ASSEMBLY, No. 2576

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED DECEMBER 16, 1996

 

 

By Assemblyman BARNES, Assemblywoman BUONO and Assemblyman Wisniewski

 

 

An Act concerning certain sanitary landfill facilities, and amending P.L.1994, c.27.

 

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

 

    1. Section 2 of P.L.1994, c.27 (C.13:1E-28.3) is amended to read as follows:

    2. a. Any municipality with a population density of more than 1,500 persons per square mile, according to the latest federal decennial census, that shares a common boundary with a municipality within which is located, pursuant to an adopted and approved district solid waste management plan, a sanitary landfill facility:

    (1) any part of which lies within 1,300 feet of the common boundary between the municipalities, as determined by the Department of Environmental Protection;

    (2) that received more than 700,000 tons of solid waste in the 1992 calendar year or in any calendar year thereafter; and

    (3) that is owned or operated by a county or by a county utilities authority created pursuant to the "municipal and county utilities authorities law," P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-1 et seq.), shall be entitled to an annual economic benefit in consideration for the proximity of the sanitary landfill facility. The annual economic benefit shall be not less than the equivalent of $0.50 per ton, and not more than $1.50 per ton, of all solid waste accepted for disposal at the sanitary landfill facility, as determined by the department, during the 1993 calendar year and each year thereafter.

    b. A municipality that qualifies for an economic benefit pursuant to subsection a. of this section may negotiate with the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility to determine the actual dollar amount of the annual economic benefit to be paid to that municipality.

    [The] Except as provided in subsection d. of this section, the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility shall annually pay to every municipality qualifying under subsection a. of this section the full amount due under this subsection, except that the owner or operator shall pay the 1993 economic benefit by the last day of the first quarter of the 1994 calendar year. Each municipality qualifying under subsection a. of this section may anticipate the annual economic benefit for the purposes of preparing its 1994 budget and each annual budget thereafter. For the purposes of calculating the method of payment, the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility may, subject to the prior agreement of a municipality qualifying under subsection a. of this section and to the approval of the Department of Environmental Protection, provide that municipality with any of the following benefits in consideration for the proximity of the sanitary landfill facility:

    (1) The exemption from all fees and charges for the disposal of solid waste generated within the boundaries of the municipality;

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

    (3) Any combination thereof.

    c. Every owner or operator of a sanitary landfill facility required to make annual payments to a municipality qualifying pursuant to subsection a. of this section may petition the Department of Environmental Protection for an increase in its tariff which reflects these payments. The department, within 60 days of the receipt of the petition, shall issue an appropriate order that these payments shall be passed along to the users of the sanitary landfill facility as an automatic surcharge on any tariff filed with, and recorded by, the department for the solid waste disposal operations of the facility.

    d. A portion of the annual economic benefit paid to each municipality pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be passed directly to each property taxpayer or tenant, as the case may be, who permanently resides within a geographical area designated by the department as the area most affected by the sanitary landfill facility. The area most affected shall be designated by the department after conducting an analysis based upon identified objective criteria established by the department. The designation by the department shall be subject to the approval of the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility.

    The annual economic benefit shall be conferred upon the property taxpayers or tenants, as the case may be, permanently occupying residentially assessed housing units in the form of property tax credits or tenant property tax rebates. The amount of the benefit to be credited shall be set forth in an agreement between the qualifying municipality and the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility. The total amount of the benefits passed directly to residential property owners or tenants as credits pursuant to this subsection shall not be less than five percent nor greater than 25 percent of the total payment made by the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility to the municipality. The amount of the credit shall at no time exceed the equivalent amount funded for the average economic benefit for each residential property owner in the municipality for which benefits are authorized pursuant to subsection a. of this section.

    e. In issuing any order required by this section, the Department of Environmental Protection shall be exempt from the provisions of R.S.48:2-21.

(cf: P.L.1994, c.27, s.2)

 

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    Pursuant to P.L.1994, c.27, every municipality with a population density greater than 1,500 persons per square mile that shares a common boundary with a municipality within which a sanitary landfill facility is located, if that common boundary lies within 1,300 feet of the sanitary landfill facility and the landfill received more than 700,000 tons of solid waste in 1992 or in any calendar year thereafter, is entitled to an economic benefit of not less than $0.50 per ton and not more than $1.50 per ton from the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility. This bill would require a portion of that total economic benefit to be paid directly to property taxpayers or tenants, as the case may be, who reside in the area most affected by the sanitary landfill facility. The area most affected shall be designated by the department after conducting an analysis based upon identified objective criteria established by the department. The designation by the department shall be subject to the approval of the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility.

    The annual economic benefit shall be conferred upon the property taxpayers or tenants, as the case may be, permanently occupying residentially assessed housing units in the form of property tax credits or tenant property tax rebates. The amount of the benefit to be credited shall be set forth in an agreement between the municipality and the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility. The total amount of the benefits passed directly to residential property owners or tenants as credits pursuant to this subsection shall not be less than five percent nor greater than 25 percent of the total payment made by the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility to the municipality. The amount of the credit shall at no time exceed the equivalent amount funded for the average economic benefit for each residential property owner in the municipality for which benefits are authorized pursuant to P.L.1994, c.27.


                             

Provides economic benefit to certain residential property owners or tenants living near a sanitary landfill facility.