PRINTER'S NO. 2394
No. 1711 Session of 1990
INTRODUCED BY FISHER, SHAFFER, SCANLON, STOUT, BODACK, DAWIDA,
BELAN, REGOLI, LaVALLE, PECORA AND PORTERFIELD, JUNE 29, 1990
REFERRED TO COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, JUNE 29, 1990
AN ACT
1 Providing for a port district in the southwestern portion of the
2 Commonwealth; establishing the Ports of Pittsburgh Commission
3 and providing for its powers and duties; and establishing the
4 Ports Development Fund.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Short title.
8 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Ports of
9 Pittsburgh Commission Act.
10 Section 2. Definitions.
11 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
12 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
13 context clearly indicates otherwise:
14 "Commission." The Ports of Pittsburgh Commission.
15 Section 3. Port district boundaries.
16 The port district shall include those counties contiguous to
17 the Monongahela River from the West Virginia border to its
18 confluence with the Ohio River; the counties contiguous to the
19 Allegheny River from the head of navigation to its confluence
1 with the Ohio River; and the counties contiguous to the Ohio
2 River to the West Virginia-Ohio border at mile 40. These
3 counties shall include Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler,
4 Fayette, Greene, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland.
5 Section 4. Purpose of commission.
6 (a) Purposes enumerated.--It shall be the purpose of the
7 Ports of Pittsburgh Commission:
8 (1) To promote the general welfare, to encourage public
9 and private capital investment along the rivers for fostering
10 the creation of industrial facilities and industrial parks
11 and promote the establishment of a foreign trade zone within
12 the port district.
13 (2) To promote adequate docks, railroad, truck and
14 intermodal facilities open to all upon reasonable and equal
15 terms for the handling, storage, care and shipment of freight
16 and passengers to, from and through the ports with the
17 purpose of increasing commerce and commercial interests.
18 (3) To promote the development of recreational
19 facilities in the port district to increase public access and
20 development options.
21 (4) To study and make recommendations to the proper
22 authorities for the improvement of terminals, warehouse and
23 other facilities necessary for the promotion of commerce on
24 the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers.
25 (5) To promote the rivers as highways of commerce with
26 the purpose of increasing freight and passenger commerce, and
27 for this purpose the publication of literature and the
28 adoption of any other means may be deemed appropriate.
29 (b) Additional purposes.--The commission shall be
30 established for the purpose of planning, coordinating,
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1 acquiring, holding, constructing, improving, maintaining and
2 operating, owning and leasing (either as a lessee or a lessor)
3 port facilities and equipment, and recreational and commercial
4 properties as set forth in this act.
5 Section 5. Powers and duties.
6 The commission is hereby granted and shall have the following
7 powers and duties:
8 (1) To have perpetual existence.
9 (2) To contract and be contracted with and to sue and be
10 sued.
11 (3) To adopt and use and alter at will a corporate seal.
12 (4) To establish a principal office and such other
13 office or offices as may be necessary for the carrying out of
14 its duties.
15 (5) To acquire, purchase, hold, lease as lessee and use
16 any franchise, property, real, personal or mixed, tangible or
17 intangible, or any interest therein, necessary or desirable
18 for carrying out the purposes of the commission and to sell,
19 lease as lessor, transfer and dispose of any property, or
20 interest therein, at any time required by it.
21 (6) To acquire by purchase, lease or otherwise and to
22 construct, improve, maintain, and repair and operate such
23 facilities when no private sector operator exists.
24 (7) To make bylaws or rules of operation for the
25 management and regulation of its affairs.
26 (8) To employ such managerial, engineering, legal,
27 technical, clerical, accounting, advertising and other
28 assistance as it may deem advisable. The commission may also
29 contract with independent contractors for any of the
30 foregoing assistance.
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1 (9) To borrow money, make and issue negotiable notes,
2 bonds, refunding bonds and other evidences of indebtedness or
3 obligations of the commission, and to secure the payment of
4 such bonds thereof, by pledge or deed of trust of all or any
5 of its revenues, rentals and receipts, and to make such
6 agreements with the purchasers or holders of such bonds or
7 with others in connection with any such bonds whether issued
8 or to be issued as the commission shall deem advisable and,
9 in general, to provide for the security for these bonds and
10 the rights of the holders thereof.
11 (10) To accept gifts, grants, loans or contributions
12 from the United States of America, the Commonwealth of
13 Pennsylvania, political subdivisions, municipalities,
14 foundations, or other public or private agencies,
15 individuals, partnerships or corporations.
16 (11) To pledge, hypothecate or otherwise encumber all or
17 any of the revenues or receipts of the commission as security
18 for all or any of the obligations of the commission.
19 (12) To do all acts and things necessary for the
20 promotion of its business and the general welfare of the
21 commission to carry out the powers granted to it by this act
22 or any other acts.
23 (13) To enter into contracts with the Commonwealth of
24 Pennsylvania, municipalities or corporations on such terms as
25 the commission shall deem proper for the use of any facility
26 of the commission and fixing the amount to be paid therefor.
