Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Increases thresholds for environmental assessment requirements for certain transportation projects under Executive Order No. 215 of 1989.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning environmental assessments for certain transportation projects and supplementing P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of Executive Order No. 215 of 1989 to the contrary, toll road authorities, the New Jersey Transit Corporation, and the department shall not be required to prepare and submit to the Department of Environmental Protection, pursuant to Executive Order No. 215 of 1989, an environmental assessment for a public highway or public transportation project that has anticipated construction costs of $3 million or less.
b. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Executive Order No. 215 of 1989 to the contrary, toll road authorities, the New Jersey Transit Corporation, and the department shall not be required to prepare and submit to the Department of Environmental Protection, pursuant to Executive Order No. 215 of 1989, an environmental impact statement for a public highway or public transportation project that has anticipated construction costs of $7 million or less and land disturbance in excess of five acres.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection, the Department of Environmental Protection may require a toll road authority, the New Jersey Transit Corporation, or the department to submit an environmental assessment for a public highway or public transportation project that has anticipated construction costs between $5 and $7 million and land disturbance in excess of five acres.
c. The Department of Environmental Protection shall annually increase the thresholds established in subsections a. and b. of this section to appropriately account for inflation utilizing a federally published measure of inflation that indexes construction costs over an area encompassing New Jersey, and shall publish notice of this increase on the department’s Internet website and in the New Jersey Register.
d. Nothing in this section shall be construed to abrogate or limit the authority of the Department of Environmental Protection to require the submission of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement for a public highway or public transportation project pursuant to any other law.
2. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would increase the monetary thresholds at which certain transportation projects are required to submit environmental assessments (EA) or environmental impact statements (EIS) to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Pursuant to Executive Order No. 215 of 1989 (EO 215), a department, agency, or authority of the State that seeks to carry out a transportation project with anticipated construction costs greater than $1 million is required to submit an EA to the DEP. In addition, EO 215 requires the submission of an EIS for a project with anticipated construction costs greater than $5 million and land disturbance in excess of five acres. This bill would increase these thresholds to $3 million and $7 million, respectively, for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the South Jersey Transportation Authority, the New Jersey Transit Corporation, and the Department of Transportation. These new thresholds would be annually adjusted for inflation, under the bill. Finally, the bill would clarify that the DEP may require an EA for a project with a land disturbance in excess of five acres and estimated costs between $5 million and $7 million (which, under current law, would require an EIS).