To amend sections 5537.01, 5537.03, 5537.04, 5537.08, and 5537.13, to enact new section 5537.18, and to repeal section 5537.18 of the Revised Code to expand the authorized use of money in the Infrastructure Fund (derived from proceeds from Ohio Turnpike revenue bonds) to include infrastructure projects that consist of the maintenance or repair of existing infrastructure, and to modify the process for approval of infrastructure projects.

Section 1.  That sections 5537.01, 5537.03, 5537.04, 5537.08, and 5537.13 be amended and new section 5537.18 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 5537.01.  As used in this chapter:

(A) "Commission" means the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission created by section 5537.02 of the Revised Code or, if that commission is abolished, the board, body, officer, or commission succeeding to the principal functions thereof or to which the powers given by this chapter to the commission are given by law.

(B) "Turnpike project" means any express or limited access highway, super highway, or motorway constructed, operated, or improved, under the jurisdiction of the commission and pursuant to this chapter, at a location or locations reviewed by the turnpike legislative review committee and approved by the governor, including all bridges, tunnels, overpasses, underpasses, interchanges, entrance plazas, approaches, those portions of connecting public roads that serve interchanges and are determined by the commission and the director of transportation to be necessary for the safe merging of traffic between the turnpike project and those public roads, toll booths, service facilities, and administration, storage, and other buildings, property, and facilities that the commission considers necessary for the operation or policing of the turnpike project, together with all property and rights which may be acquired by the commission for the construction, maintenance, or operation of the turnpike project, and includes any sections or extensions of a turnpike project designated by the commission as such for the particular purpose. Each turnpike project shall be separately designated, by name or number, and may be constructed, improved, or extended in such sections as the commission may from time to time determine. Construction includes the improvement and renovation of a previously constructed turnpike project, including additional interchanges, whether or not the turnpike project was initially constructed by the commission.

(C) "Infrastructure project" means any public express or limited access highway, super highway, or motorway, including all bridges, tunnels, overpasses, underpasses, interchanges, entrance plazas, approaches, and those portions of connecting public roads that serve interchanges, that is constructed or, improved, repaired, or maintained, in whole or in part, with infrastructure funding approved pursuant to criteria established under section 5537.18 of the Revised Code.

(D) "Cost," as applied to construction of a turnpike project or an infrastructure project, includes the cost of construction, including bridges over or under existing highways and railroads, acquisition of all property acquired either by the commission or by the owner of the infrastructure project for the construction, demolishing or removing any buildings or structures on land so acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which the buildings or structures may be moved, site clearance, improvement, and preparation, diverting public roads, interchanges with public roads, access roads to private property, including the cost of land or easements therefor, all machinery, furnishings, and equipment, communications facilities, financing expenses, interest prior to and during construction and for one year after completion of construction, traffic estimates, indemnity and surety bonds and premiums on insurance, title work and title commitments, insurance, and guarantees, engineering, feasibility studies, and legal expenses, plans, specifications, surveys, estimates of cost and revenues, other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of constructing or operating a turnpike project or an infrastructure project, administrative expenses, and any other expense that may be necessary or incident to the construction of the turnpike project or an infrastructure project, the financing of the construction, and the placing of the turnpike project or an infrastructure project in operation. Any obligation or expense incurred by the department of transportation with the approval of the commission for surveys, borings, preparation of plans and specifications, and other engineering services in connection with the construction of a turnpike project or an infrastructure project, or by the federal government with the approval of the commission for any public road projects which must be reimbursed as a condition to the exercise of any of the powers of the commission under this chapter, shall be regarded as a part of the cost of the turnpike project or an infrastructure project and shall be reimbursed to the state or the federal government, as the case may be, from revenues, state taxes, or the proceeds of bonds as authorized by this chapter.

(E) "Owner" includes all persons having any title or interest in any property authorized to be acquired by the commission for turnpike projects under this chapter, or the public entity for whom an infrastructure project is funded, in whole or in part, by the commission under this chapter.

