SENATE, No. 1699

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED NOVEMBER 18, 1996

 

 

By Senators GORMLEY, MacINNES and Kyrillos

 

 

An Act concerning watershed preservation, protection and management, and providing for the expenditure of monies dedicated to watershed management pursuant to Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 6, subparagraph (a) of the New Jersey Constitution.

 

    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 "State and Local Watershed Management Act."

 

    2. The Legislature finds and declares that, on November 5, 1996, the voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the New Jersey Constitution dedicating the equivalent of 4 percent of the revenues annually generated by the Corporation Business Tax for financing the costs of hazardous discharge site remediation, upgrading hazardous underground storage tanks, and water quality pollution monitoring, watershed based water resource planning and management, and nonpoint source pollution prevention projects; and that, of the total amount dedicated to these purposes, a minimum of $5 million has been annually allocated for water quality monitoring, watershed planning and management and water pollution prevention projects.

    The Legislature therefore determines that it is in the public interest to establish a program for the efficient expenditure of this dedicated funding; that such a program should be administered by the Department of Environmental Protection, and consist of the providing of grants to local watershed management groups to offset the costs of specified watershed management activities and technical guidance and support for these local initiatives; and that legislative approval and oversight of this grant program is necessary to bring about a successful State and local partnership in the area of watershed management.

 

    3. As used in this act:

    "Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection;

    "Watershed" means a geographic area within which water, sediments, and dissolved materials drain to a particular receiving waterbody;

    "Watershed management activity" means activities or projects undertaken by a watershed management group to improve the condition or prevent further degradation of a watershed, and may include, but need not be limited to, public meetings to discuss and exchange information on watershed issues, the establishment and operation of an advisory group or groups dedicated to preserving and protecting a watershed, the assessment of the condition of the watershed, the development of policy goals to reduce the amount of pollutants discharged into a watershed, the development of projects designed to enhance or restore a watershed, the development, in consultation with the department, of a watershed management plan, or the reassessment of a watershed to determine whether the policy goals or the objectives of the watershed management plan have been attained;

    "Watershed management area" means a geographic area in the State, as designated by the department, within which may be found one or more watersheds;

    "Watershed management group" means a group that represents the various interests within one or more watersheds located in a watershed management area that is established to improve the condition or prevent further degradation of a watershed or watersheds, and shall include local and county government officials and representatives of the business and environmental community; and

    "Watershed management plan" means a plan developed by a watershed management group, in consultation with the department, designed to improve the condition or prevent further degradation of a watershed or watersheds, and may include a determination of the total amount of pollutants that can be discharged into the watershed or watersheds targeted by the plan.

 

    4. The department shall establish guidelines for the development of a watershed management plan. The department shall provide guidance and technical assistance to watershed management groups seeking assistance in the development of a watershed management plan.

 

    5. The department shall establish a grant program to allocate monies dedicated pursuant to Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 6, subparagraph (a) of the New Jersey Constitution for watershed management activities. A watershed management group may apply to the department for a grant pursuant to this section on forms prescribed by the department. The application shall state the objectives of the group, including the watershed management activities proposed and for which grant monies are requested. The Legislature shall, pursuant to the procedure set forth in section 6 of this act, appropriate monies dedicated pursuant to Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 6, subparagraph (a) of the New Jersey Constitution to watershed management groups to offset the costs associated with watershed management activities.

 

    6. a. The department shall develop criteria for ranking watershed management areas according to the degree of environmental degradation, whereby the most environmentally degraded areas are given the highest ranking, and any other criteria deemed appropriate by the department.

    b. Based on the criteria established pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the department shall prepare a priority list that includes the watershed management groups recommended to receive grants pursuant to section 5 of this act. The priority list shall include a description of the watershed management activity or activities proposed by each watershed management group and its purpose, impact, cost, and an explanation of the manner in which priorities and funding levels were established. A description of the ranking criteria and the priority list for the ensuing fiscal year shall be submitted to the Legislature on or before January 31 of each year on a day when both Houses are meeting. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly shall cause the date of submission to be entered upon the Senate Journal and the Minutes of the General Assembly, respectively, and shall cause the priority list to be introduced in each House in the form of legislative appropriations bills, and shall refer these bills to the Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee and the General Assembly Environment, Science and Technology Committee, or their successors, for their respective consideration.

    c. Within 60 days of the referral thereof, the Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee and the General Assembly Environment, Science and Technology Committee, or their successors, shall, either individually or jointly, consider the legislation containing the priority list, and shall report the legislation, together with any modifications, out of committee for consideration by each House of the Legislature. On or before April 1 of each year, the Legislature shall approve the legislation appropriating monies for activities designated in the priority list, including any amendatory or supplementary provisions thereto.

 

    7. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill would establish a watershed management grant program within the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to allocate monies dedicated pursuant to Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 6, subparagraph (a) of the New Jersey Constitution to watershed management groups to offset the costs associated with watershed management activities. This new constitutional provision, approved by the voters on November 5, 1996, dedicates a minimum of $5 million for water quality monitoring, watershed planning and management and water pollution prevention projects.

    Under the provisions of the bill, the DEP would be required to rank watershed management areas according to the extent of environmental degradation and any other factors considered relevant by the DEP. Based on the ranking criteria, the department would be required annually to prepare a priority list that includes the watershed management groups recommended to receive grants via the program. The priority list would be required to include a description of the watershed management activity or activities proposed by each watershed management group and its purpose, impact, cost, and an explanation of the manner in which priorities and funding levels were established. A description of the ranking criteria and the priority list for the ensuing fiscal year would be submitted to the Legislature on or before January 31 of each year on a day when both Houses are meeting.

    The priority list would then be introduced in each House in the form of legislative appropriations bills, which would be referred to the Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee and the General Assembly Environment, Science and Technology Committee, or their successors, for their respective consideration. Within 60 days of referral, the respective committees would be required to, either individually or jointly, consider the legislation containing the priority list, and report the legislation, together with any modifications, out of committee for consideration by each House of the Legislature. On or before April 1 of each year, the Legislature would be required to approve the legislation appropriating monies for activities designated in the priority list, including any amendatory or supplementary provisions thereto.

    The bill also requires the DEP to establish guidelines for the development of a watershed management plan and to provide guidance and technical assistance to watershed management groups seeking assistance in the development of a plan.

 

 

                             

 

The "State and Local Watershed Management Act."