By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor
The New Jersey Legislature presented Governor Phil Murphy with hundreds of bills in the final days of its lame-duck session that expired last week. Below is a list of environmental bills that the governor signed into law today and those he took no action on which, following a lame-duck session, constitutes a ‘pocket veto.’
Bills signed into law:
S721 /A1751 (Greenstein, Cunningham, Diegnan / Quijano, Benson) – Authorizes use of certain electric school buses
S1683 /A4267 (Smith, Greenstein / McKeon, Space, Wirths) – Concerns regulation of solid waste, hazardous waste, and soil and fill recycling industries
S2511 / A4020 (Madden / Mazzeo, Murphy, Johnson) – Changes title of DEP “conservation officer” to “conservation police officer”
S3920 wGR / A5552 (Pou / Wimberly, Sumter) – Concerns provision of energy to certain manufacturing facilities by providing exemptions to certain energy-related taxes
S3939 and S3944 / ACS for 2018:A5681 and 2018:A5682 (Smith, Greenstein, Bateman, Codey / Pinkin, Lopez, McKeon) – Establishes Recycling Market Development Council
S3985 / A5663 (Smith / McKeon, Pinkin, Vainieri Huttle) – Amends “Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act” to add a definition of “open access offshore wind transmission facility” and revises law concerning “qualified offshore wind projects”
S4025 / A5695 (Pou / Wimberly, Sumter) – Makes FY 2020 language allocation of $1,000,000 appropriated to Grants for Urban Parks to Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson
S4162 / A6014 (Smith, Greenstein / Vainieri Huttle, Pinkin, Houghtaling) – Establishes NJ Climate Change Resource Center at Rutgers University; appropriates up to $500,000
S4275 / A6088 (Smith, Greenstein / Burzichelli) – Allows BPU to increase cost to customers of Class I renewable energy requirement for energy years 2022 through 2024, under certain conditions
S4276 / A6109 (Corrado, Bateman / Armato, Calabrese, Land) – Appropriates $32,153,936 to State Agriculture Development Committee, and amends 2017 appropriations for stewardship activities, for farmland preservation purposes
S4277 / A6112 (Greenstein, Bateman / Freiman, Danielsen, Downey) – Appropriates $5,000,000 from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues to State Agriculture Development Committee for municipal planning incentive grants for farmland preservation purposes
S4278 / A6108 (Greenstein, Bateman / Taliaferro, Karabinchak, Kennedy) – Appropriates $21 million from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues to State Agriculture Development Committee for county planning incentive grants for farmland preservation purposes
S4279 / A6106 (Smith, Bateman / Houghtaling, Reynolds-Jackson, Pinkin) – Appropriates $1,350,000 from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues to State Agriculture Development Committee for grants to certain nonprofit organizations for farmland preservation purposes
S4309 / A6107 (Turner, Cruz-Perez / Mejia, Vainieri Huttle, Zwicker) – Appropriates $13,902,723 from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues to NJ Historic Trust for grants for certain historic preservation projects and associated administrative expenses
S4310 / A6114 (Codey, Bateman / Carter, Murphy, Lopez) – Appropriates $8,872,682 to DEP from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues for grants to certain nonprofit entities to acquire or develop lands for recreation and conservation purposes
S4311 / A6113 (Greenstein, Bateman / Mukherji, Verrelli) – Appropriates $77,450,448 from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues and various Green Acres funds to DEP for local government open space acquisition and park development projects
S4312 / A6111 (Smith, Bateman / Giblin, Mazzeo, Land) – Appropriates $36.143 million from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues for recreation and conservation purposes to DEP for State capital and park development projects
S4313 / A6110 (Corrado, Bateman / Moriarty, McKeon, Swain) – Appropriates $33.915 million from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues to DEP for State acquisition of lands for recreation and conservation purposes, including Blue Acres projects
A4136 / S2675 (Land, Milam / Andrzejczak, Van Drew) – Establishes Possession In Excess of Daily Limit Vessel License for black sea bass and summer flounder; dedicates fees therefrom to marine fisheries programs
A5511 / S1852 (Spearman, Jones, Reynolds-Jackson / Turner, Cruz-Perez) – Revises certain penalties for illegal operation of snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle, or dirt bike
A5970 / S4201 (Lopez, Speight, Chaparro / Codey) – Amends list of environmental infrastructure projects approved for long-term funding for FY2020 to include new projects, remove certain projects, and modify estimated loan amounts for certain projects
A5971 / S4202 (Mukherji, Pintor Marin, Spearman / Bateman, Corrado) – Authorizes NJ Infrastructure Bank to expend additional sums to make loans for environmental infrastructure projects for FY2020
A5972 / S4203 (Pinkin, Benson, Zwicker / Greenstein, Singleton) – Makes changes to New Jersey Infrastructure Bank’s enabling act
Governor Murphy declined to sign the following bills, meaning they expire without becoming law:
S2421 / A1030 (Smith, Bateman / Johnson, Kennedy, Benson, DeAngelo) – Concerns installation of electric vehicle charging stations in common interest communities
S2958 / A4535 (Sarlo, Oroho / Zwicker, DePhillips, DeCroce) – Establishes the “Energy Infrastructure Public-Private Partnership Act”
S3393 / A5384 and A5157 (Sarlo, Addiego / Mazzeo, Murphy, Houghtaling, Calabrese, Armato, Dancer) – Allows certain preserved farms to hold 14 special occasion events per year; imposes further event restrictions on residentially-exposed preserved farms
A1045 /S2856 (Houghtaling, Downey, Dancer / Gopal, Oroho) – Clarifies sales tax collection responsibilities of horse-boarding businesses in New Jersey
A2731 / S3407 (Taliaferro, Space / Sweeney, Oroho) – Removes statutory limitation on number of permits that may be issued by Division of Fish and Wildlife for the taking of beaver
A4382 / S2815 (Pinkin, Lopez, Kennedy / Beach, Smith) – Requires paint producers to implement or participate in a nationwide paint stewardship program
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