Owner Operator Indep. Drivers Ass'n, Inc. v. Pa. Tpk. Comm'n
| Decision Date | 04 April 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:18-cv-00608,1:18-cv-00608 |
| Citation | 383 F.Supp.3d 353 |
| Parties | OWNER OPERATOR INDEPENDENT DRIVERS ASSOCIATION, INC., et al., Plaintiffs v. PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE COMMISSION, et al., Defendants |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania |
Dennis A. Whitaker, Kevin J. McKeon, Melissa A. Chapaska, Hawke McKeon Sniscak & Kennard LLP, Harrisburg, PA, Kathleen B. Havener, Pro Hac Vice, Paul D. Cullen, Jr., Pro Hac Vice, Paul D. Cullen, Sr., Pro Hac Vice, The Cullen Law Firm, PLLC, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.
Brian J. Slipakoff, Lawrence H. Pockers, Duane Morris LLP, Arleigh P. Helfer, Bruce P. Merenstein, Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, Matthew H. Haverstick, Shohin Vance, Kleinbard LLC, Philadelphia, PA, Robert L. Byer, Duane Morris LLP, Robert M. Linn, Robyn A. Shelton, Cohen & Grigsby, PC, Pittsburgh, PA, Alex M. Lacey, Pro Hac Vice, Cohen & Grigsby, P.C., for Defendants.
(Judge Kane )
In this action members of the motoring public who routinely access the Pennsylvania Turnpike (the "Turnpike") for business and personal travel have joined together in challenging Turnpike tolls that are alleged to be increasingly disproportionate to services rendered. Plaintiffs allege that the Pennsylvania statutory scheme permitting this inequity ("Act 44/89"), first enacted in 2007, violates the dormant Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution and their constitutional right to travel. Specifically, Plaintiffs complain that in violation of the Constitution, Act 44/89 authorizes and directs the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission ("PTC") to collect user fees with no regard to Turnpike operating costs and to redistribute those funds to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation ("PennDOT") for projects across the Commonwealth that are of no benefit to the paying Turnpike motorist.
Plaintiffs in this case are: Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc. ("OOIDA"), National Motorists Association ("NMA"), Marion L. Spray ("Spray"), B.L. Reever Transportation, LLC ("B.L. Reever"), Flat Rock Transportation, LLC ("Flat Rock"), Milligan Trucking, Inc. ("Milligan Trucking"), Frank Scavo ("Scavo"), and Laurence G. Tarr ("Tarr"), consisting of organizations, businesses, and individuals who are required to pay and have paid tolls to the PTC for their use of the Turnpike (collectively, "Plaintiffs"). (Doc. No. 1 ¶¶ 9-18.) Defendants are the PTC, William K. Lieberman, Vice Chair of the PTC, Barry T. Drew, Secretary Treasurer of the PTC, Pasquale T. Deon, Sr., Commissioner of the PTC, John N. Wozniak, Commissioner of the PTC, Mark P. Compton, Chief Executive Officer of the PTC, Craig R. Shuey, Chief Operating Officer of the PTC (collectively, the "PTC Defendants"), Tom Wolf, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Leslie S. Richards, Chair of the PTC and Secretary of PennDOT (collectively, the "Commonwealth Defendants"). (Id. ¶¶ 19-28.)
Before the Court are four motions to dismiss Plaintiffs' complaint filed by the PTC Defendants,1 the Commonwealth Defendants, individual defendant Shuey, and individual defendant Lieberman. (Doc. Nos. 49, 50, 52, and 53.) Also before the Court is Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on the issue of liability. (Doc. No. 84.) The motions have been fully briefed and are ripe for disposition.2 For the reasons that follow, the PTC and Commonwealth Defendants' motions to dismiss will be granted, the motions filed by individual defendants Shuey and Lieberman will be denied as moot, and Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability will be denied.3
The Turnpike is a toll road operated by the PTC, running for 359 miles across the Commonwealth, beginning at the Ohio state line in Lawrence County and ending at the New Jersey border at the Delaware River Bridge in Bucks County. (Doc. No. 1 ¶ 41.) Including the Northeastern Extension and Western Extension, the Turnpike covers 552 miles. (Id. ) Plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of "excessive" tolls charged to named Plaintiffs and members of a putative class of motor carriers, drivers, and motorists by the PTC for travel on the Turnpike. (Doc. No. 1 ¶ 1.) The PTC is "an instrumentality of the Commonwealth." 36 P.S. § 652d ; Doc. No. 1 ¶ 32. Pennsylvania law authorizes the PTC to fix and adjust tolls to generate funds for services and facilities provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as follows:
74 Pa. C.S. § 8116(a) ; Doc. No. 1 ¶ 40. Plaintiffs' complaint alleges that the PTC obtains almost the entirety of its operating revenue from tolls. (Doc. No. 1 ¶ 86.) Plaintiffs allege that prior to the enactment of Act 44, the PTC raised tolls on the Turnpike only five times in the 64-year history of the Turnpike. (Id. ¶ 87.) Plaintiffs allege that in fiscal year ending May 31, 2015, 192 million vehicles traveled on the Turnpike, consisting of approximately 166 million Class 1 Passenger vehicles and 26 million Class 2-9 commercial vehicles. (Id. ¶ 42.) Plaintiffs' complaint estimates that trucks provide for about half of the annual toll revenues generated by the Turnpike, producing $ 443 million in toll revenues for PTC in the 2016 fiscal year. (Id. ¶ 43.)
