Prohibits dumping dredge spoils on and around islands without municipal approval.

A4131

ASSEMBLY, No. 4131

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� CAROL A. MURPHY

District 7 (Burlington)

SYNOPSIS

���� Prohibits dumping dredge spoils on and around islands
without municipal approval.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning dumping dredge spoils on islands and
supplementing P.L.1987, C.156 (C.13:9B-1 et seq.).

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

���� 1.��� The Legislature finds
and declares:

���� a.���� Burlington Island,
located on the Delaware River, has been under local control since the mid-19th
century and activity thereon, since that time, has been subject to restrictions
established by general law for the benefit of the City of Burlington;

���� b.��� Pursuant to P.L.1998,
c.119, all land on Burlington Island is to remain exclusively in the public
domain for recreational, conservational, educational or cultural use, with
supporting facilities permitted;�

���� c.���� The Department of
Environmental Protection, in conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers,
intends to subvert the intent of the Legislature and dump potentially hazardous
dredge spoils on Burlington Island;

���� d.��� Any attempt to use
Burlington Island as a waste disposal site would be entirely inappropriate and
antithetical to the Legislature�s attempts to establish local control of the
island for the purposes of benefitting the education of the children of the City
of Burlington;

���� e.���� Therefore, it is
necessary and appropriate to restrict State action on the island to maintain
the protections established by the Legislature for the benefit of the City of
Burlington nearly 200 years ago.

���� 2.��� a.���� The department
shall not approve any dumping of dredge spoils on any portion of a Delaware
River island owned or controlled by the State or a political subdivision of the
State, including riparian land, located on a Delaware River island controlled
in whole or in part by a Board of Island Managers established by the
Legislature, unless (1) the department petitions each municipality owning land
on that island to authorize the dumping of dredge spoils on or around the
island, and (2) each municipality petitioned by the department pursuant to this
section adopts an ordinance authorizing the dumping of dredge spoils on or
around the island.� This section shall be applicable to all dumping of dredge
spoils, including any proposed dumping on an existing dredge spoil bank.

���� b.��� For the purposes of this
section:

���� �Department� means the
Department of Environmental Protection.

���� �Dredge spoils� means unconsolidated,
randomly mixed sediments composed of one or more of the following: rock, soil,
or shell materials extracted and deposited during dredging and dumping
activities.

���� �Dredge spoil bank� means a
subaerial mound or ridge that permanently stands above the water composed of
dredge spoils; randomly mixed sediments deposited during dredging and dumping.

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

����
This
bill would prohibit the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) from
approving any dumping of dredge spoils on any portion of a Delaware River
island owned or controlled by the State or a political subdivision of the
State, including riparian land, located on a Delaware River island controlled
in whole or in part by a Board of Island Managers established by the
Legislature.� This prohibition would not apply if: (1) the DEP petitions each
municipality owning land on that island to authorize the dumping of dredge
spoils on or around the island; and (2) each municipality petitioned by the DEP
adopts an ordinance authorizing the dumping of dredge spoils on or around the
island.� The bill would be applicable to all dumping of dredge spoils,
including any proposed dumping on an existing dredge spoil bank.