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A2273
ASSEMBLY, No. 2273
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MARGIE DONLON, M.D.
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
���� Establishes municipal water infrastructure planning
and design project grant program in DEP; appropriates $100 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
establishing a municipal water infrastructure planning
and design project grant program in the Department of Environmental Protection,
supplementing Title 58 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� a.� 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.
���� "New Jersey Environmental
Infrastructure Financing Program" means the same as the term is defined in
section 3 of P.L.1985, c.334 (C.58:11B-3).
���� "Overburdened
community" means the same as the term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2020,
c.92 (C.13:1D-158).
���� "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.1985,
c.334 (C.58:11B-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).
���� "Water infrastructure
project" means a drinking water infrastructure project, stormwater
infrastructure project, or wastewater infrastructure project.
���� b.� The department shall
establish a program to provide grants to municipalities to fund planning and
design projects related to prospective water infrastructure projects to be
carried out by the municipality or an agency thereof.� The purpose of the program
shall be to support water infrastructure upgrades carried out by
municipalities, and to allow municipalities to better access federal and State
funds and financing to support those upgrades, by removing the upfront cost
burden associated with the planning and design stage of water infrastructure
projects.
���� c.� In order to be eligible
for a grant, a planning and design project shall be associated with a water
infrastructure project, which, in the determination of the department, would be
eligible for funding under the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure
Financing Program, and which would be carried out by the applying municipality
or an agency thereof.
���� d.� The maximum grant award
amount a water infrastructure project may receive under the program shall be $2
million.
���� e.� The department shall not
require a municipality to provide any matching funds, in order to be eligible
for a grant.
���� f.� The department shall give
priority for grant awards to planning and design projects for water
infrastructure projects located in overburdened communities.
���� g.� In establishing the grant
program pursuant to this section, the department shall:
���� (1) develop guidelines and
procedures for the submission of grant applications, and criteria for the
evaluation of such applications;
���� (2) establish terms and
conditions for the awarding of a grant under this section, and monitor grant
recipients' compliance with the terms and conditions;
���� (3) require the recipient of a
grant to report to the department information relating to its use of grant
funds under the program; and
���� (4) submit a report to the
Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the
Legislature, during each year in which a grant is awarded, on the effectiveness
of the grant program in accomplishing the purposes enumerated in subsection b.
of this section.
���� h.� The department may,
pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410
(C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations as necessary to establish and
implement the grant program.
���� 2.� There is appropriated to
the Department of Environmental Protection, from the General Fund, the sum of
$100 million to fund the grant program established by section 1 of this act.
���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill would direct the
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to establish a program to provide
grants to municipalities that undertake planning and design projects related to
prospective water infrastructure projects.
���� In order to be eligible for a
grant, a planning and design project would be required to be in support of a
water infrastructure project that would be eligible for financing under the New
Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program, carried out jointly by
the DEP and the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank.� The maximum grant award per
project would be $2 million.� Municipalities would not be required to provide
matching funds in order to be eligible for a grant.� The bill would also
require the DEP to provide priority to applications for projects located in
overburdened communities.� Under the bill, the DEP would determine the
application procedures and criteria for evaluating applications.� The bill
would require the DEP to report to Governor and the Legislature on the progress
of the program in achieving its goals.� Finally, the bill would appropriate
$100 million from the General Fund to the DEP for the purposes of the grant
program established by the bill.