32:3-13. Annual reports, audits, master plan, additional powers

32:3-13. The commission shall, within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year, submit to the Governors and Legislatures of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey a complete and detailed report of the following:

(1) its operations and accomplishments during the completed fiscal year;

(2) its receipts and disbursements or revenues and expenses during that year in accordance with the categories and classifications established by the commission for its own operating and capital outlay purposes;

(3) its assets and liabilities at the end of the fiscal year, including the status of reserve, depreciation, special or other funds including debits and credits of these funds;

(4) a schedule of bonds and notes outstanding at the end of the fiscal year;

(5) a list of all contracts exceeding $100,000 entered into during the fiscal year;

(6) a business or strategic plan for the commission and for each of its operating divisions; and

(7) a five year capital plan.

Not less than once every five years the commission shall cause a management audit of its operational effectiveness and efficiency to be conducted by an independent consulting firm selected by the commission. The first management audit to be conducted shall commence within three years of the date of coming into force of the supplemental compact or agreement authorized by this 1991 amendatory act. This audit is in addition to any other audit which the commission determines to conduct from time to time.

The commission shall, not later than two years after the date of the coming into force of the supplemental compact or agreement authorized by this 1991 amendatory act, prepare a comprehensive master plan for the development of the Port District. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, plans for the construction, financing, development, reconstruction, purchase, lease, improvement and operation of any terminal, terminal facility, transportation facility or any other facility of commerce or economic development activity. The master plan shall include the general location of such projects and facilities as may be included in the master plan and shall to the maximum extent practicable include, but not be limited to, a general description of each such projects and facilities, the land use requirements necessary therefor, and estimates of project costs and of a schedule for commencement of each such project. Prior to adopting such master plan, the commission shall give written notice to, afford a reasonable opportunity for comment, consult with and consider any recommendations from State, county and municipal government, as well as commissions, public corporations and authorities, and the private sector. The commission may modify or change any part of the plan in the same form and manner as provided for the adoption of the original plan. At the time the commission authorizes any project or facility, the commission shall promptly provide to the Governor and Legislature of each state a detailed report on the project including its status within the master plan. The commission shall include within the authorization a status of the project or facility in the master plan and any amendment thereof, and no project shall be authorized if not included in the master plan or amendment thereof. Any project which has been commenced and approved by the commission prior to the adoption of the master plan shall be included, for informational purposes only, in the master plan. The commission shall provide notice of such on-going projects to those State, county and municipal governments, as well as entities in the private sector who would be entitled to such notice had the project not been commenced in anticipation of adopting the master plan, but there shall be no requirement that the project be delayed or deferred due to these provisions.

In addition to other powers conferred upon it, and not in limitation thereof, the commission may acquire all right, title and interest in and to the Tacony-Palmyra bridge, across the Delaware river at Palmyra, New Jersey, together with any approaches and interests in real property necessary thereto. The acquisition of such bridge, approaches and interests by the commission shall be by purchase or by condemnation in accordance with the provisions of the Federal law consenting to or authorizing the construction of such bridge or approaches, or the acquisition of such bridge, approaches or interests by the commission shall be pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of section 48:5-22 and 48:5-23 of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey, and for all the purposes of said provisions and sections the commission is hereby appointed as the agency of the State of New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania exercising the rights and powers granted or reserved by said Federal law or sections to the State of New Jersey and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania jointly or to the State of New Jersey acting in conjunction with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The commission shall have authority to so acquire such bridge, approaches and interests, whether the same be owned, held, operated or maintained by any private person, firm, partnership, company, association or corporation or by any instrumentality, public body, commission, public agency or political subdivision (including any county or municipality) of, or created by or in, the State of New Jersey or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or by any instrumentality, public body, commission or public agency of, or created by or in, a political subdivision (including any county or municipality) of the State of New Jersey or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. None of the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be applicable with respect to the acquisition by the commission, pursuant to this paragraph, of said Tacony-Palmyra bridge, approaches and interests. The power and authority herein granted to the commission to acquire said Tacony-Palmyra bridge, approaches and interests shall not be exercised unless and until the Governor of the State of New Jersey and the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have filed with the commission their written consents to such acquisition.

Notwithstanding any provision of this agreement, nothing herein contained shall be construed to limit or impair any right or power granted or to be granted to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission or the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, to finance, construct, operate and maintain the Pennsylvania Turnpike System or any turnpike project of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, respectively, throughout the Port District, including the right and power, acting alone or in conjunction with each other, to provide for the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of one bridge across the Delaware river south of the city of Trenton in the State of New Jersey; provided that such bridge shall not be constructed within a distance of ten miles, measured along the boundary line between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey, from the existing bridge, operated and maintained by the commission, across the Delaware river between the city of Philadelphia in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the city of Camden in the State of New Jersey, so long as there are any outstanding bonds or other securities or obligations of the commission for which the tolls, rents, rates, or other revenues, or any part thereof, of said existing bridge shall have been pledged. Nothing contained in this agreement shall be construed to authorize the commission to condemn any such bridge.

Anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding, no bridge or tunnel shall be constructed, acquired, operated or maintained by the commission across or under the Delaware river north of the boundary line between Bucks county and Philadelphia county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as extended across the Delaware river to the New Jersey shore of said river, and any new bridge or tunnel authorized by or pursuant to this compact or agreement to be constructed or erected by the commission may be constructed or erected at any location south of said boundary line notwithstanding the terms and provisions of any other agreement between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey. Except as may hereafter be otherwise provided in conformity with Article IX hereof with respect to specific properties designated by action of the Legislatures of both of the signatory States, no property or facility owned or controlled by the commission shall be acquired from it by any exercise of powers of condemnation or eminent domain.

Amended 1951,c.288,s.1(5); 1991,c.515,s.6.