ASSEMBLY, No. 1374

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblymen STEELE and PASCRELL

An Act establishing a host benefit program for municipalities hosting certain recycling centers and amending and supplementing P.L.1981, c.278.

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

    1. Section 3 of P.L.1981, c.278 (C.13:1E-94) is amended to read as follows:

    3. As used in this act:

    a. "Department" means the State Department of Environmental Protection;

    b. "Division" means the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury;

    c. "Director" means the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury;

    d. "Litter" means any used or unconsumed substance or waste material which has been discarded, whether made of aluminum, glass, plastic, rubber, paper, or other natural or synthetic material, or any combination thereof, including, but not limited to, any bottle, jar or can, or any top, cap or detachable tab of any bottle, jar or can, any unlighted cigarette, cigar, match or any flaming or glowing material or any garbage, trash, refuse, debris, rubbish, grass clippings or other lawn or garden waste, newspapers, magazines, glass, metal, plastic or paper containers or other packaging or construction material, but does not include the waste of the primary processes of mining or other extraction processes, logging, sawmilling, farming or manufacturing;

    e. "Litter-generating products" means the following specific goods which are produced, distributed, or purchased in disposable containers, packages or wrappings; or which are not usually sold in packages, containers, or wrappings but which are commonly discarded in public places; or which are of an unsightly or unsanitary nature, commonly thrown, dropped, discarded, placed, or deposited by a person on public property, or on private property not owned by him:

    (1) Beer and other malt beverages;

    (2) Cigarettes and tobacco products;

    (3) Cleaning agents and toiletries;

    (4) Distilled spirits;

    (5) Food for human or pet consumption;

    (6) Glass containers sold as such;

    (7) Groceries;

    (8) Metal containers sold as such;

    (9) Motor vehicle tires;

    (10) Newsprint and magazine paper stock;

    (11) Drugstore sundry products, but not including prescription drugs or nonprescription drugs;

    (12) Paper products and household paper;

    (13) Plastic or fiber containers made of synthetic material and sold as such, but not including any container which is routinely reused, has a useful life of more than one year and is ordinarily sold empty at retail;

    (14) Soft drinks and carbonated waters; and

    (15) Wine;

    f. "Litter receptacle" means a container suitable for the depositing of litter;

    g. "Municipality" means any city, borough, town, township or village situated within the boundaries of this State;

    h. "Public place" means any area that is used or held out for use by the public, whether owned or operated by public or private interests;

    i. "Recycling" means any process by which materials which would otherwise become solid waste are collected, separated or processed and returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials or products;

    j. "Sold within the State" or "sales within the State" means all sales of retailers engaged in business within the State and, in the case of manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors, all sales of products for use and consumption within the State. It shall be presumed that all sales of manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors sold within the State are for use and consumption within the State unless the taxpayer shows that the products are shipped out of State for out-of-State use;

    k. "Tax period" means every calendar month or any other period as may be prescribed by rule and regulation adopted by the director, on the basis of which the owner or operator of a solid waste facility is required to report to the director pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1981, c.278 (C.13:1E-95);

    l. "Taxpayer" means the owner or operator of a solid waste facility or the manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, or retailer of litter-generating products subject to the tax provisions of section 4 of P.L.1981, c.278 (C.13:1E-95) or section 6 of P.L.1985, c.533 (C.13:1E-99.1), as the case may be; and

    m. "Qualified recycling center" means a privately owned and operated recycling center than accepts for recycling not less than 5,200 tons of recyclable material per year, according to the most recent data maintained by the Office of Recycling in the department.

(cf: P.L.1987, c.102, s.34)

    2. Section 5 of P.L.1981, c.278 (C.13:1E-96) is amended to read as follows:

    5. a. The State Recycling Fund (hereinafter referred to as the "fund") is established as a nonlapsing, revolving fund. The fund shall be administered by the Department of Environmental Protection, and shall be credited with all tax revenue collected by the division pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1981, c.278 (C.13:1E-95). Interest received on moneys in the fund and sums received as repayment of principal and interest on outstanding loans made from the fund shall be credited to the fund. The Department of Environmental Protection, in the administration of the fund, is authorized to assign to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority the responsibility for making credit evaluations of applicants for loans, for servicing loans on behalf of the department, and, the provisions of any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, for making recommendations as to the approval or denial of loans pursuant to this section. The department is further authorized to pay or reimburse the authority in the amounts as the department agrees are appropriate for all services rendered by the authority in connection with any assignment of responsibility under the terms of this section out of moneys held in the fund for loans and the loan guarantee program.

