Bill Text: NJ S3075 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Revises process for administration of Transportation Trust Fund projects and capital program oversight; establishes transportation research center.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-13 - Reported from Senate Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading [S3075 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S3075-Amended.html
Sponsored by:
Senator STEPHEN M. SWEENEY
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Revises process for administration of Transportation Trust Fund projects and capital program oversight; establishes transportation research center.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on March 13, 2017, with amendments.
An Act concerning the administration of Transportation Trust Fund projects, supplementing Title 27 of the Revised Statutes, and amending various parts of the statutory law.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. For each capital project funded by the authority, including transportation projects and public transportation projects, the authority, in conjunction with the department and the New Jersey Transit Corporation, may contract with consulting engineers to prepare an estimated project schedule (1) for the acquisition of rights-of-way and (2) for the construction of each project. The consulting engineer shall also estimate the amounts which shall be required during each six-month period for estimated costs of construction of each project. Thereafter, at least once in each six-month period during the construction of a project, the authority may require the consulting engineers to prepare a progress report updating the project schedule for the acquisition of real property for each project and construction progress, which may include comparisons of the actual time elapsed, actual costs, estimated time to completion, and estimated total cost between the most recent six-month period and those same actual and estimated times and costs in prior progress reports. Copies of each progress report shall be maintained on the authority's website and shall be submitted to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature.
b. For funds provided by the authority to the department and the New Jersey Transit Corporation for non-project costs, the authority may contract with an outside consultant to prepare a report which tracks, according to State capital program line items in each annual appropriations act, an estimated schedule for the expenditure of appropriated funds, and a description of how funds are being expended, including, but not limited to, contracts to be paid from each capital program line item, the amount of staff or outside consultants to be paid from each capital program line item, and measurable policy outcomes relating to each capital program line item which will be required during each six-month period until an appropriation has been fully expended. Once in each six-month period in which the State appropriations of non-project transportation capital funds in a given fiscal year have not been fully expended, including if that period extends beyond the fiscal year of the original appropriation, the authority may cause the outside consultant to prepare a progress report covering the expenditure of appropriated funds and any progress in accomplishing the purpose of given appropriations, which may include comparisons of the actual time elapsed since initial appropriation, actual expenditures from the appropriation, estimated time to completely expend appropriated funds, and estimated measurable outcomes for the entire appropriation between the most recent six-month period and those same actual and estimated times and outcomes in prior progress reports. Copies of each progress report shall be maintained on the authority's website and shall be submitted to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature.
2. (New section) a. In order to ensure the expeditious completion of public highway projects, the department shall coordinate with municipalities and counties to expedite project delivery.
b. The department shall develop, in conjunction with county officials, an annual highway project priority list for each county. The department shall present to county officials in each county a list of State highway pavement areas rated below acceptable condition and structurally deficient State bridges located in the county. The county may select highway pavement areas and bridges from that list that it deems to be priority repairs. Once a project has been added to the highway project priority list, the department shall have three fiscal years to advance that project through all phases of work and complete the project, regardless of which phase of work the project is in at the time it is added to the highway project priority list.
1Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the annual highway project priority list, as well as any reports, lists, surveys, data, or other documents created for the purpose of preparing the annual highway project priority list, shall not be subject to discovery or admitted into evidence in any federal or State court proceeding or considered for other purposes in any action for damages arising from any occurrence at a location mentioned or addressed in any such annual highway project priority list, reports, lists, surveys, data, or documents.1
c. A county may add projects to the highway project priority list each fiscal year with an estimated total cost that is equivalent to or less than the amount that is to be granted to that county in that fiscal year from the formula established in subsection e. of section 25 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-25) through the Local County Aid Program.
d. If a project on the highway project priority list is not completed within three years of that project's inclusion on the highway project priority list, a county may notify the department that the county intends to take over the project.
e. Once the department has been notified of a county's intent to take over a project on the highway project priority list, the department and notifying county shall confer regarding whether the decision to allow the county to take over the project is cost-effective and will expedite completion of the project. The department shall have the discretion to determine whether to transfer the project to the county based on whether the takeover is cost-effective and will expedite completion of the project. If the department agrees to transfer the project, the department shall have 90 days from the date it agrees to the transfer to transfer all aspects of the project to the engineering department of the notifying county.
f. The costs of any project transferred to a county pursuant to this section shall be fully funded by the department on a reimbursement basis. If the cost of the project exceeds already existing capital program appropriations for that project, the department shall include in the capital program any additional amounts needed to complete the project.
g. The highway project priority list shall contain only State transportation projects. If a State project on the highway project priority list is transferred to a county pursuant to the provisions of this section, completion of the project shall continue to be funded through department capital program appropriations. Grant funds awarded through the Local Aid Program pursuant to section 25 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-25) shall not be used on any project on the highway project priority list.
h. If the department and a county agree that a county is better suited to advance a project on the highway project priority list, the department may also enter into an agreement with the county to transfer a project to the county notwithstanding that the project has been on the list for less than three years.
