ASSEMBLY TRANSPORTATION AND INDEPENDENT AUTHORITIES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 646

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 10, 2022

      The Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 646.

      As amended and reported, this bill prohibits the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and South Jersey Transportation Authority from sending a notice of violation or charging any administrative fees to the owner of a vehicle for an E-ZPass violation unless the authority has first determined that the vehicle is not associated with an existing electronic toll collection system account.  If the vehicle is associated with an existing account, the authority is to relay the license plate information to the lead agency of the electronic toll collection system for toll payment from the account holder.  The account holder may dispute any charges imposed under the provisions of this bill.

     The bill also requires E-ZPass account holders to maintain accurate and updated information on their account.  If an account holder fails to update the license plates associated with the account, the account holder may be issued a notice of violation and charged an administrative fee for the violation.  Each authority is required to conduct outreach to encourage account holders to keep their information current.

      As amended and reported, Senate Bill No. 646 is identical to Assembly Bill No. 823, which was also amended and reported by the committee on this date.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments require the authorities to conduct outreach, rather than establish a program, to encourage account holders to keep their information current.