§ 51420. Tour company vehicles registration with the Department of Commerce
TITLE 4: ECONOMIC RESOURCES § 51420 DIVISION 5: BUSINESS REGULATION § 51420. Tour company vehicles registration with the Department of Commerce. (a) All tour companies doing business within the Commonwealth of the North- ern Mariana Islands are hereby required to register each vehicle belonging to the tour company with the Department of Commerce and be issued a permit number by the Department of Commerce. Furthermore, the tour companies shall have proper signage written in English on each vehicle with the permit number provided by the Department of Commerce. The Department of Commerce shall charge rea- sonable fees for each vehicle registered belonging to the tour agency. (b) Consistent with this Section, the Secretary of Commerce shall have the au- thority to promulgate and establish reasonable registration and permitting fees through adopted regulations for the following vehicles belonging to tour operators: (1) Any vehicle registered under the tour operator that provides services for profit. (c) Disposition of Registration and Permitting Fees. (1) The Secretary of Finance shall establish a Commerce Revolving Fund Account which shall be accounted for separately from the General Fund. The funds deposited into the revolving account shall be exclusively used for the pur- pose of the administration of tour operator registration and permitting program, enforcement, training and outreach programs, and shall also be administered for personnel compensation such as overtime and night differential during special inspection assignments issued by the Secretary of Commerce. (2) The expenditure authority over the revolving account pursuant to this section is vested in the Secretary of Commerce. The funds deposited in the re- volving account shall be available for expenditure without further appropriation and without fiscal year limitations. (d) The Secretary of Commerce shall submit a report describing the account status, deposits and detail expenditure of the revolving account established under subsection (c) of this section. The report shall be submitted not later than 30 days after June 30th of each year to the chairpersons of the House Standing Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Standing Committee on Fiscal Affairs. Source: PL 19-28, § 2 (101)–(102) (Dec. 18, 2015), modified; amended by PL 22-10, § 2 (Oct. 25, 2021), modified. Commission Comment: In addition to severability and savings clauses PL 19-28 (Dec. 18, 2015) contained the following title and findings section: Section 1. Findings and Purpose. The Commonwealth Legislature finds that many tour companies have multiple vehicles providing services for each respective company. The Legislature finds that the tour companies are maximizing their profits by only registering the minimal number of vehicles under the name of the company but utilizing more vehicles for the services they provide their customers. Additionally, the Legislature finds that some of the vehicles with proper signage do not have them written in
§ 51420 TITLE 4: ECONOMIC RESOURCES DIVISION 5: BUSINESS REGULATION English. The Legislature finds that it is important that each vehicle belong- ing to tour companies be registered and issued a permit by the Department of Commerce so that they will be accounted for within the Commonwealth, most especially those that provide services for profit. The Commission numbered this section pursuant to 1 CMC § 3806(a). The Article title was created by the Commission. The Commission arranged the two sections proposed as 101 and 102 in PL 19-28 (Dec. 18, 2015) into a single sec- tion pursuant to 1 CMC § 3806(b). The Commission substituted the term “sec- tion” for “Act” in subsection (b) pursuant to 1 CMC § 3806(d). Legislative Findings of 2021 Amendment.— In addition to severability and savings clause provisions, PL 22-10 included the following Findings and Pur- pose section: Section 1. Findings and Purpose. The Commonwealth Legislature finds that Public Law 19-28, § 2 (101)- (102) (Dec. 18, 2015), codified under 4 CMC, § 51420, requires each ve- hicle belonging to tour companies be registered and issued a permit by the Department of Commerce so that they will be accounted for within the Commonwealth, most especially those that provide services for profit. However, Public Law 19-28 did not provide clarity with respect to how the Department of Commerce will establish reasonable registration and per- mitting fees. Therefore, the purpose of this legislation is to amend 4 CMC, § 51420(b), to empower the Secretary of Commerce to promulgate and es- tablish through adopted regulations reasonable registration and permitting fees, and for other purposes. Modifications.— In codifying PL 22-10, the Commission numbered portions of subsec. (c) as paragraphs (1) and (2), pursuant to 1 CMC § 3806(a), and sub- stituted “this section” for “this Act” in (c)(2), pursuant to 1 CMC § 3806(d).
Source: CNMI Law Revision Commission