An Act concerning measurement of the global warming impact of greenhouse gases and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
C.26:2C-59 20-year time horizon for calculating global warming potential to measure global warming impact of greenhouse gases.
1. a. Whenever the Department of Environmental Protection, the Board of Public Utilities, or any other State agency calculates a global warming potential for the purposes of assessing the global warming impact of a greenhouse gas, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Board of Public Utilities, or other State agency shall use a 20-year time horizon.
b. Whenever relevant to assessing global warming impacts, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Board of Public Utilities, or any other State agency shall use the most recent version of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Assessment Report, or a substantially similar, more recent report that addresses global warming impacts at a comparably rigorous level.
c. Whenever the Department of Environmental Protection, the Board of Public Utilities, or any other State agency performs a socio-economic impact analysis pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-4), and that analysis involves the socio-economic impact of global warming, the agency shall use the lowest discount rates that are consistent with federal guidelines, including the federal Office of Management and Budget Circular A-94, or successor guidance.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Approved January 13, 2020.