The State of New Jersey hereby agrees with the State of Delaware, upon enactment by the State of Delaware of legislation having the same effect as this section, to the following compact:
DELAWARE-NEW JERSEY COMPACT
Whereas, The states of Delaware and New Jersey are separated by the Delaware River and Bay which create a natural obstacle to the uninterrupted passage of traffic other than by water and with normal commercial activity between the two states thereby hindering the economic growth and development of those areas in both states which border the river and bay; and
Whereas, The pressures of existing trends from increasing traffic, growing population and greater industrialization indicate the need for closer cooperation between the two states in order to advance the economic development and to improve crossings, transportation, terminal and other facilities of the area; and
Whereas, The financing, construction, operation and maintenance of such crossings, transportation, terminal and other facilities of commerce and the overall planning for future economic development of the area may be best accomplished for the benefit of the two states and their citizens, the region and nation, by the cordial cooperation of Delaware and New Jersey by and through a joint or common agency or authority; and
Whereas, The Delaware-New Jersey Compact, enacted pursuant to 53 Laws of Delaware, Chapter 145 (17 Del. C. s.1701) and P.L. 1961, c.66 (C.32:11E-1 et seq.) of the Pamphlet Laws of New Jersey, with the consent of the United States Congress in accordance with Pub.L. 87-678(1962), created the Delaware River and Bay Authority with the intention of advancing the economic growth and development of those areas in both states which border the Delaware River and Bay by the financing, development, construction, operation and maintenance of crossings, transportation or terminal facilities, and other facilities of commerce, and by providing for overall planning for the future economic development of those areas; and
Whereas, The economic growth and development of areas of both states will be further advanced by authorizing the authority to undertake economic development projects, other than major projects as defined in Article II, at its own initiative, and to undertake major projects after securing only such approvals as may be required by legislation of the state in which the project is to be located, except that the authority is prohibited from undertaking any major project, to be located in the Delaware River or Bay, including, without limitation, any deep-water port or superport, without the prior approval, by concurrent legislation, of the two states; and
Whereas, The natural environment of those areas in the two states which border the Delaware River and Bay would be better preserved by requiring that the projects, other than crossings, of the authority shall be in complete compliance with all applicable environmental protection laws and regulations before the authority may undertake the planning, development, construction or operation of any project, other than a crossing;
NOW, THEREFORE, The State of Delaware and the State of New Jersey do hereby solemnly covenant and agree, each with the other as follows:
SHORT TITLE
This compact shall be known as the "Delaware-New Jersey Compact."
DEFINITIONS
"Charge card" means any card, plate, coupon book or other device existing for the purpose of obtaining money, property, labor, services or anything else of value on credit which is not subject to a finance charge.
"Credit card" means any card, plate, coupon book or other device existing for the purpose of obtaining money, property, labor, services or anything else of value on credit which may be subject to a finance charge.
"Financial records" mean all receipts and records of disbursements, revenues and expenses, operating and capital outlay expenses, assets and liabilities, including the fiscal status of authority facilities, projects and developments, including the status of reserve, depreciation, special or other funds and the receipts and payments of these funds, and schedules of authority bonds and notes.
"Information" means all authority books, papers, maps, photographs, cards or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics.
"Crossing" means any structure or facility adapted for public use in crossing the Delaware River or Bay between the states, whether by bridge, tunnel, ferry or other device, and by any vehicle or means of transportation of persons or property, as well as all approaches thereto and connecting and service routes and all appurtenances and equipment relating thereto.
"Transportation facility" and "terminal facility" mean any structure or facility other than a crossing as herein defined, adapted for public use within each of the states party hereto in connection with the transportation of persons or property, including railroads, motor vehicles, watercraft, airports and aircraft, docks, wharves, piers, slips, basins, storage places, sheds, warehouses, and every means or vehicle of transportation now or hereafter in use for the transportation of persons and property or the storage, handling or loading of property, as well as all appurtenances and equipment related thereto.
"Commerce facility or development" means any structure or facility adapted for public use or any development for a public purpose within each of the states party hereto in connection with recreational and commercial fishery development, recreational marina development, aquaculture (marine farming), shoreline preservation and development (including wetlands and open-lands acquisition, active recreational and park development, beach restoration and development, dredge spoil disposal, and port-oriented development), foreign trade zone site development, manufacturing and industrial facilities, and any other facility or activity designed, directly or indirectly, to promote business or commerce which, in the judgment of the authority, is required for the sound economic development of the area.
"Appurtenances" and "equipment" mean all works, buildings, structures, devices, appliances and supplies, as well as every kind of mechanism, arrangement, object or substance related to and necessary or convenient for the proper construction, equipment, maintenance, improvement and operation of any crossing, transportation facility or terminal facility, or commerce facility or development.
"Project" means any undertaking or program for the acquisition or creation of any crossing, transportation facility or terminal facility, or commerce facility or development, or any part thereof, as well as for the operation, maintenance and improvement thereof.
