SENATE, No. 312
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION
By Senator SCOTT
An Act concerning the expedited review of certain projects, establishing the Office of Permit Resolution in the Department of Commerce, Energy and Economic Development and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Expedited Permit Review Act."
2. The Legislature finds and determines that:
a. There exists a state of economic emergency in the State of New Jersey, which began on January 1, 1989 and is anticipated to extend at least through December 31, 1994, and which has had a devastating impact on the State's ability to create and retain jobs and to attract business and industry;
b. Compounding this situation is the fact that, over the past decade, there has been a marked increase in the number and complexity of the permits, licenses, certificates and other approvals that must be obtained from the numerous State and local agencies in order to undertake the various commercial and industrial projects or activities so necessary in the creation and retention of jobs;
c. This permit application and review process has become increasingly characterized by wasteful delays, duplication and conflicting requirements for submission, resulting in a significant backlog of projects awaiting approval which are otherwise ready to proceed;
d. A timely, efficient and coordinated process for the submission, evaluation and quick resolution of the applications for these permits, licenses, certificates, and approvals is needed to provide the State with the needed economic spark that these pending projects would provide;
e. A unified and systematic program for the expeditious and proper processing of permits will enhance the essential public purposes for which these permits are designed, foster confidence in the State's ability to administer the laws and regulations that preserve and protect the public interest and enhance the State's economic growth by encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit so vital to the State's economic well being.
3. As used in this act:
"Agency" means any municipal, county, regional or State government agency, or any department, commission or other instrumentality of the State or its political subdivisions;
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Energy and Economic Development;
"Cost" means the expenses incurred in connection with: the acquisition by purchase, lease, or otherwise, and the construction, reconstruction, conversion, structural alteration, relocation or enlargement of any building or other structure or facility, or of any grading, soil removal or relocation, excavation or landfill or any use or change in the use of any building or other structure or land or extension of the use of land; the execution of any agreements and franchises deemed by the department to be necessary or useful and convenient in connection with any project; the procurement of engineering, inspection, planning, legal, financial, or other professional services, including the services of a bond registrar or an authenticating agent; the issuance of bonds, or any interest or discount thereon; the administrative, organizational, operating, or other expenses incident to the financing, completing, and placing into service of any project;
"Director" means the director of the Office of Permit Resolution in the Department of Commerce, Energy and Economic Development, as established pursuant to section 4 of this act;
"Department" means the Department of Commerce, Energy and Economic Development established pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1981, c.122 (C.52:27H-4);
"Economic emergency" means the period beginning January 1, 1989 and continuing through December 31, 1994;
"Office" means the Office of Permit Resolution in the Department of Commerce, Energy and Economic Development, as established pursuant to section 4 of this act;
"Permit" means a permit, license, certificate, registration, charter, compliance schedule or any other form of permission or approval required pursuant to law or regulation to be issued by an agency for a project, or any other authorization related thereto whether that authorization is in the form of a permit, approval, license, certification, waiver, letter of interpretation, agreement or any other executive or administrative decision which allows a project to proceed, except that it shall not include a license or certificate issued to an individual for the practice of a profession or occupation;
"Project" means any work which is necessary for the construction, conversion, renovation, repair or alteration of any building or other structure or facility, the cost of which is in excess of $10 million and which is expected to generate at least 50 temporary construction jobs and 50 permanent jobs.
4. a. There is hereby established, in the Department of Commerce, Energy and Economic Development, the Office of Permit Resolution. The office shall be under the immediate supervision of a director, who shall be a person qualified by training, experience, or both, to direct the work of the office. The director, who shall be appointed by the commissioner, shall administer the work of the office under the direction and supervision of the commissioner and shall perform such other functions as the commissioner may prescribe. The office shall operate within the Division of Economic Development in the department.
b. The director may employ such professional, technical, research and clerical staff as may be necessary within the limits of available appropriations. The director may also employ consultants from time to time as may be necessary for particular projects.
5. It shall be the function of the office to:
a. Serve as a centralized clearing house for the coordination, filing, tracking and resolution of all permit applications given priority status by this act and received by an agency during the economic emergency;
b. Identify problems and promote interagency solutions to the problems of excessive paperwork, duplication and delay in the permit process, where appropriate; and
c. Assist in expediting a resolution of the permit process where necessary and appropriate.
