As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 773

2025-2026

To amend sections 5537.01 and 5537.04 and to enact section 5537.31 of the Revised Code to require the sale of E15 blended fuel at turnpike service facilities and a feasibility study related to the sale of biodiesel fuel at those facilities.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 5537.01 and 5537.04 be amended and section 5537.31 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 5537.01. As used in this chapter:

(A) "Commission" means the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission created by section 5537.02 of the Revised Code or, if that commission is abolished, the board, body, officer, or commission succeeding to the principal functions thereof or to which the powers given by this chapter to the commission are given by law.

(B) "Turnpike project" means any express or limited access highway, super highway, or motorway constructed, operated, or improved, under the jurisdiction of the commission and pursuant to this chapter and approved by the governor, including all bridges, tunnels, overpasses, underpasses, interchanges, entrance plazas, approaches, those portions of connecting public roads that serve interchanges and are determined by the commission and the director of transportation to be necessary for the safe merging of traffic between the turnpike project and those public roads, toll booths, service facilities, and administration, storage, and other buildings, property, and facilities that the commission considers necessary for the operation or policing of the turnpike project, together with all property and rights which may be acquired by the commission for the construction, maintenance, or operation of the turnpike project, and includes any sections or extensions of a turnpike project designated by the commission as such for the particular purpose. Each turnpike project shall be separately designated, by name or number, and may be constructed, improved, or extended in such sections as the commission may from time to time determine. Construction includes the improvement and renovation of a previously constructed turnpike project, including additional interchanges, whether or not the turnpike project was initially constructed by the commission.

(C) "Infrastructure project" means any public express or limited access highway, super highway, or motorway, including all bridges, tunnels, overpasses, underpasses, interchanges, entrance plazas, approaches, and those portions of connecting public roads that serve interchanges, that is constructed or improved, in whole or in part, with infrastructure funding approved pursuant to criteria established under section 5537.18 of the Revised Code.

(D) "Cost," as applied to construction of a turnpike project or an infrastructure project, includes the cost of construction, including bridges over or under existing highways and railroads, acquisition of all property acquired either by the commission or by the owner of the infrastructure project for the construction, demolishing or removing any buildings or structures on land so acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which the buildings or structures may be moved, site clearance, improvement, and preparation, diverting public roads, interchanges with public roads, access roads to private property, including the cost of land or easements therefor, all machinery, furnishings, and equipment, communications facilities, financing expenses, interest prior to and during construction and for one year after completion of construction, traffic estimates, indemnity and surety bonds and premiums on insurance, title work and title commitments, insurance, and guarantees, engineering, feasibility studies, and legal expenses, plans, specifications, surveys, estimates of cost and revenues, other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of constructing or operating a turnpike project or an infrastructure project, administrative expenses, and any other expense that may be necessary or incident to the construction of the turnpike project or an infrastructure project, the financing of the construction, and the placing of the turnpike project or an infrastructure project in operation. Any obligation or expense incurred by the department of transportation with the approval of the commission for surveys, borings, preparation of plans and specifications, and other engineering services in connection with the construction of a turnpike project or an infrastructure project, or by the federal government with the approval of the commission for any public road projects which must be reimbursed as a condition to the exercise of any of the powers of the commission under this chapter, shall be regarded as a part of the cost of the turnpike project or an infrastructure project and shall be reimbursed to the state or the federal government, as the case may be, from revenues, state taxes, or the proceeds of bonds as authorized by this chapter.

(E) "Owner" includes all persons having any title or interest in any property authorized to be acquired by the commission for turnpike projects under this chapter, or the public entity for whom an infrastructure project is funded, in whole or in part, by the commission under this chapter.

(F) "Revenues" means all tolls, service revenues, investment income on special funds, rentals, gifts, grants, and all other moneys coming into the possession of or under the control of the commission by virtue of this chapter, except the proceeds from the sale of bonds. "Revenues" does not include state taxes.

(G) "Public roads" means all public highways, roads, and streets in the state, whether maintained by a state agency or any other governmental agency.

(H) "Public utility facilities" means tracks, pipes, mains, conduits, cables, wires, towers, poles, and other equipment and appliances of any public utility.

