Sponsored by:
Senator STEPHEN M. SWEENEY
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Senator STEVEN V. OROHO
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator O'Scanlon, Assemblymen Wirths and Space
SYNOPSIS
Increases thresholds for environmental assessment requirements for certain transportation projects under Executive Order No. 215 of 1989.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on November 15, 2021, with amendments.
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 1[the department’s] its1 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.