1i. All transportation project included in the highway project priority list and transferred by the department pursuant to subsection e. or subsection h. of this section shall comply with section 24 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-24), chapters 32 through 35 of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and any other provision of law concerning the State's public bidding requirements and business set-aside programs.1
3. (New section) a. As used in this section:
"Project bundle" means any group of transportation projects that are combined into a single contract under the bundling program.
"Transportation Project Bundling Program" or "bundling program" means a department process where multiple transportation project design 1[or construction]1 contracts, funded in whole or in part by the Transportation Trust Fund, are combined into a single transportation project design 1[or construction]1 contract for the purposes of saving the department time or money.
b. The Transportation Project Bundling Program is hereby established within the department to save time and money on transportation projects by allowing multiple transportation projects to be combined into a single design 1[or construction]1 contract.
c. All transportation projects, including but not limited to, transportation projects contained in the department's bridge inspection, safety, and pavement asset management systems, and any transportation assets identified by the department as being in need of repair, shall be included in the bundling program if the projects meet all of the following criteria: (1) the transportation projects are similar in complexity, in the same capital investment strategy (CIS) asset category, or are in reasonable geographical proximity to one another; (2) the transportation projects are of similar size or design; and (3) the inclusion of transportation projects in the bundling program will provide the department with cost or time savings.
d. The commissioner shall develop the bundling program with the following minimum requirements:
(1) The department shall annually develop a preliminary list of transportation projects that are intended to be included in project bundles. The department shall identify project bundles for different regions of the State for geographically combinable transportation projects and project bundles on a Statewide basis for similar transportation project types and similar CIS asset categories. The preliminary list shall include all transportation projects meeting the eligibility requirements established in subsection c. of this section;
(2) 1[The department shall review potential transportation projects under State and local jurisdiction when identifying transportation projects to be included in the bundling program;
(3)]1 The department shall notify any local government entity that is substantially impacted by the project bundles recommended for inclusion in the bundling program 1[and shall offer the local government entity the opportunity to have it's local transportation projects that are identified on the preliminary list to be included in the respective project bundle]1. The department shall also distribute the preliminary list to the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission;
1[(4) A local government that agrees to participate in the bundling program shall enter into an agreement with the department. The agreement shall define the allocation of responsibility for the design, costs, and construction of the transportation projects and the continuing ownership and maintenance responsibilities, if any, of the local government and the department for each of the transportation projects under the bundling program;]1 and
1[(5)] (3)1 Once the department has obtained all of the necessary approvals for transportation projects in the bundle from applicable governmental entities, the department shall annually, publicly issue a final list of transportation projects to be included in the bundling program, prior to issuing the respective contracts for project bundles.
e. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, transportation projects determined to be eligible and recommended for inclusion in the bundling program by the department shall not require specific itemization in a capital budget, but any capital funds expended on the bundling program shall be provided for in a single capital program line item for each project bundle under the bundling program.
f. 1[A local government that participates in the bundling program shall be eligible for a reduction of up to 100 percent, as determined by the commissioner, of its share of local costs associated with the design and construction of transportation projects determined to be eligible for the bundling program by the commissioner.
g.]1 Any transportation projects included in the bundling program established pursuant to subsection b. of this section shall comply with section 24 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-24), chapters 32 through 35 of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and any other provision of law concerning the State's public bidding requirements and business set-aside programs.
4. (New section) a. There is hereby established within the Department of Transportation, the New Jersey Transportation Research Center, hereinafter referred to as the center.
b. The center shall be located within the Department of Transportation, 1[but] and1 the center shall 1[form partnerships with] award research contracts to1 New Jersey public research institutions of higher education to conduct the research activities of the center. 1The award of those research contracts shall be subject to all relevant existing State and federally established public bidding regulations and processes.1
c. The 1[partnerships] center1 shall 1[establish] identify1 specific areas of transportation expertise at 1[the partner institutions] New Jersey public research institutions of higher education1, where all research undertaken by the center in that area of expertise is to occur1, and shall be subject to all relevant existing State and federally established public bidding regulations and processes1.
d. The Commissioner of Transportation shall appoint a director for the center. The duties of the director shall include but not be limited to:
(1) Administering and operating the center;
(2) Overseeing research undertaken by the center;
(3) Establishing and maintaining 1[partnerships] relationships1 with New Jersey public research institutions of higher education; and
(4) 1[Obtaining] Supporting New Jersey public research institutions of higher education in obtaining1 and maintaining University Transportation Center status under the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration's University Transportation Center Program.