(F) "Revenues" means all tolls, service revenues, investment income on special funds, rentals, gifts, grants, and all other moneys coming into the possession of or under the control of the commission by virtue of this chapter, except the proceeds from the sale of bonds. "Revenues" does not include state taxes.

(G) "Public roads" means all public highways, roads, and streets in the state, whether maintained by a state agency or any other governmental agency.

(H) "Public utility facilities" means tracks, pipes, mains, conduits, cables, wires, towers, poles, and other equipment and appliances of any public utility.

(I) "Financing expenses" means all costs and expenses relating to the authorization, issuance, sale, delivery, authentication, deposit, custody, clearing, registration, transfer, exchange, fractionalization, replacement, payment, and servicing of bonds including, without limitation, costs and expenses for or relating to publication and printing, postage, delivery, preliminary and final official statements, offering circulars, and informational statements, travel and transportation, underwriters, placement agents, investment bankers, paying agents, registrars, authenticating agents, remarketing agents, custodians, clearing agencies or corporations, securities depositories, financial advisory services, certifications, audits, federal or state regulatory agencies, accounting and computation services, legal services and obtaining approving legal opinions and other legal opinions, credit ratings, redemption premiums, and credit enhancement facilities.

(J) "Bond proceedings" means the resolutions, trust agreements, certifications, notices, sale proceedings, leases, lease-purchase agreements, assignments, credit enhancement facility agreements, and other agreements, instruments, and documents, as amended and supplemented, or any one or more or any combination thereof, authorizing, or authorizing or providing for the terms and conditions applicable to, or providing for the security or sale or award or liquidity of, bonds, and includes the provisions set forth or incorporated in those bonds and bond proceedings.

(K) "Bond service charges" means principal, including any mandatory sinking fund or mandatory redemption requirements for the retirement of bonds, and interest and any redemption premium payable on bonds, as those payments come due and are payable to the bondholder or to a person making payment under a credit enhancement facility of those bond service charges to a bondholder.

(L) "Bond service fund" means the applicable fund created by the bond proceedings for and pledged to the payment of bond service charges on bonds provided for by those proceedings, including all moneys and investments, and earnings from investments, credited and to be credited to that fund as provided in the bond proceedings.

(M) "Bonds" means bonds, notes, including notes anticipating bonds or other notes, commercial paper, certificates of participation, or other evidences of obligation, including any interest coupons pertaining thereto, issued by the commission pursuant to this chapter.

(N) "Infrastructure fund" means the applicable fund or funds created by the bond proceedings, which shall be used to pay or defray the cost of infrastructure projects recommended by the director of transportation and evaluated and approved by the commission under section 5537.18 of the Revised Code.

(O) "Net revenues" means revenues lawfully available to pay both current operating expenses of the commission and bond service charges in any fiscal year or other specified period, less current operating expenses of the commission and any amount necessary to maintain a working capital reserve for that period.

(P) "Pledged revenues" means net revenues, moneys and investments, and earnings on those investments, in the applicable bond service fund and any other special funds, and the proceeds of any bonds issued for the purpose of refunding prior bonds, all as lawfully available and by resolution of the commission committed for application as pledged revenues to the payment of bond service charges on particular issues of bonds.

(Q) "Service facilities" means service stations, restaurants, and other facilities for food service, roadside parks and rest areas, parking, camping, tenting, rest, and sleeping facilities, hotels or motels, and all similar and other facilities providing services to the traveling public in connection with the use of a turnpike project and owned, leased, licensed, or operated by the commission.

(R) "Service revenues" means those revenues of the commission derived from its ownership, leasing, licensing, or operation of service facilities.

(S) "Special funds" means the applicable bond service fund and any accounts and subaccounts in that fund, any other funds or accounts permitted by and established under, and identified as a "special fund" or "special account" in, the bond proceedings, including any special fund or account established for purposes of rebate or other requirements under federal income tax laws.

