Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge

The Senate Environment and Energy Committee and the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee will meet for their annual joint summer session at 10 a.m., August 10, at the Lavallette First Aid Building, 1207 Bay Boulevard, Lavallette, NJ.

The committees will testimony on the cleanup of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge after Superstorm Sandy.  


The panels will also hear testimony on the need for soil restoration standards.


Back in Trenton on Monday, the Senate Economic Development Committee will meet at 10:30 a.m. in Room 1 (First Floor) take up a number of animal protection bills.


In addition, the committee will consider S-848 (Whelan),the “Governmental Energy Reliability and
41 Savings Public-Private Partnership Act,” which would permit private entities to propose to governmental entities a broad spectrum of energy-related  projects at governmental facilities through a public-private partnership (P3) agreement.

Current law does not authorize these types of P3 agreements. Under the bill, private entities would be responsible for designing, building, financing, operating, or maintaining energy-related projects for governmental entity facilities in a manner similar to the approach authorized by the “Economic Stimulus Act
3 of 2009,” which, in part, authorized State colleges and universities to offer certain financial and other incentives to prospective private sector developers.

The bill creates an “Energy P3 Unit” situated within the Board of
7 Public Utilities (BPU) that is responsible for the formulation and execution of a comprehensive Statewide policy for P3 agreements that will facilitate the development of energy-related projects and
1or the development, promotion, coordination, oversight, and approval of P3 agreements.

In doing so, the Energy P3 Unit is to consult and coordinate with representatives of other State departments, agencies, boards, and authorities, including, but not limited to, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Department of Community Affairs, to accomplish the goals of the bill and facilitate P3 agreements.

The bill authorizes the Energy P3 Unit to retain professional advisers as needed and to charge certain fees to fund positions in the Energy P3  unit and its retained professional advisers.

A full copy of S-848 is available here