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2025 Session

Budget Amendments - HB1600 (Conference Report)

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Funding for Dredging Project at Wallops Island (language only)

Item 451 #2c

Item 451 #2c

Transportation
Virginia Port Authority

Language

Page 565, after line 14, insert:

“F.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 signatory to the Memorandum of Understanding 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 to notify the Chair of the Major Employer and Investment Commission by letter of the sale, which shall include the name of the buyer and the sale price.

3. No more than 30 days from completion of the dredging project, the Virginia Port Authority shall submit a report to the Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Transportation, and to the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees outlining total project costs and total funding paid by all sources."



Explanation

(This amendment earmarks $8.0 million from the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund in fiscal year 2025 for a dredging project at Wallops Island to enable barges to deliver rockets and other materials to the launch site and the facilities.)