(T) "State agencies" means the state, officers of the state, and boards, departments, branches, divisions, or other units or agencies of the state.

(U) "State taxes" means receipts of the commission from the proceeds of state taxes or excises levied and collected, or appropriated by the general assembly to the commission, for the purposes and functions of the commission. State taxes do not include tolls, or investment earnings on state taxes except on those state taxes referred to in Section 5a of Article XII, Ohio Constitution.

(V) "Tolls" means tolls, special fees or permit fees, or other charges by the commission to the owners, lessors, lessees, or operators of motor vehicles for the operation of or the right to operate those vehicles on a turnpike project.

(W) "Credit enhancement facilities" means letters of credit, lines of credit, standby, contingent, or firm securities purchase agreements, insurance, or surety arrangements, guarantees, and other arrangements that provide for direct or contingent payment of bond service charges, for security or additional security in the event of nonpayment or default in respect of bonds, or for making payment of bond service charges and at the option and on demand of bondholders or at the option of the commission or upon certain conditions occurring under put or similar arrangements, or for otherwise supporting the credit or liquidity of the bonds, and includes credit, reimbursement, marketing, remarketing, indexing, carrying, interest rate hedge, and subrogation agreements, and other agreements and arrangements for payment and reimbursement of the person providing the credit enhancement facility and the security for that payment and reimbursement.

(X) "Person" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the Revised Code and, unless the context otherwise provides, also includes any governmental agency and any combination of those persons.

(Y) "Refund" means to fund and retire outstanding bonds, including advance refunding with or without payment or redemption prior to stated maturity.

(Z) "Governmental agency" means any state agency, federal agency, political subdivision, or other local, interstate, or regional governmental agency, and any combination of those agencies.

(AA) "Property" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the Revised Code, and includes interests in property.

(BB) "Administrative agent," "agent," "commercial paper," "floating rate interest structure," "indexing agent," "interest rate hedge," "interest rate period," "put arrangement," and "remarketing agent" have the same meanings as in section 9.98 of the Revised Code.

(CC) "Outstanding," as applied to bonds, means outstanding in accordance with the terms of the bonds and the applicable bond proceedings.

(DD) "Ohio turnpike system" or "system" means all existing and future turnpike projects constructed, operated, and maintained under the jurisdiction of the commission.

(EE) "Ohio turnpike and infrastructure system" means turnpike projects and infrastructure projects funded by the commission existing on and after July 1, 2013, that facilitate access to, use of, and egress from the Ohio turnpike system, and also facilitate access to and from areas of population, commerce, and industry that are connected to the Ohio turnpike system.

Sec. 5537.03.  In order to remove present and anticipated handicaps and potential hazards on the congested highways in this state, to facilitate vehicular traffic throughout the state, to finance infrastructure projects that improve and enhance mobility in Ohio, and also to promote the agricultural, recreational, tourism, and commercial, industrial, and economic development of the state, and to provide for the general welfare by the construction, improvement, and maintenance of modern express highways embodying safety devices, including without limitation center divisions, ample shoulder widths, longsight distances, multiple lanes in each direction, and grade separations at intersections with other public roads and railroads, the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission may do the following:

(A) Subject to section 5537.26 of the Revised Code, construct, maintain, repair, and operate a system of turnpike projects at locations that are reviewed by the turnpike legislative review committee and approved by the governor, and in accordance with alignment and design standards that are approved by the director of transportation, and issue revenue bonds of this state, payable solely from pledged revenues, to pay the cost of those projects. The turnpikes and turnpike projects authorized by this chapter are hereby or shall be made part of the Ohio turnpike system.

(B) Provide money from the infrastructure funds fund to pay the cost or a portion of the cost of infrastructure projects as recommended by the director of transportation pursuant to a determination made by the commission based on criteria set forth in rules adopted by the commission approved under section 5537.18 of the Revised Code. A determination by the commission to provide infrastructure funds for an infrastructure project shall be conclusive and incontestable.

