§ 33.1-221.1:8. Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund
A. There is created the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund (the Fund) to be used by the Governor to encourage the development of transportation projects through design-build pursuant to § 33.1-12 (b), the Public-Private Transportation Act (§ 56-556 et seq.) and to provide funds to address the transportation aspects of economic development opportunities. The Fund shall consist of any funds appropriated to it by the general appropriation act and revenue from any other source, public or private. The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller, and any funds remaining in the Fund at the end of a biennium shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. All interest and dividends that are earned on the Fund shall be credited to the Fund. The Governor shall report to the chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations, Finance, and Transportation and the Senate Committees on Finance and Transportation as funds are awarded in accordance with this section.
B. The Fund shall be a component of the Commonwealth Transportation Fund but not a component or subcomponent of the Transportation Trust Fund or the Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund. Provisions of this title and Title 58.1 relating to the allocations or disbursals of proceeds of the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, the Transportation Trust Fund, or the Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund shall not apply to the Fund.
C. Funds shall be awarded from the Fund by the Governor as grants, revolving loans, or other financing tools and equity contributions to (i) an agency or political subdivision of the Commonwealth or (ii) a private entity or operator which has submitted a proposal or signed a comprehensive agreement to develop a transportation facility pursuant to § 56-556 et seq. Loans shall be approved by the Governor and made in accordance with procedures established by the Commonwealth Transportation Board and approved by the Comptroller. Loans shall be interest-free and shall be repaid to the Fund. The Governor may establish the duration of any loan, but such term shall not exceed seven years. The Virginia Department of Transportation shall be responsible for monitoring repayment of such loans and reporting the receivables to the Comptroller as required.
D. Grants or revolving loans may be used for transportation capacity development on and off site; road, rail, mass transit, or other transportation access costs beyond the funding capability of existing programs; studies of transportation projects including but not limited to environmental analysis, geotechnical assessment, survey, design and engineering, advance right-of-way acquisition, traffic analysis, toll sensitivity studies, financial analysis, or anything else permitted by law. Funds may be used for any transportation project or any transportation facility. Any transportation infrastructure completed with moneys from the Fund shall not become private property, and the results of any studies or analysis completed as a result of a grant or loan from the Fund shall be property of the Commonwealth.
E. The Commonwealth Transportation Board, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, shall develop guidelines and criteria that shall be used in awarding grants or making loans from the Fund; however, no grant shall exceed $5 million and no loan shall exceed $30 million. No grant or loan shall be awarded until the Governor has provided copies of the guidelines and criteria to the chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations, Finance, and Transportation and the Senate Committees on Finance and Transportation. The guidelines and criteria shall include provisions including, but not limited to, the number of jobs and amounts of investment that must be committed in the event moneys are being used for an economic development project, a statement of how the studies and analysis to be completed using moneys from the Fund will advance the development of a transportation facility, a process for the application for and review of grant and loan requests, a timeframe for completion of any work, the comparative benefit resulting from the development of a transportation project, assessment of the ability of the recipient to repay any loan funds, and other criteria as necessary to support the timely development of transportation projects. The criteria shall also include incentives to encourage matching funds from any other local, federal, or private source.
F. Within 30 days of each six-month period ending June 30 and December 31, the Governor shall provide a report to the chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations, Finance and Transportation and the Senate Committees on Finance and Transportation which shall include, but is not limited to, the following information: the location (county, city, or town) of the project; the amount of the grant or loan made or committed from the Fund and the purpose for which it will be used; the number of jobs created or projected to be created and the amount of a company's investment in the Commonwealth if the project is part of an economic development opportunity.
G. The Governor shall provide grants and commitments from the Fund in an amount not to exceed the total value of the moneys contained in the Fund. If the Governor commits funds for years beyond the fiscal years covered under the existing appropriation act, the State Treasurer shall set aside and reserve the funds the Governor has committed, and the funds set aside and reserved shall remain in the Fund for those future fiscal years. No grant or loan shall be payable in the years beyond the existing appropriation act unless the funds are currently available in the Fund.
(2005, c. 847.)
Sections: Previous 33.1-221.1:1.2 33.1-221.1:2 33.1-221.1:3 33.1-221.1:4 33.1-221.1:5 33.1-221.1:6 33.1-221.1:7 33.1-221.1:8 33.1-222 33.1-223 33.1-223.1 33.1-223.2 33.1-223.2:1 33.1-223.2:2 33.1-223.2:3 NextLast modified: April 16, 2009