In 2007, the Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted a statute known as Act 44, amending portions of the Pennsylvania Public Transportation Law (Title 74) and the Vehicle Code (Title 75). See Act of July 18, 2007, P.L. 169, No. 44; Doc. No. 1 ¶ 44. Pursuant to the statute, the PTC and PennDOT entered into a Lease and Funding Agreement ("LAFA"), for a term of fifty years. See 75 Pa. C.S. § 8915.3(1) ; Doc. No. 1 ¶ 45. Act 44, as originally enacted, required the PTC to make a "[s]cheduled annual commission contribution" to PennDOT in the following amounts:
75 Pa. C.S. § 8901 ; Doc. No. 1 ¶ 52. As alleged in Plaintiffs' complaint, on December 4, 2008, the PTC issued a press release regarding an imminent 25 percent toll increase:
In December 2008, PTC's CEO announced:
(Doc. No. 1 ¶ 72.) In a December 30, 2008 press release by the PTC, the PTC's CEO stated that "[i]n fact, more than 90 percent of the toll-increase proceeds will benefit non-Turnpike road and bridge projects and transit operations." (Id. ¶ 73.)
In 2013, the General Assembly again amended the Public Transportation Law and Vehicle Code through legislation known as Act 89. See Act of Nov. 25, 2013, P.L. 974, No. 89; Doc. No. 1 ¶ 46. Act 89 amended the PTC's annual payment obligations to PennDOT. (Doc. No. 1 ¶ 53.) Pursuant to Act 89, the PTC and PennDOT amended the LAFA in 2014, entering into an Amended Funding Agreement scheduled to terminate in October of 2057. (Doc. No. 1 ¶ 47.)
The statutory scheme established by Act 44/89 provides for annual payments made by the PTC to PennDOT that currently total $ 450 million annually through fiscal year 2022 and reduce to $ 50 million annually through 2057. See 75 Pa. C.S. §§ 8901 ; Doc. No. 1 ¶¶ 51-54. Under Act 44/89, the PTC's annual payments to PennDOT through fiscal year 2057 will total $ 9.65 billion. (Doc. No. 1 ¶ 55.) The PTC obtains the funds necessary to make the annual Act 44/89 payments from Turnpike tolls and from bonds it issues, the interest and principal of which are paid from tolls. (Id. ¶¶ 59-61.) Plaintiffs' complaint alleges that the PTC's Act 44/89 payments to PennDOT, interest, and bond expenses are classified by the PTC as "non-operating expenses." (Id. ¶ 62.) As alleged by Plaintiffs, the largest portion of PTC's revenues derive from tolls, which are pledged to secure the PTC's outstanding Senior Revenue Bonds, also known as Turnpike Revenue Bonds. (Id. ¶ 63.) Plaintiffs' complaint alleges that, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Auditor General's 2016 Performance Audit of PTC ("2016 Performance Audit"), beginning in 2015, the PTC's Act 44/89 payments have been solely dedicated to "non-highway purposes," including transit. (Id. ¶ 69.) The PTC Act 44 Financial Plan Fiscal Year 2018 ("Act 44 Plan FY2018"), dated June 1, 2017, describes the change in funding obligations imposed by Act 89 as follows:
Act 89 substantially altered the Commission's funding obligations to PennDOT. While the Commission's aggregate payment obligation remains at $ 450 million annually, beginning July 1, 2014, none of the payments are dedicated to highways and bridges. Instead, all $ 450 million is allocated to support transit capital, operating, multi-modal and other non-highway programs.
(Doc. No. 1 ¶ 70) (quoting Act 44 Plan FY2018).
Pursuant to Act 44/89, PennDOT deposits the annual payments from the PTC into the Public Transportation Trust Fund ("PTTF"). See 74 Pa. C.S. § 1506(b)(1). Monies from that fund are then distributed among four programs: the "operating program," the "asset improvement program," the Multimodal Transportation Fund ("MT...
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