Organic Law on the National Road Infrastructure System for Land Transportation (LOSNIVTT)
1. Background
The Organic Law of the National Road Infrastructure System for Land Transportation — LOSNIVTT — was published in Official Register Supplement No. 998 on May 5, 2017.
The purpose of this Law is to establish the legal framework for the design, planning, execution, construction, maintenance, regulation, and control of land transportation infrastructure and its complementary services. The governing authority is the Ministry in charge of road-related powers, without prejudice to the powers of the Decentralized Autonomous Governments — GADs — under Article 1.
This Law is mandatory for public sector entities and for natural and legal persons in the private sector whose public service activities are related to land transportation infrastructure and its complementary services.
2. Road Planning and Projects
The LOSNIVTT states that the governing ministry shall be responsible for approving the sectoral road infrastructure plan.
In addition, GADs that have assumed this responsibility must include their road planning in their land-use planning instruments. These instruments must contain both the existing road network and the projected road network, so that no construction or long-cycle crops may be established on land that may be affected by future road layouts, unless expressly authorized.
Therefore, any breach of this restriction will not be compensated if expropriation is carried out.
The Law also emphasizes that all matters shall be managed through comprehensive projects, which must include environmental, social, and road safety impact studies, in accordance with the applicable regulations issued by the competent authority for such purpose, pursuant to Articles 12 and 13.
3. Special Improvement Contribution
The Road Infrastructure System shall be directed by the ministry that assumes road-related powers. Among other duties, it shall be responsible for:
“establishing and collecting the Special Improvement Contribution for the investment made from the owners of real estate that benefit from the development and improvement of state road infrastructure, in accordance with the regulations issued for such purpose.”
Additionally, it shall be responsible for setting, collecting, or authorizing the collection of road rates and fees for the financing, use, and comprehensive maintenance of state road network infrastructure, its functional components, and auxiliary and complementary service areas.
For this purpose, the general regulatory bases for applicable rates shall be established. These powers are also extended to the GADs within their respective territorial jurisdictions, pursuant to Articles 15 and 17.
4. Conservation
The duty to conserve roads belongs to both the Central Government and the GADs. They must guarantee that roads remain in good permanent condition, so that, if any damage occurs, it is repaired immediately.
For this reason, the Law also includes a chapter on violations that affect road infrastructure. These violations may be classified as minor, serious, or very serious, with monetary sanctions as the only penalty.
This applies in the administrative sphere, since the authority may also exercise a right of recourse against the offender to recover the amounts spent repairing the damage caused.
5. Road Information System
Within 180 days from the date of publication of this Law in the Official Register, the governing ministry must implement a road information system covering the entire national road network, in coordination with the Decentralized Autonomous Governments.
This system shall include roads of strategic importance, allowing for a more comprehensive, safer, and better-maintained road network for the benefit of citizens.
Through this Law, the Roads Law is repealed. However, where there are no contradictions, the Regulation to the Roads Law shall remain in force.