    b. Moneys in the fund shall be allocated and used for the following purposes and no others:

    (1) Not less than 40% of the estimated annual balance of the fund shall be used for the annual expenses of a program for recycling grants to municipalities or counties in those instances where a county, at its own expense, provides for the collection, processing and marketing of recyclable materials on a regional basis. The amount of these grants shall be calculated on the basis of the total number of tons of recyclable materials annually recycled from residential, commercial and institutional sources within that municipality, or group of municipalities in the case of a county recycling program, except that no such grant shall exceed $10.00 per ton of materials recycled. The department may allocate a portion of these grant moneys as bonus grants to municipalities and counties in those instances where a municipality or county, at its own expense, provides for the collection of recyclable materials in its recycling program. The department shall announce each year the total amount of moneys available in the bonus grant fund.

    A municipality may distribute a portion of its grant moneys to nonprofit groups that are located within that municipality and which have contributed to the receipt of the recycling grant, except that this distribution shall not exceed the value of approved documented tonnage contributed by a nonprofit group.

    A municipality may designate any nonprofit group as a recycling agent. A recycling agent shall receive that part of the municipality's recycling grant under this subsection that represents the percentage of the grant received by the municipality due to the documented tonnage contributed by that recycling agent. Moneys received by a recycling agent shall be expended only for its recycling program. Any moneys not used for recycling shall be returned by the recycling agent to the municipality.

    To be eligible for a grant pursuant to this subsection, a municipality or county in the case of a county recycling program shall demonstrate that the materials recycled by the municipal or county recycling program were not diverted from a commercial recycling program already in existence on the effective date of the ordinance or resolution establishing the municipal or county recycling program.

    No recycling grant to any municipality shall be used for constructing or operating any facility for the baling of wastepaper or for the shearing, baling or shredding of ferrous or nonferrous materials;

    (2) Not less than [35] 30% of the estimated annual balance of the fund shall be used to provide low interest loans or loan guarantees to recycling businesses and industries, and to provide moneys for research into collection, market stimulation and reuse techniques applicable to recycling or the disposition of recyclable materials, or to contract for market studies, and to establish a sufficient reserve for a loan guarantee program for recycling businesses and industries;

    (3) Not more than [7] 5% of the estimated annual balance of the fund shall be used for State recycling program planning and program funding, including the administrative expenses thereof;

    (4) Not more than [8] 7% of the estimated annual balance of the fund shall be used for county recycling program planning and program funding, including the administrative expenses thereof; [and]

    (5) Not less than 10% of the estimated annual balance of the fund shall be used for a public information and education program concerning recycling activities; and

    (6) Not less than 10% of the estimated annual balance of the fund shall be used for annual economic benefits provided pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. )(now before the Legislature as this bill.

(cf: P.L.1990, c.117, s.1)

    3. (New section) The amount reserved in the "State Recycling Fund" for annual economic benefits, pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (6) of subsection b. of section 5 of P.L.1981, c.278 (C.13:1E-96), shall annually be apportioned among all municipalities in this State that, during the previous calendar year, hosted qualified recycling centers, as defined in subsection m. of section 3 of P.L.1981, c.278 (C.13:1E-94). Each municipality qualified for an economic benefit pursuant to this section shall receive as that benefit a portion of the total amount reserved which bears the same relationship to the total amount reserved as the number of tons accepted for recycling by the qualified recycling center located therein during the previous calendar year, or the most recent prior year for which data is available, as determined by the Office of Recycling in the Department of Environmental Protection, bears to the total number of tons accepted for recycling during the same calendar year by all qualified recycling centers in the State.

    4. This act shall take effect on January 1 next following enactment.

STATEMENT

    This bill provides for annual economic benefits to municipalities hosting certain recycling centers. The benefit will be available to municipalities which host privately owned and operated recycling centers that accept for recycling not less than 5,200 tons of recyclable material per year, according to the most recent data maintained by the Office of Recycling in the Department of Environmental Protection.

    The economic benefits will be funded by re-directing certain monies in the "State Recycling Fund."

Provides economic benefits for municipalities hosting certain recycling centers.