                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

TRANSPORTATION PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY FUND (§ 33.2-1529.1)

A. There is hereby created the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund (the
Fund) to be used by the Governor to provide funds to address the transportation
aspects of economic development opportunities or to enhance the economic
development opportunities of the Commonwealth&#8217;s transportation programs.
The Fund shall consist of (i) funds pursuant to subdivision B 3 of &#xA7;
33.2-1524 and (ii) 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 Appropriations and on Transportation as funds are
awarded in accordance with this section.

B. The Fund shall be a subfund of the Transportation Trust Fund. Provisions of
this title and Title 58.1 relating to the allocations or disbursements 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. 1. Funds shall be awarded from the Fund by the Governor as grants, revolving
loans, or other financing tools and equity contributions to an agency or
political subdivision of the Commonwealth. Loans shall be approved by the
Governor and made in accordance with procedures established by the 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 Department shall be responsible for monitoring
repayment of such loans and reporting the receivables to the Comptroller as
required.

   2. The Governor may direct funds from the Fund to the Board for transportation
   projects determined to be necessary to support major economic development
   initiatives or to enhance the economic development opportunities of the
   Commonwealth&#8217;s transportation programs when recommended by the Secretary
   of Transportation and Secretary of Commerce and Trade. Upon the direction of
   funds pursuant to this subdivision in excess of $5 million, the Secretary of
   Transportation shall within 30 days submit a report on such direction of funds
   to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and the
   House Committee on Appropriations. Such report shall be sent to the Chairmen
   and the staff directors of such committees. Such report shall include the name
   of the transportation project to which the funds are being directed, the
   locality in which the transportation project is being developed, the amount of
   the grant or loan made or committed to the transportation project from the
   Fund and the purpose for which it will be used, the number of jobs retained or
   created or projected to be retained or created by the transportation project,
   the expected rate of return on investment of the transportation project, and
   the amount of a company&#8217;s investment in the Commonwealth. Any direction
   of funds pursuant to this subdivision in a cumulative amount in excess of $35
   million on any one project shall be submitted for review to the MEI Project
   Approval Commission (the Commission) established pursuant to &#xA7; 30-309.
   The Commission shall complete such review within 14 days. In the event that
   the Commission does not recommend such direction of funds, such direction of
   funds shall not be made unless subsequently authorized by the General
   Assembly. Absent a recommendation within such 14-day period that the funds
   should not be directed, or in the event that the Commission does not provide a
   recommendation within such 14-day period, the funds shall be directed.

D. Grants, funds directed to the Board, 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 environmental analysis,
geotechnical assessment, survey, design and engineering, advance right-of-way
acquisition, traffic analysis, toll sensitivity studies, and financial analysis;
property acquisition and new or improved infrastructure to support economic
development opportunities of the Commonwealth&#8217;s transportation programs;
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 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 provided pursuant to subdivision C 1 shall exceed $5 million and no loan
provided pursuant to subdivision C 1 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 Appropriations and on
Transportation. The guidelines and criteria shall include provisions including
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 Appropriations and on Transportation that shall include the following
information: the locality in which the project is being developed, 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&#8217;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.

H. Nothing herein shall be construed to authorize the use of eminent domain for
any purposes prohibited by &#xA7; 1-219.1 or Article I, &#xA7; 11 of the
Constitution of Virginia.

HISTORY: 2015, c. 684; 2020, cc. 1230, 1275; 2023, cc. 546, 547.