CHAPTER 234
An Act concerning the remediation of contaminated sites, reappropriating moneys from the "Hazardous Discharge Fund of 1986" that were appropriated pursuant to P.L.1993, c.348,and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is appropriated from the special account in the General Fund created pursuant to Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 6 of the New Jersey Constitution, to the Department of Environmental Protection, the sum of $14,800,000. This money shall be used by the department only for paying or financing the costs incurred by the State for the remediation of discharges of hazardous substances, including the cost of performing necessary operation and maintenance activities relating to remedial actions, and the cost of providing alternative sources of public or private water supplies when a water supply has been, or is suspected of being, contaminated by a discharge of a hazardous substance.
b. Of the moneys appropriated pursuant to subsection a. of this section, not more than $2,700,000 may be expended by the Department of Environmental Protection for the direct program administrative costs relating to the purposes for which the money may be expended pursuant to subsection a. of this section. No moneys appropriated pursuant to subsection a. of this section may be expended for any indirect administrative costs of the department. The expenditure of moneys appropriated pursuant to this section is limited by the provisions of Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 6 of the New Jersey Constitution.
c. At the end of each fiscal year the State Treasurer shall submit a certification to the Legislature stating the revenues collected pursuant to the "Corporation Business Tax Act (1945)," P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-1 et seq.), for the previous fiscal year and the amount of money that has been credited in the previous fiscal year to the special account as required pursuant to Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 6 of the New Jersey Constitution. The State Treasurer shall also certify the current balance of that special account.
2. a. The Department of Environmental Protection shall for each fiscal year develop a financial plan for the department's site remediation program. The financial plan shall be submitted to the Legislature on or before January 15 of 1998 and each year thereafter on a day when both Houses are meeting. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly shall cause the date of submission to be entered upon the Senate Journal and the Minutes of the General Assembly, respectively, and shall cause copies of the financial plan to be submitted to the relevant legislative committees for their consideration and review.
b. The financial plan shall contain a list of site remediation projects for which public funds are anticipated to be authorized and expended in the next fiscal year, including sites for which the State will provide the State match share for money provided by the federal government. The list shall include a site description of each project and its purpose, a summary of prior remedial activities performed on the site, the active phase of the project for which funding will be authorized, a summary of the funds, by funding source, that have been authorized to date for each project, and a total of funds, by source, for each project.
c. The financial plan shall also contain a summary of the revenue sources for the site remediation program within the Department of Environmental Protection and the proposed expenditure and allocation of funds from each of the revenue sources, including the amount from each revenue source to be used for the publicly funded program, the responsible party program,direct administrative costs, indirect administrative costs, fringe benefit costs, project expenditures, operation and maintenance, federal matches, and other costs incurred by the site remediation program.
3. a. Of the moneys from the "Hazardous Discharge Fund of 1986," created pursuant to the "Hazardous Discharge Bond Act of 1986," P.L.1986, c.113, as amended by P.L.1989, c.182, and appropriated to the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1993, c.348, the sum of $20,000,000 is reappropriated to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority for deposit into the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund, created pursuant to section 26 of P.L.1993, c.139 (C.58:10B-4) for the purposes of that fund.
b. The expenditure of the sum reappropriated by this section is subject to the provisions and conditions of P.L.1986, c.113 and P.L.1989, c.182.
4. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, as of the effective date of this section, moneys appropriated from the "Hazardous Discharge Bond Act," P.L.1981, c.275, and the "Hazardous Discharge Bond Act of 1986," P.L.1986, c.113, that were previously appropriated or that may be reappropriated may not be used to pay the indirect administrative or fringe benefit costs incurred by the State of New Jersey.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
Approved August 30, 1997.