A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to Protect the citizens of North Carolina from the Ferry tax and to appropriate funds to the Department of Transportation for ferry vessel replacement.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 136‑82 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136‑82.  Department of Transportation to establish and maintain ferries.
(a)	Powers of Department. – The Department of Transportation is vested with authority to provide for the establishment and maintenance of ferries connecting the parts of the State highway system, whenever in its discretion the public good may require.
	 
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(f)	Authority to Generate Certain Receipts. – The Department of Transportation, notwithstanding any other provision of law, may operate or contract for the following receipt‑generating activities and use the proceeds for ferry passenger vessel replacement projects in the manner set forth in subsection (d) of this section:
(1)	Operation of, concessions on the ferries and at ferry facilities to provide to passengers on the ferries food, drink, and other refreshments, personal comfort items, Internet access, and souvenirs publicizing the ferry system.
(2)	Sponsorships, including, but not limited to, the sale of naming rights to any ferry vessel, ferry route, or ferry facility.
(3)	Advertising on or within any ferry vessel or at any ferry facility, including, but not limited to, display advertising and advertising delivered to passengers through the use of video monitors, public address systems installed in passenger areas, and other electronic media.
(4)	Any other receipt‑generating activity not otherwise forbidden by applicable law pertaining to public health or safety.
The Department may issue rules to implement this subsection.
(g)	Confidentiality of Personal Information. – Identifying information obtained by the Department related to operation of the ferry system is not a public record under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes and is subject to the disclosure limitations in 18 U.S.C. § 2721 of the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act. The Department shall maintain the confidentiality of all information required to be kept confidential under 18 U.S.C. § 2721(a), as well as any financial information, transaction history, and information related to the collection of a user fee from a person, including, but not limited to, photographs or other recorded images or automatic vehicle identification or driver account information generated by radio‑frequency identification or other electronic means. The Department may use identifying information only for purposes of collecting and enforcing user fees. Nothing in this section is intended to limit the right of any person to examine that person's own account information, or the right of any party, by authority of a proper court order, to inspect and examine identifying information."
SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the Highway Fund to the Department of Transportation the sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) in recurring funds to be allocated to the Division of Ferries of the Department of Transportation and used for ferry vessel replacement.
SECTION 3.  Section 2 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2014. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.