Sec. 5537.04.  (A) The Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission may do any of the following:

(1) Adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business;

(2) Adopt an official seal, which shall not be the great seal of the state and which need not be in compliance with section 5.10 of the Revised Code;

(3) Maintain a principal office and suboffices at such places within the state as it designates;

(4) With respect to the Ohio turnpike system and turnpike projects, sue and be sued in its own name, plead and be impleaded, provided any actions against the commission shall be brought in the court of common pleas of the county in which the principal office of the commission is located, or in the court of common pleas of the county in which the cause of action arose if that county is located within this state, and all summonses, exceptions, and notices of every kind shall be served on the commission by leaving a copy thereof at its principal office with the secretary-treasurer or executive director of the commission;

(5) With respect to infrastructure projects only, sue and be sued in its own name, plead and be impleaded, provided any actions against the commission shall be brought in the court of common pleas of Franklin county, and all summonses, exceptions, and notices of every kind shall be served on the commission by leaving a copy thereof at its principal office with the secretary-treasurer or executive director of the commission.

(6) Construct, maintain, repair, police, and operate the turnpike system, and establish rules for the use of any turnpike project;

(7) Issue revenue bonds of the state, payable solely from pledged revenues, as provided in this chapter, for the purpose of paying any part of the cost of constructing any one or more turnpike projects or infrastructure projects;

(8) Fix, and revise from time to time, and charge and collect tolls by any method approved by the commission, including, but not limited to, manual methods or through electronic technology accepted within the tolling industry;

(9) Acquire, hold, and dispose of property in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties under this chapter;

(10) Designate the locations and establish, limit, and control such points of ingress to and egress from each turnpike project as are necessary or desirable in the judgment of the commission and of the director of transportation to ensure the proper operation and maintenance of that turnpike project, and prohibit entrance to such a turnpike project from any point not so designated;

(11) Make and enter into all contracts and agreements necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers under this chapter, including participation in a multi-jurisdiction electronic toll collection agreement and collection or remittance of tolls, fees, or other charges to or from entities or agencies that participate in such an agreement; the commission also may enter into agreements with retail locations, including deputy registrars, to allow the general public to acquire electronic toll collection devices, commonly known as transponders, from the retail locations for such reasonable fees as are established by the commission;

(12) Employ or retain or contract for the services of consulting engineers, superintendents, managers, and any other engineers, construction and accounting experts, financial advisers, trustees, marketing, remarketing, and administrative agents, attorneys, and other employees, independent contractors, or agents that are necessary in its judgment and fix their compensation, provided all such expenses shall be payable solely from the proceeds of bonds or from revenues of the Ohio turnpike system;

(13) Receive and accept from any federal agency, subject to the approval of the governor, and from any other governmental agency grants for or in aid of the construction, reconstruction, repair, renovation, maintenance, or operation of any turnpike project, and receive and accept aid or contributions from any source or person of money, property, labor, or other things of value, to be held, used, and applied only for the purposes for which such grants and contributions are made;

(14) Provide coverage for its employees under Chapters 4123. and 4141. of the Revised Code;

(15) Fix and revise by rule, from time to time, such permit fees, processing fees, or administrative charges for the prepayment, deferred payment, or nonpayment of tolls and use of electronic tolling equipment or other commission property;

(16) Adopt rules for the issuance of citations either by a policing authority or through administrative means to individuals or corporations that evade the payment of tolls established for the use of any turnpike project;

(17) Approve funding and authorize agreements with the department of transportation for the funding of infrastructure projects recommended by the director of transportation pursuant to the criteria established by rule approved under section 5537.18 of the Revised Code.

(B) The commission may do all acts necessary or proper to carry out the powers expressly granted in this chapter.

