(a) "Private entity" means any entity that is not a public body, including but not limited to a corporation, partnership, company, nonprofit organization or other legal entity or natural person.
(b) "Public body" has the meaning given that term in ORS 174.109.
(c)(A) "Transportation project" means a project or undertaking for rail, marine or aviation capital infrastructure, including bridges, or a project that facilitates the transportation of materials, animals or people.
(B) A transportation project does not include costs associated with operating expenses.
(2) The Connect Oregon Fund is established in the State Treasury, separate and distinct from the General Fund. Earnings on moneys in the Connect Oregon Fund shall be deposited into the fund. Moneys in the Connect Oregon Fund are continuously appropriated to the Department of Transportation for the purposes described in subsection (3) of this section and in ORS 367.086. The fund consists of the following:
(a) Moneys transferred to the fund under ORS 320.435.
(b) Moneys appropriated to the fund by the Legislative Assembly.
(c) Earnings on moneys in the fund.
(d) Lottery bond proceeds.
(e) Moneys from any other source.
(3) The department shall use moneys in the Connect Oregon Fund to provide grants for transportation projects as provided in ORS 367.080 to 367.086. Grants may be provided only for projects that involve one or more of the following modes of transportation:
(a) Aviation;
(b) Marine; and
(c) Rail. [2005 c.816 §1; 2013 c.765 §1; 2015 c.707 §1; 2017 c.750 §78; 2019 c.491 §20]
Note: 367.080 to 367.086 were enacted into law by the Legislative Assembly but were not added to or made a part of ORS chapter 367 or any series therein by legislative action. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.
Note: Section 71f, chapter 750, Oregon Laws 2017, provides:
Sec. 71f. (1) Notwithstanding ORS 367.080 to 367.089 [series became 367.080 to 367.086] and subject to subsection (3) of this section and the availability of funds, the Department of Transportation shall first distribute the moneys in the Connect Oregon Fund, other than moneys dedicated for purposes described in Article XV, section 4a, of the Oregon Constitution, for the projects listed in subsection (2) of this section.
(2) The department shall distribute the following amounts for the projects listed below:
______________________________________________________________________________
(a) Mid-Willamette Valley
Intermodal Facility $ 25 million
(b) Treasure Valley
Intermodal Facility $ 26 million
(c) Rail expansion in
East Beach Industrial
Park at the
Port of Morrow $ 6.55 million
(d) Extend rail
siding along the Amtrak
Cascade line in Oregon
south of the City
of Portland $ 2.6 million
______________________________________________________________________________
(3) No later than January 1, 2020, to receive a distribution under this section, a potential recipient of moneys shall prepare and submit a plan to the Oregon Transportation Commission. At a minimum, the plan submitted must certify when and how the potential recipient plans to spend the moneys for the project with no more than five percent of the allocated funds to be available to recipients for development of the plan. The commission shall promptly review any submitted plans and if the commission approves the plan, the Department of Transportation shall distribute the moneys after adopting an agreement with the recipient. The agreement shall follow rules adopted by the commission for projects that receive grants from the Connect Oregon Fund.
(4) After the distributions, if any, are made under this section, the remainder of the moneys in the Connect Oregon Fund shall be distributed as described in ORS 367.080 to 367.089. [2017 c.750 §71f; 2019 c.491 §10]