(1) The State Rail Rehabilitation Fund is established as an account in the General Fund of the State Treasury. All moneys in the account are appropriated continuously to the Department of Transportation for expenditures for any or all of the following: (a) Acquisition of a railroad line. (b) Rehabilitation or improvement of rail properties. (c) Planning for rail services. (d) Any other methods of reducing the costs of lost rail service in this state. (e) Rail projects, including: (A) Capacity improvements, such as: (i) New or lengthened sidings; (ii) Industrial spur rehabilitation; and (iii) Industrial spur construction; (B) Capital investments that improve safety; and (C) Capital investments that reduce greenhouse gases. (f) Providing state matching funds to leverage federal discretionary grant funding for rail projects. (2) The program developed by the Department of Transportation under this section to provide funds shall include: (a) Development of a methodology for prioritizing funding that takes into consideration an applicants ability to use funding sources to leverage federal discretionary grant funding for rail projects. (b) A requirement that rail projects selected are projects that are consistent with the goals of the Oregon State Rail Plan. (3) The Department of Transportation shall provide funds under this section only with the approval of the Oregon Transportation Commission. (4) The department may use moneys in the fund to pay the departments administrative costs associated with the fund and with carrying out the provisions of this section. (5) Not later than December 31 of each even-numbered year, the department shall report, in the manner provided in ORS 192.245, to the Joint Committee on Transportation regarding the expenditures of moneys in the fund and the status of rail projects that have received moneys from the fund. [Formerly 760.620; 2005 c.612 7; 2023 c.65 1]
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