1. Sections 227.600 to 227.669 shall be known and may be cited as the "Missouri Public-Private Partnerships Transportation Act".
2. As used in sections 227.600 to 227.669 , unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following terms mean:
(1) "Commission" , the Missouri highways and transportation commission;
(2) "Comprehensive agreement" , the final binding written comprehensive project agreement between a private partner and the commission required in section 227.621 to finance, develop, and/or operate the project;
(3) "Department" , the Missouri department of transportation;
(4) "Develop" or "development" , to plan, locate, relocate, establish, acquire, lease, design, or construct;
(5) "Finance" , to fund the costs, expenses, liabilities, fees, profits, and all other charges incurred to finance, develop, and/or operate the project;
(6) "Interim agreement" , a preliminary binding written agreement between a private partner and the commission that provides for completion of studies and any other activities to advance the financing, development, and/or operation of the project required by section 227.618 ;
(7) "Material default" , any uncured default by a private partner in the performance of its duties that jeopardizes adequate service to the public from the project as determined by the commission;
(8) "Operate" or "operation" , to improve, maintain, equip, modify, repair, administer, or collect user fees;
(9) "Private partner" , any natural person, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, business trust, nonprofit entity, other business entity, or any combination thereof;
(10) "Project" , exclusively includes any pipeline, ferry, port facility, water facility, water way, water supply facility or pipeline, stormwater facility or system, wastewater system or treatment facility, public building, airport, railroad, light rail, vehicle parking facility, mass transit facility, tube transport system * , or other similar facility currently available or to be made available to a government entity for public use, including any structure, parking area, appurtenance and other property required to operate the structure or facility to be financed, developed, and/or operated under agreement between the commission and a private partner. The commission or private partner shall not have the authority to collect user fees in connection with the project from motor carriers as defined in section 227.630 . Project shall not include any highway, interstate or bridge construction, or any rest area, rest stop, or truck parking facility connected to an interstate or other highway under the authority of the commission. Any project not specifically included in this subdivision shall not be financed, developed, or operated by a private partner until such project is approved by a vote of the people;
(11) "Public use" , a finding by the commission that the project to be financed, developed, and/or operated by a private partner under sections 227.600 to 227.669 will improve or is needed as a necessary addition to the state transportation system;
(12) "Revenues" , include but are not limited to the following which arise out of or in connection with the financing, development, and/or operation of the project:
(a) Income;
(b) Earnings;
(c) Proceeds;
(d) User fees;
(e) Lease payments;
(f) Allocations;
(g) Federal, state, and local moneys; or
(h) Private sector moneys, grants, bond proceeds, and/or equity investments;
(13) "State" , the state of Missouri;
(14) "State highway system" , the state system of highways and bridges planned, located, relocated, established, acquired, constructed, and maintained by the commission under Section 30(b), Article IV, Constitution of Missouri;
(15) "State transportation system" , the state system of nonhighway transportation programs, including but not limited to aviation, transit and mass transportation, railroads, ports, waterborne commerce, freight and intermodal connections;
* (16) "Tube transport system" , a high-speed transportation system, including infrastructure and facilities, in which pressurized pods containing passengers or freight ride or coast upon a cushion of air through magnetic levitation within a reduced-pressure or vacuum tube, propelled by electric power;
(17) "User fees" , tolls, fees, or other charges authorized to be imposed by the commission and collected by the private partner for the use of all or a portion of a project under a comprehensive agreement.
* 3. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the power of eminent domain shall not apply to the tube transport system.
* 4. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no funds from the state road fund established under Section 30(b) of Article IV of the Missouri Constitution shall be used for the financing, development, or operation of a tube transport system.
* 5. Under section 23.253 of the Missouri sunset act:
(1) The provisions authorizing the financing, development, or operation of a tube transport system under this section shall automatically sunset on August 28, 2025, unless reauthorized by an act of the general assembly; and
(2) If the tube transport system is reauthorized, the authority under this section to finance, develop, or operate the tube transport system shall automatically sunset five years after the effective date of the reauthorization of this section; and
(3) The provisions of this section authorizing the financing, development, or operation of a tube transport system shall terminate on September first of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which the program authorized under this section is sunset.
* 6. Under no circumstances shall a public right-of-way necessary for the expansion of Interstate 70 be materially impeded by or transferred to a public-private partnership for the purpose of constructing a tube transport system.