SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE RESOLUTION No. 39

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 24, 1996

      The Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee favorably reports Senate Resolution No. 39.

      This Senate Resolution urges support for proposed federal legislation, sponsored by Congressman Robert Franks, to provide for cost-sharing for land-based and confined aquatic facilities for the disposal of dredged material. Current federal law only permits the federal Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to be used to provide the federal share of the costs of dredging federal navigation channels, but there is no provision for sharing the costs of disposal on land or in confined aquatic facilities, such as a containment island. The proposed federal legislation would be beneficial to the northern New Jersey and New York port area which suffers from an accumulation of dredged materials in its rivers and harbors, some of which require special treatment or disposal because of the presence of contaminants. The proposed federal legislation would permit the federal government to share in the cost of both ocean and land-based disposal facilities, thereby facilitating the disposal of the dredged material and alleviating a serious problem which affects oceanic commerce to the port area.