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PRINTER'S NO. 47
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
58
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY EMRICK, CIRESI, FREEMAN, GILLEN, HEFFLEY, JAMES,
R. MACKENZIE, B. MILLER AND ZIMMERMAN, MARCH 7, 2023
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, MARCH 7, 2023
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(t) 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
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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":
* * *
(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.
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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:
(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
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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
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
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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
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.
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(c) (1) The Governor shall return the minutes to the
Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, not later than
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 may 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 transmit the date of execution
of any supplemental compact or agreement referenced in section 3
to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication as a notice
in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
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