ASSEMBLY, No. 1106

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblyman LANCE

An Act concerning land-based sludge disposal facilities, and supplementing P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.).

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

    1. As used in this act:

    "Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection.

    "Host municipality" means any municipality in which a nonpublic facility for the land-based disposal or processing of sludge is located.

    "Land-based disposal" means the application of wet or dry sludge that meets the land-based sludge management criteria on privately-owned lands permitted or approved by the department for such operations.

    "Land-based sludge management criteria" means those standards established by the department in the Statewide Sludge Management Plan adopted pursuant to the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), or established pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.), or any regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

    "Out-of-county sludge" means any sludge accepted for land-based disposal or processing which was generated outside the county in which a nonpublic facility for the land-based disposal or processing of sludge is located.

    "Processing of sludge" means the use of sludge for the commercial production of energy, fertilizer or other useful materials ,but shall not include the receipt, packaging or sale of sludge derived products.

    "Sludge" or "sewage sludge" means the solid residue and associated liquid resulting from physical, chemical, or biological treatment of domestic or industrial wastewaters.

    "Wastewater" means residential, commercial, industrial, or agricultural liquid waste, sewage, stormwater runoff, or any combination thereof, or other residue discharged to or collected by a sewerage system.

    2. a. Commencing January 1, 1996 and each year thereafter, any municipality wherein an operational nonpublic facility for the land-based disposal or processing of sludge approved by the department is located, which nonpublic facility accepts out-of-county sludge for disposal or processing, shall be entitled to an annual economic benefit not less than the equivalent of $15.00 per dry ton of sludge for that portion of the total daily permitted capacity utilized for out-of-county sludge disposal or processing as determined by the department.

    The owner or operator of the nonpublic facility shall annually pay to the host municipality the full amount due under this subsection and each host municipality is empowered to anticipate this amount for the purposes of preparing its annual budget. For the purposes of calculating the payments, the owner or operator of the nonpublic facility may, subject to the prior agreement of the governing body of the host municipality, provide the host municipality with any of the following benefits in consideration for the use of land within its municipal boundaries as the location of a nonpublic facility for the land-based disposal or processing of out-of-county sludge:

    (1) The receipt of annual sums of money in lieu of taxes on the land used for the nonpublic facility;

    (2) The exemption from all fees and charges for the land-based disposal or processing of sewage sludge generated within its boundaries;

    (3) The receipt of a lump sum cash payment; or

    (4) Any combination thereof.

    b. In the event that land-based sludge disposal operations and sludge processing operations are conducted on the same site, the site shall be considered a single nonpublic facility for the purposes of the annual payments required pursuant to subsection a. of this section.

    c. The provisions of this section shall not apply to agricultural lands on which sludge is applied.

    3. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill provides that any municipality in which is located an operational nonpublic facility for the land-based disposal or processing of sludge that is approved by the Department of Environmental Protection and that accepts sludge from out-of-county sources for disposal or processing, is entitled to an annual economic benefit not less than the equivalent of $15.00 per ton of sludge for that portion of the facility's total daily permitted capacity utilized for out-of-county sludge disposal or processing.

Provides annual economic benefit to municipalities wherein nonpublic sludge disposal or processing facilities are located.