Section 9-NEW - [Newly enacted section not yet numbered] Legislative findings and declarationsThe Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) That inland ports are physical sites located away from traditional coastal borders with the vision to facilitate and process domestic and international trade through strategic investment in multi-modal transportation assets and by promoting value-added services as goods move through the supply chains.(b) That the development of inland ports and other transfer facilities has been a growing trend for the past 30 years, and the southeastern United States is an area of increased interest in entities wanting to create networks of strategically placed facilities throughout each state.(c) That the support of inland ports or transfer facilities are an added benefit to the State of Alabama.(d) That an inland port or intermodal transfer facility would have the added benefit of reducing truck traffic along the federal and state highways of Alabama, especially through metropolitan areas, and would reduce greenhouse emissions from heavy freight carriers.(e) That a rail-based inland port has three basic requirements enabling it to fulfill a relevant commercial role: the ability to serve as an intermodal terminal, host logistics activities, and be a corridor to a gateway.(f) That the passing of Act 2019-2, 2019 First Special Session, now apprearing as Section 40-17-371(b), Code of Alabama 1975, provided eleven million seven hundred sixty thousand dollars ($11,760,000) as a pledge for bonds issued to finance improvements to the Mobile Ship Channel providing access to the facilities of the Alabama State Port Authority, combined with the recent completion of the Panama Canal expansion, should lead to greater imports and exports for the State of Alabama and infrastructure enhancements are needed to handle the increased volume of freight traffic.(g) It is the intention of the Legislature to authorize the transfer of funds to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs from the State General Fund to facilitate and improve the system of inland ports and intermodal transfer facilities in the state.Added by Act 2024-450,§ 1, eff. 10/1/2024.