BILL REQ. #:  S-4543.1 

Read first time 02/06/2004.   Referred to Committee on Highways & Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to projects authorized for regional transportation investment districts; and amending RCW 36.120.010 and 36.120.020.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 36.120.010 and 2002 c 56 s 101 are each amended to read as follows:
     The legislature finds that:
     (1) The capacity of many of Washington state's transportation facilities have failed to keep up with the state's growth, particularly in major urban regions;
     (2) The state cannot by itself fund, in a timely way, many of the major capacity and other improvements required on highways of statewide significance in the state's largest urbanized area;
     (3) Providing a transportation system that provides efficient mobility for persons and freight requires a shared partnership and responsibility between the state, local, and regional governments and the private sector; and
     (4) Timely construction and development of significant transportation improvement projects can best be achieved through enhanced funding options for governments at the county and regional levels, using already existing tax authority to address roadway and multimodal needs and new authority for regions to address critical transportation projects ((of statewide significance)).

Sec. 2   RCW 36.120.020 and 2002 c 56 s 102 are each amended to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Board" means the governing body of a regional transportation investment district.
     (2) "Department" means the Washington state department of transportation.
     (3) "Highway of statewide significance" means an existing or proposed state route or federal interstate designated as a highway of statewide significance by the transportation commission, its successor entity, or the legislature.
     (4) "Lead agency" means a public agency that by law can plan, design, and build a transportation project and has been so designated by the district.
     (5) "Regional transportation investment district" or "district" means a municipal corporation whose boundaries are coextensive with two or more contiguous counties and that has been created by county legislative authorities and a vote of the people under this chapter to implement a regional transportation investment plan.
     (6) "Regional transportation investment district planning committee" or "planning committee" means the advisory committee created under RCW 36.120.030 to create and propose to county legislative authorities a regional transportation investment plan to develop, finance, and construct transportation projects.
     (7) "Regional transportation investment plan" or "plan" means a plan to develop, construct, and finance a transportation project or projects.
     (8) "Transportation project" means((:
     (a) A capital improvement or improvements to a highway that has been designated, in whole or in part, as a highway of statewide significance, including an extension, that:
     (i) Adds a lane or new lanes to an existing state or federal highway; or
     (ii) Repairs or replaces a lane or lanes damaged by an event declared an emergency by the governor before January 1, 2002.
     (b) A capital improvement or improvements to all or a portion of a highway of statewide significance, including an extension, and may include the following associated multimodal capital improvements:
     (i) Approaches to highways of statewide significance;
     (ii) High-occupancy vehicle lanes;
     (iii) Flyover ramps;
     (iv) Park and ride lots;
     (v) Bus pullouts;
     (vi) Vans for vanpools;
     (vii) Buses; and
     (viii) Signalization, ramp metering, and other transportation system management improvements.
     (c) A capital improvement or improvements to all or a portion of a city street, county road, or existing highway or the creation of a new highway that intersects with a highway of statewide significance, if all of the following conditions are met:
     (i) The project is included in a plan that makes highway improvement projects that add capacity to a highway or highways of statewide significance;
     (ii) The secretary of transportation determines that the project would better relieve traffic congestion than investing that same money in adding capacity to a highway of statewide significance;
     (iii) Matching money equal to one-third of the total cost of the project is provided by local entities, including but not limited to a metropolitan planning organization, county, city, port, or private entity in which a county participating in a plan is located. Local entities may use federal grants to meet this matching requirement;
     (iv) In no case may the cumulative regional transportation investment district contribution to all projects constructed under this subsection (8)(c) exceed ten percent of the revenues generated by the district;
     (v) In no case may the cumulative regional transportation investment district contribution to all projects constructed under this subsection (8)(c) exceed one billion dollars; and
     (vi) The specific projects are included within the plan and submitted as part of the plan to a vote of the people.
     (d))) a project or program contained in the transportation plan of the state or of a regional transportation planning organization, including operations, preservation, and maintenance ((are excluded from this definition and may not be included in a regional transportation investment plan)) of the projects or programs.
     (9) "Weighted vote" means a vote that reflects the population each board or planning committee member represents relative to the population represented by the total membership of the board or planning committee. Population will be determined using the federal 2000 census or subsequent federal census data.