Gov. Phil Murphy announced Jan. 16 the Garden State filed an amended complaint in its lawsuit to combat New York City’s controversial and impending congestion pricing plan.

In July, the state took legal action against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, alleging the federal government violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Air Act by approving plans for congestion pricing without adequate environmental review.

Those claims are still pending, with the state’s legal efforts being spearheaded by Randy Mastro and Craig Carpenito of the law firm King & Spalding. Since that time, there have been a number of developments in the congestion pricing saga, including a preliminary pricing structure that would have passenger vehicles pay a $15 toll to enter the area south of 60th Street in Manhattan, the Central Business District (CBD), and the advance of the process to a public comment period.

The amended complaint requests the addition of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) as defendants as well as two more individual plaintiffs – Timothy Horner and Eric Gross (represented by their own private counsel) – who live in New Jersey, travel for work in the CBD, have lower incomes, and will not be eligible for the CBD tax credit since they do not live in New York.

In adding the MTA and TBTA to the lawsuit as defendants, the state alleges that the proposed tolling structure violates the U.S. Constitution’s dormant Commerce Clause – unconstitutionally burdening the right to travel.

The potential final approval and implementation of the new tolling system could come as early as this spring.

“New Jersey respectfully requests permission to supplement its Complaint as a result of the TMRB’s recommended tolling scheme. While FHWA arbitrarily and capriciously issued its Final EA and FONSI without requiring the project sponsors to identify the congestion pricing scheme that they would deploy, it is now apparent that the toll will likely discriminate against New Jerseyans—especially low-income New Jersey drivers who are not eligible for a low-income tax credit (unlike low-income drivers residing in the CBD)—and the tolling scheme will not fairly approximate use of the CBD by New Jersey residents and CBD residents,” attorneys wrote in a Jan. 16 letter to Judge Leda Dunn Wettre.

“Further, the recommendation confirms that only the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels will be eligible for a crossing credit, and the George Washington Bridge will not—a decision that further discriminates against New Jersey drivers,” the correspondence continues. “Based on the TMRB’s recommendation, New Jersey’s supplemental complaint would add claims based on the dormant Commerce Clause, Privileges & Immunities Clause, and Privileges or Immunities Clause against the MTA/TBTA, which were not apparent when New Jersey filed the original complaint.”

In a statement, Murphy said the tolling scheme currently being pursued by the MTA fails to address “our greatest concerns.”

“Compounding the federal government’s failure to subject the MTA’s proposal to the full environmental review it warranted, it’s now clear that the MTA’s plans will also result in a scheme that unfairly tolls and discriminates against New Jerseyans, especially low-income New Jersey drivers,” said Murphy. “The federal government and the MTA can no longer be permitted to fast-track a proposal that solely benefits New York’s transportation system at the expense of hardworking New Jerseyans.”

Another frequent critic of the plan, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th District, weighed in on the development.

“Today, @GovMurphy and his team made it clear: The MTA can’t use Jersey drivers as their free-for-all piggy bank,” Gottheimer wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “There will be consequences for their pollution-causing Congestion Tax.”

In a statement to NJBIZ, John McCarthy, MTA chief, Policy and External Relations, said, “You got to be kidding! New Jersey collects millions from New York drivers who use the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, but it’s somehow unconstitutional for New York to toll its own roads.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:12 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2024, to include a statement from the MTA.