ASSEMBLY, No. 1100

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblyman CORODEMUS

An Act concerning the regulation of surface water discharges and supplementing Chapter 10A of Title 58 of the Revised Statutes.

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

    1. a. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall impose an annual surcharge on the fee imposed for each permit issued pursuant to P.L. 1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.) for the operation of a facility which discharges into Newark Bay or Raritan Bay, or into waters that flow into either of these bays. Any monies collected by the department pursuant to this act shall be deposited into a special, non-lapsing fund, which shall be used only to offset the costs associated with the disposal of contaminated material dredged from such waters. For the purposes of this act, no surcharge shall be imposed on a local agency, as defined pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-3).

    b. The amount of the surcharge authorized pursuant to this act shall be determined by the commissioner, on a case-by-case basis, and in consultation with the Commissioner of Commerce and Economic Development, who shall consider the following criteria:

    (1) The number of permit holders who meet the conditions of subsection a. of this section;

    (2) The costs of contaminated dredged material disposal;

    (3) Any other sources of revenue or financing that could be used to offset the cost of contaminated dredged material disposal; and

    (4) Any economic conditions or circumstances which may affect the ability of the permit holder to pay the surcharge.

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill would require the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to impose a surcharge, to be determined pursuant to criteria set forth in the bill, on the fee imposed for each New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) permit issued pursuant to the "Water Pollution Control Act," P.L. 1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1) for the operation of a facility which discharges into Newark or Raritan Bays, or into the waters that flow into either of these water bodies. The surcharge would not be assessed local agencies, which includes municipal treatment works. The amounts collected from the surcharge would be used to defray the costs associated with disposal of contaminated materials dredged from these waters.

    In determining the amount of the surcharge to be imposed, the commissioner, in consultation with the Commissioner of Commerce and Economic Development, would consider the number of permit holders, the costs of disposal, other sources of revenue or financing that could be used to pay for the costs of disposal, and any economic conditions or circumstances that could affect the ability of the permit holder to pay the proposed surcharge.

    The bill is intended to target those polluters who contribute to the contamination of sediment in these ports and impose a fee to offset the costs of removing (i.e., dredging) and safely disposing of this contaminated sediment.

Imposes surcharge on certain regulated entities; requires surcharge to be used for contaminated dredged material disposal.