ASSEMBLY, No. 649

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

 

 

By Assemblymen IMPREVEDUTO and FELICE

 

 

An Act concerning the environmental permitting of biotechnology activity related permits and supplementing Title 13 of the Revised Statutes.

 

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

 

    1. a. There is created within the Department of Environmental Protection a Biotechnology Permit Acceleration Task Force. In addition to the activities specifically enumerated in this section, it shall be the function of the task force to develop and recommend rules and regulations and to take such other actions within the department designed to accelerate the commercialization of biotechnology related products and services. Upon the development and recommendations of rules and regulations by the task force, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall take all appropriate action to propose and adopt those rules and regulations. The development of rules and regulation by the task force shall be undertaken in consultation with the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology.

    b. The task force shall be responsible: (1) for the development of rules and regulations designed to shorten the time period for persons involved in biotechnology related activities to obtain permits from the department; (2) for the coordination of the review and approval of permits for biotechnology related activities in various divisions within the department; and (3) for the development of policies to decrease the application and review costs imposed by the department on persons who apply for permits for biotechnology related activities.

    c. The task force shall be an internal working group within the department consisting of employees of the department. The task force shall be headed by an employee of the department of sufficient education and technical expertise to perform the functions of the position. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall vest in the task force sufficient authority to properly manage and expedite the permit approval process for biotechnology related permits. The commissioner shall assign sufficient and appropriate employees to the task force so as to allow the task force to perform its functions.

    d. As used in this section "biotechnology" means the continually expanding body of fundamental knowledge about the functioning of biological systems from the macro level to the molecular and sub-atomic levels, as well as novel products, services, technologies and sub-technologies developed as a result of insights gained from research advances which add to that body of fundamental knowledge.

 

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill creates the Biotechnology Permit Acceleration Task Force within the Department of Environmental Protection. The task force, consisting of department employees, is charged with the development of rules and regulations for department actions designed to promote the commercialization of biotechnology related products and services.

    The task force is specifically charged with coordinating and accelerating the review and issuance of permits for biotechnology related permit review activities and with lowering the cost of these permits.

    The sponsor believes that this bill is needed to promote the growth and expansion of the biotechnology industry in this State. Biotechnology can provide social benefits through the development of new products that improve medical care, increase agricultural production, and facilitate environmental cleanup. However, excessive, burdensome, and costly government regulation can stymie the growth of the State's biotechnology industry. Additionally the Department of Environmental Protection has had difficulty in regulating industries such as biotechnology, due to its rapid technological advances. By dedicating specific employees to review the permits needed by biotechnology industries, the department will be better able to respond to their regulatory needs.

    This bill, while maintaining existing environmental standards but merely providing for administrative mechanisms to ease the regulatory burden on the biotechnology industry, promotes both the development of the industry and sound environmental policy.

 

 

 

Provides for fast track permitting of biotechnology related industries.