SENATE, No. 315

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

 

 

By Senators SCOTT and CONNORS

 

 

An Act concerning the costs that may be recovered by the Department of Environmental Protection through the assessment of statutorily authorized fees for services provided in conjunction with regulatory programs and supplementing Title 13 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 "Department of Environmental Protection Fiscal Accountability Act of 1994."

 

    2. The Legislature finds and declares that regulatory programs enacted by the Legislature and administered by the Department of Environmental Protection are intended to protect the environment by preventing inappropriate levels of pollutants from entering the environment or by preventing inappropriate development; that protecting the environment from inappropriate levels of pollutants or development benefits all of the people of New Jersey; that it is entirely appropriate for direct costs associated with regulatory programs to be payed for by the regulated community and that it is equally appropriate for the indirect costs of those regulatory programs to be payed for by all the beneficiaries of the regulatory programs; and that it is incumbent upon the Legislature to provide standards for the Department of Environmental Protection to follow in determining the extent to which the costs of regulatory programs are shared between the regulated community and the general beneficiaries of the regulatory programs.

 

    3. As used in this act:

    "Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection;

    "Direct cost" means any cost determined by the department to be a cost directly necessitated by processing permits or applications, or otherwise administering a regulatory program. Unless otherwise required pursuant to federal law or regulations, direct cost does not mean; payment of salaries and operation of the department's Office of the Commissioner, payment of salaries and operation of the department's Office of Management and Budget, payment of salaries and operation of the department's Office of Communications, payment of salaries and operation of the department's Office of Legislative and Governmental Affairs, payment of salaries and operation of the Governor's office, payment for the services or salaries of Deputies Attorney General, payment of services or salaries of employees of the Office of Administrative Law, payment of rent for buildings and office space, or payment for guard service;

    "Fee" means any fee for services charged to any person by the department in association with any regulatory program;

    "Regulatory Program" means any program administered by the department pursuant to federal law or authorized by the following State laws: R.S.12:5-1 et seq.; P.L.1975, c.232 (C.13:1D-29 et seq.); the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.); section 17 of P.L.1975, c.326 (C.13:1E-26); the "Comprehensive Regulated Medical Waste Management Act," P.L.1989, c.34 (C.13:1E-48.1 et al.); P.L.1989, c.151 (C.13:1E-99.21a et al.); the "New Jersey Statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act," P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.11 et al.); the "Pesticide Control Act of 1971," P.L.1971, c.176 (C.13:1F-1 et seq.); the "Industrial Site Recovery Act," P.L.1983, c.330 (C.13:1K-6 et seq.); the "Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act," P.L.1985, c.403 (C.13:1K-19 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 "Coastal Area Facility Review Act," P.L.1973, c.185 (C.13:19-1 et seq.); the "Air Pollution Control Act (1954)," P.L.1954, c.212 (C.26:2C-1 et seq.); the "Water Supply Management Act," P.L.1981, c.262 (C.58:1A-1 et seq.); P.L.1947, c.377 (C.58:4A-5 et seq.); the "Water Pollution Control Act," P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.); P.L.1986, c.102 (C.58:10A-21 et seq.); the "Safe Drinking Water Act," P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-1 et seq.); the "Flood Hazard Area Control Act," P.L.1962, c.19 (C.58:16A-50 et seq.).

 

    4. For any fee schedule established by the department in association with any regulatory program, the fee schedule shall be established so as to reasonably result in the recovery of no more than the direct costs attributable to the respective regulatory program.

 

    5. All fees collected pursuant to section 4 of this act shall be deposited in the general fund notwithstanding the provision of any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary.

 

    6. This act shall take effect on July 1, 1996.

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill provides that only the direct costs of a regulatory program administered by the Department of Environmental Protection can be charged to the regulated community by way of permit and other fees. Those costs not directly related to the operation of the regulatory program, such as the Commissioner's staff, the services of the Office of the Attorney General, and building rent, as well as other such costs, may not be recouped by the department in its fee assessments.

    Rather, the sponsor's intent is for these indirect program costs to be paid for by revenues generated from the general public. Using general fund revenues to pay for indirect program costs is justified because of the public benefits accrued from the provision of these services and because the public as a whole have and continue to contribute to the environmental problems that these regulatory programs are designed to address. Indirect costs have traditionally been paid for by general fund revenue until a trend over the past several years began to shift these costs onto the regulated community as a way to save money within the budget. In part as a result of this shifting of indirect program costs from the general public to the regulated community, the cost of permits began to rapidly escalate. The current high cost of environmental permits has created an economic burden on those businesses and individuals who need permits or other departmental approvals and has made New Jersey less competitive in its attempt to attract business.

 

 

 

Provides that DEP may only assess direct program costs in permit fees.