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2001 SESSION

013284644
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 603
Offered January 10, 2001
Prefiled January 10, 2001
Expressing the sense of the General Assembly regarding the need to delay any change in the toll for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.
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Patrons-- Bloxom; Senator: Norment
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Referred to Committee on Transportation
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WHEREAS, during the past year there has been considerable discussion about instituting a commuter toll discount to travelers on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel; and

WHEREAS, a commuter toll discount is likely to increase residential growth on the Eastern Shore region; and

WHEREAS, the anticipated growth will also likely increase the demand on public infrastructure and services including new roads, schools, fire and emergency services, police protection, and parks; and

WHEREAS, this growth will further be likely to impact the current economic structure of the Eastern Shore community and labor market; and

WHEREAS, the anticipated growth is likely to reduce farmland, open space, and natural habitat for fauna in a region that is a critical staging area for neotropical migratory songbirds, the habitat for some endangered species, and the home of two National Wildlife Refuges and a state park that desire adjacent natural areas to preserve their character and attractiveness to the consumer; and

WHEREAS, the increase in population associated with this growth is likely to increase the built environment and impervious surfaces, thereby, without effective storm water management, potentially degrading water quality of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean; and

WHEREAS, the growth will also likely increase demand for potable water in a region that is solely reliant on limited groundwater as its source for water, a groundwater source that has been designated as a Sole Source Aquifer by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency; and

WHEREAS, Northampton and Accomack Counties have started a bi-county impact study to assess the potential impact of a commuter toll on the region and to recommend strategies for addressing potential impacts; and

WHEREAS, said regional impact study is to be completed by October 1, 2001; and

WHEREAS, all interested parties will benefit from the findings of the study; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That any change in the toll for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel be delayed to allow the work of the bi-county impact study initiated by Northampton and Accomack Counties to be completed and reviewed for the potential impact of such change on the region; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House transmit copies of this resolution to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission and the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation in order that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly in this matter.