Sec. 5537.08.  (A) The Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission may provide by resolution for the issuance, at one time or from time to time, of revenue bonds of the state for the purpose of paying all or any part of the cost of any one or more turnpike projects or infrastructure projects. The bond service charges shall be payable solely from pledged revenues pledged for such payment pursuant to the applicable bond proceedings. The bonds of each issue shall be dated, shall bear interest at a rate or rates or at variable rates, and shall mature or be payable at such time or times, with a final maturity not to exceed forty years from their date or dates, all as determined by the commission in the bond proceedings. The commission shall determine the form of the bonds, including any interest coupons to be attached thereto, and shall fix the denomination or denominations of the bonds and the place or places of payment of bond service charges.

(B) The bonds shall be signed by the chairperson or vice-chairperson of the commission or by the facsimile signature of that officer, the official seal of the commission or a facsimile thereof shall be affixed thereto or printed thereon and attested by the secretary-treasurer of the commission, which may be by facsimile signature, and any coupons attached thereto shall bear the facsimile signature of the chairperson or vice-chairperson of the commission. In case any officer whose signature, or a facsimile of whose signature, appears on any bonds or coupons ceases to be such officer before delivery of bonds, such signature or facsimile shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes the same as if the officer had remained in office until such delivery.

(C) Subject to the bond proceedings and provisions for registration, the bonds shall have all the qualities and incidents of negotiable instruments under Title XIII of the Revised Code. The bonds may be issued in such form or forms as the commission determines, including without limitation coupon, book entry, and fully registered form, and provision may be made for the registration of any coupon bonds as to principal alone and also as to both principal and interest, and for the exchange of bonds between forms. The commission may sell such bonds by competitive bid on the best bid after advertisement or request for bids or by private sale in the manner, and for the price, it determines to be for the best interest of the state.

(D) The proceeds of the bonds of each issue shall be used solely for the payment of the costs of the turnpike project or projects for which such bonds were issued, or for the payment of the costs of the infrastructure project or projects as approved by the commission under section 5537.18 of the Revised Code. The proceeds shall be disbursed in such manner and under such restrictions as the commission provides in the applicable bond proceedings.

(E) Prior to the preparation of definitive bonds, the commission may, under like restrictions, issue interim receipts or temporary bonds or bond anticipation notes, with or without coupons, exchangeable for definitive bonds when such bonds have been executed and are available for delivery. The commission may provide for the replacement of any mutilated, stolen, destroyed, or lost bonds. Bonds may be issued by the commission under this chapter without obtaining the consent of any state agency, and without any other proceedings or the happening of any other conditions or things than those proceedings, conditions, or things that are specifically required by this chapter or those proceedings.

(F) Sections 9.98 to 9.983 of the Revised Code apply to the bonds.

(G) The bond proceedings shall provide, subject to the provisions of any other applicable bond proceedings, for the pledge to the payment of bond service charges and of any costs of or relating to credit enhancement facilities of all, or such part as the commission may determine, of the pledged revenues and the applicable special fund or funds, which pledges may be made to secure the bonds on a parity with bonds theretofore or thereafter issued if and to the extent provided in the bond proceedings. Every pledge, and every covenant and agreement with respect thereto, made in the bond proceedings may in the bond proceedings be extended to the benefit of the owners and holders of bonds and to any trustee and any person providing a credit enhancement facility for those bonds, for the further security for the payment of the bond service charges and credit enhancement facility costs.

(H) The bond proceedings may contain additional provisions as to:

(1) The redemption of bonds prior to maturity at the option of the commission or of the bondholders or upon the occurrence of certain stated conditions, and at such price or prices and under such terms and conditions as are provided in the bond proceedings;

(2) Other terms of the bonds;

(3) Limitations on the issuance of additional bonds;

(4) The terms of any trust agreement securing the bonds or under which the same may be issued;

(5) Any or every provision of the bond proceedings being binding upon the commission and state agencies, or other person as may from time to time have the authority under law to take such actions as may be necessary to perform all or any part of the duty required by such provision;

(6) Any provision that may be made in a trust agreement;

(7) Any other or additional agreements with the holders of the bonds, or the trustee therefor, relating to the bonds or the security for the bonds, including agreements for credit enhancement facilities.

