6. The corporation shall be a body corporate and politic and shall have perpetual succession and shall have the following powers:

(a) To adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business;

(b) To adopt an official seal and alter the same at pleasure;

(c) To maintain an office at such place or places within the district as it may designate;

(d) To sue and be sued in its own name;

(e) To establish, acquire, construct, rehabilitate, improve, own, operate and maintain marine terminals at such locations within the district as it shall determine;

(f) To enter into lease agreements with private marine terminal operators for the purpose of operating and maintaining any of the marine terminals established, acquired, owned, constructed, rehabilitated or improved by the corporation;

(g) To issue bonds or notes of the corporation for any of its corporate purposes and to provide for the rights of the holders thereof as provided in this act;

(h) To fix and revise from time to time and charge and collect rents, tolls, fees and charges for use of the several functions and services of any marine terminal acquired or constructed by it;

(i) To establish rules and regulations for the use of any terminal;

(j) To acquire, hold and dispose of real and personal property in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties under this act;

(k) To acquire in the name of the corporation by purchase or otherwise, on such terms and conditions and in such manner as it may deem proper, or by the exercise of the power of eminent domain any land and other property which it may determine is reasonably necessary for any marine terminal or for the relocation or reconstruction of any highway by the corporation and any and all rights, title and interest in such land and other property, including public lands, parks, playgrounds, reservations, highways or parkways, owned by or in which any county, city, borough, town, township, village, or other political subdivision of the State of New Jersey has any right, title or interest, or parts thereof or rights therein and any fee simple absolute or any lesser interest in private property, and any fee simple absolute in, easements upon, or the benefit of restrictions upon, abutting property to preserve and protect any marine terminal.

Upon the exercise of the power of eminent domain, the compensation to be paid thereunder shall be ascertained and paid in the manner provided in the “Eminent Domain Act of 1971,” P.L.1971, c.361 (C. 20:3-1 et seq.), insofar as the provisions thereof are applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions contained in this act. The corporation may join in separate subdivisions in one petition or complaint the descriptions of any number of tracts or parcels of land or property to be condemned and the names of any number of owners and other parties who may have an interest therein and all such land or property included in said petition or complaint may be condemned in a single proceeding; provided, however, that separate awards be made for each tract or parcel of land or property; and provided further, that each of said tracts or parcels of land or property lies wholly in or has a substantial part of its value lying wholly within the same county.

Upon the filing of such petition or complaint or at any time thereafter the corporation may file with the clerk of the county in which such property is located and also with the Clerk of the Superior Court a declaration of taking, signed by the corporation declaring that possession of one or more of the tracts or parcels of land or property described in the petition or complaint is thereby being taken by and for the use of the corporation. The said declaration of taking shall be sufficient if it sets forth (1) a description of each tract or parcel of land or property to be so taken sufficient for the identification thereof to which there shall be attached a plan or map thereof; (2) a statement of the estate or interest in the said land or property being taken; (3) a statement of the sum of money estimated by the corporation by resolution to be just compensation for the taking of the estate or interest in each tract or parcel of land or property described in said declaration; and (4) that, in compliance with the provisions of this act, the corporation has established and is maintaining a trust fund as hereinafter provided.

Upon the filing of the said declaration, the corporation shall deposit with the Clerk of the Superior Court the amount of the estimated compensation stated in said declaration. In addition to the said deposits with the Clerk of the Superior Court the corporation at all times shall maintain a special trust fund on deposit with a bank or trust company doing business in this State in an account at least equal to twice the aggregate amount deposited with the Clerk of the Superior Court as estimated compensation for all property described in declarations of taking with respect to which the compensation has not been finally determined and paid to the persons entitled thereto or into court. Said trust fund shall consist of cash or securities readily convertible into cash constituting legal investment for trust funds under the laws of this State. Said trust fund shall be held solely to secure and may be applied to the payment of just compensation for the land or other property described in such declarations of taking. The corporation shall be entitled to withdraw from said trust fund from time to time so much as may then be in excess of twice the aggregate of the amount deposited with the Clerk of the Superior Court as estimated compensation for all property described in declarations of taking with respect to which the compensation has not been finally determined and paid to the persons entitled thereto or into court.

Upon the filing of the said declaration as aforesaid and depositing with the Clerk of the Superior Court the amount of the estimated compensation stated in said declaration, the corporation without other process or proceedings, shall be entitled to the exclusive possession and use of each tract of land or property described in said declaration and may forthwith enter into and take possession of said land or property, it being the intent of this provision that the proceedings for compensation or any other proceedings relating to the taking of said land or interest therein or other property shall not delay the taking of possession thereof and the use thereof by the corporation for the purpose or purposes for which the corporation is authorized by law to acquire or condemn such land or other property or interest therein.