"Major project" means any project, other than a crossing, having or likely to have significant environmental impacts on the Delaware River and Bay, its shorelines or estuaries, or any other area in the State of Delaware or the New Jersey counties of Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem, as determined in accordance with state law by the environmental agency of the state in which the major project is to be located.
"Tunnel" means a tunnel of one or more tubes.
"Governor" means any person authorized by the Constitution and law of each state to exercise the functions, powers and duties of that office.
"Authority" means the authority created by this compact or any agency successor thereto.
The singular whenever used in this compact shall include the plural, and the plural shall include the singular.
FAITHFUL COOPERATION
They agree to and pledge, each to the other, faithful cooperation in the effectuation of this compact and any future amendment or supplement thereto, and of any legislation expressly in implementation thereof hereafter enacted, and in the planning, development, financing, construction, operation, maintenance and improvement of all projects entrusted to the authority created by this compact.
ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCY; PURPOSES
The two states agree that there shall be created and they do hereby create a body politic, to be known as "The Delaware River and Bay Authority" (for brevity hereinafter referred to as the "authority"), which shall constitute an agency of government of the State of Delaware and the State of New Jersey for the following general public purposes, and which shall be deemed to be exercising essential government functions in effectuating such purposes, to wit:
The authority shall not undertake any major project or part thereof without having first secured such approvals as may be required by legislation of the state in which the project is to be located.
The authority shall not undertake any major project, or part thereof, to be located in the Delaware River or Bay, including, without limitation, any deep-water port or superport, without having first secured approval thereof by concurrent legislation of the two states expressly in implementation thereof.
The authority shall not undertake any major project or part thereof without first giving public notice and holding a public hearing, if requested, on any proposed major project, in accordance with the law of the state in which the major project is to be located. Each state shall provide by law for the time and manner for the giving of such public notice, the requesting of a public hearing and the holding of such public hearings.
COMMISSIONERS
Commissioners shall be entitled to reimbursement for necessary expenses to be paid only from revenues of the authority and may not receive any other compensation for services to the authority except such as may from time to time be authorized from such revenues by concurrent legislation.
BOARD ACTION
The commissioners shall have charge of the authority's property and affairs and shall, for the purpose of doing business, constitute a board; but no action of the commissioners including, but not limited to the adoption of the annual capital plan, including specifically the economic development portion of that plan, shall be binding or effective unless taken at a meeting at which at least four commissioners from each state are present, and unless at least four commissioners from each state shall vote in favor thereof. The vote of any one or more of the commissioners from each state shall be subject to cancellation by the Governor of such state at any time within 10 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 such minutes, and for notification of the action thereon.
GENERAL POWERS
For the effectuation of its authorized purposes, the authority is hereby granted the following powers:
ADDITIONAL POWERS
For the purpose of effectuating the authorized purposes of the authority, additional powers may be granted to the authority by legislation of either state without the concurrence of the other, and may be exercised within such state, or may be granted to the authority by Congress and exercised by it; but no additional duties or obligations shall be undertaken by the authority under the law of either state or of Congress without authorization by the law of both states.
EMINENT DOMAIN
If the authority shall find and determine that any property or interest therein is required for a public use in furtherance of the purposes of the authority, said determination shall not be affected by the fact that such property has theretofore been taken over or is then devoted to a public use, but the public use in the hands or under the control of the authority, shall be deemed superior to the public use for which it has theretofore been taken or to which it is then devoted. The authority shall not exercise the power of eminent domain granted herein to acquire any property, other than a crossing, devoted to a public use, of either state, or of any municipality, local government, agency, public authority or commission, or of two or more of them, for any purpose other than a crossing, without having first secured the authorization of the holder of the title to the land in question and such other approvals as may be required by legislation of the state in which the project is to be located. The authority shall not exercise the power of eminent domain in connection with any commerce facility or development.
In any condemnation proceeding in connection with the acquisition by the authority of property or property rights of any character in either state and the right of inspection and immediate entry thereon, through the exercise by it of its power of eminent domain, any existing or future law or rule of court of the state in which such property is located with respect to the condemnation of property for the construction, reconstruction and maintenance of highways therein, shall control. The authority shall have the same power and authority with respect thereto as the state agency named in any such law; provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed as requiring joint or concurrent action by the two states with respect to the enactment, repeal or amendment of any law or rule of court on the subject of condemnation under which the authority may proceed by virtue of this article.
If the established grade of any street, avenue, highway or other route shall be changed by reason of the construction by the authority of any work so as to cause loss or injury to any property abutting on such street, avenue, highway or other route, the authority may enter into voluntary agreements with such abutting property owners and pay reasonable compensation for any loss or injury so sustained, whether or not it be compensable as damages under the condemnation law of the state.
The power of the authority to acquire property by condemnation shall be a continuing power, and no exercise thereof shall be deemed to exhaust it.
