In this chapter,
(1) “commissioner” means the commissioner of transportation and public facilities;
(2) “port facilities” means docks, wharves, bulkheads, seawalls, landfills, warehouses, staging areas, transfer spans and aprons, lifting equipment and similar structures together with the necessary equipment and facilities required to accommodate waterborne commerce and shipping, including but not limited to combined port and ferry terminal facilities;
(3) “project costs” means the cost of financing or borrowing, site acquisition and rights-of-way, planning, engineering and designing, construction, equipment acquisition and installation, but does not include the cost of operation or maintenance of the port facilities once constructed or the cost of feasibility studies required in making application for a grant under this chapter.