STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 34

with Senate Floor Amendments

(Proposed By Senators DiFrancesco and O'Connor)

ADOPTED: MARCH 10, 1997

      The amendments would provide the following:

      (1) A $32 million appropriation from the "1996 Dredging and Containment Facility Fund," established pursuant to the "Port of New Jersey Revitalization, Dredging, Environmental Cleanup, Lake Restoration, and Delaware Bay Area Economic Development Bond Act of 1996," P.L.1996, c.70 for dredging and dredged material disposal projects, including infrastructure investments, in the Kill Van Kull, Arthur Kill, Wards Point Bend, Port Jersey Channel, Claremont Channel, Shooter's Island Reach, New Jersey Anchorages, Reaches A, B, C and D in Port Newark/Elizabeth, the Raritan River Channel, the Raritan Bay Reach, the New Jersey side of the 40 foot Hudson River Channel, and the Newark Bay Channels.

      (2) The establishment of a 12-member Economic Development Site Task Force that would serve to prioritize economic development site projects authorized by the "Port of New Jersey Revitalization, Dredging, Environmental Cleanup, Lake Restoration, and Delaware Bay Area Economic Development Bond Act of 1996." The amendments establish a procedure for the expenditure of economic development bond monies, whereby the Department of Commerce and Economic Development would establish and administer an application process and develop a project priority list for submission to the task force. The task force would then approve, disapprove or approve with modifications the project list submitted by the department, which would be required to include all projects eligible pursuant to the criteria established in section 8 of the bill. The task force would then submit, upon its approval, a project priority list to the Legislature for legislative review and consideration.

      (3) The dredging task force would be expanded to 12 members to include the State Treasurer. The amendments also provide additional clarification regarding the terms of the dredging task force. The amendments establish a two-year term for public members, and provide for staggered first-time appointments of one, two and three years by each of the appointing authorities. No more than two public members appointed by the same appointing authority could be members of the same political party. The chairman of the task force would be appointed to a two-year term. The amendments also clarify that agreement of a majority of the full membership is required for the task force to act.

      (4) The amendments require the task force to approve or disapprove a project priority list within 60 days of receipt of the list from the Office of Maritime Resources. Failure to act within this time period would mean automatic transmission of the list to the Legislature for introduction as appropriations bills.

      (5) The amendments provide that non-port dredging projects would be administered by the Office of Maritime Resources in the Department of Commerce and Economic Development. Consequently, the non-port dredging projects would be subject to the dredging task force's approval prior to legislative consideration and appropriation.

      (6) The amendments require the project priority lists developed by the Office of Maritime Resources to include, over time, not less than $5 million for decontamination projects. The amendments also add references to "decontamination" to the bill to ensure that decontamination projects and facilities receive the same consideration as any other dredged material disposal alternative, and thus make the bill consistent with language contained in the original bond act.