(a) Project. — Subject to subsection (c) of this section, the Secretary may entertain and solicit proposals from, and may negotiate and enter into agreements with, private entities or consortia thereof, for projects using in whole or in part private sources of financing involving (i) all or a portion of the study, planning, design, construction, leasing, financing, operation and maintenance of transportation systems, or (ii) the repair, and/or expansion, leasing, financing, operation and maintenance of existing transportation systems, or any combination of the foregoing. (b) Eligibility. — The Secretary may entertain and solicit proposals from any source whatsoever; provided however, that the Secretary shall only enter into agreements regarding a transportation project that has been specifically authorized by the General Assembly, and that such authorization includes all material terms of the proposed project, including without limitation any terms concerning repayment of debt or capital to or for the benefit of any private entity; further provided (i) which has been authorized by the Delaware General Assembly (except that no agreement may be entered into which compels (A) direct or indirect expenditures or loans on the part of the State in excess of the total sum which may be appropriated by the Delaware General Assembly as the State's financial participation with respect to said transportation system or; (B) credit enhancements which pledge the full faith and credit of the State); and/or (ii) for which the General Assembly has provided specific or categorical funding authorization for purposes of implementing this chapter; and (iii) which is consistent with § 8419(2)(a) of Title 29, applicable provisions of the Department's long range transportation plan, any applicable recommendations developed by the Cabinet Committee on State Planning pursuant to Chapter 91 of Title 29, and applicable provisions of the Federal Clean Air Act [42 U.S.C. § 1857 et seq. and 42 U.S.C. § 7551]. (c) Proposals. — (1) The Secretary shall solicit proposals through a request for proposals pursuant to Chapter 69, Title 29, accompanied by material explaining of the Public-Private Initiatives Program enacted hereunder and describing the selection process and criteria. The Secretary may identify in these requests for proposals specific systems, corridors or routes for improvement. (2) Alternatively, potential projects may be identified and proposed by any potential contracting party. Such unsolicited proposals will also be accepted provided they satisfy the criteria outlined in accordance with this chapter. In the event that an unsolicited proposal is deemed in compliance with this chapter and accepted for review, the Secretary shall publicly announce, not less than once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper published or circulated in each county of the State, the acceptance of the unsolicited proposal along with a detailed description of the unsolicited proposal, and shall provide 60 days within which other interested parties may submit proposals relating to the same subject. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Code to the contrary, all proposals made pursuant to this chapter may provide for the design-build mode of infrastructure development; (3) Proprietary information contained in proposals not selected for projects and records of negotiations in progress shall be exempt from public disclosure. (d) Fees authorized. — To offset a portion of the costs of initiating this program and reviewing proposals received for projects under this chapter, the Department is authorized to assess a non-refundable Proposal Review Fee for each proposal not to exceed $50,000. (e) Selection and approval. — (1) The projects shall be selected by a project committee, chaired by the Secretary, consisting of the Secretary, the Director of Financial Management and Budget, the Chief Engineer of the Department of Transportation, and up to 4 other persons to be appointed by the Secretary. The projects shall be selected without regard to the provisions of Chapter 69 of Title 29. Each proposal shall be weighed on its own merits and ranked according to the selection criteria stipulated in the request for proposals, provided that upon receipt of all proposals the project committee may group similar types of project proposals together for purposes of evaluation and selection, and provided further that the proposals selected by such committee from any such group of proposals must be those with the highest ranking within that group, and provided further that such committee may elect not to select any proposals from an established group of proposals, and provided further that as to similar proposals or proposals that are mutually exclusive so that the undertaking of 1 would preclude the need, desirability, or ability of undertaking the other, only the proposal with the highest ranking among such proposals shall be selected, and, subject to approval as set forth above, proceed to negotiations. Each of the agreements shall be negotiated individually as a stand-alone project. (2) Each selected project must be subsequently approved, within 45 days of its selection, by both (i) the directly affected metropolitan planning organization or organizations and (ii) the Council on Transportation established under § 8409 of Title 29 or its successor, in that order. If a directly affected metropolitan planning organization approves a selected project, it shall be deemed to have given its approval to amend the Transportation Improvement Program to include such project. If the Council on Transportation approves a selected project, it shall be deemed to have given its approval to amend the State Capital Improvement Program to include such project. Approval for each selected project by the affected metropolitan planning organization and the Council on Transportation shall be based solely upon the project's compatibility with State and regional transportation plans, compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and fiscal impact upon the State Capital Improvement Program or regional Transportation Improvement Program. If either organization disapproves a project, it shall set forth in writing its reasons for doing so. If neither approval nor disapproval is granted within 45 days after the proposal was delivered to any affected metropolitan planning organization or the Council on Transportation, the proposal shall be deemed approved by those organizations. Moreover, in the event that a project is disapproved as provided above, the Department may resubmit the plan or revise version thereof no sooner than 60 days after notification that the plan has been disapproved by either party. (3) The Secretary shall promptly notify the Co-chairs of the Joint Bond Bill Committee of the Delaware General Assembly when a project has been duly selected by the project committee. After the Co-chairs' receipt of such notice, the Co-chairs shall meet and either approve or reject the project. Upon their approval of the project, it shall be deemed as an amendment to the Capital Improvements Program for the fiscal year in which the approval is granted. (f) Compliance. — Except as otherwise expressly provided in this chapter, all projects must comply with all applicable rules and statutes in existence at the time the agreement is entered into, including but not limited to this title, § 711 of Title 19, § 6960 of Title 29 and 49 C.F.R. Part 21, provided that the provisions of Chapter 69 of Title 29 other than § 6960 of Title 29 thereof shall not be applicable to the projects regardless of the use of State funds. Compliance with § 6960 of Title 29, or in the alternative, federal prevailing wage laws, shall be required without regard to the source of funds for a project. Each agreement may provide for protection for the contracting party from future discretionary regulatory changes which would substantially or materially change the terms and conditions or financial assumptions of the agreement. (g) Financing. — (1) The Department is authorized, notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, to (i) use any federal, state or other funds, including without limitation funds obtained from or through the Delaware Transportation Authority, any loans from the Public-Private Initiatives Program Revolving Loan Fund established in § 2912 of this title and federal transportation funds, to finance, secure, guarantee, service project debt or repay project costs; and (ii) do such things as necessary and desirable to maximize the funding and financing of such projects, provided that private capital participation in the total capital cost for each project shall be negotiated with the other terms of the agreement. Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, the amount of such participation shall be taken into account in determining the negotiated rate of return on the investment in the project. In addition, the projected total percentage of public capital investment, as well as the limits of the Department's financial liability for the project, shall be expressly disclosed in the agreement. (2) The Department, either directly or through a designated party, may apply for, receive and accept from any federal agency or any other governmental body grants or financial support of whatever nature for any purpose described in this chapter. The Department may transfer or lend the proceeds of any such grant, or utilize such proceeds available for credit enhancement, to public agencies or contracting parties, on terms and conditions complying with applicable federal and state law.
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