6. a. A copy of the permit application for those projects submitted to an agency during the period of the economic emergency shall be forwarded by the agency to the office within 5 business days of the receipt of the permit application by the agency. Upon receipt of the permit application by the agency, the agency will have 20 business days to determine that the application is complete and meets the requirements of a project subject to this act.
b. For those permit applications for projects meeting the requirements of subsection a. of this section and received during the period of the economic emergency but prior to the effective date of this act, the agency shall forward a copy of the permit application to the office within 20 business days of the effective date of this act. For the purposes of complying with the timetable established by sections 6 and 7 of this act, permit applications so forwarded will be considered complete and be given priority status, if appropriate, within 30 business days of the effective date of this act.
c. Upon the finding by an agency that a permit application is complete, and following the notification of the office of the finding by the agency, the office may grant the permit application priority status. Once the application is certified as complete and given priority status, the agency shall have 100 business days to act on the application. If the agency is unable to complete its review within those 100 business days, the agency shall notify the office in writing of the reasons for the agency's failure to act on the application within the specified time frame, and of the schedule that can be met for completion of the review.
7. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 6 of this act, the office shall deny priority status for those projects for which, in the issuing agency's judgement, there exists clear and convincing evidence that the review and issuance of the permit in the expedited fashion provided by section 6 would result in irreparable harm to the health, safety and welfare of the surrounding residents or property owners, or to the people of the State of New Jersey.
b. For those projects for which the provisions of section 6 of this act are denied, the commissioner shall convene a hearing within 30 business days of the notification of denial by the office to the permit applicant. The hearing so convened shall seek, as expeditiously as possible, to resolve the issues that resulted in the finding by the issuing agency of the potential negative impact of the project.
c. The commissioner shall have the sole authority to resolve such issues and give the project priority status, or to determine that the project, in its present form, cannot be properly reviewed according to the provisions of section 6 of this act.
8. The office shall maintain a master file of every permit application which has received priority status designation by the office. Each file, which shall be compiled in a form that shall best serve the permit applicant's convenience in obtaining the information contained therein, shall contain at least the following information:
a. The title or name of the permit sought;
b. The project or activity for which the permit is required and the purpose or a summary description of the permit;
c. The issuing agency and the name, address and phone number of a contact person within the agency;
d. The statutory or regulatory authority for the permit;
e. A summary of the information submitted with the application for the permit;
f. A statement of any fees associated with the application or permit; and
g. The statutory, actual or estimated average and maximum length of time necessary for agency action on the completed permit application.
9. At least four times a year, the office shall survey those agencies that are currently reviewing a permit application or applications which have been given priority status by the office. For those permit applications which, at the time of the survey, have been pending before the agency for more than 120 business days, the office shall seek to obtain from the agency the following information:
a. The nature of the project or activity;
b. The status of the permit review;
c. The reason for the length of time for the review;
d. The estimated additional time until the completion of the review; and
e. Any additional information that the office deems appropriate.
10. Upon completion of each survey, the office shall notify all applicants whose permit applications are pending more than 120 business days of the status of their application. Upon the request of an applicant, the director shall designate an employee of the office to convene and chair a meeting with an applicant and the permit-issuing agency for the purpose of promoting a negotiated resolution of the permit process. The employee shall prepare a report of any agreements entered into and any unresolved issues.
11. The director shall, in consultation with the commissioner and pursuant to the provisions of the "Adminstrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the provisions of this act.
12. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill creates the Office of Permit Resolution in the Department of Commerce, Energy and Economic Development. The office will be responsible for establishing an expedited review process for certain projects for which permit applications have been received by State or local agencies during the period of the economic emergency established by the bill -- January 1, 1989 to December 31, 1994. It will be the function of the office, for those projects it places on "priority status" (projects with a cost in excess of $10 million and which are expected to generate at least 50 temporary construction jobs and 50 permanent jobs), to seek whenever possible to cause the permit review and resolution process to be completed by the permit issuing agency within 120 business days of the receipt of the permit application by the agency.
The bill provides a mechanism for denying the expedited process established by the bill for those priority status projects deemed by the issuing agency to be potentially harmful to the health and welfare of the State's citizens and its environment, and in such cases provides for the convening of a hearing on the project's pending permit application within 30 business days of the application's receipt. The purpose of the hearing, which will be convened by the Commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Energy and Economic Development, will be to seek to resolve the issues that resulted in the finding by the issuing agency of the potential negative impact of the project. The commissioner is given sole authority to resolve such disputes. The bill also establishes a process for the negotiated resolution of those projects given priority status, which have been pending before an issuing agency for more than 120 business days.
Establishes a mechanism for the expedited review of certain projects.