I. The SIB shall be administered by the department of transportation. The department is authorized to contract with a third party for administration of the SIB fund.
II. The commissioner of the department of transportation shall adopt rules establishing guidelines for the SIB to exercise its authority under this subdivision, including rules for eligibility, application, evaluation, and selection of projects to receive financial assistance, and such rules shall be exempt from the rulemaking process pursuant to RSA 541-A:21.