ASSEMBLY, No. 2442

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

217th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  TIM EUSTACE

District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblyman  BENJIE E. WIMBERLY

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblyman  REED GUSCIORA

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Assemblywoman  VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE

District 37 (Bergen)

SYNOPSIS

     Establishes Capture, Control, and Conserve Reward Rebate Program in DEP to encourage property owners to implement certain techniques to conserve water or control stormwater runoff.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

An Act concerning water conservation and stormwater runoff and supplementing Title 58 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

     1.    a. The Department of Environmental Protection shall establish a Capture, Control, and Conserve Reward Rebate Program within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the department for the purpose of water conservation.  The purpose of the program shall be to encourage property owners to implement various approved techniques to help conserve water and control the quantity and quality of stormwater runoff from their individual properties.

     b.    The department shall issue, within the limits of available funding, a reward rebate to any property owner who implements an eligible water capture, control, or conserve technique on the person’s property, submits a complete application for the reward rebate, and meets the requirements set forth in this section and in any rules or regulations adopted by the department pursuant to subsection d. of this section.  The amount of the reward rebate, either individually or cumulatively, shall not exceed $2,500 per property for residential property or $10,000 per property for commercial, multi-family, or institutional property.  The department may base the amount of an individual reward rebate, at least in part, upon the amount of impervious cover on the property and the projected effectiveness of the selected water capture, control, or conserve technique or techniques in countering negative environmental effects caused by the impervious cover.  Eligible water capture, control, or conserve techniques shall include the following:

     (1)   rain gardens;

     (2)   conservation landscaping;

     (3)   tree canopies;

     (4)   permeable paving surfaces;

     (5)   green roofs;

     (6)   rain barrels and cisterns;

     (7)   dry wells; and

     (8)   any other technique determined to be eligible by the department.

     c.     (1)  To be eligible for a reward rebate, a property owner shall allow personnel of the department to access the property to inspect and confirm implementation of the water capture, control, or conserve technique that is the subject of the rebate application.

     (2)   A water capture, control, or conserve technique implemented to meet a condition or requirement of a permit issued by the department shall not be eligible for a reward rebate pursuant to this section.

     d. The department shall:

     (1)   publicize on its Internet website when funding for this program is available and when applications for reward rebates will be accepted by the department; and

     (2)   adopt, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the implementation of this act.

     e.     As used in this section, “institutional property” means property which is not strictly agricultural, commercial, industrial, or residential, but which serves a public purpose, and may include a school, hospital, airport, and property owned by a religious or charitable institution.

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

     This bill directs the Department of Environmental Protection to establish a Capture, Control, and Conserve Reward Rebate Program within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the department for the purpose of water conservation.  The purpose of the program would be to encourage property owners to implement various approved techniques to help conserve water and control the quantity and quality of stormwater runoff from their individual properties.

     The department would issue a reward rebate to any property owner who implements an eligible water capture, control, or conserve technique on the person’s property, submits a complete application for the reward rebate, and meets the requirements set forth in the bill and any regulations that may be adopted by the department to implement the program.  The amount of the reward rebate, either individually or cumulatively, would not exceed $2,500 per property for residential property or $10,000 per property for commercial, multi-family, or institutional property.  The department would be authorized to base the amount of an individual reward rebate, at least in part, upon the amount of impervious cover on the property and the projected effectiveness of the selected water capture, control, or conserve technique in countering negative environmental effects caused by the impervious cover.  Eligible water capture, control, or conserve techniques would include the following:

     (1) rain gardens;

     (2) conservation landscaping;

     (3) tree canopies;

     (4) permeable paving surfaces;

     (5) green roofs;

     (6) rain barrels and cisterns;

     (7) dry wells; and

     (8) any other technique determined to be eligible by the department.