2023 Code of Virginia › Title 33.2 - Highways and Other Surface Transportation Systems › Chapter 15 - Transportation Funding › § 33.2-1501. Definitions

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:
"Bank" means the Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank created in § 33.2-1502.
"Cost," as applied to any project financed under the provisions of this article, means the total of all costs, including the costs of planning, design, right-of-way acquisition, engineering, and construction, incurred by an eligible borrower or other project sponsor as reasonable and necessary for carrying out all works and undertakings necessary or incident to the accomplishment of any project. "Cost" also includes capitalized interest; reasonably required reserve funds; and financing, credit enhancement, and issuance costs.
"Credit enhancements" means surety bonds, insurance policies, letters of credit, guarantees, and other forms of collateral or security.
"Creditworthiness" means attributes such as revenue stability, debt service coverage, reserves, and other factors commonly considered in assessing the strength of the security for indebtedness.
"Eligible borrower" means any (i) private entity; (ii) governmental entity; (iii) instrumentality, corporation, or entity established by any of the foregoing pursuant to § 33.2-1505; or (iv) combination of two or more of the foregoing.
"Finance" and any variation of the term, when used in connection with a cost or a project, includes both the initial financing and any refinancing of the cost or project and any variation of such terms. "Finance" does not include a grant.
"Governmental entity" means any (i) locality; (ii) local, regional, state, or federal entity; transportation authority, planning district, commission, or political subdivision created by the General Assembly or pursuant to the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth; or public transportation entity owned, operated, or controlled by one or more local entities; (iii) entity established by interstate compact; (iv) instrumentality, corporation, or entity established by any of the foregoing pursuant to § 33.2-1505; or (v) combination of two or more of the foregoing.
"Grant" means a transfer of moneys or property that does not impose any obligation or condition on the grantee to repay any amount to the transferor other than in connection with assuring that the transferred moneys or property will be spent or used in accordance with the governmental purpose of the transfer. "Grant" includes direct cash payments made to pay or reimburse all or a portion of interest payments made by a grantee on a debt obligation. As provided in §§ 33.2-1502 and 33.2-1503, only governmental entities may receive grants of moneys or property held in or for the credit of the Bank.
"Loan" means an obligation subject to repayment that is provided by the Bank to an eligible borrower to finance all or a part of the eligible cost of a project incurred by the eligible borrower or other project sponsor. A loan may be disbursed (i) in anticipation of reimbursement (including an advance or draw under a credit enhancement instrument), (ii) as direct payment of eligible costs, or (iii) to redeem or defease a prior obligation incurred by the eligible borrower or other project sponsor to finance the eligible costs of a project.
"Management agreement" means the memorandum of understanding or interagency agreement among the manager, the Secretary of Finance, and the Board as authorized under subsection B of § 33.2-1502.
"Manager" means the Virginia Resources Authority serving as the manager, administrator, and trustee of funds disbursed from the Bank in accordance with the provisions of this article and the management agreement.
"Other financial assistance" includes capital or debt reserves for bonds or debt instrument financing, provision of letters of credit and other forms of credit enhancement, and other lawful forms of financing and methods of leveraging funds that are approved by the manager.
"Private entity" means any private or nongovernmental entity that has executed an interim or comprehensive agreement to develop and construct a transportation infrastructure project pursuant to the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (§ 33.2-1800 et seq.).
"Project" means (i) the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of any interstate, state highway, toll road, tunnel, local street or road, or bridge; (ii) the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of any (a) mass transit, (b) commuter, passenger, or freight rail, (c) port, (d) airport, or (e) commercial space flight facility; or (iii) the acquisition of any rolling stock, vehicle, or equipment to be used in conjunction with clause (i) or (ii).
"Project obligation" means any bond, note, debenture, interim certificate, grant or revenue anticipation note, lease or lease-purchase or installment sales agreement, or credit enhancements issued, incurred, or entered into by an eligible borrower to evidence a loan, or any financing agreements, reimbursement agreements, guarantees, or other evidences of an obligation of an eligible borrower or other project sponsor to pay or guarantee a loan.
"Project sponsor" means any private entity or governmental entity that is involved in the planning, design, right-of-way acquisition, engineering, construction, maintenance, or financing of a project.
"Reliable repayment source" means any means by which an eligible borrower or other project sponsor generates funds that are dedicated to the purpose of retiring a project obligation.
"Substantial project completion" means the opening of a project for vehicular or passenger traffic or the handling of cargo and freight.
2011, cc. 830, 868, § 33.1-23.7; 2012, cc. 779, 817; 2014, c. 805; 2015, c. 684.