Bill Text: NJ A3647 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires owners of certain newly developed shopping centers to provide electric vehicle charging stations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-17 - Assembly Floor Amendment Passed (Cryan) [A3647 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A3647-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOSEPH CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires owners of certain newly developed shopping centers to provide electric vehicle charging stations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning electric vehicle charging stations, supplementing Title 56 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:
"Board" means the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
"Electric vehicle charging station" or "charging station" means an electric recharging point complete with electric vehicle supply equipment that is capable of providing level 2 charging for plug-in electric motor vehicles.
"Electric vehicle supply equipment" means the conductors, including the underground, grounded, and equipment grounding conductors, and the electric vehicle connectors, attachment plugs, and all other fittings, devices, power outlets, or apparatuses that are installed specifically for the purpose of delivering electricity from the premises wiring to a plug-in electric motor vehicle."
"Level 2 charging" means the provision of 208-240 volt alternate current electricity to an onboard charger of a plug-in electric motor vehicle in a single phase with a maximum current specified at 32 continuous amps with a branch circuit breaker rated at 40 amps and a maximum continuous input power specified at 7.68 kilowatts.
"Plug-in electric motor vehicle" means a vehicle propelled to a significant extent by an electric motor which draws electricity from a battery that is capable of being recharged from an external source of electricity.
"Shopping center development" means a privately owned and operated commercial development that is or is to be owned and managed as a unit consisting of a building or series of buildings on a common site together with an adjacent parking area of no less than 100 parking spaces to which the public is invited.
"Shopping center owner" or "owner" means the owner of a shopping center development proposed for construction or constructed in this State.
2. a. The owner of a shopping center development or proposed shopping center development shall provide that no less than five percent of the parking spaces for the shopping center development are equipped with electric vehicle charging stations, and that such stations are available for use during the hours of operation of the shopping center development.
b. The provisions of subsection a. of this section shall be inapplicable to (1) any shopping center development constructed prior to the effective date of this act, and (2) any proposed shopping center development for which a site plan application shall have been filed prior to that effective date, whether or not that application shall have been approved or construction of that proposed development shall have been commenced.
3. a. A shopping center owner may recover costs of compliance with the requirements of subsection a. of section 2 of this act, including costs associated with installation of electric vehicle charging stations, from motorists who use the stations, in proportion to their use. The Board of Public Utilities shall initiate a proceeding and, after notice, provision of the opportunity for comment, and a public hearing, shall adopt standards for a schedule of prices, including the maximum prices which a shopping center owner may charge pursuant to this act, to allow shopping center owners to recover such costs of compliance. Any standards, or modification thereof, shall be adopted by the board as a regulation pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c. 410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).
b. A shopping center owner imposing charges on motorists pursuant to subsection a. of this section for the use of an electric vehicle charging station shall publicly display and maintain, in the manner regulated by the Director of the Division of Taxation, a sign legible to the motorist stating the price per unit of time, unit of voltage, or other measure of usage, as determined by the board hereunder, to be charged to the motorist for such use. All taxes and charges imposed with respect to the sale of electric vehicle charging station use shall be included in the price shown on that sign, but the sign shall contain a statement of the amount of taxes included in that price, or, without specifying the amount thereof, the sign shall state that taxes are included in the price. A shopping center development owner shall not charge for use of the electric vehicle charging station at any other price than the price so posted, including tax.
c. No shopping center development owner shall sell use of a charging station at a price which exceeds the maximum price set by the board.
4. Every shopping center development owner who shall fail to provide electric vehicle charging stations pursuant to section 2 of this act; or who shall fail to post and publicly display, in the manner required pursuant to subsection a. of section 3 of this act, a sign stating the price per unit of electric vehicle charging station use; or who shall sell charging station use at a price inconsistent with the standards established by the board pursuant to subsection b. of section 3 of this act, shall, upon conviction, be subject to a penalty of not more than $500 for the first offense and not more than $1,000 for the second and any subsequent offense.
5. The following procedure shall be followed in actions for the enforcement of penalties set forth in section 4 of this act:
a. The penalty shall be sued for in the name of the Director of the Division of Taxation. The Superior Court and every municipal court is hereby authorized, upon the filing of a complaint in writing, duly verified by the Director of the Division of Taxation, or by any assistant or employee of the Director of the Division of Taxation, which may be made upon information or belief, that a shopping center development owner has violated any of the provisions of this act, to issue process at the suit of the Director of the Division of Taxation as plaintiff. Such process shall be either in the nature of a summons or warrant, which may issue without any order of the court or judge first being obtained against the person or persons so charged.
b. The officers to serve and execute all process under this act shall be officers authorized to serve all process out of the Superior Court or municipal court of competent jurisdiction.
6. Any habitual violations of provisions of this act, or of any orders or rules or regulations made pursuant to this act, may be restrained by the Superior Court of competent jurisdiction in an action brought for such purpose by the Director of the Division of Taxation.
7. This act shall take effect immediately, but the provisions of sections 1 through 6 shall be inoperative until the first day of the fourth month following enactment; provided, however, that the board and the Division of Taxation may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would require owners of certain shopping center developments to provide, during operating hours of the shopping center, electric vehicle charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles.
The bill defines "shopping center development" to mean a privately owned and operated commercial development that is or is to be owned and managed as a unit consisting of a building or series of buildings on a common site together with an adjacent parking area of no less than 100 parking spaces to which the public is invited. The bill requires at least five percent of the parking spaces in any such shopping center development to be equipped with electric vehicle charging stations. Shopping centers constructed, or for which a site plan application is pending, prior to the effective date of the legislation would be exempt from the requirement.
Owners would be allowed to recover the costs associated with the installation of, and provision of electricity through, the charging stations. The costs would be recovered through charges to motorists using the charging stations. The Board of Public Utilities would set the maximum price of owners may charge, and the Division of Taxation would promulgate regulations to enforce that limitation, along with rules concerning the posting of prices by shopping center owners. Owners who do not comply with requirements of this bill would be subject to a fine of $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.
The promotion of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, and the infrastructure needed to recharge them, would serve to reduce the purchase of foreign petroleum that supports an estimated 75 billion on-road vehicle miles traveled annually in the State. New Jersey citizens, businesses and institutions pay billions of dollars each year to foreign oil suppliers for the gasoline and diesel fuels needed for that travel.
