ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

ASSEMBLY, No. 1714

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MAY 12, 1997

      The Assembly Environment, Science and Technology Committee favorably reports an Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill No. 1714.

      The committee substitute requires the New Jersey Transit Corporation to purchase for the five years after enactment motorbuses the emissions of which are at or below the levels of emissions emitted by a compressed natural gas motorbus for the model year in which this bill is enacted, as certified by the manufacturer and the Department of Environmental Protection. The committee substitute also directs the corporation, during the five years after enactment and in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Protection, to evaluate the environmental benefits of the use of motorbuses the emissions of which are at or below the levels of emissions emitted by a compressed natural gas motorbus and, at the conclusion of the five-year period, report to the Governor and the Legislature on its findings.

      Finally, the committee substitute directs the corporation to assign the vehicles purchased, to the maximum extent feasible, to routes in urban areas where air pollution problems are the greatest, as designated by the Department of Environmental Protection in consultation with the Department of Transportation.