Section 63: Capital facility planning fund
Section 63. There is established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund, consisting of monies appropriated to the fund by the general court and income derived from the investment of monies appropriated to the fund, known as the capital facility planning fund.
Allocation of monies from such fund shall be made according to section 62. The purpose of the capital facility planning fund shall be to provide monies for the planning of capital facility projects by state agencies other than counties. Priority in the allocation of monies from such fund shall be given to projects:
(i) which are included in any long range capital facilities development plan previously approved by the general court or in any master plan, consistent with such long range plans, previously approved by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance or
(ii) whose rapid progress is indicated by statutes which provide for capital facility projects to advance specific agency programs, goals or objectives; and for which the delay in seeking monies through the normal capital budget process provided for by this chapter would cause a serious loss in use of the proposed capital facility if it were unavailable or cause a percentage increase in total project cost substantially larger than that for other projects at a comparable stage of development.
Monies from the capital facility planning fund may be allocated, in accordance with priorities stated above, for the preparation of environmental impact reports to comply with the requirements of chapter 12 and chapter 30.
Monies from the capital facility fund may be allocated, in accordance with the priorities stated above, for options to purchase land or buildings which will be used for capital facility projects specifically identified in the allocation request.
If monies spent on a capital facility project are allocated from the capital facility planning fund and the funds for the acquisition of a site for or the design or design and construction of such project are appropriated or authorized then a sum of money equal to that allocation shall be deducted from the amount so appropriated or authorized and returned to the capital facility planning fund.
In no case shall a request for monies or monies be allocated for projects for which a similar request is currently being considered according to the capital budget process for the current fiscal year provided for by this chapter or which was so considered during the capital budget process for the previous fiscal year and failed to receive an appropriation or authorization.
Requests for monies from the capital facility planning fund may be made by state agencies other than counties and only after approval of such requests by the secretary of the executive office in which that agency is located, except in the case of a public institution of higher learning, only after approval by the board of higher education.