Regular Session 2017-2018 House Bill 0652 P.N. 2868

PRINTER'S NO. 2868

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

652

Session of

2018

INTRODUCED BY EMRICK, R. BROWN, FREEMAN, GILLEN, IRVIN, KEEFER,

LAWRENCE, MACKENZIE, MILLARD, B. MILLER, MOUL AND RYAN,

JANUARY 8, 2018

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, JANUARY 8, 2018

AN ACT

Amending the act of June 25, 1931 (P.L.1352, No.332), entitled

"An act providing for joint action by the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey in the

administration, operation, and maintenance of bridges over

the Delaware River, and for the construction of additional

bridge facilities across said river; authorizing the

Governor, for these purposes, to enter into an agreement with

the State of New Jersey; creating a Delaware River Joint Toll

Bridge Commission and specifying the powers and duties

thereof, including the power to finance the construction of

additional bridges by the issuance of revenue bonds to be

redeemed from revenues derived from tolls collected at such

bridges; transferring to said commission all powers now

exercised by existing commission created to acquire toll

bridges over the Delaware River; and making an

appropriation," providing for veto power by the Governor over

certain actions; further providing for audits; and providing

the Governor of each state with power to ratify or veto

certain actions taken by commissioners.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Articles II and IX of section 1 of the act of

June 25, 1931 (P.L.1352, No.332), referred to as the Delaware

River Joint Toll Bridge Compact, are amended to read:

ARTICLE II.

For the effectuation of its authorized purposes, the

commission is hereby granted the following powers as limited and

supplemented by the act of July 1, 1996 (P.L.457, No.70),

entitled "A supplement to the act of June 25, 1931 (P.L.1352,

No.332), entitled 'An act providing for joint action by the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey in the

administration, operation, and maintenance of bridges over the

Delaware River, and for the construction of additional bridge

facilities across said river; authorizing the Governor, for

these purposes, to enter into an agreement with the State of New

Jersey; creating a Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission

and specifying the powers and duties thereof, including the

power to finance the construction of additional bridges by the

issuance of revenue bonds to be redeemed from revenues derived

from tolls collected at such bridges; transferring to said

commission all powers now exercised by existing commission

created to acquire toll bridges over the Delaware River; and

making an appropriation,' requiring the commission to adopt

competitive purchasing, equal opportunity employment and

competitive hiring practices":

(a) To have perpetual succession.

(b) To sue and be sued.

(d) To elect a chairman, vice-chairman, secretary and

treasurer, and appoint an engineer. The secretary, treasurer,

and engineer need not be members of the commission.

(e) To adopt suitable by-laws for the management of its

affairs.

(f) To appoint such other officers, agents and employees as

it may require for the performance of its duties.

(g) To determine the qualifications and duties of its

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appointees, and to fix their compensation, except that the

commission shall not employ directly or as an independent

contractor a member of the commission for a period of two years

after the expiration of the term of office of that member.

(h) To enter into contracts.

(i) To acquire, own, hire, use, operate, and dispose of

personal property.

(j) To acquire, own, use, lease, operate, and dispose of

real property and interest in real property, and to make

improvements thereon.

(j.1) At its option, to authorize the Department of Property

and Supplies to prescribe standards and specifications and make

contracts and purchases of various materials and services for

the commission, pursuant to the provisions of sections 2403,

2403.1 and 2409 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177), known as

"The Administrative Code of 1929."

(k) To grant the use of, by franchise, lease, and otherwise,

and to make and collect charges for the use of, any property or

facility owned or controlled by it.

(l) To borrow money upon its bonds or other obligations,

either with or without security.

(m) To exercise the power of eminent domain.

(n) To determine the exact location, system, and character

of, and all other matters in connection with, any and all

improvements or facilities which it may be authorized to own,

construct, establish, effectuate, maintain, operate or control.

(o) In addition to the foregoing powers, to exercise the

powers, duties, authority and jurisdiction heretofore conferred

and imposed upon the aforesaid commissions, hereby constituted a

joint commission by reciprocal legislation of the Commonwealth

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of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey, with respect to the

acquisition of toll bridges over the Delaware River, the

management, operation and maintenance of such bridges, and the

location, acquisition, construction, administration, operation

and maintenance of additional bridge communications over the

Delaware River at any location north of the boundary line

between Bucks County and Philadelphia County in the Commonwealth

of Pennsylvania, as extended across the Delaware River to the

New Jersey shore of said river. The powers granted in this

paragraph shall be in addition to those powers granted by

paragraph (a) of Article X of this agreement.

(p) To exercise all other powers, not inconsistent with the

Constitutions of the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey or of

the United States, which may be reasonably necessary or

incidental to the effectuation of its authorized purposes or to

the exercise of any of the powers granted to the commission by

this agreement or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto,

except the power to levy taxes or assessments for benefits; and

generally to exercise, in connection with its property and

affairs and in connection with property under its control, any

and all powers which might be exercised by a natural person or a

private corporation in connection with similar property and

affairs.

(q) To acquire, construct, rehabilitate, improve, maintain,

lease as lessor or as lessee, repair and operate, port and

terminal facilities, as hereinafter defined, within the

district, including the dredging of ship channels and turning

basins and the filling and grading of land therefor.

(r) To provide from time to time for the issuance of its

bonds or other obligations for any one or more of its corporate

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purposes; all bonds and other obligations hereafter issued by

the commission shall have all the qualities and incidents of

negotiable instruments.

