| (a) Notification to Texas Bond Review Board. (1) The department will notify the executive director of the Board of all department applications to the US DOT for the issuance of private activity bonds for highway or surface freight transfer facility projects. The notification will include a copy of the application. The notification will be provided concurrently with the submission of an application to the US DOT. (2) The department will notify the executive director of the Board once an application submitted by an eligible entity under this subchapter is received. Two copies of the application will be forwarded to the executive director of the Board. (b) Review of applications. The department will coordinate its review of applications with the review carried out by the Board. The department and the Board will each review the entire application. After Board action on an application, the department shall be provided with a letter indicating the results of the Board's evaluation of the application. The letter with any Board comments shall be submitted to the department no later than 60 days after the executive director of the Board receives a copy of an application. Applications will be reviewed to assess if: (1) the application submitted is from an eligible entity; (2) the application submitted is for an eligible project and is otherwise eligible under federal law; and (3) the overall financial plan submitted in the application is reasonable and supports the project's financing (including the issuance of the private activity bonds), including an assessment of: (A) whether the proposed project funding sources are sufficient to cover estimated project costs; (B) whether projected revenues are sufficient to make required debt service payments; (C) the sufficiency of projected debt service coverage ratios; and (D) the capability of the proposed financing and development team. (c) Report to commission. Department staff will provide a summary memorandum to the commission on the findings of the application review by the department and the Board. The summary memorandum shall include a copy of the letter indicating the results of the Board's evaluation. |
