Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires BPU to hold public hearings on certain proposed intrastate natural gas pipelines; requires pipeline operator to provide written notice to property owners located within blast area of certain proposed intrastate natural gas pipelines.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the construction of certain intrastate natural gas pipelines and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
“Blast area” means the area that may be influenced or affected if a natural gas pipeline explodes.
“Board” and “gas public utility” shall have the same meaning as provided in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51).
“Natural gas pipeline utility” shall have the same meaning as provided in section 2 of P.L.1952, c.166 (C.48:10-3).
“Natural gas pipeline” shall have the same meaning as “pipeline” as provided in 49 C.F.R. s.192.3.
“Pipeline operator” means a person who owns, operates, manages, or controls an intrastate natural gas pipeline, including a gas public utility or a natural gas pipeline utility.
2. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, regulation, or order to the contrary, the board shall hold at least one public hearing in each municipality that will be affected by the construction or replacement of an intrastate natural gas pipeline with a maximum operating pressure in excess of 250 pounds per square inch gauge. Each pubic hearing shall be held at least 90 days prior to the board’s final decision on whether to approve the proposed construction or replacement of an intrastate natural gas pipeline and begin after 6:30 PM, Eastern Standard Time, on a weekday. The public shall be allotted at least 90 minutes to speak.
b. Notwithstanding any law, rule, regulation, or order to the contrary, a pipeline operator proposing to construct or replace an intrastate natural gas pipeline with a maximum operating pressure in excess of 250 pounds per square inch gauge shall provide written notice at least 30 days in advance of the public hearings scheduled pursuant to subsection a. of this section concerning the construction or replacement of the intrastate natural gas pipeline to all property owners located within the blast area of the proposed natural gas pipeline, as determined by the board. The written notice shall be delivered to each property owner located in the blast area by mail via the United States Postal Service or other hard copy delivery service.
c. A pipeline operator shall certify to the board in its application to construct or replace an intrastate natural gas pipeline, as described in subsection a. of this section, that the pipeline operator’s determination of the size of the blast area comports with expert knowledge, current studies, and State, federal, and industry safety standards.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
The bill requires the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (board) to hold at least one public hearing in each municipality that will be affected by the construction or replacement of an intrastate natural gas pipeline with a maximum operating pressure in excess of 250 pounds per square inch gauge. Each pubic hearing is to be held at least 90 days prior to the board’s final decision on whether to approve the proposed construction or replacement of an intrastate natural gas pipeline and begin after 6:30 PM, Eastern Standard Time, on a weekday. The public is to be allotted at least 90 minutes to speak.
The bill requires a pipeline operator proposing to construct or replace an intrastate natural gas pipeline with a maximum operating pressure in excess of 250 pounds per square inch gauge to provide written notice at least 30 days in advance of the scheduled public hearings concerning the construction or replacement of the intrastate natural gas pipeline to all property owners located within the blast area of the proposed natural gas pipeline. The bill defines “blast area” to mean the area that may be influenced or affected if a natural gas pipeline explodes.
Under the bill, a pipeline operator is to certify to the board in its application to construct or replace an intrastate natural gas pipeline that the pipeline operator’s determination of the size of the blast area comports with expert knowledge, current studies, and State, federal, and industry safety standards.