An Act Relating to the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 0505
Committee: Transportation
Sponsors: MARLEY, COLLINS, HOGAN
Amends: 23 MRSA §8003, 23 MRSA §8006, 23 MRSA §8012, 23 MRSA §8111, 23 MRSA §8112, 23 MRSA §8115

Legislative Document 
No. 505 
H.P.380 
House of Representatives, February 1, 2005 
An Act Relating to the Northern New England Passenger Rail 
Authority 
Submitted by the Department of Transportation pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Transportation suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative MARLEY of Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator SA V AGE of Knox and 
'I1/~Mi; 1/7. 7I!D£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: COLLINS of Wells, HOGAN of Old Orchard Beach. 
Printed 011 fecydeJ papt'f 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 23 MRS A §8002, sub-§2, 1D, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 
374, §3, is amended to read: 
D. 
~he-~amiaiaa-aE Canada and any of its provinces. 
Sec. 2. 23 MRSA §8003, sub-§3 is enacted to read: 
3. 
Responsibilities of State. 
Nothing in this chapter 
precludes the State from acquiring railroad lines for passenger 
rail service or precludes the Department of Transportation from 
taking actions to facilitate the operation of passenger rail 
service within the State or from contracting with 3rd parties for 
the operation of passenger rail service within the State. 
Nothing in this chapter affects the responsibilities of the 
department for transportation policy and planning as set forth in 
teis Title. 
Sec. 3. 23 MRS A §8005, as amended by PL 1995, c. 543, §2, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 4. 23 MRSA §8006, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 374, §3, is 
amended to read: 
§8006. 
Funding 
The authority is directed to use any revenues it receives 
from the operation of the passenger rail service established 
pursuant to this chapter to pay the operational expenses of that 
passenger rail service. 
The authority is directed to seek and 
use funds 
necessary to pay all operational expenses of this 
passenger rail service that are not met by fares and other funds 
or revenues. 
For the purposes of this section, "operational 
expenses" include, but are not limited to, all additional capital 
expenses necessary to maintain the passenger rail service. 
Sec. 5. 23 MRS A §8011, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 374, §3, is 
amended to read: 
§8011. 
Rules of construction 
This chapter must be construed liberally to effectuate the 
purposes of this chapter. 
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Sec. 6. 
MRSA §8012, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 54, §1, is 
repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
§8012. 
Passenger rail liability limitation 
In the event one or more passenger rail service providers 
are protected by a liability insurance policy covering liability 
for property damage, personal injury, bodily injury and death 
arising from rail incidents or accidents occurring in this State 
involving passenger trains with policy limits of not less than 
$75,000,000 per occurrence annually and $75,000,000 in the 
aggregate annually regardless of the number of passenger rail 
service providers protected by such an insurance policy, each 
passenger rail service provider protected by such an insurance 
policy is not liable in excess of the coverage limits of such an 
insurance policy for 
any and all claims for damage, 
whether 
compensatory or punitive, for property damage, personal injury, 
bodily injury or death arising out of such rail incidents or 
accidents. 
For purposes of this section, "passenger rail service 
provider" 
includes 
for-profit 
and 
nonprofit corporations 
and 
legal entities that own, 
lease, operate or manage passenger 
trains 
or 
passenger 
rail 
service: 
the 
authority: 
railroad 
companies that own, lease, provide track rights to or maintain 
rail lines over which passenger trains pass; and operators of 
passenger train services. 
"Passenger rail service provider" does 
not include the National Railroad Passenger Corporation or its 
successor organization. This section does not affect immunities, 
limitation on 
damages, 
limitation of actions, 
limitation of 
liability or other protections provided to the State as defined 
in Title 14, section 8102, subsection 4. 
Sec. 7. 23 MRSA §8111, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 374, §3, is 
amended to read: 
§8111. 
Purpose 
The Northern New 
England Passenger Rail Authority, 
as 
established by Title 5, section 12004-F, subsection 16, is a body 
both corporate and politic in the State established for the 
general purpose of promoting passenger rail service as set forth 
in subchapter I~. 
It is declared that the purposes of this 
chapter are public and that the authority saall must be regarded 
as performing a 
governmental function in carrying out this 
chapter. 
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Sec. 8. 23 MRSA §8112, as amended by PL 1995, c. 543, §3, is 
repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
§8112. 
Directors 
1. 
Board of directors. 
The authority consists of a board 
of 7 directors. 
The 
directors are the Commissioner of 
Transportation, who is a director ex officio, the Commissioner of 
Economic and Community Development, who also is a director ex 
officio, and 5 directors who are members of the public, appointed 
by the Governor for 5-year staggered terms, who shall serve until 
their respective successors are appointed 
and qualified. 
A 
vacancy in a position held by a director who is a member of the 
public occurring other than by the expiration of a term must be 
filled by the Governor for the unexpired term. 
2. Compensation and removal of directors who are members of 
public. 
Each director who is a member of the public is entitled 
to compensation according to the provisions of Title 5, chapter 
379. 
The Governor may remove any director who is a member of the 
public for cause. 
3. Ex officio directors. 
Each ex officio director may vote 
and may designate 2 employees of that director' s department or 
agency, either of whom may represent that director and may vote 
and otherwise act on behalf of that director at meetings of the 
board. 
Any such designation must be in writing and delivered to 
the board, and the designation continues in effect until revoked 
or amended by the director in a written document delivered to the 
board. 
4. 
Chair. 
The Governor shall appoint one director to serve 
as chair of the board, 
who is responsible for scheduling, 
convening and chairing all board meetings. 
5. 
Officers. 
The 
board shall elect 
a 
treasurer, 
a 
secretary and any other officers the board from time to time 
considers necessary, none of whom needs to be a director. 
6. 
Ouorum. 
All powers of the authority may be exercised by 
the board in lawful meeting, and a majority of directors then in 
office constitutes a quorum. 
A vacancy on the board does not 
impair the right of a quorum to exercise all the rights and 
perform all the duties of the authority. 
7. 
Regular meetings. 
Regular meetings of the board may be 
established by bylaw, and notice of such regular meetings need 
not be given to directors. 
Sec. 9. 
MRSA §8115, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 374, §3, is 
amended to read: 
S8115. 
Obligations of authority 
All expenses incurred in carrying out this chapter must be 
paid solely from funds provided to or obtained by the authority 
pursuant to this chapter. 
Any notes, obligations or liabilities 
under this chapter may not be deemed to be a debt of the State or 
a pledge of the faith and credit of the State; but those notes, 
obligations and liabilities are payable exclusively from funds 
provided to 
or 
obtained 
by 
the 
authority pursuant 
to 
this 
chapter. 
Pecuniary liability of any kind may not be imposed upon 
the State or any locality, town or landowner in the State because 
of any act, agreement, contract, tort, malfeasance, misfeasance 
or nonfeasance by or on the part of the authority or its agents, 
servants or employees. 
The records and correspondence relating 
to negotiations, trade secrets received by the authority aBelL 
estimates of costs on projects to be put out to bid and any 
documents or records solicited or prepared in connection with 
employment applications are confidential aBel ERe. The authority 
is deemed to have a lawyer-client privilege. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends 
the Passenger Rail Service Act. 
It 
repeals the section of law pertaining to initial funding. 
It 
modifies the composition of the board of directors of the 
Northern 
New 
England 
Passenger 
Rail 
Authority 
and 
changes 
provisions relating to the liability of a passenger rail service 
provider and the confidentiality of certain documents of the 
authority.