5. Section 8 of P.L.2016, c.56 (C.27:1B-22.5) is amended to read as follows:
8. a. There is hereby established in but not of the Department of Transportation, a body corporate and politic, with corporate succession, to be known as the Annual Transportation Capital Program Approval Committee. For the purpose of complying with the provisions of Article V, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, the committee is hereby allocated within the Department of Transportation, but, notwithstanding that allocation, the committee shall be independent of any supervision or control by the department or by any body or officer thereof. The committee is hereby constituted as an instrumentality of the State exercising public and essential governmental functions, and the exercise by the committee of the powers conferred by P.L.2016, c.56 (C.27:1B-22.5 et al.) shall be deemed and held to be an essential governmental function of the State.
b. (1) The committee shall be comprised of four members. One member shall be the Commissioner of Transportation, or the commissioner's designee, who shall serve ex-officio, and the remaining three members shall be public members, each of whom is to be appointed by the Governor upon the joint recommendation of the President of the Senate and Speaker of the General Assembly and with the advice and consent of the Senate; one of whom shall be a resident of Salem, Cumberland, Cape May, Atlantic, Gloucester, Camden, Burlington, or Ocean county; one of whom shall be a resident of Monmouth, Mercer, Middlesex, Hunterdon, Somerset, or Union county; and one of whom shall be a resident of Warren, Sussex, Essex, Passaic, Morris, Hudson, or Bergen county. Each public member shall serve a term of three years, which shall run from August 1[,] of the year of appointment until July 31 of the third year following appointment. The Annual Transportation Capital Program Approval Committee shall be deemed to be constituted immediately upon appointment and qualification in the manner provided in this section of the three public members.
(2) The purpose of the committee is to ensure that Legislative input is provided in the process of selecting the transportation capital projects to be funded annually through the Transportation Trust Fund Account pursuant to section 20 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-20), and to prepare an Annual Transportation Capital Program Approval Certification.
(3) Commencing with the fiscal year beginning July 1, [2017] 2018, the board shall submit to the Governor and the Legislature on an annual basis the Annual Transportation Capital Program Approval Certification referencing therein a certification attested to by all members of the committee that for the proposed projects of both the Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Transit Corporation included in the Annual Transportation Capital Program, required pursuant to section 22 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-22) and the list of projects proposed by the department for inclusion in the State budget to be appropriated from the revenues and other funds of the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority: (a) the projects were developed with input from each member of the committee; (b) that every member of the committee has been granted access to all available information of the department concerning each project; and that (c) each member of the committee approves the inclusion of each project in the Annual Transportation Capital Program and recommends that the project be included in the list of projects to be appropriated from the revenues and other funds of the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority in the Annual Appropriations Act. The first annual certification required by this subsection shall be submitted to the Governor and the Legislature by March 1, [2017] 2018, after the certification has been approved by every member of the committee, and by March 1 of each year thereafter. The committee shall advise the authority on July 1, [2017] 2018 and on each succeeding July 1, if members of the committee have failed to unanimously approve the Annual Transportation Capital Program Approval Certification. If no Annual Transportation Capital Program Approval Certification has been approved for a fiscal year, the Legislature shall not make any appropriation from the revenues and other funds of the authority for the financing of transportation projects in that fiscal year until the certification has been unanimously approved. Prior to approval of the certification, appropriations shall only be made for existing projects and for debt service on authority bonds.
(cf: P.L.2016, c.56, s.8)
6. Section 9 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-9) is amended to read as follows:
9. a. The authority shall have the power and is hereby authorized after November 15, 1984 and from time to time thereafter to issue its bonds, notes or other obligations in principal amounts as in the opinion of the authority shall be necessary to provide for any of its corporate purposes, including the payment, funding or refunding of the principal of, or interest or redemption premiums on, any bonds, notes or other obligations issued by it, whether the bonds, notes, obligations or interest to be funded or refunded have or have not become due; and to provide for the security thereof and for the establishment or increase of reserves to secure or to pay the bonds, notes or other obligations or interest thereon and all other reserves and all costs or expenses of the authority incident to and necessary or convenient to carry out its corporate purposes and powers; and in addition to its bonds, notes and other obligations, the authority shall have the power to issue subordinated indebtedness, which shall be subordinate in lien to the lien of any or all of its bonds or notes. No resolution or other action of the authority providing for the issuance of bonds, refunding bonds, notes, or other obligations shall be adopted or otherwise made effective by the authority without the prior approval in writing of the Governor and the State Treasurer.
