Modifies the Port Construction and Development Priority Program (EG SEE FISC NOTE LF EX)

House Bill 776 amends the Port Construction and Development Priority Program under Title 34 of Louisiana Revised Statutes by making four principal modifications to the statutory framework. First, it expands the Department of Transportation and Development's contracting authority by allowing it to contract with any state college or university, not just the Louisiana State University Ports and Waterways Institute, for duties related to developing the port priority program including plan review and evaluation. Second, it changes the publication venue for official notices of public hearings from necessary journals to the Official Journal of the State for both port priority projects and waterway dredging and deepening projects. Third, it replaces the uniform ten percent local match requirement for all port projects with a tiered system based on project categories defined by the department. Fourth, it establishes three project categories with different local match percentages: Standard Projects require ten percent, Large Projects require twenty percent, and Very Large Projects require thirty percent with potential additional funding outside the Transportation Trust Fund.

Port authorities, the Department of Transportation and Development, and the joint transportation committees experience direct operational impacts from these changes. Port authorities must now determine which project category applies to their proposed construction projects and prepare to provide local matching funds corresponding to the appropriate category percentage rather than assuming a flat ten percent requirement. The DOTD gains flexibility in selecting academic partners for technical assistance on port program development while maintaining final authority over the priority list determination. The joint committees continue their approval role but will receive official hearing notices through the Official Journal of the State, potentially affecting how the public learns of hearing opportunities since that publication has different circulation and accessibility than newspapers previously designated as necessary journals. The shift to the Official Journal standardizes notice procedures across both port and dredging programs within the department's purview.

This legislation operates within the existing Transportation Trust Fund framework established in R.S. 34:3457 and preserves the foundational structure requiring Transportation Trust Fund as the primary revenue source for approved port projects. The tiered local match system creates an exception for Very Large Projects, which may draw funding from sources beyond the Transportation Trust Fund, recognizing that projects of significant scale may require hybrid financing structures. The bill aligns with R.S. 43:81 regarding official state publications by referencing that statute for the Official Journal notice requirement. The changes preserve the departmental and legislative oversight mechanisms already embedded in the priority program structure while streamlining notice procedures and introducing flexibility in both academic contracting partners and local matching fund requirements based on project scope and scale.