ASSEMBLY, No. 1745

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED MARCH 25, 1996

By Assemblyman SULIGA

An Act concerning the beneficial use of dredged materials and supplementing Title 58 of the Revised Statutes.

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

    1. The provisions of the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), "The Wetlands Act of 1970," P.L.1970, c.272 (C.13:9A-1 et seq.), the "Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act," P.L.1987, c.156 (C.13:9B-1 et seq.), the "Water Pollution Control Act," P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.), the "Flood Hazard Area Control Act," P.L.1962, c.19 (C.58:16A-50 et seq.), or any rule, regulation, order, agreement, or permit issued pursuant thereto, or of any other statute, rule, or regulation, to the contrary notwithstanding, any dredged material removed from the bed of the New York and New Jersey Harbor area, regardless of the category of the dredged material, may be used for fill material in any upland construction activity, daily landfill cover for any sanitary landfill, and in wetland reclamation and mitigation projects. The dredged material may be used for the purposes authorized pursuant to this act only if the use of the dredged material is consistent with other requirements of law unrelated to the type of fill material.

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill would authorize the beneficial use of dredged material taken from the New York and New Jersey Harbor. The beneficial uses authorized in this bill are construction fill, landfill cover, and for wetland mitigation and restoration projects. The beneficial use of these dredged materials would be allowed even if the dredged materials were designated as contaminated under the testing procedures of the federal "Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972," 33 USC §1401 et seq. Some dredged materials have been deemed contaminated under that federal act thus preventing the ocean disposal of the material. However, because of the different environments involved, this material is not a "hazardous" contaminanat under either the State's or the federal government's definition when applied to the land. Thus, even though the dredged material may be considered contaminated for the purpose of ocean disposal, the use of these materials upland poses no danger to the public health or the environment.

    The beneficial use of these dredged materials would provide an immediate option for safe management of the most contaminated sediment and thus would facilitate the safe and necessary dredging of the harbor. The beneficial use of these dredged materials would reduce the amount of dredged material going to decontamination plants, containment areas, and the Mud Dump site while improving the environmental quality of the harbor estuary. Similar beneficial use projects have been performed at the Fresh Kills Landfill, in Jamaica Bay, in Pelham Bay, in the Des Plaines River, and as part of the Arthur Kill Natural Resources Restoration project.

Allows for the beneficial use of dredged material.