b. Except as may be otherwise expressly provided in the act or by the authority:
(1) Every issue of bonds or notes shall be general obligations payable out of any revenues or funds of the authority, subject only to any agreements with the holders of particular bonds or notes pledging any particular revenues or funds. The authority may provide the security and payment provisions for its bonds or notes as it may determine, including (without limiting the generality of the foregoing) bonds or notes as to which the principal and interest are payable from and secured by all or any portion of the revenues of and payments to the authority, and other moneys or funds as the authority shall determine, provided that for transportation program bonds or notes issued in anticipation of such transportation program bonds, only revenues dedicated pursuant to the New Jersey Constitution, including Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 4, and deposited into the "Transportation Trust Fund Account - Subaccount for Debt Service for Transportation Program Bonds," may be used for such payment;
(2) In addition, the authority may issue notes, in anticipation of the issuance of the bonds, provided that the issuance of such notes shall be subject to the bonding limitations as provided in subsection i. of this section, and the payment of such notes if issued in anticipation of the issuance of transportation program bonds shall be paid solely from revenues dedicated pursuant to the New Jersey Constitution, including Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 4, and deposited into the "Transportation Trust Fund Account - Subaccount for Debt Service for Transportation Program Bonds." The authority may also issue notes in anticipation of the receipt of appropriations, grants, reimbursements or other funds, including without limitation grants from the federal government for federal aid highways or public transportation systems, the principal of or interest on which, or both, shall be payable out of the proceeds of appropriations, grants, reimbursements or other funds, including without limitation grants from the federal government for federal aid highways or public transportation systems. Such notes shall not be subject to the bonding limitations as provided in subsection i. of this section; and
(3) The authority may also enter into bank loan agreements, lines of credit and other security agreements as authorized pursuant to subsection h. of section 6 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-6) and obtain for or on its behalf letters of credit in each case for the purpose of securing its bonds, notes or other obligations or to provide direct payment of any costs which the authority is authorized to pay by this act and to secure repayment of any borrowings under the loan agreement, line of credit, letter of credit or other security agreement by its bonds, notes or other obligations or the proceeds thereof or by any or all of the revenues of and payments to the authority or by any appropriation, grant or reimbursement to be received by the authority and other moneys or funds as the authority shall determine, provided that for any such agreements entered into in connection with transportation program bonds issued pursuant to the authorization contained in subsection i. of this section, or notes issued in anticipation of such transportation program bonds, only revenues dedicated pursuant to the New Jersey Constitution, including Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 4, and deposited into the "Transportation Trust Fund Account - Subaccount for Debt Service for Transportation Program Bonds," may be used for such payment.
c. Whether or not the bonds and notes are of the form and character as to be negotiable instruments under the terms of Title 12A, Commercial Transactions, New Jersey Statutes, the bonds and notes are hereby made negotiable instruments within the meaning of and for all the purposes of Title 12A of the New Jersey Statutes.
d. Bonds or notes of the authority shall be authorized by a resolution or resolutions of the authority and may be issued in one or more series and shall bear the date, or dates, mature at the time or times, bear interest at the rate or rates of interest per annum, be in the denomination or denominations, be in the form, carry the conversion or registration privileges, have the rank or priority, be executed in the manner, be payable from the sources, in the medium of payment, at the place or places within or without the State, and be subject to the terms of redemption (with or without premium) as the resolution or resolutions may provide. Bonds or notes may be further secured by a trust indenture between the authority and a corporate trustee within or without the State. All other obligations of the authority shall be authorized by resolution containing terms and conditions as the authority shall determine.
e. Bonds, notes or other obligations of the authority may be sold at public or private sale at a price or prices and in a manner as the authority shall determine, either on a negotiated or on a competitive basis. Every bond, or refunding bond, issued on or after the effective date of P.L.2006, c.3 (C.27:1B-22.2 et al.) shall mature and be paid no later than 31 years from the date of the issuance of that bond or refunding bond.
f. Bonds or notes may be issued and other obligations incurred under the provisions of the act without obtaining the consent of any department, division, commission, board, bureau or agency of the State, other than the approval as required by subsection a. of this section, and without any other proceedings or the happening of any other conditions or other things than those proceedings, conditions or things which are specifically required by the act.
