ASSEMBLY, No. 2015

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED MAY 13, 1996

By Assemblywoman BUONO, Assemblymen LANCE and Barnes

An Act concerning mercury pollution, and supplementing parts of the Revised Statutes.

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

    1. a. The Department of Health, in consultation with the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, shall, within 180 days of the effective date of this act and pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), develop and adopt maximum allowable mercury emissions limits protective of human health with special attention given to particularly susceptible or sensitive groups including, but not limited to, pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and children, from the following sources: municipal solid waste incinerators, medical waste incinerators, sewage sludge incinerators, hazardous waste incinerators, and coal burning boilers.

    b. The Department of Health, in consultation with the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, shall, within 180 days of the effective date of this act and pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), develop and adopt maximum allowable mercury concentration standards protective of human health with special attention given to particularly susceptible or sensitive groups including, but not limited to, pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and children, for sewage sludge approved for beneficial use.

    2. a. The Department of Environmental Protection shall implement and enforce the standards adopted by the Department of Health pursuant to section 1 of this act.

    In the event that the Department of Environmental Protection has adopted regulations prior to the effective date of this act for a specific source of mercury emissions or for sewage sludge approved for beneficial use for which the Department of Health has adopted standards pursuant to section 1 of this act, the Department of Environmental Protection shall implement the more stringent standard.

    b. In order to provide for compliance of the mercury emission standards, the Department of Environmental Protection may require sources of mercury emissions to submit plans and specific timetables for the removal of consumer batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, thermometers, and thermostats from the incoming processible solid waste stream. As a component of this plan submission, each county shall prepare an inventory of potential generators of the mercury materials of concern, such as jewelers, hospitals, and large industrial buildings and prepare plans for facilitating separate collection or drop-off of these materials.

    3. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill would direct the Department of Health, in consultation with the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOSHI), to develop maximum allowable mercury emissions limits protective of human health with special attention given to particularly susceptible or sensitive groups including, but not limited to, pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and children, from the following sources: municipal solid waste incinerators, medical waste incinerators, sewage sludge incinerators, hazardous waste incinerators, and coal burning boilers. The bill would also direct the Department of Health, in consultation with EOSHI, to develop maximum allowable mercury concentration standards for sewage sludge approved for beneficial use protective of human health giving special attention to sensitive groups. The EOSHI is a program jointly sponsored by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers, the State University.

    The Department of Environmental Protection would be directed to implement and enforce the standards developed by the Department of Health. In order to provide for compliance of the mercury emission standards, the Department of Environmental Protection may require sources of mercury emissions to submit plans and specific timetables for the removal of consumer batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, thermometers, and thermostats from the incoming processible solid waste stream. As a component of this plan submission, each county shall prepare an inventory of potential generators of the mercury material materials of concern, such as jewelers, hospitals, and large industrial buildings and prepare plans for facilitating separate collection or drop-off of these materials.

Requires the development of mercury emission and mercury concentration standards.