(I) "Financing expenses" means all costs and expenses relating to the authorization, issuance, sale, delivery, authentication, deposit, custody, clearing, registration, transfer, exchange, fractionalization, replacement, payment, and servicing of bonds including, without limitation, costs and expenses for or relating to publication and printing, postage, delivery, preliminary and final official statements, offering circulars, and informational statements, travel and transportation, underwriters, placement agents, investment bankers, paying agents, registrars, authenticating agents, remarketing agents, custodians, clearing agencies or corporations, securities depositories, financial advisory services, certifications, audits, federal or state regulatory agencies, accounting and computation services, legal services and obtaining approving legal opinions and other legal opinions, credit ratings, redemption premiums, and credit enhancement facilities.

(J) "Bond proceedings" means the resolutions, trust agreements, certifications, notices, sale proceedings, leases, lease-purchase agreements, assignments, credit enhancement facility agreements, and other agreements, instruments, and documents, as amended and supplemented, or any one or more or any combination thereof, authorizing, or authorizing or providing for the terms and conditions applicable to, or providing for the security or sale or award or liquidity of, bonds, and includes the provisions set forth or incorporated in those bonds and bond proceedings.

(K) "Bond service charges" means principal, including any mandatory sinking fund or mandatory redemption requirements for the retirement of bonds, and interest and any redemption premium payable on bonds, as those payments come due and are payable to the bondholder or to a person making payment under a credit enhancement facility of those bond service charges to a bondholder.

(L) "Bond service fund" means the applicable fund created by the bond proceedings for and pledged to the payment of bond service charges on bonds provided for by those proceedings, including all moneys and investments, and earnings from investments, credited and to be credited to that fund as provided in the bond proceedings.

(M) "Bonds" means bonds, notes, including notes anticipating bonds or other notes, commercial paper, certificates of participation, or other evidences of obligation, including any interest coupons pertaining thereto, issued by the commission pursuant to this chapter.

(N) "Infrastructure fund" means the applicable fund or funds created by the bond proceedings, which shall be used to pay or defray the cost of infrastructure projects recommended by the director of transportation and evaluated and approved by the commission.

(O) "Net revenues" means revenues lawfully available to pay both current operating expenses of the commission and bond service charges in any fiscal year or other specified period, less current operating expenses of the commission and any amount necessary to maintain a working capital reserve for that period.

(P) "Pledged revenues" means net revenues, moneys and investments, and earnings on those investments, in the applicable bond service fund and any other special funds, and the proceeds of any bonds issued for the purpose of refunding prior bonds, all as lawfully available and by resolution of the commission committed for application as pledged revenues to the payment of bond service charges on particular issues of bonds.

(Q) "Service facilities" means service stations, restaurants, and other facilities for food service, roadside parks and rest areas, parking, camping, tenting, rest, and sleeping facilities, hotels or motels, and all similar and other facilities providing services to the traveling public in connection with the use of a turnpike project and owned, leased, licensed, or operated by the commission.

(R) "Service revenues" means those revenues of the commission derived from its ownership, leasing, licensing, or operation of service facilities.

(S) "Special funds" means the applicable bond service fund and any accounts and subaccounts in that fund, any other funds or accounts permitted by and established under, and identified as a "special fund" or "special account" in, the bond proceedings, including any special fund or account established for purposes of rebate or other requirements under federal income tax laws.

(T) "State agencies" means the state, officers of the state, and boards, departments, branches, divisions, or other units or agencies of the state.

(U) "State taxes" means receipts of the commission from the proceeds of state taxes or excises levied and collected, or appropriated by the general assembly to the commission, for the purposes and functions of the commission. State taxes do not include tolls, or investment earnings on state taxes except on those state taxes referred to in Section 5a of Article XII, Ohio Constitution.

(V) "Tolls" means tolls, special fees or permit fees, or other charges by the commission to the owners, lessors, lessees, or operators of motor vehicles for the operation of or the right to operate those vehicles on a turnpike project.