g. Bonds, notes and other obligations of the authority issued or incurred under the provisions of the act shall not be in any way a debt or liability of the State or of any political subdivision thereof other than the authority and shall not create or constitute any indebtedness, liability or obligation of the State or of any political subdivision or be or constitute a pledge of the faith and credit of the State or of any political subdivision, but all bonds, notes and obligations, unless funded or refunded by bonds, notes or other obligations of the authority, shall be payable solely from revenues or funds pledged or available for their payment as authorized in the act. Each bond, note or other obligation shall contain on its face a statement to the effect that the authority is obligated to pay the principal thereof or the interest thereon only from revenues or funds of the authority, and for transportation program bonds and agreements securing such transportation program bonds only from revenues dedicated pursuant to the New Jersey Constitution, including Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 4, and deposited into the "Transportation Trust Fund Account - Subaccount for Debt Service for Transportation Program Bonds," and that neither the State nor any political subdivision thereof is obligated to pay the principal or interest and that neither the faith and credit nor the taxing power of the State or any political subdivision thereof is pledged to the payment of the principal of or the interest on the bonds, notes or other obligations. For the purposes of this subsection, political subdivision does not include the authority.
h. All expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of the act shall be payable solely from the revenues or funds provided or to be provided under or pursuant to the provisions of the act and nothing in the act shall be construed to authorize the authority to incur any indebtedness or liability on behalf of or payable by the State or any political subdivision thereof.
i. Commencing with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1995 and ending within the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2005, the authority shall not incur debt in any fiscal year in excess of $650,000,000, except that if that permitted amount of debt, or any portion thereof, is not incurred in a fiscal year it may be incurred in a subsequent fiscal year. Commencing with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006 and ending with the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2010, the authority shall not incur debt for any fiscal year in excess of $1,600,000,000, reduced in each of those fiscal years by the amount by which the appropriation of State funds to the Transportation Trust Fund Account for that fiscal year shall exceed $895,000,000; provided, however, that if a portion of that permitted amount of debt, less any reduction as provided above, is not incurred in a fiscal year, an amount not greater than the unused portion may be incurred in a subsequent fiscal year in addition to the amount otherwise permitted. Debt permitted for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006 may be incurred prior to July 1, 2006. The authority shall not issue transportation program bonds in excess of $1,247,000,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012, in excess of $849,200,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013, in excess of $735,300,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2014, and in excess of $626,800,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015, except that (1) if that permitted amount of transportation program bonds, or any portion thereof, is not incurred in a fiscal year, it may be issued in a subsequent fiscal year and (2) 30 percent of the permitted amount of transportation program bonds for a fiscal year may be issued in the fiscal year preceding such fiscal year provided that (a) any transportation program bonds issued pursuant to this paragraph shall be deducted from the authorization for the fiscal year from which it was taken, and (b) the proceeds of any such transportation program bonds shall not be encumbered until the fiscal year from which the deduction of the authorization was taken pursuant to this paragraph. Transportation program bonds authorized to be issued for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012 may be issued prior to July 1, 2012. Commencing on the day that Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 1 of 2015, a constitutional amendment to Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 4 of the New Jersey Constitution, takes effect, and ending June 30, 2024, the authority shall not issue transportation program bonds in excess of $12,000,000,000. Any increase in this limitation shall only occur if so provided for by law. In computing the foregoing limitation as to the amount of bonds the authority may issue, the authority may exclude any bonds, notes or other obligations, including subordinated obligations of the authority, issued for refunding purposes[; except that, any premiums received in connection with the issuance of transportation program bonds shall count against any limitation as to the amount of transportation program bonds the authority may issue]. The payment of debt service on transportation program bonds and any agreements issued in connection with such transportation program bonds shall be paid solely from revenues dedicated pursuant to the New Jersey Constitution, including Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 4, and deposited into the "Transportation Trust Fund Account - Subaccount for Debt Service for Transportation Program Bonds."
j. Upon the decision by the authority to issue refunding bonds pursuant to this section, and prior to the sale of those bonds, the authority shall transmit to the Joint Budget Oversight Committee, or its successor, a report that a decision has been made, reciting the basis on which the decision was made, including an estimate of the debt service savings to be achieved and the calculations upon which the authority relied when making the decision to issue refunding bonds. The report shall also disclose the intent of the authority to issue and sell the refunding bonds at public or private sale and the reasons therefor.
k. The Joint Budget Oversight Committee, or its successor, shall have authority to approve or disapprove the sale of refunding bonds as included in each report submitted in accordance with subsection j. of this section. The committee shall approve or disapprove the sale of refunding bonds within 10 business days after physical receipt of the report. The committee shall notify the authority in writing of the approval or disapproval as expeditiously as possible.