(I) Any holder of bonds or a trustee under the bond proceedings, except to the extent that the holder's or trustee's rights are restricted by the bond proceedings, may by any suitable form of legal proceedings, protect and enforce any rights under the laws of this state or granted by the bond proceedings. Those rights include the right to compel the performance of all duties of the commission and state agencies required by this chapter or the bond proceedings; to enjoin unlawful activities; and in the event of default with respect to the payment of any bond service charges on any bonds or in the performance of any covenant or agreement on the part of the commission contained in the bond proceedings, to apply to a court having jurisdiction of the cause to appoint a receiver to receive and administer the revenues and the pledged revenues which are pledged to the payment of the bond service charges on such bonds or which are the subject of the covenant or agreement, with full power to pay, and to provide for payment of, bond service charges on such bonds, and with such powers, subject to the direction of the court, as are accorded receivers in general equity cases, excluding any power to pledge additional revenues or receipts or other income, funds, or moneys of the commission or state agencies to the payment of such bond service charges and excluding the power to take possession of, mortgage, or cause the sale or otherwise dispose of any turnpike project or other property of the commission.

(J) Each duty of the commission and the commission's officers and employees, undertaken pursuant to the bond proceedings, is hereby established as a duty of the commission, and of each such officer, member, or employee having authority to perform the duty, specifically enjoined by law resulting from an office, trust, or station within the meaning of section 2731.01 of the Revised Code.

(K) The commission's officers or employees are not liable in their personal capacities on any bonds issued by the commission or any agreements of or with the commission relating to those bonds.

(L) The bonds are lawful investments for banks, savings and loan associations, credit union share guaranty corporations, trust companies, trustees, fiduciaries, insurance companies, including domestic for life and domestic not for life, trustees or other officers having charge of sinking and bond retirement or other funds of the state or its political subdivisions and taxing districts, the commissioners of the sinking fund of the state, the administrator of workers' compensation, the state teachers retirement system, the public employees retirement system, the school employees retirement system, and the Ohio police and fire pension fund, notwithstanding any other provisions of the Revised Code or rules adopted pursuant thereto by any state agency with respect to investments by them, and are also acceptable as security for the repayment of the deposit of public moneys.

(M) Provision may be made in the applicable bond proceedings for the establishment of separate accounts in the bond service fund and for the application of such accounts only to the specified bond service charges pertinent to such accounts and bond service fund, and for other accounts therein within the general purposes of such fund.

(N) The commission may pledge all, or such portion as it determines, of the pledged revenues to the payment of bond service charges, and for the establishment and maintenance of any reserves and special funds, as provided in the bond proceedings, and make other provisions therein with respect to pledged revenues, revenues, and net revenues as authorized by this chapter, which provisions are controlling notwithstanding any other provisions of law pertaining thereto.

Sec. 5537.13.  (A) Subject to division (C)(1) of this section and section 5537.26 of the Revised Code, the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission may fix, revise, charge, and collect tolls for each turnpike project, and contract in the manner provided by this section with any person desiring the use of any part thereof, including the right-of-way adjoining the paved portion, for placing thereon telephone, electric light, or power lines, service facilities, or for any other purpose, and fix the terms, conditions, rents, and rates of charge for such use, provided that no toll, charge, or rental may be made by the commission for placing in, on, along, over, or under the turnpike project, equipment or public utility facilities that are necessary to serve service facilities or to interconnect any public utility facilities.