27 (14) To enter into contracts for group insurance for the
28 benefit of its employees or to set up a retirement or pension
29 fund or any other employee benefit arrangement for such
30 employees.
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1 (15) To consider and adopt detailed and comprehensive
2 plans for future development and improvement of its port
3 district and to coordinate such plans with local, regional
4 and State programs as may be necessary.
5 (16) To provide for membership in any official,
6 industrial, commercial or trade association or any other
7 organizations concerned with such purposes for receptions of
8 officials or others as may contribute to the advancement of
9 its port district and any industrial development therein and
10 for such other public relations activities as will promote
11 the same, and such activities shall be considered a public
12 purpose.
13 (17) To represent the port district before all Federal,
14 State and local agencies.
15 (18) To cooperate with other public agencies and with
16 industry, business and labor in port district improvement
17 matters.
18 (19) To improve navigable and nonnavigable areas as
19 regulated by Federal or State statute.
20 (20) To disburse funds for its lawful activities and fix
21 salaries and wages of its employees.
22 (21) To self-insure or provide insurance for any
23 property or operations of the commission against any risks or
24 hazards.
25 (22) To enter into agreements with any public utility
26 operating a railroad or any other transportation facility
27 wholly or partially within the port area for the joint or
28 exclusive use of any property of the commission or the public
29 utility or the establishment of routes over the rights-of-way
30 of the public utility or the commission or the establishment
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1 of joint rates.
2 (23) To develop programs designed solely to advertise,
3 promote and stimulate the development of the use of the port
4 and to join and to authorize its agents or employees to join
5 national, State and local trade and professional
6 organizations organized for the purpose of promoting the
7 betterment of port facilities and the improvement of the
8 efficiency of persons connected with or employed by the port.
9 (24) To make expenditures anywhere in the United States
10 and foreign countries to pay commissions and hire or contract
11 with experts and consultants and otherwise to do indirectly
12 anything the commission may do directly.
13 (25) To elect a chairman, vice chairman, secretary and
14 treasurer and to adopt suitable bylaws for the management of
15 its affairs. The secretary and treasurer need not be members
16 of the commission.
17 Section 6. Governing body.
18 (a) Composition.--The commission shall be composed of 18
19 voting members and two nonvoting ex officio members, who shall
20 be residents of the Commonwealth and serve at the pleasure of
21 the respective appointing authority.
22 (b) Appointment.--Members shall be appointed as follows:
23 (1) One member shall be appointed by the President pro
24 tempore of the Senate.
25 (2) One member shall be appointed by the Minority Leader
26 of the Senate.
27 (3) One member shall be appointed by the Speaker of the
28 House of Representatives.
29 (4) One member shall be appointed by the Minority leader
30 of the House of Representatives.
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1 (5) Nine members shall be appointed by the Governor. One
2 member shall be selected from a list of three nominees, one
3 each by the boards of county commissioners of the nine
4 counties included within the commission's boundaries. Such
5 nominees shall have experience within the areas of industry,
6 commerce or recreation, in addition to knowledge related to
7 waterways development.
8 (6) Five additional members shall be appointed by the
9 Governor. In the event that any of the organizations,
10 outlined in subparagraphs (i) through (v), are not
11 represented on the commission, the Governor shall ensure
12 representation by those organizations by making an
13 appointment from a list provided by each of the unrepresented
14 organizations. The organizations are:
15 (i) Waterways Association of Pittsburgh.
16 (ii) River Terminal Operator's Association.
17 (iii) Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Planning
18 Commission.
19 (iv) DINAMO.
20 (v) The City of Pittsburgh.
21 (7) The Secretaries of Transportation and Commerce shall
22 serve as nonvoting ex officio members.
23 (c) Terms.--The terms of members shall be six years. Members
24 shall hold office until their successors have been appointed and
25 may succeed themselves.
26 (d) Expenses.--Members shall receive no compensation but
27 shall be entitled to reimbursement for all reasonable and
28 necessary expenses, in accordance with the rules of the
29 Executive Board.
30 (e) Initial appointments.--Initial appointments by the
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1 Governor, as outlined in subsection (b)(5), shall be for six
2 terms. The additional appointments by the Governor, as outlined
3 in subsection (b)(6), shall be for terms of four years. Initial
4 appointments by the President pro tempore of the Senate,
5 Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and the
6 Minority leader of the House shall be for terms of two years.
7 Section 7. Funding provisions.
8 The General Assembly may, from time to time, appropriate
9 funds for the operation of the commission to be allocated by the
10 Departments of Transportation or Commerce for the administration
11 of the commission and for managerial, legal, research,
12 promotion, planning and any other expenses. All gifts,
13 contributions, grants and donations accepted by the commission
14 shall be deposited in a special account in the State Treasury
15 known as the Ports Development Fund and shall be used solely for
16 the purpose indicated.
17 Section 8. Effective date.
18 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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