l. No refunding bonds shall be issued unless the report has been submitted to and approved by the Joint Budget Oversight Committee, or its successor, as set forth in subsection k. of this section.
m. Within 30 days after the sale of the refunding bonds, the authority shall notify the Joint Budget Oversight Committee, or its successor, of the result of that sale, including the prices and terms, conditions and regulations concerning the refunding bonds, and the actual amount of debt service savings to be realized as a result of the sale of refunding bonds.
n. The Joint Budget Oversight Committee, or its successor, shall, however, review all information and reports submitted in accordance with this section and may, on its own initiative, make observations and recommendations to the authority or to the Legislature, or both, as it deems appropriate.
o. No refunding bonds shall be issued unless the authority shall first determine that the present value of the aggregate principal of and interest on the refunding bonds is less than the present value of the aggregate principal of and interest on the outstanding bonds to be refinanced, except that, for the purposes of this limitation, present value shall be computed using a discount rate equal to the yield of those refunding bonds, and yield shall be computed using an actuarial method based upon a 360-day year with semiannual compounding and upon the prices paid to the authority by the initial purchasers of those refunding bonds.
(cf: P.L.2016, c.56, s.2)
7. Section 21 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-21) is amended to read as follows:
21. a. There is hereby established a separate fund entitled "Special Transportation Fund." This fund shall be maintained by the State Treasurer and may be held in depositories as may be selected by the treasurer and invested and reinvested as other funds in the custody of the treasurer, in the manner provided by law. The commissioner may from time to time (but not more frequently than monthly) certify to the authority an amount necessary to fund payments made, or anticipated to be made by or on behalf of the department, from appropriations established for or made to the department from revenues or other funds of the authority. The commissioner's certification shall be deemed conclusive for purposes of the act. The authority shall, within 15 days of receipt of the certificate, transfer from available funds of the authority to the treasurer for deposit in the Special Transportation Fund the amount certified by the commissioner, provided that all funds transferred shall only be expended by the department by project pursuant to appropriations made from time to time by the Legislature for the purposes of the act.
b. The department shall not expend any money except as appropriated by law. Commencing with appropriations for the fiscal years beginning on July 1, 1988, the department shall not expend any funds, other than for permitted maintenance, except as are appropriated by specific projects identified by a description of the projects, the county or counties within which they are located, and amounts to be expended on each project, in the annual appropriations act. Funds expended for permitted maintenance may be appropriated as one item of appropriation and subject to allocation at the commissioner's discretion.
c. No funds appropriated, authorized, or expended pursuant to this act shall be used to finance the resurfacing of highways by department personnel, where that resurfacing would require the use of more than 100,000 tons of bituminous concrete for that purpose in any calendar year, except that the commissioner may waive this provision when the commissioner determines the existence of emergency conditions requiring the use of department personnel for the resurfacing of highways, after the department has effectively reached the 100,000 ton limit.
d. In order to provide the department with flexibility in administering the specific appropriations by project identified in the annual appropriations act, the commissioner may transfer a part of any item to any other item subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting and of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee or its successor. Upon approval of the director and the committee, the transfer shall take effect.
e. Any federal funds which become available to the State for transportation projects which have not been appropriated to the department in the annual appropriations act, shall be deemed appropriated to the department and may, subject to approval by the Joint Budget Oversight Committee and the State Treasurer, be expended for any purpose for which such funds are qualified.
f. There shall be no appropriations from the revenues and other funds of the authority for regular and routine maintenance of public highways and components thereof, or operational activities of the department unrelated to the implementation of, and indirect costs associated with, the capital program. The commissioner shall include in his annual budget request sufficient funding to effectuate the purposes of P.L.2000, c.73 (C.27:1B-21.14 et al.).
g. To the extent that salaries or overhead of the department or the New Jersey Transit Corporation are charged to transportation projects, each agency shall keep adequate and truthful personnel records, and time charts to adequately justify each such charge, and shall make those records available to the external auditor to the authority.
h. The commissioner shall annually, on or before January 1 of each fiscal year, report to the Governor and the Legislature how much money was expended in the previous fiscal year for salaries and overhead of the department and the New Jersey Transit Corporation. However, the amount expended from the revenues and other funds of the authority for salaries and overhead of the department and the New Jersey Transit Corporation for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006 through the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015 shall not exceed 13 percent of the total funds appropriated from the revenues and other nonfederal funds of the authority for those fiscal years, and shall not exceed $208,000,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016 and each fiscal year thereafter.
