S6

An Act concerning public agency-issued permits to businesses related to economic development projects and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

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

1. As used in this act:

"Local agency" means any department of a political subdivision of this State, or any division, office, agency, or bureau thereof that issues a permit to a business.

"Permit" means a permit, license, certificate, registration, compliance schedule, or any other form of permission or approval required by law to be issued by a State agency in order to engage in a business activity, or any other authorization related thereto, whether that authorization is in the form of a permit, approval, license, certification, waiver, letter of interpretation, agreement, or any other executive or administrative decision which allows a business to engage in an activity.

"State agency" means any New Jersey principal department or any division, office, agency, or bureau thereof that issues a permit to a business.

2. Consistent with the objectives of applicable statutes, every State agency shall periodically review those permits the State agency issues to identify permits that:

a. Can be administered through an expedited process, such as: (1) developing procedures for the electronic submission of permit applications, and (2) the issuance of a permit by rule pursuant to which standards are established where a representative of a business seeking or renewing a permit certifies that the business is in compliance with such standards, and oversight is achieved through inspections and audits; and

b. May be obsolete, are no longer necessary, or cost more to administer than the benefits they provide, and thus should be eliminated so long as the public health, safety, or general welfare is not endangered.

3. The Lieutenant Governor shall develop a system of consolidated and contemporaneous review of State and local agency-issued business permits for the purpose of accelerating the process of issuing business permits, eliminating redundancy among different levels of State and local government, and ensuring more consistency in permit issuance. Under such system, any county or municipality issuing a business permit shall be encouraged and incentivized to voluntarily join in a collaborative effort to manage the permitting process for a business project with any State agency, as applicable to each project, and jointly agree on a process and schedule for a cooperative and contemporaneous handling of business permits and approvals. Any municipality issuing a business permit or approval pursuant to the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.) shall not be subject to the provisions of this act.

4. Concerning any large, complex project having a significant potential employment or investment impact, the Lieutenant Governor shall designate an employee of the Department of State to act as a contact person to be responsible for assisting each business undertaking such project on an individual basis and to continue as the point of contact between that business and all appropriate government entities throughout the permit and approval application process. Concerning projects which require permits from multiple State and local agencies, the Lieutenant Governor shall designate an employee of the Department of State to guide such projects throughout the process of applying and receiving any business permit or approval. The duties of the designated contact person shall include:

a. Developing, from the outset, a checklist of permits to which the applicable agencies agree;

b. Establishing a detailed course of actions and milestones for the permitting or approval process that shall be agreed to by the applicable agencies;

c. Reporting any impediments to, or conflicts regarding, milestones to the Lieutenant Governor, and promptly evaluating any disputes, delays, or other issues requiring centralized review; and

d. Coordinating as needed with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to ensure that businesses considering investing in this State receive integrated project management of all State and local agency required permits and approvals.

5. A State or local agency issuing a permit or approval shall provide for the waiver of strict compliance with the standards promulgated for issuing such permit or approval, where necessary to alleviate undue hardship and where such waiver is based on common sense principles.

6. This act shall take effect on the 90th day after the date of enactment, but any affected agency may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

This bill directs State and local agencies that issue permits to businesses related to economic development to streamline the process by which the permits are issued to such businesses and monitored for compliance.

Specifically, the bill requires State agencies to review the permits they currently issue to identify permits which: 1) can be administered through expedited processes, such as developing procedures for the electronic submission of permit applications and permitting by rule to which standards are established, where company executives certify they are in compliance and oversight is achieved through inspections and audits; and 2) may be obsolete, are no longer necessary or cost more to administer than the benefits they provide, and thus should be eliminated so long as the public health, safety, or general welfare is not endangered.

The bill requires the Lieutenant Governor to develop a system of consolidated and contemporaneous review of State and local agency-issued permits to accelerate the permitting process, eliminate redundancy among different levels of State and local government, and ensure more consistency. Under this system, municipalities would be encouraged and incentivized to voluntarily join in a collaborative “project management” with State agencies; however, business permits or approvals issued by municipalities pursuant to the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.) are not required to participate.

For large, complex project having a significant potential employment or investment impact, the bill requires the Lieutenant Governor to designate an employee of the Department of State to act as a contact person to be responsible for assisting each business undertaking such project on an individual basis and to continue as the point of contact between that business and all appropriate government entities throughout the permit and approval application process. For projects which require permits from multiple State and local agencies, the bill requires the Lieutenant Governor to designate an employee of the Department of State to guide such projects throughout the process of applying and receiving any business permit or approval. The contact person’s duties would include: 1) developing from the outset an agreed upon checklist of permits to which the applicable agencies agree; 2) establishing detailed pathways and milestones for the process, also to be agreed to by the applicable agencies; 3) reporting any impediments to or conflicts regarding milestones to the Lieutenant Governor, and promptly evaluating any disputes, delays, or other issues requiring centralized review; and 4) coordinating as needed with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to ensure that businesses considering investing in New Jersey receive integrated project management of all of the incentives and approvals milestones required.

Further, for suitable projects, the bill allows permit writers and their superiors to exercise their authority under the doctrine of “waiver of strict compliance” with the standards promulgated for issuing such permit or approval, where necessary to alleviate undue hardship and where such waiver is based on common sense principles.

This bill is based on a recommendation contained in the report entitled “Governor-Elect Christie: Report to the Transition Team: Subcommittee on Economic Development & Job Growth.”