H. B. 4617
(By Delegates Shott, Sumner and Frazier)
[Introduced February 22, 2010; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17-16A-6 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §17C-16-5 of said
code, all relating to authorizing the West Virginia Parkways,
Economic Development and Tourism Authority to enter into
certain compacts with other toll road authorities or state
departments of motor vehicles; and certificate of inspection
with parkways fee.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17-16A-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §17C-16-5 of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 17. ROADS AND HIGHWAYS.
ARTICLE 16A. WEST VIRGINIA PARKWAYS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND
TOURISM AUTHORITY.
§17-16A-6. Parkways authority's powers.
(a) The parkways authority is hereby authorized and empowered:
(1) To adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the
conduct of its business;
(2) To adopt an official seal and alter the same at pleasure;
(3) To maintain an office at such place or places within the
state as it may designate;
(4) To sue and be sued in its own name, plead and be
impleaded. Any and all actions against the parkways authority
shall be brought only in the county in which the principal office
of the parkways authority shall be located;
(5) To construct, reconstruct, improve, maintain, repair and
operate projects at such locations within the state as may be
determined by the parkways authority: Provided, That the parkways
authority shall be prohibited from constructing motels or any other
type of lodging facility within five miles of the West Virginia
Turnpike;
(6) To issue parkway revenue bonds of the State of West
Virginia, payable solely from revenues, for the purpose of paying
all or any part of the cost of any one or more projects, which costs
may include, with respect to the West Virginia Turnpike, such funds
as are necessary to repay to the State of West Virginia all or any
part of the state funds used to upgrade the West Virginia Turnpike
to federal interstate standards: Provided, That upon the effective date of the amendments to this section enacted during the regular
session of the Legislature in two thousand six, the authorization
to issue bonds pursuant to this subsection is limited to that of
refunding bonds pursuant to subdivision seven of this subsection;
(7) To issue parkway revenue refunding bonds of the State of
West Virginia, payable solely from revenues, for any one or more of
the following purposes: (i) Refunding any bonds which shall have
been issued under the provisions of this article or any predecessor
thereof; and (ii) repaying to the state all or any part of the state
funds used to upgrade the West Virginia Turnpike to federal
interstate standards;
(8) To fix and revise, from time to time, tolls for transit
over each parkway project constructed by it or by the West Virginia
Turnpike Commission;
(9) To fix and revise, from time to time, rents, fees or other
charges, of whatever kind or character, for the use of each tourism
project or economic development project constructed by it or for the
use of any building, structure or facility constructed by it in
connection with a parkway project;
(10) To acquire, hold, lease and dispose of real and personal
property in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its
duties under this article: Provided, That the authority may not
finance any transaction to acquire, hold or lease real property;
(11) To acquire in the name of the state by purchase or otherwise, on such terms and conditions and in such manner as it may
deem proper, or by the exercise of the right of condemnation in the
manner hereinafter provided, such public or private lands, including
public parks, playgrounds or reservations, or parts thereof or
rights therein, rights-of-way, property, rights, easements and
interests, as it may deem necessary for carrying out the provisions
of this article: Provided, That the authority may not finance any
transaction to acquire real property. No compensation shall be paid
for public lands, playgrounds, parks, parkways or reservations so
taken, and all public property damaged in carrying out the powers
granted by this article shall be restored or repaired and placed in
its original condition as nearly as practicable;
(12) To designate the locations, and establish, limit and
control such points of ingress to and egress from each project as
may be necessary or desirable in the judgment of the parkways
authority to ensure the proper operation and maintenance of such
project, and to prohibit entrance to such project from any point or
points not so designated;
(13) To make and enter into all contracts and agreements
necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties and the
execution of its powers under this article, and to employ consulting
engineers, attorneys, accountants, architects, construction and
financial experts, trustees, superintendents, managers and such
other employees and agents as may be necessary in its judgment, and to fix their compensation. All such expenses shall be payable
solely from the proceeds of parkway revenue bonds or parkway revenue
refunding bonds issued under the provisions of this article, tolls
or from revenues;
(14) To make and enter into all contracts, agreements or other
arrangements with any agency, department, division, board, bureau,
commission, authority or other governmental unit of the state to
operate, maintain or repair any project;
(15) To receive and accept from any federal agency grants for
or in aid of the construction of any project, and to receive and
accept aid or contributions from any source of either money,
property, labor or other things of value, to be held, used and
applied only for the purposes for which such grants and
contributions may be made;
(16) To do all acts and things necessary or convenient to carry
out the powers expressly granted in this article; and
(17) To file the necessary petition or petitions pursuant to
Title 11, United States Code, Sec. 401 (being section 81 of the act
of Congress entitled "An act to establish a uniform system of
bankruptcy throughout the United States", approved July 1, 1898, as
amended) and to prosecute to completion all proceedings permitted
by Title 11, United States Code, Secs. 401-403 (being sections 81
to 83, inclusive, of said act of Congress). The State of West
Virginia hereby consents to the application of said Title 11, United States Code, Secs. 401-403, to the parkways authority; and
(18) To enter into blanket discount compacts with toll road
authorities or departments of motor vehicles or like entities in
other states which would allow vehicles registered in other states
to traverse West Virginia toll roads in like fashion to West
Virginia vehicles as set forth in section five, article sixteen,
chapter seventeen-c of this code if an annual fee is paid
encompassing all vehicles registered in that other state. The total
amount of fees charged for drivers from any other state under such
a blanket discount compact shall be based upon the calculation of
the amount necessary to fully replace the total toll revenue
received from that state's drivers on West Virginia toll roads in
the preceding year, as shall be determined by such studies or
surveys as the Parkways Authority shall deem appropriate.