i. No revenues or other funds of the authority shall be expended for emergency response operations, the review of applications for access permits under the State highway access management code and membership fees or other fees connected with membership in TRANSCOM, the Transportation Operations Coordinating Committee.
j. [Every project in which revenues or other funds of the authority are expended shall be included on a website created by the authority whose exclusive purpose shall be reporting on the status of State and federal projects and serving as a singular location for State and federal public documentation concerning those projects. The website shall document the status of each project, presented in tabular form outlining the budgeted amount, the amount spent and committed, and the amount necessary to complete each project. The website shall include a chart which compares the planned and actual quarterly and cumulative expenditures for each project. The website shall chronicle actions which have a bearing on the progress of projects, including, but not limited to, awards for legal, insurance, and engineering services, environmental review, public involvement and outreach, property acquisitions, and construction contracts. The website shall also include a description of any action by an external regulatory agency such as the Department of Environmental Protection, or any other party, which occurred during the reporting period that affected the cost or timely completion of any project in any manner. Information concerning each project shall be included and updated, at minimum, once per month.] (Deleted by amendment, P.L. c. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)
k. There shall be a minimum appropriation from the revenues and other funds of the authority of $25,000,000 each fiscal year, commencing with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016 for the design, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, land acquisition, and environmental mitigation of freight rail projects that: are significant to port commerce connectivity; eliminate rail freight missing links to port facilities; or upgrade freight rail trackage to a 286,000 pound load carrying capacity. The amount appropriated pursuant to this subsection shall be inclusive of all amounts annually appropriated for the New Jersey Rail Freight Assistance Program.
(cf: P.L.2016, c.56, s.4)
8. Section 6 of P.L.2006, c.3 (C.27:1B-22.2) is amended to read as follows:
6. There is hereby created in the Executive Branch of the State Government, a body corporate and politic, with corporate succession, to be known as the Transportation Policy Review Board. For the purpose of complying with the provisions of Article V, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, the board is hereby allocated within the Department of Transportation, but, notwithstanding that allocation, the board shall be independent of any supervision or control by the department or by any body or officer thereof. The board is hereby constituted as an instrumentality of the State exercising public and essential governmental functions, and the exercise by the board of the powers conferred by this act shall be deemed and held to be an essential governmental function of the State.
The board shall be comprised of nine public members with experience in transportation finance and policy. The Governor shall appoint three of the members with the advice and consent of the Senate, two of whom shall be experts that perform academic research in the areas of transportation and public transportation policy, planning, or engineering, and one of whom shall be an expert in the area of transportation capital finance. The remaining members shall be appointed by the Governor as follows: two upon the recommendation of the President of the Senate, one upon the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the Senate, two upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the General Assembly, and one upon the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the General Assembly. Each member shall have a professional background in passenger rail service, freight rail management, transportation capital planning, transportation and public transportation capital construction, federal transportation policy, State transportation policy, or transportation capital finance. Each member shall serve for a four-year term and shall serve until the member's successor is appointed and qualified; provided, however, that in order to achieve non-concurrent terms, of the members first appointed pursuant to this section, two members appointed by the Governor shall serve for four years; while the three members appointed upon the recommendations of the President of the Senate and the Minority Leader of the Senate and the three members appointed upon the recommendations of the Speaker of the General Assembly and the Minority Leader of the General Assembly shall serve for three years each, and the remaining member appointed by the Governor shall serve for two years; and further provided that any member serving on the effective date of P.L.2016, c.56 (C.27:1B-22.5 et al.) shall serve until the expiration of that member's term, notwithstanding the criteria for appointment established pursuant to P.L.2016, c.56 (C.27:1B-22.5 et al.). The Transportation Policy Review Board shall be deemed to be constituted immediately upon appointment and qualification in the manner provided in this section of at least five members.
The purpose of the board is to assure fiscal discipline through evaluating the financing of transportation; independently analyzing and reporting on the cost effectiveness of spending in the transportation capital program; conducting and commissioning research on best practices in the areas of transportation and public transportation construction, planning, finance, and engineering; providing policy recommendations to the Legislature on the best ways to organize the capital program and appropriate capital program funds; and preparing an annual State of Condition of Transportation Financing certification.
