STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3471--A
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 25, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. P. LOPEZ, AMEDORE, HAWLEY, WEPRIN, MONTESANO --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. KOLB, SALADINO, SAYWARD -- read once
and referred to the Committee on Transportation -- recommitted to the
Committee on Transportation in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2
-- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the transportation law, the state finance law, the tax
law and the public authorities law, in relation to programs that
promote and protect the safety of truck drivers in New York state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Jason's Law".
2 § 2. Legislative intent. The legislature finds and declares that there
3 is a great need to provide truck drivers with safe places to rest while
4 waiting for pending appointments or to comply with federal hours of
5 service regulations. Federal law requires motor carrier operators to
6 rest for a period of ten hours after driving for eleven consecutive
7 hours. Federal law further prohibits motor carrier operators from driv-
8 ing more than sixty hours over a seven day period. These requirements
9 are only exacerbating the shortage of safe parking areas for motor
10 carriers, forcing many drivers to park in desolate, poorly lit areas
11 with little or no security. Many shippers and receivers of freight do
12 not allow truckers into their facilities until just before their sched-
13 uled appointment time and insist that they leave promptly once delivery
14 is complete. It is imperative that the legislature address the current
15 shortage of long-term parking for commercial motor vehicles to ensure
16 the personal safety and security of those who transport goods and
17 provide essential services for the people of the state of New York.
18 § 3. The transportation law is amended by adding a new section 140-a
19 to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05848-03-2
A. 3471--A 2
1 § 140-a. Motor carrier safety and security revolving loan program. 1.
2 The commissioner shall establish and maintain a motor carrier safety and
3 security revolving loan program to provide loans to eligible applicants
4 to make safety and security upgrades on their facilities for the
5 purposes designated in this section. Such program shall provide interest
6 free loans to eligible applicants for such safety and security improve-
7 ment projects as the commissioner shall deem to be eligible pursuant to
8 this section.
9 2. State financial assistance in the form of a loan may be provided,
10 subject to appropriation by the legislature, to recipients for eligible
11 projects as defined in this section. Any financial assistance awarded
12 shall be provided from the motor carrier safety and security revolving
13 loan fund established pursuant to section ninety-nine-u of the state
14 finance law.
15 3. Eligible applicants shall mean owners and operators of private rest
16 areas, truck stops, travel plazas, and any other facility which provides
17 motor carriers with a safe place to rest while waiting for scheduled
18 appointments and/or complying with federal hours of service regulations.
19 4. Eligible projects shall include: (a) the purchase and installation
20 of new security systems, including but not limited to alarms and video
21 surveillance equipment; (b) the purchase and installation of new or
22 improved lighting equipment to provide enhanced visibility in parking
23 areas; (c) hiring or otherwise maintaining security guards that provide
24 regular patrols of the entire facility; (d) the construction of new
25 parking facilities; and (e) upgrading and improving existing parking
26 facilities.
27 5. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations for the
28 purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section, including estab-
29 lishing: (a) an application process whereby eligible applicants may
30 apply for loans; (b) criteria and standards for determining an appli-
31 cant's eligibility for a loan; (c) criteria and standards to be used in
32 determining the amount of financial assistance to be provided to each
33 applicant; and (d) criteria and standards to be used in determining the
34 loan repayment periods and the terms of repayment agreements.
35 6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent applicants
36 who have received tax credits pursuant to subdivision forty-five of
37 section two hundred ten of the tax law from participating in the motor
38 carrier safety and security revolving loan program offered under this
39 section.
40 § 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-u to
41 read as follows:
42 § 99-u. Motor carrier safety and security revolving loan fund. 1.
43 There is hereby established in the joint custody of the state comp-
44 troller and the commissioner of taxation and finance a special fund to
45 be known as the motor carrier safety and security revolving loan fund.
46 2. Such fund shall consist of all monies appropriated for its purpose,
47 all monies transferred to such fund pursuant to law and all monies
48 required to be paid into or credited to this fund, including all monies
49 received by the fund or donated to it, and payment of principal on loans
50 made from the fund.