(b) Nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit the
issuance of parkway revenue refunding bonds in a common plan of
financing with the issuance of parkway revenue bonds: Provided,
That upon the effective date of the amendments to this section
enacted during the regular session of the Legislature in two
thousand six, the authorization to issue bonds pursuant to this
subsection is limited to that of refunding bonds pursuant to
sections twenty-one and twenty-two of this article.
CHAPTER 17C. TRAFFIC REGULATIONS AND LAWS OF THE ROAD.
ARTICLE 16. INSPECTION OF VEHICLES.
§17C-16-5. Permit for official inspection stations; fees for and
certificate of inspection.
(a) The superintendent of the State Police is responsible for
the inspection as provided in this article and shall prescribe
requirements and qualifications for official inspection stations.
He or she shall select and designate the stations and shall issue
permits for official inspection stations and furnish instructions and
all necessary forms for the inspection of vehicles as required in
this article and the issuance of official certificates of inspection
and approval. The certificate of inspection shall be a paper sticker
or decal to be affixed to the windshield of a motor vehicle, shall
be serially numbered and shall properly identify the official
inspection station which issued it. Each such certificate of
inspection shall contain a radio-frequency identification device
("RFID") tag or similar device, and, shall be divided into three
classes: One for passenger cars and pickup trucks, one for small
commercial vehicles, and a third for commercial trucks having three
or more axles. The fee for the certificate of inspection shall
include, but not be limited to, a fee to be known as the Parkways Fee
consisting of the following two components: (i) An amount computed
by dividing the total toll revenue received by the Parkways Authority
in the preceding fiscal year from each class of vehicle divided by
the total number of vehicles registered in this state in each of the
three classes as of the previous June 30; and (ii) a development surcharge, not to exceed $2 for each certificate of inspection,
dedicated solely to the development of other toll highways within
this state. As all toll charges incurred by West Virginia residents
shall be apportioned evenly among West Virginia automobiles in each
appropriate class, the RFID tag shall allow West Virginia inspected
vehicles to traverse toll roads within the state without stopping to
pay individual tolls. The funds received from the Parkways Fee shall
be deposited into the State Treasury and credited to the account of
the Parkways Authority for application in the administration and
enforcement of its duties as specified in this code. Any balance
remaining in the fund on the last day of June of each fiscal year,
not required for the administration and enforcement of the duties of
the Parkways Authority, shall be transferred to the State Road Fund.
Any development surcharge fees collected shall be deposited into the
State Treasury and credited to the account of the Parkways Authority
for development of further toll roads and may be used as a sinking
fund for bonds to be used in such development and construction. A
An additional charge of one dollar per sticker shall be charged by
the State Police to the inspection station, and the funds received
shall be deposited into the State Treasury and credited to the
account of the State Police for application in the administration and
enforcement of the provisions of this article. Any balance remaining
in the fund on the last day of June of each fiscal year, not required
for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this
article, shall be transferred to the state road fund. The superintendent may exchange stickers or make refunds to official
inspection stations for stickers on hand when permits are revoked or
when, for any reason, the stickers become obsolete.
(b) A person shall apply for a permit upon an official form
prescribed by the superintendent and the superintendent shall grant
permits only when the superintendent is satisfied that the station
is properly equipped and has competent personnel to make the
inspections and adjustments and that the inspections and adjustments
will be properly conducted. The superintendent, before issuing a
permit, may require the applicant to file a bond with surety approved
by the superintendent, conditioned that such applicant, as a station
operator, will make compensation for any damage to a vehicle during
an inspection or adjustment due to negligence on the part of the
station operator or employees thereof.
(c) The superintendent shall properly supervise and cause
inspections to be made of the stations. Upon finding that a station
is not properly equipped or conducted, the superintendent may, upon
a first violation, suspend the permit for a period of up to one year.
Upon a second or subsequent finding that a station is not properly
equipped or conducted, the superintendent shall permanently revoke
and require the surrender of the permit. The superintendent may
reinstate the permit of any person whose permit was permanently
revoked prior to the effective date of this section upon a first
finding that a station was not properly equipped or conducted, upon application, at any time after the expiration of six months from the
time of revocation and shall reinstate the permit, upon application,
after the expiration of one year. He or she shall maintain and post
at his or her office and at any other places as he or she may select
lists of all stations holding permits and of those whose permits have
been suspended or revoked.
NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to create a new certificate
of inspection with a parkway fee, and to authorize the West Virginia
Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority to enter into
compacts with other toll road authorities or state departments of
motor vehicles with respect to assessment of fees for traversing the
West Virginia Turnpike.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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