New Jersey-2024-A2776-Amended

An Act concerning certain plastic processing facilities, amending P.L.1970, c.39, and supplementing Title 13 of the Revised Statutes.

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

1. Section 3 of P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-3) is amended to read as follows:

3. As used in the provisions of P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.):

"Solid waste" means garbage, refuse, and other discarded materials resulting from industrial, commercial and agricultural operations, and from domestic and community activities, and shall include all other waste materials including liquids, except for : (1) source separated recyclable materials [or] ; (2) source separated food waste collected by livestock producers approved by the State Department of Agriculture to collect, prepare and feed such wastes to livestock on their own farms; or (3) source separated plastic materials, except those plastic materials identified in paragraph (2) of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), which are transported and delivered to, and processed at, an advanced plastic processing facility.

"Solid waste collection" means the activity related to pick-up and transportation of solid waste from its source or location to a solid waste facility or other destination.

"Disposal" means the storage, treatment, utilization, processing, resource recovery of, or the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid or hazardous waste into or on any land or water, so that the solid or hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwaters.

"Solid waste management" includes all activities related to the collection or disposal of solid waste by any person engaging in any such process.

"Council" means the Advisory Council on Solid Waste Management.

"Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection.

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection.

"Solid waste facilities" means and includes the plants, structures and other real and personal property acquired, constructed or operated or to be acquired, constructed or operated by, or on behalf of, any person, public authority or county pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.) or any other act, including transfer stations, incinerators, resource recovery facilities, sanitary landfill facilities or other plants for the disposal of solid waste, and all vehicles, equipment and other real and personal property and rights therein and appurtenances necessary or useful and convenient for the collection or disposal of solid waste in a sanitary manner.

"Public authority" means a municipal or county utilities authority created pursuant to the "municipal and county utilities authorities law," P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-1 et seq.); a county improvement authority created pursuant to the "county improvement authorities law," P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-44 et seq.); a pollution control financing authority created pursuant to the "New Jersey Pollution Control Financing Law," P.L.1973, c.376 (C.40:37C-1 et seq.); or any other public body corporate and politic created for solid waste management purposes in any county, pursuant to the provisions of any law.

"Hackensack Meadowlands District" means the area within the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission created pursuant to the provisions of the "Hackensack Meadowlands Reclamation and Development Act," P.L.1968, c.404 (C.13:17-1 et seq.).

"Hackensack Commission" means the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission created pursuant to the provisions of the "Hackensack Meadowlands Reclamation and Development Act," P.L.1968, c.404 (C.13:17-1 et seq.).

"Public sewage treatment plant" means any structure or structures required to be approved by the department pursuant to P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-1 et seq.) or P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.), by means of which domestic wastes are subjected to any artificial process in order to remove or so alter constituents as to render the waste less offensive or dangerous to the public health, comfort or property of any of the inhabitants of this State, before the discharge of the plant effluent into any of the waters of this State; this definition includes plants for the treatment of industrial wastes, as well as a combination of domestic and industrial wastes.

"Resource recovery" means the collection, separation, recycling and recovery of metals, glass, paper and other materials for reuse; or the incineration of solid waste for energy production and the recovery of metals and other materials for reuse.

"Resource recovery facility" means a solid waste facility constructed and operated for the incineration of solid waste for energy production and the recovery of metals and other materials for reuse; or a mechanized composting facility, or any other solid waste facility.

"Sanitary landfill facility" means a solid waste facility at which solid waste is deposited on or in the land as fill for the purpose of permanent disposal or storage for a period exceeding six months, except that it shall not include any waste facility approved for disposal of hazardous waste.

"Transfer station" means a solid waste facility at which solid waste is transferred from a solid waste collection vehicle to a registered solid waste haulage vehicle, including a rail car, for transportation to an offsite sanitary landfill facility, resource recovery facility, or designated out-of-State disposal site for disposal.

"Advanced plastic processing facility" means a facility that receives, stores, and processes plastic material generated from industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activities, transforming it into useable products ¹other than fuel¹, including¹,¹ but not limited to¹,¹ plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, ¹or¹ chemical feedstocks, ¹[crude oil, diesel, gasoline, or home heating oil,]¹ using chemical processes such as gasification, pyrolysis, and solvolysis. ¹"Advanced plastic processing facility" does not include any facility that receives, stores, and processes plastic material from industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activities for the purpose of transforming it into useable fuel products, such as crude oil, diesel, gasoline, or home heating oil.¹

(cf: P.L.2003, c.231, s.1)

2. (New section) a. (1) Except as otherwise provided by paragraph (2) of this subsection, plastic materials that are transported and delivered to, and processed at, an advanced plastic processing facility shall not be subject to the provisions of any State law regulating recycling or the disposal of solid waste, including, but not limited to, the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.) and the "New Jersey Statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act," P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.11 et al.), or any rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto. However, an advanced plastic processing facility shall be subject to all other applicable State and federal laws, including, but not limited to, those regulating land use, air pollution, and water pollution. In particular, nothing in this act shall be construed to exempt an advanced plastic processing facility from the provisions of P.L.2020, c.92 (C.13:1D-157 et seq.).

(2) The exemption from solid waste disposal and recycling requirements, which is established by paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall not apply to plastic materials that are composed of polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) or high density polyethylene (HDPE) and are labeled with material code "1" or "2" pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1989, c.268 (C.13:1E-99.41).

b. Advanced plastic processing shall not be considered solid waste disposal, solid waste management, resource recovery, materials recovery, thermal destruction, incineration, combustion, treatment, or reclamation, for the purposes of any State law regulating recycling or the disposal of solid waste or any rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

c. An advanced plastic processing facility shall not be considered a solid waste facility, solid waste disposal facility, solid waste management facility, resource recovery facility, materials recovery facility, thermal destruction facility, incinerator, combustion facility, treatment facility, reclamation facility, recycling facility, or recycling center for the purposes of any State law regulating recycling or the disposal of solid waste or any rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

d. As used in this section:

"Advanced plastic processing" means the transformation of plastic material generated from industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activities into useable products, including, but not limited to, plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, chemical feedstocks, crude oil, diesel, gasoline, or home heating oil, using chemical processes such as gasification, pyrolysis, and solvolysis.

"Advanced plastic processing facility" means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-3).

3. This act shall take effect immediately.