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2008 SESSION

083838348
SENATE BILL NO. 371
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the Senate Committee on Transportation
on January 31, 2008)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Senator Watkins)
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 33.1-23.03 and 33.1-221.1:1.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Statewide Rail Plan.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That §§ 33.1-23.03 and 33.1-221.1:1.1 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 33.1-23.03. Board to develop and update Statewide Transportation Plan.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board shall conduct a comprehensive review of statewide transportation needs in a Statewide Transportation Plan setting forth an inventory of all construction needs for all systems, and based upon this inventory, establishing goals, objectives, and priorities covering a twenty-year planning horizon, in accordance with federal transportation planning requirements. This plan shall embrace all modes of transportation and include technological initiatives. This Statewide Transportation Plan shall be updated as needed, but no less than once every five years. The plan shall promote economic development and all transportation modes, intermodal connectivity, environmental quality, accessibility for people and freight, and transportation safety. The plan shall include quantifiable measures and achievable goals relating to, but not limited to, congestion reduction and safety, transit and high-occupancy vehicle facility use, job-to-housing ratios, job and housing access to transit and pedestrian facilities, air quality, and per capita vehicle miles traveled. The Board shall consider such goals in evaluating and selecting transportation improvement projects. The plan shall incorporate the approved long-range plans' measures and goals developed by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority. Each such plan shall be summarized in a public document and made available to the general public upon presentation to the Governor and General Assembly.

It is the intent of the General Assembly that this plan assess transportation needs and assign priorities to projects on a statewide basis, avoiding the production of a plan which is an aggregation of local, district, regional, or modal plans.

In addition to the Statewide Transportation Plan, the Commonwealth Transportation Board shall develop a Statewide Rail Plan. Such plan shall set forth an inventory of rail needs based upon established goals, objectives, and priorities including promotion of increased passenger rail service and increased freight rail capacity. The Statewide Rail Plan shall be updated as needed, but no less than once every five years, in conjunction with the update of the Statewide Transportation Plan.

§ 33.1-221.1:1.1. Rail Enhancement Fund.

A. The General Assembly declares it to be in the public interest that railway preservation and development of railway transportation facilities are an important element of a balanced transportation system of the Commonwealth for freight and passengers and further declares it to be in the public interest that the retention, maintenance, improvement and development of the railways are essential to the Commonwealth's continued economic growth, vitality, and competitiveness in national and world markets, and there is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Rail Enhancement Fund which shall be considered a special fund within the Transportation Trust Fund, hereafter referred to as "the Fund."

B. The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller, and shall consist of dedications pursuant to § 58.1-2425 and such funds from other sources as may be set forth in the appropriation act and shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely as provided in this section. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the Director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation or the Director's designee.

C. The Director of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation shall administer and expend or commit, subject to the approval of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, the Fund for acquiring, leasing, and/or improving railways or railroad equipment, rolling stock, rights-of-way or facilities, or assisting other appropriate entities to acquire, lease, or improve railways or railroad equipment, rolling stock, rights-of-way or facilities, for freight and/or passenger rail transportation purposes whenever the Board shall have determined that such acquisition, lease, and/or improvement is for the common good of a region of the Commonwealth or the Commonwealth as a whole. Prior to recommending an allocation of the Fund to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, the Director of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation shall consult with and obtain the advice and recommendations of the Rail Advisory Board established pursuant to § 33.1-391.3:1.

D. Projects undertaken pursuant to this section shall be limited to those the Commonwealth Transportation Board shall have determined will result in public benefits to the Commonwealth or to a region of the Commonwealth that are equal to or greater than the investment of funds under this section. Such projects shall include a minimum of 30 percent cash or in-kind matching contribution from a private source, which may include a railroad, a regional authority, or a local government source, or a combination of such sources.

E. No project shall be undertaken pursuant to this section unless such project is in conformance with the Department of Rail and Public Transportation's Statewide Rail Plan and the Director of the Department certifies that the project will not hinder the provision of passenger rail service in the Commonwealth.