(a) "Applicant" shall mean any town, city, village, county and for any project on the state highway/bridge system, the designated transportation coordinating committee, if one exists, or the metropolitan transportation planning organization, if no designated transportation coordinating committee exists. In cases where no metropolitan planning organization exists, the department may submit applications for projects on the state highway/bridge system.

(b) "Transportation energy conservation project" shall mean an improvement to or directly related to the use of a street, highway and/or bridge either on or off the state highway system provided such highway or bridge is not owned by a state authority. Such projects shall be designed to advance energy efficiency and conservation through improvements, including, but not limited to, capacity/spot improvements, signing, signalization and technical innovation, and training and technical assistance.

(c) "Program" shall mean the New York state transportation energy conservation program. 2. (a) The department shall promulgate rules and regulations to provide for the timely and effective implementation of the program.

(b) Such rules and regulations shall provide for application procedures, criteria for ranking and soliciting projects and standards to be used by the department in approving projects for funding.

(c) In promulgating such rules and regulations the department shall ensure that:

(i) the total costs of implementing any project approved for funding under the transportation energy conservation program will be returned in savings in energy costs attributable to the project within a period of not more than fifteen years, or the life of the project, whichever is less;

(ii) any moneys used for projects from the transportation energy conservation program are in addition to any existing funding from either state or local sources and such sources shall not be reduced due to the availability of moneys from such program;

(iii) no project shall receive in excess of two hundred fifty thousand dollars from the transportation energy conservation program;

(iv) an equitable distribution of moneys from the program is made statewide; and

(v) a report is issued, at least annually, detailing the commitment and use of such funds.