33.1-221.1:8 - Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund
§ 33.1-221.1:8. Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund.
A. There is created the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund (theFund) to be used by the Governor to encourage the development oftransportation projects through design-build pursuant to § 33.1-12 (b), thePublic-Private Transportation Act (§ 56-556 et seq.) and to provide funds toaddress the transportation aspects of economic development opportunities. TheFund shall consist of any funds appropriated to it by the generalappropriation act and revenue from any other source, public or private. TheFund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller, and any fundsremaining in the Fund at the end of a biennium shall not revert to thegeneral fund but shall remain in the Fund. All interest and dividends thatare earned on the Fund shall be credited to the Fund. The Governor shallreport to the chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations, Finance,and Transportation and the Senate Committees on Finance and Transportation asfunds are awarded in accordance with this section.
B. The Fund shall be a component of the Commonwealth Transportation Fund butnot a component or subcomponent of the Transportation Trust Fund or theHighway Maintenance and Operating Fund. Provisions of this title and Title58.1 relating to the allocations or disbursals of proceeds of theCommonwealth Transportation Fund, the Transportation Trust Fund, or theHighway Maintenance and Operating Fund shall not apply to the Fund.
C. Funds shall be awarded from the Fund by the Governor as grants, revolvingloans, or other financing tools and equity contributions to (i) an agency orpolitical subdivision of the Commonwealth or (ii) a private entity oroperator which has submitted a proposal or signed a comprehensive agreementto develop a transportation facility pursuant to § 56-556 et seq. Loans shallbe approved by the Governor and made in accordance with proceduresestablished by the Commonwealth Transportation Board and approved by theComptroller. 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 notexceed seven years. The Virginia Department of Transportation shall beresponsible for monitoring repayment of such loans and reporting thereceivables to the Comptroller as required.
D. Grants or revolving loans may be used for transportation capacitydevelopment on and off site; road, rail, mass transit, or othertransportation access costs beyond the funding capability of existingprograms; studies of transportation projects including but not limited toenvironmental analysis, geotechnical assessment, survey, design andengineering, advance right-of-way acquisition, traffic analysis, tollsensitivity studies, financial analysis, or anything else permitted by law.Funds may be used for any transportation project or any transportationfacility. Any transportation infrastructure completed with moneys from theFund shall not become private property, and the results of any studies oranalysis completed as a result of a grant or loan from the Fund shall beproperty of the Commonwealth.
E. The Commonwealth Transportation Board, in consultation with the Secretaryof Transportation and the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, shall developguidelines and criteria that shall be used in awarding grants or making loansfrom the Fund; however, no grant shall exceed $5 million and no loan shallexceed $30 million. No grant or loan shall be awarded until the Governor hasprovided copies of the guidelines and criteria to the chairmen of the HouseCommittees on Appropriations, Finance, and Transportation and the SenateCommittees on Finance and Transportation. The guidelines and criteria shallinclude provisions including, but not limited to, the number of jobs andamounts of investment that must be committed in the event moneys are beingused for an economic development project, a statement of how the studies andanalysis to be completed using moneys from the Fund will advance thedevelopment of a transportation facility, a process for the application forand review of grant and loan requests, a timeframe for completion of anywork, the comparative benefit resulting from the development of atransportation project, assessment of the ability of the recipient to repayany loan funds, and other criteria as necessary to support the timelydevelopment of transportation projects. The criteria shall also includeincentives to encourage matching funds from any other local, federal, orprivate 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 Committeeson Appropriations, Finance and Transportation and the Senate Committees onFinance and Transportation which shall include, but is not limited to, thefollowing information: the location (county, city, or town) of the project;the amount of the grant or loan made or committed from the Fund and thepurpose for which it will be used; the number of jobs created or projected tobe created and the amount of a company's investment in the Commonwealth ifthe project is part of an economic development opportunity.
G. The Governor shall provide grants and commitments from the Fund in anamount not to exceed the total value of the moneys contained in the Fund. Ifthe Governor commits funds for years beyond the fiscal years covered underthe existing appropriation act, the State Treasurer shall set aside andreserve the funds the Governor has committed, and the funds set aside andreserved shall remain in the Fund for those future fiscal years. No grant orloan shall be payable in the years beyond the existing appropriation actunless the funds are currently available in the Fund.
(2005, c. 847.)