Bill Text: NJ S1499 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Increases fine for failure to obtain highway occupancy permit issued by DOT Commissioner and provides new requirements and exceptions to obtaining permit prior to constructing work affecting highways under DOT jurisdiction.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-22 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Transportation Committee [S1499 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S1499-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator CHRISTOPHER "KIP" BATEMAN
District 16 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Increases fine for failure to obtain highway occupancy permit issued by DOT Commissioner and provides new requirements and exceptions to obtaining permit prior to constructing work affecting highways under DOT jurisdiction.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning highways and amending R.S.27:7-44.1.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.27:7-44.1 is amended to read as follows:
27:7-44.1. No consent, grant or franchise affecting any portion of a State highway, or of any road included in the State highway system, shall be given for the construction of a railroad or street railway thereon except upon approval of and under conditions acceptable to the [commissioner] Commissioner of Transportation; nor shall any person enter upon or construct any works in or upon any State highway[,] without having first obtained, from the Department of Transportation, an approved traffic control plan and except under such conditions and regulations as the commissioner may prescribe [;], except that, subject to applicable federal laws and regulations, the Commissioner of Transportation may permit a public utility to construct works in or upon any State highway without regard to such conditions and regulations, provided that such works are conducted so that no traffic lane is closed to traffic and do not involve the construction of a railroad or street railway, and provided, [however] further, that[,] the commissioner may lease land or property under any viaduct or bridge, and the approaches thereto, said property having been acquired for right of way purposes, to any municipal corporation or any public board or commission, for public use only, subject to such conditions and regulations as the commissioner shall prescribe and subject further to the consent of the municipality in which the leased land is located. Whenever any encroachment may exist without warrant of law in any road when taken over as a State highway, the commissioner shall notify the Attorney General, who shall proceed to cause the same to be removed as by law provided.
Any person required to obtain an approved traffic control plan pursuant to this section shall, upon entering or constructing any works in or upon any State highway, have in possession, on the site of such entry or works, a copy of the approved traffic control plan available for inspection by the Department of Transportation or the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction of the highway.
Any person guilty of any violation of this section shall be liable to a fine [not exceeding $100.00] of up to $1,000 for each day's violation, and the costs of prosecution, to be recovered by a civil action in the name of the State before any court of competent jurisdiction, by the commissioner. Said fines shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the funds available for construction, maintenance and repair of roads.
Any such violation may be removed from any State highway as a trespass by a civil action brought by the commissioner in the Superior Court. The court may proceed in the action in a summary manner or otherwise.
(cf: P.L.1968, c.81, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
Current law prohibits any person from entering upon or constructing any works in or upon a State highway except under such conditions and regulations as the Commissioner of Transportation may prescribe. This bill would amend the statute to provide that, in addition to such conditions and regulations, persons seeking to enter upon or construct works upon a State highway are a required to obtain, from the Department of Transportation ("DOT"), an approved traffic control plan. Further, the bill would require that a person required to obtain an approved traffic control plan under the bill have in possession, on the site of entry or construction of works on a State highway, a copy of the approved traffic control plan available for inspection by the DOT or the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction of the highway.
In addition, the bill allows a public utility, upon the approval of the Commissioner of Transportation, to construct works in or a upon any State highway without regard to such conditions and regulations, and without obtaining a DOT approved traffic control plan, provided such works are constructed without full closure of a traffic lane and do not involve the construction of a railroad or street railway.
Finally, a person in violation of the statute is currently subject to payment of the costs of prosecution and a maximum fine of $100 for each day of violation. This bill would increase the fine to up to $1,000 for each day of violation.
