| (a) Toll project conditions. Neither the commission
nor the department may require that a toll project be included in
a region's transportation plan or program as a condition for the allocation
of funds for the construction of projects in the region.
(b) Limitations on allocation decrease. Neither the
commission nor the department may:
(1) revise a formula or otherwise reduce funding as
provided in the unified transportation program under §16.105
of this chapter (relating to Unified Transportation Program (UTP)),
or a successor program, in a manner that results in a decrease of
an allocation to a district or metropolitan planning organization
(MPO) because of:
(A) the failure of a region to include toll projects
in a region's transportation plan or program;
(B) participation by a political subdivision in the
funding of a transportation project in the region, including the use
of money collected in a transportation reinvestment zone (TRZ) under
Transportation Code, §§222.106 - 222.108; or
(C) payments, project savings, refinancing dividends,
and any other revenue received by the commission or the department
under a comprehensive development agreement, or surplus revenue of
a state toll project or system, and used to finance the construction,
maintenance, or operation of transportation projects or air quality
projects in the region; or
(2) take any other action that would reduce funding
allocated to a district or MPO without the prior consent of the MPO
because of:
(A) the failure of a region to include toll projects
in a region's transportation plan or program; or
(B) receipt by a region of payments, project savings,
refinancing dividends, and any other revenue received by the commission
or the department under a comprehensive development agreement, or
surplus revenue of a state toll project or system; or
(C) the need of another district or MPO for increased
funding to complete a pending project.
(c) Limitation on reduction of committed funding. If
a TRZ is designated in connection with a particular transportation
project, neither the commission nor the department may reduce the
amount of funding that was committed to the project because of that
designation.
(d) Financial assistance for toll projects. Nothing
in this section precludes the commission or the department from using
funds to design, develop, finance, construct, maintain, repair, or
operate, or assist in the design, development, financing, construction,
maintenance, repair, or operation of a toll project in a region.
|
