls District, 200 Smelter Avenue NE, P.O. Box 1359, Great Falls, Montana 59403-1359

Missoula District, 2100 West Broadway, P.O. Box 7039, Missoula, Montana 59807-7039

(6) Charts of Agency Organization and Function. Descriptive charts of the Department of Transportation indicating the organization of the agency and the functions of each division are attached on the following 13 pages of this rule and are incorporated in this rule.