ASSEMBLY, No. 702
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION
By Assemblyman ZISA
An Act providing immunity from liability to public entities under certain circumstances, supplementing chapter 2 of Title 59 of the New Jersey Statutes and amending R.S.48:17-11.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) A public entity shall not be liable for injury proximately caused by the siting and erection on any public road, street or highway of any municipality or county of any pole, conduit, wire or other fixture by any public or private utility company operating in this State.
2. R.S.48:17-11 is amended to read as follows:
48:17-11. The governing body of any municipality or the board of freeholders of any county [on] before granting permission to use any street, road or highway for a local line, or on written application to it by any such telegraph or telephone company desiring to construct any through line, shall [designate by ordinance or resolution] require the telegraph or telephone company to submit to it a plan showing the streets, roads or highways in, along, over or under which the poles, wires, conduits and other fixtures [shall] would be erected or constructed and the manner of erecting or constructing the same and the particular location in any street, road or highway where the same [shall] would be placed.
[They shall be located and constructed according to a] The plan [showing] shall show the location, number and size of the poles, conduits and other fixtures [to be approved by the governing body or board of freeholders before any work is begun. They shall be so] and shall show that they will be placed as not to interfere with the safety or convenience of persons or vehicles traveling on any such street, road or highway. Before any work is begun, the telegraph or telephone company shall obtain the permission of the governing body of the municipality or board of chosen freeholders of the county, by ordinance or resolution, as appropriate, to carry out the elements of the plan. However, the governing body of the municipality or the board of chosen freeholders of the county, in granting permission to the telegraph or telephone company to carry out the elements of the plan, shall not be liable for any injury proximately caused by the siting and erection on any public road, street or highway of the municipality or county, as appropriate, of any pole, conduit, wire or other fixture of the telegraph or telephone company.
The use of all streets, roads or highways by the company shall be subject to such police and other regulations and restrictions as may be adopted by the governing body of the municipality or the board of freeholders.
(cf: R.S.48:17-11)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that a public entity, such as a county or municipality, shall not be liable for injury proximately caused by the siting and erection on any public road, street or highway of any municipality or county of any pole, conduit, wire or other fixture by any public or private utility company operating in this State.
The bill also removes from current law the requirement that the governing body of a municipality or county must designate, by ordinance or resolution, as appropriate, the location on public streets, roads or highways of the poles, wires, conduits or other fixtures of a telegraph or telephone company, and the manner of construction of such apparatus. This requirement is replaced by language requiring the telegraph or telephone company to submit to the governing body of the county or municipality a plan showing the location and manner of construction of the poles, wires, conduits or other fixtures of the utility, and requiring that the permission of the appropriate governing body, by ordinance or resolution, as appropriate, must be obtained to carry out the elements of the plan.
The provisions of this bill are intended to respond to the ruling of the New Jersey State Supreme Court in Contey v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Co., 136 N.J.582 (1994) that under current law the primary responsibility for the safety of the motoring public rests with the highway planners and engineers and the public bodies by whom they are employed at the State, county and local level, and therefore, municipalities and counties will not be able to ensure their protection under the "New Jersey Tort Claims Act," N.J.S.A.59:1-1 et seq., if
they do not specifically approve the location and design of utility fixtures.
Provides immunity under the "New Jersey Tort Claims Act" to public entities under certain circumstances.