West Virginia Senate Bill SB362

West Virginia 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/13/25
• Refer: 2/13/25

Caption

Parkways Authority rule relating to supporting electronic toll collection and enforcement

Summary

SB 362 authorizes a legislative rule for the West Virginia Parkways Authority concerning supporting electronic toll collection and enforcement. The bill does not create a new tolling program or change toll rates; instead, it gives statutory approval to an existing rule filed by the Parkways Authority and revised to address objections from the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee. In practical terms, the measure allows the Parkways Authority to move forward with administrative rules governing how electronic toll collection is supported and enforced on toll facilities in West Virginia. The bill is a rule-authorization bill, meaning its main effect is to validate the agency’s regulatory authority under state law rather than to directly amend substantive transportation policy.

Impact

The bill amends and reenacts §64-8-1 of the West Virginia Code to authorize the Parkways Authority’s rule, 184 CSR 05, relating to electronic toll collection and enforcement. Its legal effect is to approve the agency’s legislative rule after review and modification, thereby allowing the rule to take effect and be enforced within the scope of the Parkways Authority’s existing statutory authority under §17-16D-14. The bill primarily affects the Parkways Authority, toll-road users, and any enforcement mechanisms tied to electronic tolling.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee debate or votes in the provided materials, the overall sentiment appears procedural and neutral. The measure is presented as a routine authorization of an agency rule rather than a controversial policy change, suggesting limited public-facing debate in the available record. The fact that the rule was modified to meet objections from the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee indicates some prior technical review, but no explicit opposition or support is documented here.

Contention

The main point of potential contention is the scope and enforcement of electronic toll collection, including how toll violations are identified and collected through administrative rules. Any concerns would likely center on privacy, fairness of enforcement, due process for motorists, or the practical burden of toll collection systems, though none of these issues are specifically raised in the provided transcripts. The only documented procedural issue is that the rule had to be modified to address objections from the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee before being refiled.