A755

An Act concerning the dedication of a certain portion of State sales tax revenues for the dredging of certain inland waterways and supplementing P.L.1966, c.30 and Title 12 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Commencing on July 1, 2000, there shall annually be deposited in a special dredging account, established pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill) and named therein as the "The Community and Navigational Waterways Restorative and Maintenance Dredging Account," the sum of $5,000,000 of the tax collected annually pursuant to P.L.1966, c.30, provided however, that the dedication and use of those monies shall be subject and subordinate to the appropriation of revenues from taxes in order to provide the ways and means to pay the principal and interest on bonds of the State and the dedication of sales tax collections pursuant to Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 7 of the New Jersey Constitution.

2. The Legislature finds and declares that in recent years essentially no funding has been available for dredging projects of navigational waters outside of the New York-New Jersey port region; that the "Port of New Jersey Revitalization, Dredging, Environmental Cleanup, Lake Restoration, and Delaware Bay Area Economic Development Bond Act of 1996," P.L.1996, c.70, provided $185,000,000 to the port region for dredging projects and $20,000,000 provided for non-port region dredging projects, but while the majority of the $185,000,000 has been appropriated for port region dredging projects, the majority of the non-port region dredging monies have been held for the Delaware River deepening project; that although the Delaware River deepening project is an important and necessary dredging project, other waterways require attention on an ongoing basis; that it is also important to maintain other navigable waterways for the sake of the $27 billion tourism industry in the State, of which recreational and commercial boating businesses are a vital part; that a number of waterways in the State are not officially designated as navigational waters but are used as navigational waterways to access residences by boat in coastal communities; that special attention is required for these waterways and navigational waters in the State if the waters are to be used for transportation by a large number of our residents, for practical and recreational purposes, are not to become impassable; that the designated navigational waters in the State involve hundreds of thousands of miles of waterways that require dredging on a regular basis; that a stable source of funding for non-port region dredging projects is required if damage is to be reversed and avoided in the future; and that sufficient monies are collected from sales tax on sales of boats, canoes, kyacks, power vessels, personal watercraft (jet skis), motor boat engines, boat trailers and other recreational boating and personal watercraft supplies and equipment to provide such a stable source.

The Legislature therefore determines it is altogether fitting a proper for the State to dedicate a portion of sales tax revenues collected to a special dredging account to fund the dredging of waterways in the State outside of the port region, including, but not limited to, the restorative and maintenance dredging of waterways in the State that may not be officially designated as navigational waters by the Department of Environmental Protection but provide boat access from open water to residential dwelling units in coastal areas.

3. a. There is established in the Department of Environmental Protection a special dredging account to be known as the "The Community and Navigational Waterways Restorative and Maintenance Dredging Account," and referred to herein as the "special dredging account." The special dredging account shall be separate from the General Fund and the Department of Environmental Protection shall administer the account. The portion of monies collected pursuant to P.L.1966, c.30 that are deposited into the special dredging account pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be used by the department exclusively for the purposes and in the manner provided in subsection b. of this section.

b. The monies deposited in the special dredging account shall be used exclusively for the purposes of funding the dredging of waterways in the State outside of the port region as defined in section 2 of P.L.1997, c.97 (C.12:6B-2). The funding may be used for the dredging of navigational waters in the State, or the restorative and maintenance dredging of waterways in the State that may not be officially designated as navigational waters by the Department of Environmental Protection but provide boat access from open water to residential dwelling units in coastal areas; provided that no less than one quarter of the monies deposited in the account shall be allocated by the Department of Environmental Protection to the restorative and maintenance dredging of waterways in the State that provide boat access from open water to residential dwelling units in coastal areas.

c. Within the 180 days after the effective date of this act, the Department of Environmental Protection shall establish a list of all navigational waters and waterways eligible for funding from the special dredging account pursuant to the provisions of subsection b. of this section, and a prioritized project list of the dredging projects to be funded. Thereafter, the department shall update the lists annually. When establishing and updating the lists, the Department of Environmental Protection shall apply the broadest criteria in determining the eligibility of projects for funding pursuant to the requirements of subsection b. of this section, and shall solicit input concerning areas, projects and waterways that should be included in the lists from counties, municipalities, residential community organizations in coastal areas, and any task force concerning lagoon communities that may have been established. Whenever a county, municipality, residential community, or task force recommends an area, waterway or project for the lists that is eligible for funding pursuant to the requirements of subsection b. of this section, the area, waterway or project shall be included in the lists.

d. Each January after the establishment of the lists pursuant to subsection c. of this section, the Department of Environmental Protection shall submit to the Governor and the Legislature the lists established and updated pursuant to subsection c. of this section, and a list of the projects and their cost funded in the previous calendar year and a list of the projects and their cost projected to be funded in the current calendar year.

4. This act shall take effect as of July 1, 2000, except that the State Treasurer and the Commissioner of Environmental Protection are authorized to take any action necessary immediately, including the adoption of rules or regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), in order to implement the act in a timely manner.

STATEMENT

This bill dedicates $5,000,000 from sales tax revenues to a special dredging account, created in this bill and named the "The Community and Navigational Waterways Restorative and Maintenance Dredging Account," for the purposes of funding the dredging of waterways in the State outside of the port region. More specifically, the monies are to be used for the dredging of navigational waters in the State, or the restorative and maintenance dredging of waterways in the State that may not be officially designated as navigational waters by the Department of Environmental Protection but provide boat access from open water to residential dwelling units in coastal areas. The bill requires that no less than one quarter of the monies deposited in the account shall be allocated by the Department of Environmental Protection to the restorative and maintenance dredging of waterways in the State that provide boat access from open water to residential dwelling units in coastal areas.

The bill further requires that the Department of Environmental Protection establish then annually update a list of eligible waterways in the State and a prioritized list of the dredging projects. The bill requires the Department of Environmental Protection to be as broad as possible in determining eligibility and to seek out and include recommendations from counties, municipalities, residential communities, or any task force concerning lagoon communities that may be established. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Environmental Protection to submit to the Governor and Legislature the eligible waterways and prioritized project lists, a list of the projects and their cost funded in the previous calendar year, and a list of the projects and their cost projected to be funded in the current calendar year.

The "Port of New Jersey Revitalization, Dredging, Environmental Cleanup, Lake Restoration, and Delaware Bay Area Economic Development Bond Act of 1996," P.L.1996, c.70, provided $185,000,000 to the port region for dredging projects but the majority of $20,000,000 provided for non-port region dredging projects has been held for the Delaware River deepening project, leaving essentially no funding for any dredging projects outside of the port region. Each year, substantial sales tax revenues are collected on sales of boats, powered personal watercraft (jet skis), motor boat engines, boat trailers and other recreational boating and powered personal watercraft supplies and equipment, and the Legislature finds it appropriate to use these revenues for maintaining the waterways on which the vessels, supplies and equipment were sold to be used.