PRINTER'S NO. 577
No. 514 Session of 1997
INTRODUCED BY HABAY, HUTCHINSON AND YOUNGBLOOD,
FEBRUARY 12, 1997
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, FEBRUARY 12, 1997
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of September 30, 1985 (P.L.240, No.61),
2 entitled "An act to facilitate vehicular traffic within and
3 across the Commonwealth by providing for the construction,
4 reconstruction, improvement, operation and maintenance of
5 toll roads and the conversion of existing toll-free roads to
6 toll roads in Pennsylvania; conferring powers and imposing
7 duties on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission; providing for
8 membership on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission;
9 authorizing issuance of turnpike revenue bonds, notes or
10 other obligations of the commission, payable solely from
11 revenues of the commission, including tolls, or from such
12 other funds as may be available to the commission for that
13 purpose, to pay the costs of such toll roads including the
14 acquisition and other costs of toll-free roads and for
15 refunding purposes; providing that no debt of the
16 Commonwealth shall be incurred in the exercise of any of the
17 powers granted by this act; providing for the collection of
18 tolls for the payment of such bonds, notes or other
19 obligations, and for the cost of maintenance, operation and
20 repair of the toll roads including toll-free roads converted
21 to toll roads; making such turnpike revenue bonds, notes or
22 other obligations exempt from taxation; constituting the same
23 legal investments in certain instances; requiring suits
24 against the commission to be brought in the courts in which
25 such actions may be brought against the Commonwealth;
26 prescribing conditions on which toll roads shall be turned
27 over to the Department of Transportation; providing for grade
28 separations, grade changes, relocations, restorations and
29 vacations of public roads and State highways affected by the
30 toll roads; providing for the purchasing or condemnation of
31 land and procedure for determining damages in condemnation;
32 granting certain powers and authority to municipalities and
33 agencies of the Commonwealth to cooperate with the
1 commission; conferring powers and imposing duties on the
2 Department of Transportation; authorizing the Secretary of
3 Transportation to enter into negotiations with the United
4 States Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway
5 Administration or any other Federal agency regarding the
6 conversion of toll-free highways constructed in the
7 Commonwealth using Federal funds to toll roads; and
8 authorizing the Secretary of Transportation to enter into
9 agreements on behalf of the Commonwealth and the commission
10 with the United States Department of Transportation, the
11 Federal Highway Administration or any other Federal agency
12 with respect to obtaining Federal funds for resurfacing,
13 restoring, rehabilitating or reconstructing toll roads in
14 Pennsylvania," further providing for tolls.
15 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
16 hereby enacts as follows:
17 Section 1. Section 16 of the act of September 30, 1985
18 (P.L.240, No.61), known as the Turnpike Organization, Extension
19 and Toll Road Conversion Act, is amended by adding a subsection
20 to read:
21 Section 16. Collection and disposition of tolls and other
22 revenue.
23 (a) Establishment and changes in toll amounts.--Subject to
24 the terms of any trust indenture entered into by the commission
25 and any resolution authorizing the issuance of any bonds, notes
26 or other obligations of the commission, the commission is hereby
27 authorized to fix, and to revise, from time to time, tolls for
28 the use of the Pennsylvania Turnpike System and the different
29 parts or sections thereof, including the turnpike, the turnpike
30 extensions and improvements and the toll road conversions
31 authorized by this act, and to charge and collect the same, and
32 to contract with any person, partnership, association or
33 corporation desiring the use of any part thereof, including the
34 right-of-way adjoining the paved portion, for placing thereon
35 telephone, telegraph, electric light or power lines, gas
36 stations, garages, stores, hotels, restaurants and advertising
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1 signs, or for any other purpose, except for tracks for railroad
2 or railway use, and to fix the terms, conditions, rents and
3 rates of charges for such use. Tolls shall be so fixed and
4 adjusted as to provide funds at least sufficient with other
5 revenues of the Pennsylvania Turnpike System, if any, to pay:
6 (1) the cost of constructing, maintaining, repairing and
7 operating the Pennsylvania Turnpike System and the different
8 parts and sections thereof; and
9 (2) any bonds, notes or other obligations and the
10 interest thereon of the commission, and all sinking fund
11 requirements of the commission, and other requirements
12 provided for by any resolution authorizing the issuance of
13 the bonds, notes or other obligations by the commission, or
14 by any trust indenture to which the commission is a party, as
15 the same shall become due.
16 (b) Restrictions on toll revenue.--Tolls shall not be
17 subject to supervision or regulation by any other State
18 commission, board, bureau or agency. Subject to the terms of any
19 presently existing trust indenture entered into by the
20 commission and any presently existing resolution authorizing the
21 issuance of any bonds, notes or other obligations of the
22 commission, the tolls and all other revenue derived from the
23 Pennsylvania Turnpike System shall be set aside and pledged as
24 may be provided in any resolutions, trust indentures or any
25 other agreements that the commission may hereafter adopt or
26 hereafter enter into with respect to the issuance of bonds,
27 notes or other obligations of the commission.
28 (c) Reduction of toll rates.--Notwithstanding any other
29 provision of this act, tolls for the use of the Pennsylvania
30 Turnpike System and the different parts or sections thereof,
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1 including the turnpike, the turnpike extensions and improvements
2 and the toll road conversions authorized by this act in effect
3 on the effective date of this amendatory act shall be reduced by
4 10% and shall not be increased without specific statutory
5 authorization.
6 Section 2. All acts and parts of acts are repealed insofar
7 as they are inconsistent with this act.
8 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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