(W) "Credit enhancement facilities" means letters of credit, lines of credit, standby, contingent, or firm securities purchase agreements, insurance, or surety arrangements, guarantees, and other arrangements that provide for direct or contingent payment of bond service charges, for security or additional security in the event of nonpayment or default in respect of bonds, or for making payment of bond service charges and at the option and on demand of bondholders or at the option of the commission or upon certain conditions occurring under put or similar arrangements, or for otherwise supporting the credit or liquidity of the bonds, and includes credit, reimbursement, marketing, remarketing, indexing, carrying, interest rate hedge, and subrogation agreements, and other agreements and arrangements for payment and reimbursement of the person providing the credit enhancement facility and the security for that payment and reimbursement.

(X) "Person" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the Revised Code and, unless the context otherwise provides, also includes any governmental agency and any combination of those persons.

(Y) "Refund" means to fund and retire outstanding bonds, including advance refunding with or without payment or redemption prior to stated maturity.

(Z) "Governmental agency" means any state agency, federal agency, political subdivision, or other local, interstate, or regional governmental agency, and any combination of those agencies.

(AA) "Property" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the Revised Code, and includes interests in property.

(BB) "Administrative agent," "agent," "commercial paper," "floating rate interest structure," "indexing agent," "interest rate hedge," "interest rate period," "put arrangement," and "remarketing agent" have the same meanings as in section 9.98 of the Revised Code.

(CC) "Outstanding," as applied to bonds, means outstanding in accordance with the terms of the bonds and the applicable bond proceedings.

(DD) "Ohio turnpike system" or "system" means all existing and future turnpike projects constructed, operated, and maintained under the jurisdiction of the commission.

(EE) "Ohio turnpike and infrastructure system" means turnpike projects and infrastructure projects funded by the commission existing on and after July 1, 2013, that facilitate access to, use of, and egress from the Ohio turnpike system, and also facilitate access to and from areas of population, commerce, and industry that are connected to the Ohio turnpike system.

(FF) "E15 blended fuel" means gasoline that contains more than ten and not more than fifteen volume per cent ethanol.

(GG) "Authorized motor fuel retailer" means any person licensed in this state to offer motor fuel for retail sale to the public and under contract with the commission to sell such motor fuel at a service facility connected to the Ohio turnpike system.

Sec. 5537.04. (A) The Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission may do any of the following:

(1) Adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business;

(2) Adopt an official seal, which shall not be the great seal of the state and which need not be in compliance with section 5.10 of the Revised Code;

(3) Maintain a principal office and suboffices at such places within the state as it designates;

(4) With respect to the Ohio turnpike system and turnpike projects, sue and be sued in its own name, plead and be impleaded, provided any actions against the commission shall be brought in the court of common pleas of the county in which the principal office of the commission is located, or in the court of common pleas of the county in which the cause of action arose if that county is located within this state, and all summonses, exceptions, and notices of every kind shall be served on the commission by leaving a copy thereof at its principal office with the secretary-treasurer or executive director of the commission;

(5) With respect to infrastructure projects only, sue and be sued in its own name, plead and be impleaded, provided any actions against the commission shall be brought in the court of common pleas of Franklin county, and all summonses, exceptions, and notices of every kind shall be served on the commission by leaving a copy thereof at its principal office with the secretary-treasurer or executive director of the commission.

(6) Construct, maintain, repair, police, and operate the turnpike system, and establish rules for the use of any turnpike project;

(7) Issue revenue bonds of the state, payable solely from pledged revenues, as provided in this chapter, for the purpose of paying any part of the cost of constructing any one or more turnpike projects or infrastructure projects;

(8) Fix, and revise from time to time, and charge and collect tolls by any method approved by the commission, including, but not limited to, manual methods or through electronic technology accepted within the tolling industry;

(9) Acquire, hold, and dispose of property in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties under this chapter;

(10) Designate the locations and establish, limit, and control such points of ingress to and egress from each turnpike project as are necessary or desirable in the judgment of the commission and of the director of transportation to ensure the proper operation and maintenance of that turnpike project, and prohibit entrance to such a turnpike project from any point not so designated;

