SENATE, No. 1697

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED NOVEMBER 18, 1996

By Senator SCHLUTER

An Act concerning the Delaware and Raritan Canal, amending R.S.13:13-3, P.L.1991, c.344, and P.L.1944, c.172, and repealing section 5 of P.L.1991, c.344 (C.13:13-3.2).

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1.    R.S.13:13-3 is amended to read as follows:

    13:13-3. The canal and feeder shall continue to be a public highway, and [, until the legislature shall have further directed the use or disposition of the canal and feeder,] the Department of Environmental Protection or its designee, the New Jersey Water Supply Authority, shall [, until further directions of the legislature,] repair and preserve the banks of the canal and feeder [,] and at all times keep a flow of water through the canal at a level heretofore maintained when the canal was in operation or as necessary to conduct dredging operations or effect repairs, except that, during the period of December fifteenth of each year and March first of the ensuing year, the department may close the canal or maintain such flow of water as it deems desirable or necessary to comply with any contract for the sale of water.

    To insure [the] that flow [aforesaid] and [in order] to preserve sanitary conditions in the canal and about the banks thereof and the towpath adjacent thereto, the feeder, the canal and the banks thereof and the towpath shall be kept free of weeds and other growth, [save and] except when such growth [as] , in the judgment of the department, is conducive to the appearance of the canal and feeder and the banks and towpath thereof.

(cf: P.L.1991, c.344, s.2)

    2.    Section 4 of P.L.1991, c.344 (C.13:13-3.1) is amended to read as follows:

    4.    a. The [provisions of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding, and until further direction from the Legislature, the ] Department of Transportation shall [have control and responsibility] be responsible for :

    (1)   the maintenance, repair, rehabilitation and replacement of any existing or new vehicle [bridges over] or pedestrian bridge along or traversing the Delaware and Raritan Canal [carrying State, county, or municipal roads] and any guardrails or barriers along the approaches to these [vehicle] bridges ; and

    (2) the design or redesign, and construction or reconstruction, of any existing or new vehicle or pedestrian bridge or structure appurtenant thereto along or traversing the canal .

    All such maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, replacement, design, redesign, construction, or reconstruction projects or other work undertaken by the Department of Transportation pursuant to this subsection shall be subject to the approval of the Department of Environmental Protection and the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission as provided pursuant to P.L.1970, c.268 (C.13:1B-15.128 et seq.) and P.L.1974, c.118 (C.13:13A-1 et seq.), or pursuant to any other applicable law.

    b.    [The commissioner] Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the Commissioner of Transportation , in accordance with generally accepted engineering principles, standards or techniques, may, in order to protect the public safety, order the closing of public access, including roads, highways, sidewalk, tracks, paths or passageways, leading to, in, under or near any vehicle or pedestrian bridge [described pursuant to this amendatory and supplementary act, the provisions of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding] or structure appurtenant thereto along or traversing the canal .

(cf: P.L.1991, c.344, s.4)

    3.    Section 8 of P.L.1944, c.172 (C.13:13-12.8) is amended to read as follows:

    8.    The [provisions of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding, and until further direction from the Legislature, the] Department of Transportation , in co-operation with the Department of Environmental Protection [is empowered and directed to enter upon and] and the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission, shall take possession of [,] all of the existing and new vehicle or pedestrian bridges [carrying State, county, or municipal roads] along or traversing the canal and any guardrails or barriers along the approaches to [ any such vehicle] these bridges [over the canal] .

(cf: P.L.1991, c.344, s.3)

    4.    Section 5 of P.L.1991, c.344 (C.13:13-3.2) is repealed.

    5.    This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill would restore to both the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission approval authority with respect to work undertaken by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to maintain, repair, rehabilitate, replace, design, redesign, construct, or reconstruct bridges and associated structures along or traversing the Delaware and Raritan Canal. This provision would implement one of the recommendations of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Transportation Safety Study Commission as expressed in its recent report submitted to the Governor and the Legislature in accordance with the provisions of sections 1 and 8 through 13 of P.L.1991, c.344. That 1991 law also essentially provided for the temporary suspension of the authority of the DEP and the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission to approve work on bridges along or traversing the canal while the study commission's report was being prepared.

    The bill would also clarify and expand the division of responsibility and authority among the various governmental entities described above to include not only existing vehicle bridges, but also new vehicle bridges and both existing and new pedestrian bridges along or traversing the canal.

    Finally, the bill would repeal a section of the 1991 law that (1) only required the DOT to consult with the DEP and the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission before undertaking maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, or replacement work on existing canal bridges, and (2) gave the DOT total responsibility over the design of canal bridges. These provisions are being repealed in favor of restoration of the DEP and Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission approval authority described above.

Subjects DOT bridge projects for Delaware and Raritan Canal to approval of DEP and Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission.