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A2463
ASSEMBLY, No. 2463
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman TENNILLE R. MCCOY
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
���� Makes $100 million in federal funds available to DEP
for grants to local governments for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater
infrastructure projects.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
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.