(11) Make and enter into all contracts and agreements necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers under this chapter, including participation in a multi-jurisdiction electronic toll collection agreement and collection or remittance of tolls, fees, or other charges to or from entities or agencies that participate in such an agreement; the commission also may enter into agreements with retail locations, including deputy registrars, to allow the general public to acquire electronic toll collection devices, commonly known as transponders, from the retail locations for such reasonable fees as are established by the commission;

(12) Employ or retain or contract for the services of consulting engineers, superintendents, managers, and any other engineers, construction and accounting experts, financial advisers, trustees, marketing, remarketing, and administrative agents, attorneys, and other employees, independent contractors, or agents that are necessary in its judgment and fix their compensation, provided all such expenses shall be payable solely from the proceeds of bonds or from revenues of the Ohio turnpike system;

(13) Receive and accept from any federal agency, subject to the approval of the governor, and from any other governmental agency grants for or in aid of the construction, reconstruction, repair, renovation, maintenance, or operation of any turnpike project, and receive and accept aid or contributions from any source or person of money, property, labor, or other things of value, to be held, used, and applied only for the purposes for which such grants and contributions are made;

(14) Provide coverage for its employees under Chapters 4123. and 4141. of the Revised Code;

(15) Fix and revise by rule, from time to time, such permit fees, processing fees, or administrative charges for the prepayment, deferred payment, or nonpayment of tolls and use of electronic tolling equipment or other commission property;

(16) Adopt rules for all of the following:

(a) The issuance of citations by a policing authority, the issuance of citations through administrative means, and the issuance of invoices by the commission to any person that fails to pay the tolls or fees established for the use of any turnpike project;

(b) The issuance of a second invoice to any person who fails to remit payment of a toll or fee to the commission for more than thirty days after issuance of the first invoice and for the imposition of associated late fees;

(c) The implementation of procedures whereby a person may dispute an invoice with the commission through an administrative hearing at the commission's principal office as authorized under section 5537.041 of the Revised Code;

(d) The implementation of procedures whereby a person may appeal the decision of an administrative hearing in the manner described in section 5537.041 of the Revised Code.

(17) Approve funding and authorize agreements with the department of transportation for the funding of infrastructure projects recommended by the director of transportation pursuant to the criteria established by rule under section 5537.18 of the Revised Code;

(18) Adopt rules related to equipment standards, safety compliance, timelines, and funding agreements for the installation, retrofitting, or other construction associated with ensuring that E15 blended fuel is made available by authorized motor fuel retailers at service facilities in accordance with section 5537.31 of the Revised Code.

(B) The commission may do all acts necessary or proper to carry out the powers expressly granted in this chapter.

(C) As used in this section and section 5537.041 of the Revised Code, "person" has the same meaning as in section 1745.05 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 5537.31. (A) Not later than July 1, 2027, the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission shall contract with one or more authorized motor fuel retailers to ensure that each service facility connected to the Ohio turnpike system offers for sale E15 blended fuel in pumps that are adjacent to or comparable to all other forms of fuel offered for sale at those service facilities.

(B) The installation, retrofitting, or other construction associated with ensuring each service facility is capable of selling E15 blended fuel is a turnpike project. As such, the costs associated with the project may be paid from revenues, state taxes, or the proceeds of bonds as authorized under this chapter. The commission may also seek federal grants that are available for alternative fuel infrastructure or other funds available through similar incentive programs.

(C)(1) Prior to July 1, 2027, the commission shall include the following in its annual comprehensive financial report made under division (E) of section 5537.17 of the Revised Code:

(a) Information regarding the installation progress and costs of the turnpike project required by this section;

(b) Once each installation is completed, certification of the availability of E15 blended fuel at each service facility.

(2) Beginning July 1, 2027, the commission shall certify each year the continued availability of E15 blended fuel at each service facility in the annual comprehensive financial report.

Section 2. That existing sections 5537.01 and 5537.04 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission shall conduct a feasibility study for the installation, retrofitting, or other construction associated with ensuring each service facility along the turnpike is capable of selling biodiesel fuel. As part of the study, the Commission shall perform a cost analysis related to the expansion of fuel options to include biodiesel fuel and an analysis of what infrastructure, if any, would need to be changed to accommodate a biodiesel pump at the service facilities.

The Commission shall complete the feasibility study not later than twelve months after the effective date of this section.