51 3. Monies of the fund, when allocated, shall be made available to the
52 commissioner of transportation to provide loans pursuant to section one
53 hundred forty-a of the transportation law.
54 § 5. Section 210 of the tax law is amended by adding two new subdivi-
55 sions 45 and 46 to read as follows:
A. 3471--A 3
1 45. Credit for providing a safe harbor for motor carriers. (a) For
2 taxable years beginning on or after January first, two thousand thir-
3 teen, a qualifying taxpayer shall be allowed a credit against any tax
4 due under this article in an amount of twenty percent.
5 (b) (1) For the purposes of this subdivision, a "qualifying taxpayer"
6 allowed a credit shall mean a taxpayer engaged in the shipping and/or
7 receiving of any commodities via a motor carrier, or an individual,
8 either of which provides qualifying motor carriers services at their
9 facilities that provide a secure area in which such motor carriers may
10 wait for pending appointments or to comply with federal hours of service
11 regulations.
12 (2) For the purposes of this subdivision, a "qualifying motor carrier"
13 shall mean a motor carrier that is not employed by the taxpayer or a
14 company or corporation that is affiliated with the taxpayer.
15 (c) Qualifying taxpayers who apply for and receive such credit for
16 providing safe harbor for motor carriers shall not be liable for injury
17 or death to any person or for any property damage occurring on or at the
18 facility provided, however, that such taxpayer shall not be protected
19 from liability caused by the intentional, willful, and reckless miscon-
20 duct of such taxpayer.
21 46. Credit for security upgrades and parking improvements at rest
22 areas. (a) For taxable years beginning on or after January first, two
23 thousand thirteen, a qualifying taxpayer shall be allowed a credit
24 against any tax due under this article in an amount equal to fifty
25 percent of the total expenditures for the purchase, installation and/or
26 maintenance of a qualifying project or projects that are intended to
27 improve the safety and security of facilities operated by qualifying
28 taxpayers.
29 (b) For the purposes of this subdivision a "qualifying taxpayer" shall
30 mean owners and operators of private rest areas, truck stops, travel
31 plazas and any other facility which provides motor carriers with a safe
32 place to rest while waiting for scheduled appointments and/or complying
33 with federal hours of service regulations.
34 (c) For purposes of this subdivision, a "qualifying project" includes
35 the following:
36 (1) the purchase and installation of new security systems, including
37 but not limited to alarms and video surveillance equipment;
38 (2) the purchase and installation of new or improved lighting equip-
39 ment to provide enhanced visibility in parking areas;
40 (3) hiring or otherwise maintaining security guards that provide regu-
41 lar patrols of the entire facility;
42 (4) the construction of new parking facilities; and
43 (5) upgrading and improving existing parking facilities.
44 (d) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent taxpay-
45 ers who have received funding through the motor carrier safety and secu-
46 rity revolving loan program from being eligible for the tax credit
47 offered in this section.
48 § 6. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new section 389
49 to read as follows:
50 § 389. "Bull Pen" demonstration program. 1. The commissioner shall
51 initiate a program for the establishment of additional rest areas for
52 commercial truck drivers along the New York state thruway.
53 2. In pursuing the development of such facilities the commissioner
54 shall work in consultation with representatives of the New York trucking
55 industry to assess potential site options with an emphasis on adaptive
56 reuse and/or modification of existing infrastructure and capital facili-
A. 3471--A 4
1 ties to maximize the availability of rest area services in the most cost
2 effective manner possible.
3 3. In concert with the aforementioned inventorying and planning
4 efforts, the commissioner shall initiate a demonstration bull pen pilot
5 project which shall test the affordability and effectiveness of develop-
6 ing dedicated parking facilities as a low cost option for offering safe
7 harbor for truck drivers in New York state. Such facilities shall be
8 equipped with fencing, security cameras, gated entrances, electric hook-
9 ups for powering appliances and equipment in individual truck cabins and
10 truck driver sleeper quarters and limited lavatory accommodations. In
11 pursuing such facilities, the commissioner shall consider the potential
12 for utilizing E-ZPass technology as a means for enhancing public safety
13 and security.
14 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
