§279A-7  Statewide transportationcouncil; responsibilities.  In addition to its responsibility forcoordinating the development of a statewide transportation plan, the councilshall be responsible for the following functions:

(1)  The council shall be responsible for makingrecommendations on projects for submission to the legislature which involvesolely and exclusively either state highways, harbors and water-borne transit,and airports and air transportation; solely and exclusively state funds; or solelystate lands.  All other projects for submission to the legislature, includingintra- county mass transit projects, shall be the responsibility of thecounties.

(2)  In respect to transportation projects for whichthe counties are responsible for planning and approval prior to submission tothe legislature, the council shall review such projects and prepare commentsfor the legislature regarding:

(A)  The degree to which an intra-islandtransportation project interfaces efficiently with existing proposedinter-island transportation system; and

(B)  The relationship between the specificprojects' possible requirements for state financial assistance and projectionsas to the State's total potential financial commitments required fordevelopment of a statewide transportation system.

(3)  Counties which do not have metropolitan planningorganizations may request from the council, and the council shall provide,technical assistance to the counties in the preparation of their respectivecounty transportation plans as components of the statewide transportationplanning process.  The amounts of technical assistance to be provided hereunderare within the discretion of the chairperson who shall consider in making thechairperson's determinations the magnitude of the problems which exist in therequesting counties, the availability of local resources, the degree to whichthey are cooperatively participating in the statewide planning process and theadequacy of the council's budget considering the financial requirements ofoverall council operations. [L 1975, c 179, §7; gen ch 1985; am L 1991, c 35,§1; gen ch 1993]