NY Pub Auth L § 1285-O (2021)
2021 New York Laws PBA - Public Authorities Article 5 - Public Utility Authorities Title 12 - New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation 1285-O - Pipeline for Jobs Fund.

§  1285-o.  Pipeline for jobs fund. The corporation shall undertake to provide financial assistance to recipients to encourage and support  the planning,  design and construction of eligible projects which provide an economic development benefit to the state.   1. There is hereby established in the custody  of  the  corporation  a "pipeline  for  jobs  fund".  The  purpose of the pipeline for jobs fund shall  be  to  provide  financial  assistance,  as  determined  by   the corporation in consultation with the department of economic development, to  recipients  for  the  planning,  design and construction of eligible projects.   2. For purposes of this section, and notwithstanding any provision  of law to the contrary, as used in this section:  (a)   "Construction"   means   the  erection,  building,  acquisition, alteration, reconstruction, improvement, enlargement or extension of  an eligible  project;  the  inspection  and  supervision  thereof;  and the engineering, architectural, legal, fiscal, and  economic  investigations and  studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, procedures, and other actions necessary thereto.  (b) "Eligible municipality" means any county, city,  town  or  village located within the state.  (c)  "Eligible project" means a project intended to create, improve or extend water supply facilities, including, but not limited to,  drinking water   facilities   and  cold  water  supply  facilities  for  economic development purposes on behalf of businesses, which may include projects that may be eligible for financing under or designed to comply with  the requirements  of the federal safe drinking water act or other applicable federal laws and state drinking water quality goals and standards.  (d) "Financial assistance" means state  assistance  payments  for  the state  share  of  the cost of an eligible project, or any one or more of the following types of financial assistance:  (i) loans to recipients for construction of eligible projects on  such terms  as  the  corporation  may  determine,  subject  to any applicable provisions of federal or state law;  (ii) buying or refinancing debt obligations of recipients at market or below market rates, subject to any applicable provisions of  federal  or state law;  (iii) guarantying, or purchasing insurance or other credit enhancement for  municipal obligations where such action would improve credit market access for or reduce interest rates on such municipal obligations;  (iv) providing  a  source  of  revenue  or  security  for  payment  of principal  and  interest  on bonds or notes issued by the corporation if the proceeds of the sale of such bonds or notes will be deposited in the fund; and  (v) providing interest rate  subsidies  from  investment  earnings  on corpus  allocations  to  subsidize  loans  to  recipients  made from the proceeds of the corporation's bonds or notes.  (e) "Fund" means the  pipeline  for  jobs  fund  established  by  this section.  (f)  "Recipient"  means  any  eligible  municipality,  public utility, public benefit corporation, or person, including any  individual,  firm, partnership,    association,   not-for-profit   corporation   or   other corporation organized and existing under the laws of the  state  or  any other  state  which  is  empowered  to construct and operate an eligible project, or any two or more of the foregoing which are acting jointly in connection with an eligible project.   3. Moneys in the fund shall be segregated from all other funds  of  or in  the custody of the corporation. Moneys in the fund shall be used for  any authorized purpose of the fund as provided and  in  accordance  with the provisions of this section.   4. The fund shall consist of:  (a)  moneys  appropriated  by the legislature pursuant to a chapter of the  laws  of  nineteen  hundred  ninety-nine,  or  any  reappropriation thereof,  for  the  purpose of such fund or otherwise transferred by the state for deposit therein by the comptroller as required by law;  (b) payments of principal and interest made by recipients pursuant  to loan  or  other  financing  agreements  entered  into  pursuant  to this section; provided, however, if financial  assistance  made  pursuant  to financing  agreements  is  financed by the issuance of bonds or notes of the corporation, deposit of such payments into the fund shall be subject to the rights of the holders of such bonds  or  notes  to  receive  such moneys;  (c) investment earnings on the amounts in such fund; and  (d)  the  proceeds  of  bonds  or  notes issued by the corporation for purposes of providing financial assistance to recipients.   5. Moneys in the fund may be invested by the corporation in accordance with this title and pursuant to guidelines from time to time  issued  by the corporation.   6.  The  corporation  shall  request  applications  from recipients to receive financial assistance from the fund for  eligible  projects.  The corporation  shall  provide  a  list  of  the  eligible projects and the amounts available for financial assistance to the department of economic development,  which  department  shall  recommend  to  the   corporation projects  to  be  financed  from  the  moneys  available. In making such recommendations, the  department  of  economic  development  shall  give consideration  to  eligible projects which have the potential to enhance the state's technology industry development efforts.   7.  The  corporation  shall  promulgate  regulations,   developed   in consultation   with   the  commissioner  of  economic  development,  the commissioner of  environmental  conservation  and  the  commissioner  of health  for  the purpose of carrying out its responsibilities under this section,  including  establishing  the  criteria   and   standards   for evaluating  the  projects  to be financed and determining the amount and kind of financial assistance to a recipient for an eligible  project  as well  as  the terms of any financing agreement evidencing such financial assistance.   8. The provisions of subdivision  eleven  of  section  twelve  hundred eighty-five-m of this title shall be available to the corporation in the event  of  a  default  under  any financing agreement entered into by an eligible municipality pursuant to this section.   9. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, the corporation and the director of the budget are  hereby authorized  to  enter  into a pipeline for jobs fund service contract or contracts providing for the administration of the pipeline for jobs fund and the financing by such corporation of the contributions made  by  the state  to  the  pipeline  for  jobs fund. Any such contract or contracts shall be upon such terms and  conditions  as  the  corporation  and  the director  of the budget shall determine to be reasonable, including, but not limited to, provisions relating to the respective obligations of the state and the corporation with respect to providing for the  payment  of (i)  all  fees  and  other  charges  of,  and  expenses incurred by, the corporation in connection with the issuance and administration of  bonds to  provide  funds to the state or reimburse the state for contributions to the pipeline for jobs fund and (ii) all  debt  service  payments  and related expenses on such bonds.  (b)  Any  such contract entered into pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall provide that the obligation of the state to fund or to pay the amounts therein provided for shall not constitute a debt of  the state  within  the  meaning of any constitutional or statutory provision and  shall  be  deemed  executory only to the extent of moneys available therefore and that no liability shall be incurred by  the  state  beyond the  moneys  available  for  such  purpose,  and that such obligation is subject to annual appropriation by the legislature.  (c) Any such contract or any payments made or to  be  made  thereunder may be assigned and pledged by the corporation as security for its bonds and  notes issued for the purpose of financing the state contribution to the pipeline for jobs fund.  (d)  The  comptroller  is  hereby  authorized  to  receive  from   the corporation  any  portion  of  bond proceeds paid to provide funds to or reimburse the state for its contribution to the pipeline for  jobs  fund and to credit such amounts to the capital projects fund.