Page 603

_ 603 Item Details($) Appropriations($) ITEM 451. First Year Second Year First Year Second Year FY2025 FY2026 FY2025 FY2026 (i) feasibility and cost evaluations, pre-project engineering studies, and project permitting and contracting costs for a waterway project conducted by the Commonwealth; (ii) the state portion of a nonfederal sponsor funding requirement for a federal project, which may include the beneficial use of dredged materials that are not covered by federal funding; (iii) the Commonwealth's maintenance of shallow-draft navigable waterway channel maintenance dredging and the design, lease, or purchase of upland containment areas where the material can be selectively excavated and used beneficially for environmental restoration or for mitigation of coastal erosion; and (iv) the beneficial use, for environmental restoration and the mitigation of coastal erosion or flooding, of dredged materials from approved waterway dredging projects conducted by the Commonwealth. Special consideration shall be given to any locality which provides a three-to-one match for any requested funding in the first year. D. Out of the amounts in this item, $7,500,000 the first year from the general fund is provided to fund a pilot municipal dredge program operated by the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority for the dredging of shovel-ready projects, to be distributed by the Virginia Port Authority upon approval of a Municipal Dredging Operating Program and a Municipal Dredging Operating Agreement. Funding for this program is designated for shovel-ready, shallow-draft dredging projects in localities identified in Chapter 66 of the Code of Virginia, or through the development of operating agreements between the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority and the Eastern Shore Water Access Authority or the Northern Neck Public Access Authority. E. Out of the amounts in this item, $1,000,000 the first year from the general fund is provided to support dredging Back Creek off the York River. F. Effective July 1, 2025, the responsibility for administering shallow dredging projects and the Waterway Maintenance Fund shall be transferred to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Any unexpended general or nongeneral funds appropriated in fiscal years prior to fiscal year 2026 shall be transferred to the Commission to support the completion of these projects. G.1. Of the amounts in the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund, up to $8,000,000 the first year is provided to support dredging near the north end of Wallops Island. The Virginia Port Authority shall administer such dredging project to create a navigable water channel for transport of rocket components and other uses to serve all commercial partners at the spaceport until longer term solutions are implemented to ensure that the Virginia spaceport remains competitive. Any project costs that exceed the amounts provided in this paragraph shall be at the expense of the private sector partners referenced in this paragraph. To the extent determined to be cost effective and practicable, the project should include shoreline stabilization to reduce the need for future dredging. The Virginia Port Authority may collaborate with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority, the Virginia Spaceport Authority, commercial partners at the spaceport, and any federal, state, or local agency as may be necessary to complete the marine transport access project. The Director of the Department of Planning and Budget is hereby authorized to transfer moneys pursuant to this paragraph to the Virginia Port Authority. After submission of a project funding schedule to the Secretary of Finance and the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget, only the Virginia Port Authority may request that the Director release the funds according to such schedule. 2. The funding provided in this paragraph is contingent on the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (Virginia Space) providing copies of the executed building and ground leases for and the total construction costs of the Assembly, Integration, and Testing Facility, referenced in Chapter 1, 2022 Acts of Assembly, Special Session I, Item 101, Paragraph T to the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, the Virginia Port Authority, and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority. In executing a ground lease for the property surrounding the Assembly, Integration, and Testing Facility (Lease Parcels 1, 3, and 4), Virginia Space shall charge the tenant no more than one dollar per year for the duration of the performance period outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding executed August 15, 2023, between the Commonwealth, Rocket Lab USA, INC, Virginia Space, and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority. If at the end of the performance period, Rocket Lab assumes ownership of the Assembly, Integration, and Testing Facility, and sells the building, Virginia Space is hereby required