SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 1075

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 3, 1996

      The Senate Commerce Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 1075.

      This bill amends the "Underground Facility Protection Act," P.L.1994, c.118 (C.48:2-73 et seq.), to provide a five-year interim period in which the Garden State Underground Plant Location Service (GSUPLS) will operate the one-call damage prevention system. Current law provides that GSUPLS will operate the one-call system for a two-year period. At the end of the interim period, the Board of Public Utilities will designate the operator of the one-call system.

         The bill also amends section 15 of the act (C.48:2-87), which establishes a crime of the third degree, to include a disorderly persons offense. Currently, a person who knowingly and willfully violates the act in the course of an excavation and causes death, serious bodily harm or significant property damage, as specified in the act, is guilty of a crime of the third degree. Proof of serious damage is an element of the third degree crime established in the act. Inclusion of language concerning a disorderly persons offense would permit a jury to return a guilty verdict on that lesser-included offense, if it is not persuaded as to the damage element. The bill further amends the definition of the crime of the third degree to remove language requiring a defendant to have acted "willfully." The term "willfully" is not defined in the Code of Criminal Justice and the term "knowingly," also used in this section, encompasses the state of mind intended by the use of the term "willfully." These amendments were recommended by the Department of Law and Public Safety.

         Finally, the bill makes a technical correction to section 8 of the act to correct a cross reference.