AN ACT to modernize sti transit funding.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 136‑189.10(2)e. reads as rewritten:

e.        Public transportation service not included in subdivision (3) or (4) of this section. This sub‑subdivision includes commuter rail, intercity rail, and light rail. Nothing in this sub‑subdivision shall be construed as authorizing total State funding in excess of the maximum established in sub‑subdivision g. of subdivision (3) of this section for commuter rail and light rail projects.

SECTION 2.  G.S. 136‑189.10(3)g. reads as rewritten:

g.        Public transportation service that spans two or more counties and that serves more than one municipality. Programmed funds pursuant to this sub‑subdivision shall not exceed ten percent (10%) of any distribution region allocation. This sub‑subdivision includes commuter rail, intercity rail, and light rail. Total State funding for a commuter rail or light rail project shall not exceed the lesser of ten percent (10%) of the distribution region allocation or ten percent (10%) of the estimated total project costs used during the prioritization scoring process. The State shall not be responsible or liable for any project costs in excess of the maximum established under this sub‑subdivision. Any agreement entered into by the State to fund a commuter rail or light rail project shall include language setting out the limitations set forth in this sub‑subdivision.

SECTION 3.  G.S. 136‑189.10(4) is amended by adding a new sub‑subdivision to read:

i.         Public transportation service that spans four or more counties and that serves more than three municipalities.

SECTION 4.  G.S. 136‑189.11(d1) is repealed.

SECTION 5.  There is appropriated from the Highway Fund to the Department of Transportation the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2022‑2023 fiscal year to hire a transit grant consultant to identify opportunities to capture federal mass transit funding based on existing proposed mass transit corridors.

SECTION 6.  This act is effective when it becomes law.