Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN J. BURZICHELLI
District 3 (Salem, Cumberland and Gloucester)
Assemblywoman CELESTE M. RILEY
District 3 (Salem, Cumberland and Gloucester)
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
Assemblyman RALPH R. CAPUTO
District 28 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires BPU to issue a decision within 180 days after receipt of petition by public utilities and CATV companies to sell certain real property.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning decisions of the Board of Public Utilities on public utility and cable television company petitions to sell real property, amending P.L.1988, c.163 and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) Except as provided in section 4 of P.L.1988, c.163 (C.48:2-23.1), if a public utility petitions the Board of Public Utilities to approve the sale of any real property owned by the public utility, the board shall issue an order, in writing, of its decision within 180 days after receiving such petition.
2. (New section) If a CATV company petitions the board to approve the sale of any real property owned by the CATV company, the board shall issue an order, in writing, of its decision within 180 days after receiving such petition.
3. Section 4 of P.L.1988, c.163 (C.48:2-23.1) is amended to read as follows:
4. a. The Board of Public Utilities, in reviewing a request by a public utility to convey land utilized for the purpose of the protection of a public water supply to a corporation or other entity which is not subject to the jurisdiction of the board, shall request the Department of Environmental Protection to review and make recommendations on an assessment, prepared and submitted by the utility, of the impact that the conveyance, and the prospective use or uses of the land conveyed, would have on the water quality of the affected public water supply, and shall require the department to assess the impact of the conveyance on the State's open space, conservation, and recreation requirements. The department, upon receipt of a request by the board for an assessment and a review pursuant to this subsection, shall prepare and submit to the board the assessment and review within 12 months of the request therefor.
b. Any public utility requesting the board to approve a conveyance of land utilized for the purpose of the protection of a public water supply to a corporation or other entity which is not subject to the jurisdiction of the board shall submit to the board a document setting forth a detailed explanation of the prospective use or uses of the land to be conveyed. The board, [upon] not later than the 30th day following receipt of this document, may require the public utility to submit any additional information which the board deems appropriate.
c. The board, upon receiving the review and recommendations from the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to the provisions of subsection a. of this section, shall issue an order, in writing, of its decision within 180 days after receiving such review and recommendations.
(cf: P.L.1988, c.163, s.4)
4. This act shall take effect immediately, but sections 1 through 3 shall be inoperative until the 60th day after the date of enactment, provided that the Board of Public Utilities may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Board of Public Utilities (“board”) to issue an order, in writing, of its decision on any petition by a public utility or cable television (“CATV”) company to approve the sale of any real property owned by the public utility or CATV company, as appropriate, within 180 days after receiving such petition. Concerning a request by a public utility to convey land utilized for the purpose of the protection of a public water supply to a corporation or other entity which is not subject to the jurisdiction of the board, the bill requires the board to issue an order, in writing, of its decision within 180 days after first receiving the Department of Environmental Protection‘s review of the request and its recommendations regarding the impact that the conveyance, and the prospective use or uses of the land conveyed, would have on the water quality of the affected public water supply, and the State's open space, conservation, and recreation requirements. Current law, in section 4 of P.L.1988, c.163 (C.48:2-23.1), requires the department to provide the board with its review and recommendations within one year of the board’s request on the petition.