Section 9-NEW - [Newly enacted section not yet numbered] [Effective 10/1/2024] Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs to establish grant program; audit of funds(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the Legislature shall annually appropriate two million dollars ($2,000,000) from the State General Fund to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs to establish a grant program to facilitate and coordinate inland port and transfer facility development, improvement, maintenance, onsite storage, moorings, and construction. The appropriation shall be effective beginning fiscal year 2026 and continue through the 2028 fiscal year, unless continued by an act of the Legislature.(b) Upon appropriations, the monies shall be kept in the Inland Ports and Intermodal Development Fund created in Section 3 and shall be subject to audit by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts in the same manner as all other department funds. Any unexpended monies remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall not revert to the State General Fund. The amount of the appropriation for the upcoming fiscal year appropriation shall be reduced by the amount carried forward such that the department will have no more than five million dollars ($5,000,000) in any single fiscal year to administer the grant program. Any monies which remain unexpended at the end of the third fiscal year shall revert to the State General Fund. Any unencumbered funds remaining pursuant to this act after three years shall revert to the State General Fund.Added by Act 2024-450,§ 4, eff. 10/1/2024.