Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblywoman NANCY J. PINKIN
District 18 (Middlesex)
Assemblyman TIMOTHY J. EUSTACE
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators B.Smith and Bateman
SYNOPSIS
Requires NJ Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program to give additional weight in ranking system to projects including green or blue roof.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program and amending P.L.1985, c.334.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 20 of P.L.1985, c.334 (C.58:11B-20) is amended to read as follows:
20. a. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall for each fiscal year develop a priority system for wastewater treatment systems and shall establish the ranking criteria and funding policies for the projects therefor. The commissioner shall set forth a project priority list for funding by the trust for each fiscal year and shall include the aggregate amount of funds of the trust to be authorized for these purposes. The project priority list may include any stormwater management or combined sewer overflow abatement project identified in the stormwater management and combined sewer overflow abatement project priority list adopted by the commissioner pursuant to section 28 of P.L.1989, c.181.
The project priority list, which shall include for each wastewater treatment system the date each project is scheduled to be certified as ready for funding, shall be in conformance with applicable provisions of the "Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972," Pub.L. 92-500 (33 U.S.C. s.1251 et al.), and any amendatory or supplementary acts thereto, and State law. The project priority list shall include a description of each project and its purpose, impact, cost, and construction schedule, and an explanation of the manner in which priorities were established. The priority system and project priority list for the ensuing fiscal year shall be submitted to the Legislature on or before January 15 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. Incremental revisions or supplements to the project priority list may be submitted to the Legislature at any time between January 15th and May 15th of each year. On or before May 15 of each year, the trust shall submit the project priority list, including any revision thereof or supplement thereto, to be introduced in each House in the form of legislative appropriations bills, which shall be referred to the Senate Environment Committee and the General Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, or their successors, for their respective consideration.
b. The Senate Environment Committee and the General Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee shall, either individually or jointly, consider the legislation containing the project 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 July 1 of each year, the Legislature shall approve an appropriations act containing the project priority list, including any amendatory or supplementary provisions thereto, which act shall include the authorization of an aggregate amount of funds of the trust to be expended for loans and guarantees for the specific projects, including the individual amounts therefor, on the list.
c. The trust shall not expend any money for a loan or guarantee during a fiscal year for any wastewater treatment system project unless the expenditure is authorized pursuant to an appropriations act as provided in the provisions of this section, or as otherwise set forth in an appropriations act.
d. In developing the project priority list required pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the commissioner shall provide additional points, as part of the department’s ranking criteria, for projects that include the construction and maintenance of a green roof or blue roof to reduce stormwater runoff in the project design.
As used in this section:
“Blue roof” means a roof constructed with mechanical controls that drain stormwater, including but not limited to gravel beds, perforated pipes, rooftop detention systems, or weirs, designed to improve stormwater management.
“Green roof” means a roof that includes, among other things, a growth medium and a vegetation layer of drought resistant and hardy plant species, designed to improve stormwater management.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.59, s.3)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, when ranking eligible projects for funding from the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program, to provide additional points, as part of the ranking criteria, for projects that include the construction and maintenance of a green roof or blue roof to reduce stormwater runoff in the project design.
Green roofs and blue roofs, which use vegetation or mechanical devices, respectively, to prevent roof water from draining too quickly, not only improve stormwater management but also provide cost savings opportunities, such as more efficient energy usage for heating and cooling. The current priority system used for ranking projects eligible for funding from the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program provides additional points to clean water projects whose primary purpose is to implement green infrastructure, water or energy efficiency improvements, including projects designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This bill provides that projects that include the construction and maintenance of a green or blue roof would receive additional weight in the ranking system to assist these projects in ranking higher on the project list, since the program’s funding is limited and the application process is competitive.