(s) To fix, charge and collect fees, rentals, tolls and

other charges for the use of any of its port and terminal

facilities so as to provide funds at least sufficient with other

funds available for such purposes (1) to pay the cost of

maintaining, repairing and operating such port and terminal

facilities, including the administrative expenses of the

commission chargeable thereto; (2) to pay the bonds or other

obligations issued on account of such facilities and the

interest thereon as the same become due and payable; and (3) to

provide reserves for such purposes, and to pledge such funds

over and above such costs of maintenance, repair and operation

to the payment of such bonds or other obligations and the

interest thereon.

(t) To petition the Interstate Commerce Commission, any

public service or public utilities commission, or any other

federal, state or local authority, whether administrative,

judicial or legislative, for the adoption and execution of any

physical improvement, change in method, rate of transportation,

system of handling freight, warehousing, docking, lightering or

transfer of freight, which, in the opinion of the commission,

may be designed to improve or facilitate the movement or

handling of commerce within the district or improve the terminal

or transportation facilities therein.

As used in this agreement, the term 'port and terminal

facilities' shall mean and shall include, without intending

thereby to limit the definition of such term, any one or more of

the following or any combination thereof:

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(1) Every kind of terminal or storage structure or facility

now in use or hereafter designed for use in the handling,

storage, loading or unloading of freight or passengers at

steamship, railroad or motor terminals or airports, and every

kind of transportation facility now in use or hereafter designed

for use in connection therewith; and

(2) All real and personal property and all works, buildings,

structures, equipment, machinery, appliances and appurtenances

necessary or convenient for the proper construction, equipment,

maintenance and operation of such facility or facilities or any

one or more of them.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this agreement or any

provision of law, state or federal, to the contrary, the

commission shall not combine for financing purposes any port and

terminal facility or facilities constructed or acquired by it

under the provisions of this agreement with any bridge or

bridges heretofore or hereafter constructed or acquired by the

commission.

The powers herein granted to the commission with reference to

port and terminal facilities shall supersede the right to

exercise any such powers within the district, as defined in

paragraph (e) of Article I of this agreement, by any other body

which has been heretofore created by compact or agreement

between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New

Jersey.

Nothing contained in any other of the provisions of this

compact or agreement shall be deemed or construed to amend,

modify or repeal any of the powers, rights or duties conferred

by, or limitations or restrictions expressed in, Article X of

this compact or agreement, or any of the provisions of said

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Article X relating to a bridge to be constructed, operated and

maintained by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission or the New

Jersey Turnpike Authority acting alone or in conjunction with

each other.

Notwithstanding the above, each state reserves the right to

provide by law for the exercise of a veto power by the Governor

of that state over any action of any commissioner from that

state at any time within ten days (Saturdays, Sundays and public

holidays in the particular state excepted) after receipt at the

Governor's office of a certified copy of the minutes of the

meeting at which such vote was taken. Each state may provide by

law for the manner of delivery of the minutes, and for

notification of the action on the minutes.

* * *

ARTICLE IX.

The commission shall make annual reports to the Governors and

Legislatures of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State

of New Jersey setting forth in detail its operations and

transactions, and may make such additional reports from time to

time to the Governors and Legislatures, as it may deem

advisable.

[The commission shall submit biennially to a performance

audit jointly conducted by the Auditor General of Pennsylvania

and the State Auditor of New Jersey, which shall include

expenditures and operations of the commission. These auditors

shall complete the performance audit and prepare a joint report

by December 31 of every odd-numbered year, with the first audit

and report to be completed by December 31, 1997. A report of

those audits shall be submitted to the Governors and

Legislatures of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State

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of New Jersey and to the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge

Commission.

An annual financial audit shall be conducted at the expense

of the commission by an independent accounting firm in

accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A

written report of each audit shall be submitted to the

commission and shall be retained by the commission for at least

five years.]

The Auditor General of Pennsylvania and the State Auditor of

New Jersey shall jointly conduct annual financial and management

audits of expenditures and operations of the commission and

shall submit a report of those audits to the Governors and

Legislatures of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State

of New Jersey.

* * *

Section 2. (a) The minutes of every meeting of the Delaware

River Joint Toll Bridge Commission shall, as soon as possible

after the meeting, be delivered by, and under the certification

of the secretary of the commission, to the Governor.

(b) No action taken by a Pennsylvania commissioner at the

meeting may have force or effect for a period of 10 days, except

Saturdays, Sundays and Commonwealth public holidays, after the

minutes have been delivered to the Governor under this

subsection, unless the Governor approves the minutes, or any

part of the minutes, in writing, by reciting the action

approved, within the 10-day period. This veto power may not be

construed to affect the covenants contained in the bonds of the

commission.

Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, not later than

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the 10-day period prescribed in subsection (b), either with

or without a veto of any action recited in the minutes to

have been taken by a commissioner appointed from

Pennsylvania.

(2) If the Governor does not return the minutes within

the 10-day period, the action taken by the Pennsylvania

commissioners shall have the force and effect as recited in

the minutes, according to the wording of the minutes. If the

Governor, within the 10-day period prescribed in subsection

(b), returns the minutes of the Delaware River Joint Toll

Bridge Commission with a veto against the action of that

commissioner from Pennsylvania, the action of that

commissioner shall be null and void and of no effect.

(d) The commission shall designate an individual who shall

be responsible for responding to requests from the public and

the news media for information concerning the scheduling,

attendance and minutes of commission meetings.

Section 3. The Governor shall not enter into a supplemental

compact or agreement on behalf of the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania until passage by the State of New Jersey of a

substantially similar act embodying a supplemental compact or

agreement between the two states.

Section 4. The Governor shall publish the date of execution

of any supplemental compact or agreement referenced in section 3

as a notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

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