1. (1) A board shall have the exclusive power to impose, fix and periodically adjust the rate of tolls or other charges for use of a bridge owned or operated by the commission without approval, authorization or concurrence by a state legislature, state toll authority, local government, state agency, state official or other entity. The board may establish and implement rules for specifying the rate of tolls and other charges, including but not limited to discounts, exemptions and distinct rates for certain classes of vehicle and user. Nothing in ORS 383.001 to 383.245 prohibits a commission from establishing or setting a toll or other charge for use of a bridge owned or operated by the commission.
2. (2) In setting and periodically adjusting toll rates or other charges, a board shall ensure that toll rates and other charges annually yield revenue sufficient to meet the costs, expenses and obligations of the commission, including the satisfaction of the financial and other covenants made by the commission with regard to bonds or other debt instruments.

3. (3) To enforce the payment of tolls and other charges for use of a bridge, the commission may enter into agreements with the Department of Transportation and an agency of the State of Washington. An agreement may provide that:

   1. (a) The department or agency shall provide information to the commission or the commission’s designee to identify registered owners of vehicles who fail to pay a toll or other charge established by the commission under this section.
   2. (b) If a commission, or a commission’s designee, gives notice to the department or agency that a person has not paid a toll or other charge established under this section, the department or agency shall refuse to renew the motor vehicle registration of the motor vehicle operated by the person at the time of the violation.
   3. (c) The department or agency may renew a motor vehicle registration of a person described in paragraph (b) of this subsection upon receipt of a notice from a commission, or a commission’s designee, indicating that all tolls and other charges established under this section and owed by the person have been paid.
4. (4) A transponder record or recorded image of a vehicle and the registration plate of the vehicle produced by a photo enforcement system at the time a driver of a vehicle did not pay a toll is prima facie evidence that the registered owner of the vehicle is the driver of the vehicle, provided that, if the registered owner of a vehicle is a person in the vehicle rental or leasing business, the registered owner may identify the person who was operating the vehicle at the time the toll was not paid or pay the toll and other charges. A registered owner of a vehicle who pays a toll or other charge imposed while another person was operating the vehicle of the registered owner is entitled to full reimbursement from the operator. The rights granted to the commission to enforce the payment of tolls and other charges of the commission under ORS 381.702 to 381.755 are supplemental, and the commission may employ all other remedies available to the commission under the laws of the State of Oregon and the State of Washington.

5. (5) The proceeds from toll rates and other charges of the commission may only be used to pay the necessary and incidental costs and expenses incurred by the commission in connection with owning, constructing, operating, maintaining, renewing and governing a bridge, including but not limited to costs incurred for:

   1. (a) The design, development, construction, equipping, installation, financing or refinancing of the bridge, demolition and removal of the existing bridge and mitigation of associated impacts;
   2. (b) The operation, repair, maintenance, resurfacing, preservation, equipping, improvement, reconstruction, renewal and replacement of the bridge;
   3. (c) The tolling of the bridge, the collection, administration and enforcement of tolls and the acquisition, leasing, maintenance and replacement of tolling equipment and software;
   4. (d) The financing or refinancing of any bonds or other debt instruments of the commission;
   5. (e) A reasonable return on investment for the private financing of the costs, expenses or obligations of the commission;
   6. (f) The establishment and maintenance of reserves or sinking funds approved by the board; and
   7. (g) Any other obligations or expenses incurred by the commission in carrying out the commission’s purposes under ORS 381.702 to 381.755.
6. (6) The commission may grant to a public or private entity by franchise, lease or in another manner the use or control of all or part of a bridge, property or facility owned or under the control of the commission, and may fix the terms, conditions, rents and other payments for the use or control.
7. (7) For the purpose of funding a bridge under ORS 381.702 to 381.755, the approaches, connecting roads, related facilities and appurtenances on both sides of the Columbia River are designated as part of the highway system of Oregon. All revenues, receipts, grants, bond proceeds and other funds of the commission may be commingled and spent to carry out the purposes of the commission, unless and to the extent otherwise restricted by the terms of a grant agreement or debt instrument.

[2022 c.7 §8]