(1) For the purpose of allocating funds for the freight mobility strategic investment program, the board shall allocate the first fifty-five percent of funds to the highest priority projects, without regard to location.
(2) The remaining funds shall be allocated equally among three regions of the state, defined as follows:
(a) The Puget Sound region includes King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties;
(b) The western Washington region includes Clallam, Jefferson, Island, Kitsap, San Juan, Skagit, Whatcom, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Skamania, Thurston, and Wahkiakum counties; and
(c) The eastern Washington region includes Adams, Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Grant, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Whitman, Asotin, Benton, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Kittitas, Klickitat, Walla Walla, and Yakima counties.
(3) If a region does not have enough qualifying projects to utilize its allocation of funds, the funds will be made available to the next highest priority project, without regard to location.
(4) In the event that a proposal contains projects in more than one region, for purposes of assuring that equitable geographic distributions are made under subsection (2) of this section, the board shall evaluate the proposal and proportionally assign the benefits that are attributable to each region.
(5)(a) If the board identifies a project for funding, but later determines that the project is not ready to proceed, the board shall recommend removing the project from consideration and the next highest priority project shall be substituted in the project portfolio. Any project removed from funding consideration because it is not ready to proceed shall retain its position on the priority project list for six years.
(b) The board may remove a project from consideration after six years for any of the following reasons: (i) The project has been unable to obtain the necessary funding or financing to proceed, (ii) the project priority in the jurisdiction where the project is located has been decreased so that it is unlikely to be constructed within two years, or (iii) there are quantifiable issues that make it highly unlikely the project could obtain the necessary permits or could be constructed as submitted in the original proposal to the board.
(c) To restore any project for funding consideration after it has been removed under (b) of this subsection, the sponsoring public entity must submit a new application, which must be considered by the board in the same manner as new applicants.
[ 2016 c 23 § 1; 2013 c 104 § 2; 1998 c 175 § 6.]