The board shall annually appear before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, or its successor, and the Assembly Budget Committee, or its successor, and provide independent analysis of the transportation capital program, provide comments on the cost effectiveness of the program, evaluate the condition of the State transportation system, and identify needed infrastructure investments. The board shall annually appear before the Senate Transportation Committee, or its successor, and the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee, or its successor, and report on best practices and cost savings in areas related to transportation and public transportation construction, planning, finance, infrastructure, and governance. The board shall also make itself available to the aforementioned budget and transportation committees to conduct research and provide recommendations on policy issues that those committees request of the board. The board shall issue an annual report on or before June 1 of each year which summarizes the work of the board for the prior year, evaluates the reports issued by the department pursuant to section 22 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-22), and provides independent recommendations for administering the annual capital program.
[The board shall be provided with a budget each year to be funded through the capital program, and the budget shall be sufficient to allow the board to commission independent research from academic and other experts in the area of research to be conducted, to avail itself of any professional or consultant services necessary to perform its functions, and to complete the reports and certifications required pursuant to this section.]
The board may call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, task force, or agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes, and to employ stenographic and clerical assistance and incur traveling and other miscellaneous expenses necessary to perform its duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for its purposes.
The board shall submit reports to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1) no later than April 1, 2017 concerning the taxation of motor vehicles that are powered by a fuel source that is not subject to the motor fuels tax pursuant to P.L.2010, c.22 (C.54:39-101 et seq.) or the petroleum products gross receipts tax pursuant to P.L.1990, c.42 (C.54:15B-1 et seq.), including, but not limited to electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The report required pursuant to this subsection shall include recommendations to the Legislature for a new system of taxation that mandates that all vehicles operating on the highways of this State contribute equitably to the cost of maintaining the State transportation system.
The State of Condition of Transportation Financing certification shall ensure that the financing and expenditures of the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority (the "authority") adhere to certain standards. The standards are: a. The bonding limitation as provided in subsection i. of section 9 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-9). b. For the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2007, the amount expended from the revenues and other funds of the authority for permitted maintenance shall not exceed the amount expended for permitted maintenance in the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2006. c. The total amount authorized to be appropriated from the revenues and other funds of the authority for project costs commencing with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2007 through the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015 shall not exceed $1,600,000,000 annually, and for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2016 through the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2023 shall not exceed an aggregate $16,000,000,000 over that eight-year period.
Commencing with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2007, the board shall submit to the Governor, the Legislature, and the commissioner on an annual basis the State of Condition of Transportation Financing certification as to the requirements of certification standard a. referencing therein a certification with regard to certification standards b. and c. to the extent feasible, given the other provisions of this section. The certifications shall be based on the board's review of the State's fiscal year final expenditures from the preceding fiscal year, including bonding and expenditures from the annual independent audit of the authority, and the amount of authority funds programmed for permitted maintenance. If the capital program and its financing are found to be in compliance, the first annual certification required by this paragraph shall be submitted by February 1, 2008, after the certification is concurred with by the members of the authority, and by February 1 of each year thereafter. The board shall advise the commissioner and the authority on February 1, 2008 and on each succeeding February 1, if the board finds that the authority is not in compliance with the bonding requirements as provided in certification standard a. of the section, and that a corrective action plan is needed. The authority shall submit a corrective action plan that would reduce its future bond sales to offset the amount of excess bonding or to reduce future debt service payments, or both, as the case may be. Upon approval of the corrective action plan by the board, the certification shall be issued with certain conditions. The Annual Transportation Capital Program submitted to the Legislature for the forthcoming year shall be in compliance with the provisions of the corrective action plan. If the board does not approve the corrective action plan, the authority shall submit a financial plan showing bonding only for existing projects, noting that no bonds shall be issued for new projects shown in the department's Annual Transportation Capital Program. The board shall advise the commissioner on February 1, 2008 and on each succeeding February 1, if the board finds that the Department of Transportation has exceeded the limitation for the amount of authority funds spent on permitted maintenance pursuant to certification standard b. of this section, or for the amount authorized to be appropriated for project costs pursuant to certification standard c. of this section and that a corrective action plan is needed. The department shall submit a corrective action plan that would offset the excess amount spent, or the excess amount appropriated, in the prior year with less funding for permitted maintenance or for projects, as the case may be, in the proposed capital budget request. Upon approval of the corrective action plan by the board, a certification as to these matters shall be issued with certain conditions. The Annual Transportation Capital Program submitted to the Legislature for the forthcoming year shall be in compliance with the provisions of the corrective action plan. If the board does not approve the corrective action plan, the authority shall submit a financial plan showing bonding only for existing projects, noting that no bonds shall be issued for new projects shown in the department's Annual Transportation Capital Program.
(cf:P.L.2016, c.56, s.7)
9. (New section) The Department of Transportation shall adopt regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to effectuate the provisions of section 1 through 4 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
10. This act shall take effect immediately.