(B) Contracts for the operation of service facilities shall be made in writing. Such contracts, except contracts with state agencies or other governmental agencies, shall be made with the bidder whose bid is determined by the commission to be the best bid received, after advertisement for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in Franklin county, and in other publications that the commission determines. The notice shall state the general character of the service facilities operation proposed, the place where plans and specifications may be examined, and the time and place of receiving bids. Bids shall contain the full name of each person interested in them, and shall be in such form as the commission requires. The commission may reject any and all bids. All contracts for service facilities shall be preserved in the principal office of the commission.

(C)(1) Except as necessary to comply with covenants in bond proceedings in existence before July 1, 2013, for calendar years 2013 through 2023, the commission shall not increase the toll rates for any class of passenger vehicle as fixed on the effective date of this amendment July 1, 2013, when both of the following apply:

(a) The tolls are collected and remitted in accordance with a multi-jurisdiction electronic toll collection agreement; and

(b) The distance traveled is thirty miles or less.

(2) Subject to division (C)(1) of this section, tolls shall be so fixed and adjusted as to provide funds at least sufficient with other revenues of the Ohio turnpike system, if any, to pay:

(a) The cost of maintaining, improving, repairing, constructing, and operating the Ohio turnpike system and its different parts and sections, and to create and maintain any reserves for those purposes;

(b) Any unpaid bond service charges on outstanding bonds payable from pledged revenues as such charges become due and payable, and to create and maintain any reserves for that purpose.

(D) Tolls are not subject to supervision, approval, or regulation by any state agency other than the turnpike and infrastructure commission.

(E) Revenues derived from each turnpike project shall be first applied to pay the cost of maintenance, improvement, repair, and operation and to provide any reserves therefor that are provided for in the bond proceedings authorizing the issuance of those outstanding bonds, and otherwise as provided by the commission. The bond proceedings also shall provide, subject to the provisions of any other applicable bond proceedings, for the pledge of all, or such part as the commission may determine of the pledged revenues and the applicable special fund or funds to the payment of the bond service charges, which pledge may be made to secure the bonds senior or subordinate to or on a parity with bonds theretofore or thereafter issued, if and to the extent provided in the bond proceedings. The pledge shall be valid and binding from the time the pledge is made; the revenues and the pledged revenues thereafter received by the commission immediately shall be subject to the lien of the pledge without any physical delivery thereof or further act, and the lien of the pledge shall be valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract, or otherwise against the commission, whether or not those parties have notice thereof. The bond proceedings by which a pledge is created need not be filed or recorded except in the records of the commission. The use and disposition of moneys to the credit of a bond service fund shall be subject to the applicable bond proceedings.

(F) The commission shall deposit the proceeds of bonds issued for the payment of the costs of infrastructure projects, net of minus the payment of all financing expenses and deposits into debt service reserves or other special funds as may be required in the applicable bond proceedings, shall be deposited to in the infrastructure fund or funds and shall be exclusively used use money in the infrastructure fund exclusively to pay the cost of infrastructure projects approved by the commission, except that under section 5537.18 of the Revised Code. However, the commission may use income earned by the infrastructure fund may be used by the commission towards for the payment of bond service charges.

Sec. 5537.18.  (A) The Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission shall allocate fifty per cent of the moneys in the infrastructure fund to finance infrastructure projects that are new transportation capacity projects approved under division (B) of this section. The commission shall allocate the remaining fifty per cent of the moneys in the infrastructure fund to finance infrastructure projects that consist of the maintenance or repair of existing infrastructure approved under division (C) of this section.

(B)(1) The director of transportation may submit an application for infrastructure project funding to the commission for an infrastructure project that is a new transportation capacity project. The director shall comply with all applicable rules established by the commission under division (B)(2) of this section and shall include in any application only new transportation capacity infrastructure projects that previously have been reviewed and recommended by the transportation review advisory council pursuant to the selection process followed by the council under Chapter 5512. of the Revised Code. In selecting an infrastructure project for which an application will be made to the commission for infrastructure project funding, the director shall consider the physical proximity of the project to the Ohio turnpike system. The director shall ensure that not less than ninety per cent of the total cost of the infrastructure project funding requests submitted to the commission under division (B) of this section are for infrastructure projects that are at least partially located within seventy-five miles of the Ohio turnpike system.