REVENUES AND APPLICATION
COVENANT WITH BONDHOLDERS
The two said states covenant and agree with each other and with the holders of any bonds or other securities or obligations of the authority, assumed, issued or incurred by it and as security for which there may be pledged the tolls and revenues or any part thereof of any crossing, transportation or terminal facility, commerce facility or development, or other project, that the two said states will not, so long as any of such bonds or other obligations remain outstanding and unpaid, diminish or impair the power of the authority to establish, levy and collect tolls and other charges in connection therewith, and that neither of the two said states will, so long as any of such bonds or other obligations remain outstanding and unpaid, authorize any crossing of the Delaware River or Delaware Bay south of the line mentioned in Article IV (a) of this compact, by any person or body other than the authority; unless, in either case, adequate provision shall be made by law for the protection of those advancing money upon such obligations.
SECURITIES LAWFUL INVESTMENTS
The bonds or other securities or obligations which may be issued by the authority pursuant to this compact, or any amendments hereof or supplements hereto, are hereby declared to be negotiable instruments, and are hereby made securities in which all state and municipal officers and bodies of each state, all banks, bankers, trust companies, savings banks, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations, investment companies and other persons carrying on a banking business, all insurance companies, insurance associations and other persons carrying on an insurance business, and all administrators, executors, guardians, trustees and other fiduciaries and all other persons whatsoever who are now or may hereafter be authorized to invest in bonds or other obligations of either state, may properly and legally invest any funds, including capital, belonging to them or within their control; and said obligations are hereby made securities which may properly and legally be deposited with and shall be received by any state or municipal officer or agency of either state for any purpose for which the deposit of bonds or other obligations of such state is now or may hereafter be authorized.
TAX STATUS
The powers and functions exercised by the authority under this compact and any amendments hereof or supplements hereto are and will be in all respects for the benefit of the people of the states of Delaware and New Jersey, the region and nation, for the increase of their commerce and prosperity and for the enhancement of their general welfare. To this end, the authority shall be regarded as performing essential governmental functions in exercising such powers and functions and in carrying out the provisions of this compact and of any law relating thereto, and shall not be required to pay any taxes or assessments of any character, levied by either state or political subdivision thereof, upon any of the property used by it for such purposes, or any income or revenue therefrom, including any profit from a sale or exchange. The bonds or other securities or obligations issued by the authority, their transfer and the interest paid thereon or income therefrom, including any profit from a sale or exchange, shall at all times be free from taxation by either state or any subdivision thereof.
JURISDICTION; USE OF LANDS
Each of the two states hereby consents to the use and occupancy by the authority of any lands and property of the authority in such state for the construction, operation, maintenance or improvement of any crossing, transportation or terminal facility, commerce facility or development, or other project which it is or may be authorized at any time to construct, own or operate, including lands lying under water.
REVIEW AND ENFORCEMENT OF RULES
Judicial proceedings to review any bylaw, rule, regulation, order or other action of the authority or to determine the meaning or effect thereof, may be brought in such court of each state, and pursuant to such law or rules thereof, as a similar proceeding with respect to any agency of such state might be brought.
Each state may provide by law what penalty or penalties shall be imposed for violation of any lawful rule, regulation or order of the authority, and, by law or rule of court, for the manner of enforcing the same.
NO PLEDGE OF CREDIT
The authority shall have no power to pledge the credit or to create any debt or liability of the State of Delaware, of the State of New Jersey, or of any other agency or of any political subdivision of said states.
LOCAL COOPERATION AND AGREEMENTS
DEPOSITARIES
All banks, bankers, trust companies, savings banks and other persons carrying on a banking business under the laws of either state are authorized to give security for the safekeeping and prompt payment of moneys of the authority deposited by it with them, in such manner and form as may be required by and may be approved by the authority, which security may consist of a good and sufficient undertaking with such sureties as may be approved by the authority, or may consist of the deposit with the authority or other depositary approved by the authority as collateral of such securities as the authority may approve.
AGENCY POLICE
Members of the police force established by the authority, regardless of their residence, shall have in each state, on the crossings, transportation or terminal facilities, commerce facilities or developments and other projects and the approaches thereto, owned, operated or controlled by the authority, and at such other places and under such circumstances as the law of each state may provide, all the powers of investigation, detention and arrest conferred by law on peace officers, sheriffs or constables in such state or usually exercised by such officers in each state.
REPORTS AND AUDITS
It shall, at least annually, cause an independent audit of its fiscal affairs to be made and shall furnish a copy of such audit report together with such additional information or data with respect to its affairs as it may deem desirable to the Governors and Legislatures of each state.
It shall furnish such information or data with respect to its affairs as may be requested by the Governor or Legislature of each state.
BOUNDARIES UNAFFECTED
The existing territorial or boundary lines of the states, or the jurisdiction of the two states established by said boundary lines, shall not be changed hereby.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
N.J.S. § 32:11E-1