SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE, No. 1789
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: DECEMBER 11, 1997
The Senate Judiciary Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 1789.
This bill would revise the statute of limitations for criminal offenses under several of the State's major environmental laws. A2667 would apply to violations of: the hazardous discharge, hazardous waste, and toxic pollutant provisions of N.J.S.2C:17-2; the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.); the "Comprehensive Regulated Medical Waste Management Act," P.L.1989, c.34(C13:1E-48.1 et seq.); the "Air Pollution Control Act (1954)," P.L.1954, c.212 (C.26:2C-1 et seq.); the asbestos law, P.L.1984, c.173 (C.34:5A-32 et seq.); and the "Water Pollution Control Act," P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.). Under this bill as amended by the committee, the statute of limitations for these six laws would be 10 years after the date of discovery of the offense by a local law enforcement agency, a county prosecutor, or the Department of Environmental Protection either directly by any of those entities or indirectly by notice given to any of those entities. This bill also would consolidate the statute of limitations for the six laws within the appropriate section of Title 2C (the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice).
Under current law, criminal offenses under the hazardous of toxic discharge or waste provisions of N.J.S.2C:17-2, the "Solid Waste Management Act," the "Comprehensive Regulated Medical Waste Management Act," and the asbestos law are subject to a statute of imitations that is set at five years from the date of discovery of the violation. Criminal offenses under the "Air Pollution Control Act (1954)" and the "Water Pollution Control Act" are subject to a statute of limitations that is set at five years from the commission of the offense. As introduced, would have eliminated the statute of limitations for offenses under the referenced environmental laws.