(2) The Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission shall adopt rules establishing the procedures and criteria under which the commission may approve an application received from the director of transportation for infrastructure project funding under division (B)(1) of this section. The commission shall require in the rules that an infrastructure project have an anticipated benefit to the system of public highways in the state of Ohio and a transportation-related nexus with and relationship to the Ohio turnpike system and the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure system. In order to determine if an infrastructure project has the required nexus and relationship to the Ohio turnpike system and the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure system and for the purpose of approving an application for infrastructure project funding submitted by the director of transportation, the commission shall adopt criteria that address all of the following:

(a) The physical proximity of the infrastructure project to the Ohio turnpike system and the direct or indirect physical connection between the infrastructure project and the Ohio turnpike system;

(b) The impact of the infrastructure project on traffic density, flow through, or capacity on the Ohio turnpike system;

(c) The impact of the infrastructure project on the Ohio turnpike system toll revenue or other revenues;

(d) The impact of the infrastructure project on the movement of goods and services on or in the area of the Ohio turnpike system; and

(e) The enhancement or improvement by and through the infrastructure project of access to, use of, and egress from the Ohio turnpike system and access to and from connected areas of population, commerce, and industry.

(3) The commission shall evaluate each application for infrastructure project funding submitted under division (B)(1) of this section in accordance with the procedures and criteria established in rules adopted under division (B)(2) of this section. A determination or approval made under this section is conclusive and incontestable.

(C)(1) The legislative authority of a municipal corporation, county, or township may submit an application to the director of transportation for approval of an infrastructure project that consists of the maintenance or repair of existing infrastructure. The legislative authority shall comply with all applicable rules established by the director of transportation under division (C)(2) of this section. In selecting infrastructure projects for which applications will be made to the director for infrastructure project funding, the legislative authority shall consider the physical proximity of the project to the Ohio turnpike system. A legislative authority shall limit requests for infrastructure project funding to infrastructure projects that are at least partially located within seventy-five miles of the Ohio turnpike system.

(2) The director shall adopt rules establishing the procedures and criteria under which the director may approve an application received from the legislative authority of a municipal corporation, county, or township under division (C)(1) of this section. The director shall require in the rules that an infrastructure project have an anticipated benefit to the system of public highways in the state of Ohio and a transportation-related nexus with and relationship to the Ohio turnpike system and the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure system. In order to determine if an infrastructure project has the required nexus and relationship to the Ohio turnpike system and the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure system and for the purpose of approving an application for infrastructure project funding submitted by a legislative authority, the director shall adopt criteria that address all of the following:

(a) The physical proximity of the infrastructure project to the Ohio turnpike system and the direct or indirect physical connection between the infrastructure project and the Ohio turnpike system;

(b) The impact of the infrastructure project on traffic density, flow through, or capacity on the Ohio turnpike system;

(c) The impact of the infrastructure project on the Ohio turnpike system toll revenue or other revenues;

(d) The impact of the infrastructure project on the movement of goods and services on or in the area of the Ohio turnpike system; and

(e) The enhancement or improvement by and through the infrastructure project of access to, use of, and egress from the Ohio turnpike system and access to and from connected areas of population, commerce, and industry.

(3) The director shall evaluate each application for infrastructure project funding submitted under division (C)(1) of this section in accordance with the procedures and criteria established in rules adopted under division (C)(2) of this section. A determination or approval made under this section is conclusive and incontestable.

(D) Nothing in this section shall interfere with the authority of the director of transportation under Chapter 5512. of the Revised Code.

Section 2.  That existing sections 5537.01, 5537.03, 5537.04, 5537.08, and 5537.13 and section 5537.18 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.