The corporation shall cause notice of the filing of said declaration and the making of said deposit to be served upon each party in interest named in the petition residing in this State, either personally or by leaving a copy thereof at his residence, if known, and upon each party in interest residing out of the State, by mailing a copy thereof to him at his residence, if known. In the event that the residence of any such party or the name of such party is unknown, such notice shall be published at least once in a newspaper published or circulating in the county or counties in which the land is located. Such service, mailing or publication shall be made within 10 days after filing such declaration. Upon the application of any party in interest and after notice to other parties in interest, including the corporation, any judge of the Superior Court assigned to sit for said county may order that the money deposited with the Clerk of the Superior Court or any part thereof be paid forthwith to the person or persons entitled thereto for or on account of the just compensation to be awarded in said proceeding; provided, that each such person shall have filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court a consent in writing that, in the event the award in the condemnation proceeding shall be less than the amount deposited, the court, after notice as herein provided and hearing, may determine his liability, if any, for the return of such difference or any part thereof and enter judgment therefor. If the amount of the award as finally determined shall exceed the amount so deposited, the person or persons to whom the award is payable shall be entitled to recover from the corporation the difference between the amount of the deposit and the amount of the award, with interest at the rate of 6% per annum thereon from the date of making the deposit. If the amount of the award shall be less than the amount so deposited, the Clerk of the Superior Court shall return the difference between the amount of the award and the deposit to the corporation unless the amount of the deposit or any part thereof shall have theretofore been distributed, in which event the court, on petition of the corporation and notice to all persons interested in the award and affording them an opportunity to be heard, shall enter judgment in favor of the corporation for such difference against the party or parties liable for the return thereof. The corporation shall cause notice of the date fixed for such hearing to be served upon each party thereto residing in this State either personally or by leaving a copy thereof at his residence, if known, and upon each party residing out of the State by mailing a copy to him at his residence, if known. In the event that the residence of any party or the name of such party is unknown, such notice shall be published at least once in a newspaper published or circulating in the county or counties in which the land is located. Such service, mailing or publication shall be made at least 10 days before the date fixed for such hearing.

Whenever under the “Eminent Domain Act of 1971” the amount of the award may be paid into court, payment may be made into the Superior Court and may be distributed according to law. The corporation shall not abandon any condemnation proceeding subsequent to the date upon which it has taken possession of the land or property as herein provided;

(l) To 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 act;

(m) To appoint such additional officers, who need not be members of the corporation as the corporation deems advisable, and to employ consulting engineers, attorneys, accountants, construction and financial experts, superintendents, managers, and such other employees and agents as may be necessary in its judgment; to fix their compensation; and to promote and discharge such officers, employees and agents; all without regard to the provisions of Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes; provided, however that in the hiring of any employees or agents the corporation shall hire any full-time employees of the Camden Marine Terminals or of the South Jersey Port Commission, dissolved as hereinafter provided by this act, who express a desire to be employed by the corporation; and provided further, that the corporation shall provide for the protection and maintenance of any contract, agreement or memorandum of understanding concerning wages, working conditions or benefits of any nature whatsoever between said Camden Marine Terminals or South Jersey Port Commission and such employees or their designated representative, and the corporation shall guarantee any pension rights or benefits, including membership in any State, private or other pension plan, of any such employees of the Camden Marine Terminals or the South Jersey Port Commission;

(n) To apply for, receive and accept from any federal agency, subject to the approval of the Governor, grants for or in aid of the planning or construction of any marine terminal, and to receive and accept aid or contributions from any source, of either money, property, labor or other things of value, to be held, used and applied only for the purposes for which such grants and contributions may be made;

(o) To acquire any lands under water in the State of New Jersey for marine terminal, purposes by grant, transfer or conveyance from the Resource Development Council in the Department of Conservation and Economic Development in accordance with the statutes of the State governing the making of riparian grants and leases, upon such terms and conditions as may be determined by said council;

(p) To acquire any real property required or used for State highway purposes in the State of New Jersey, by grant, transfer or conveyance from the State Department of Transportation of the State of New Jersey upon such terms and conditions as may be determined by said State Department of Transportation;

(q) To promote the use of the port facilities in the district and the use of the Delaware river and bay as a highway of commerce and in furtherance of such promotion to make expenditures in the United States and foreign countries, to pay commissions, and hire or contract with experts and consultants, and otherwise to do indirectly anything which the corporation may do directly;

(r) To co-operate with all other bodies interested or concerned with, or affected by the promotion, development or use of the Delaware river and bay and the port district;

(s) To enter into contracts and agreements with the Delaware River Port Authority or any other regional agency concerned with marine terminal purposes providing for joint participation by the parties in any undertaking for marine terminal purposes authorized by this act;

(t) Subject to the terms of any agreement by the corporation with the holders of bonds and notes and in the interests of promoting and establishing unity of authority in the control, development and over the use of the port facilities of the district, to lend, lease, grant or convey to or merge or consolidate with any other regional agency concerned with marine terminal purposes upon such terms and conditions and with such reservations as the corporation shall deem reasonable and fair, any marine terminal or part thereof or any port facility or property which it owns or controls, provided, however, that the corporation shall not act under this subsection until it has submitted to the Legislature any proposed loan, lease, grant or conveyance to or merger with any other regional agency of any marine terminal or port thereof or any other port facility which it owns or controls, and the Legislature has expressed its approval thereof in the form of a concurrent resolution expressing such approval passed by both houses of the Legislature, provided, however, that no such approval shall be required for any action of the corporation or otherwise, pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1997, c.150 (C. 34:1B-144 et al.);

(u) Subject to the terms of any agreement by the corporation with the holders of bonds and notes, to lend, lease, transfer, grant or convey to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority any port facility, as defined in section 3 of P.L.1997, c.150 (C. 34:1B-146), which is under its jurisdiction, ownership or control;

(v) To do all acts and things necessary or convenient to carry out the powers expressly granted in this act.

L.1968,c.60,s.6; amended 1997, c.150, s.21.