New Jersey-2024-A3784-Introduced

An Act making federal funding available to the Department of Environmental Protection for grants to local governments for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure projects.

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

1. a. Out of the amounts of federal funds provided or made accessible to the State by the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021," Pub.L. 117-2, which may be available for water infrastructure projects, $100 million shall be made available to the department for the purposes set forth in subsection b. of this section.

b. (1) The department shall develop a program to provide grants to local government units to fund drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure projects. The department shall establish a grant application process and transparent eligibility and ranking criteria as part of the program, both of which shall be published on the department's Internet website no later than six months after the effective date of this section. A grant may be used to partially or fully fund a drinking water, wastewater, or stormwater infrastructure project. The department shall determine a maximum amount for a grant awarded pursuant to this section, so as to ensure that grants are distributed to local government units throughout the State.

(2) The department shall dedicate a proportion of the funds made available pursuant to subsection a. of this section in an amount it deems appropriate, but not less than 10 percent, for wastewater and stormwater infrastructure projects that will decrease the incidence of harmful algal blooms in Lake Hopatcong in Morris and Sussex counties and Greenwood Lake in Passaic County.

(3) The department may utilize up to three percent of the funds made available pursuant to subsection a. of this section in order to administer the grant program established pursuant to this section and to prepare and transmit the report required pursuant to subsection c. of this section.

c. No later than three years after the effective date of this section, the department shall prepare and submit to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature, a report that provides details, including the name of the grant recipient, the amount of the grant, and the purpose of the grant, for all projects funded or partially funded by a grant issued pursuant to this section.

d. As used in this section:

"Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection.

"Drinking water infrastructure project" means the construction, reconstruction, improvement, rebuilding, or relocation of any component of a public water system, and includes the acquisition of property, right-of-way, easement, or interest therein necessary for the project or the maintenance thereof.

"Local government unit" means a county or a municipality, or any agency, authority, board, commission, or other instrumentality thereof, any two or more counties or municipalities operating jointly through a joint meeting or interlocal services agreement permitted by law, or any agency, authority, board, commission, or other instrumentality thereof, and any other local or regional entity created by the Legislature as a political subdivision of the State, or any agency, authority, board, commission, or other instrumentality thereof.

"Public water system" means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-3).

"Stormwater infrastructure project" means the construction, reconstruction, improvement, rebuilding, or relocation of any component of a stormwater management system, and includes the acquisition of property, right-of-way, easement, or interest therein necessary for the project or the maintenance thereof.

"Stormwater management system" means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.2019, c.42 (C.40A:26B-3).

"Wastewater infrastructure project" means the construction, reconstruction, improvement, rebuilding, or relocation of any component of a wastewater treatment system, and includes the acquisition of property, right-of-way, easement, or interest therein necessary for the project or the maintenance thereof.

"Wastewater treatment system" means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1985, c.334 (58:11B-3).

2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire three years after the date of enactment or upon the submission to the Governor and the Legislature of the report required pursuant to subsection c. of section 1 of this act, whichever occurs sooner.

STATEMENT

This bill would allocate $100 million in federal funding provided by the State pursuant to the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to develop a grant program to provide grants to local governments to fund drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure projects.

The bill would direct the DEP to establish a grant application process and transparent eligibility and ranking criteria, and publish them on the DEP's website no later than six months after the bill's effective date. The bill would also direct the DEP to determine a maximum grant amount, to ensure that grants are distributed to local government units throughout the State.

The bill would direct the DEP to reserve at least 10 percent of the grant funds for wastewater or stormwater projects that would alleviate harmful algal blooms in Lake Hopatcong and Greenwood Lake. The DEP would be authorized to utilize up to three percent of the money allocated to administer the program.

Finally, the bill would direct the DEP, no later than three years after the bill's enactment, to prepare and submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature that provides details about the projects funded by the grant program. After the report is submitted, or three years after the bill's enactment, whichever is sooner, the bill would expire.

The State received more than $6 billion in funding from the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021," but, as of January 2022, much of the funding remains unspent.