Establishes "Fleet Conversion Task Force" in DEP.

A4555

ASSEMBLY, No. 4555

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 10, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman� CLINTON CALABRESE

District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblyman� JAMES J. KENNEDY

District 22 (Somerset and Union)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes �Fleet Conversion Task Force� in DEP.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
establishing a �Fleet Conversion Task Force� in the
Department of Environmental Protection.

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

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

���� (1) Commercial vehicle fleets
play a vital role in the economy, providing transportation and logistics
support to virtually every sector of the economy, including manufacturers,
distributors, agricultural and food service companies, and retailers;

���� (2) According to data
published by the United States Department of Transportation, there were
approximately 12 million automobiles and trucks in fleets on the road in 2013,
comprising five percent of all registered motor vehicles;

���� (3) Transitioning to
zero-emissions vehicles is a cornerstone of the State�s plan to reduce its
greenhouse gas emissions pursuant to the �Global Warming Response Act,� P.L.2007,
c.112 (C.26:2C-37 et seq.);

���� (4) This is because, in New
Jersey, the transportation sector emits 38 percent of the total Statewide
greenhouse gas emissions, according to the �2024 NJ Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Inventory Report Years 1990-2021,� produced by the Department of Environmental
Protection;

���� (5) Thus, vehicle fleets are
responsible for approximately two percent of New Jersey�s greenhouse gas
emissions, in addition to emitting other pollutants such as carbon monoxide,
particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide; and

���� (6) The Legislature and the
Department of Environmental Protection would benefit from the expertise and
experience of people working in the transportation sector as they develop and
implement policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicle
fleets.

���� b.� The Legislature therefore
determines that it is in the public interest to create a Fleet Conversion Task
Force to study and make recommendations on the process of converting motor
vehicle fleets from fossil fuel-powered to zero-emission vehicles, and the
State�s policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation
sector.

���� 2.� a.� There is established
in the Department of Environmental Protection a Fleet Conversion Task Force.�
The duty of the task force shall be to study the challenges faced by commercial
motor vehicle fleet owners and operators in converting their fleets to zero
emission vehicles, including the fiscal impact on small businesses, to coordinate
with the necessary stakeholders to develop a cost-effective ecosystem to
support the transition to zero-emission motor vehicle fleets; and to formulate
recommendations for policy changes that could ease compliance with any existing
laws or policies, and recommendations for new policies that could more
effectively and efficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions from commercial
motor vehicles.

���� b.� The task force shall be
composed of 15 members, as follows:

���� (1) the Commissioner of
Environmental Protection, or a designee, who shall serve ex-officio as chair;

���� (2) the Commissioner of
Transportation, or a designee, who shall serve ex-officio as vice-chair;

���� (3) the President of the Board
of Public Utilities, or a designee, who shall serve ex-officio;

���� (4) the Executive Director of
the New Jersey Transit Corporation, or a designee, who shall serve ex-officio;

���� (5) the Executive Director of
the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, or a designee, who shall serve
ex-officio;

���� (6) the Executive Director of
the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, or a designee, who shall serve
ex-officio;

���� (7) two members of the public,
appointed by the Senate President, with knowledge, expertise, or experience in
zero-emission vehicles, one of whom shall represent privately owned fleets and
one of whom shall represent publicly owned fleets;

���� (8) two members of the public,
appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, with knowledge, expertise, or
experience in zero-emission vehicles, one of whom shall represent privately
owned fleets and one of whom shall represent publicly owned fleets; and

���� (9) five members of the public
appointed by the Governor as follows:

���� (a) one representative from an
environmental justice organization;

���� (b) one representative from a
labor organization that represents trucking workers or other workers involved
with motor vehicle fleets;

���� (c) two representatives of
automotive original equipment manufacturers, with experience in medium- and
heavy-duty vehicles, at least one of whom shall have experience in
zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles; and

���� (d) one representative of
publicly owned fleets, with knowledge, expertise, or experience in
zero-emission vehicles.

���� c.� The members of the task
force shall be appointed no later than 90 days after the effective date of this
act.� The task force shall organize as soon as practicable after the
appointment of the task force�s members.� The task force may appoint a
secretary who need not be part of the task force.� The presence of eight
members shall constitute a quorum.

���� d.� The task force shall meet
regularly as the task force determines or at the call of the chair.� A true
copy of the minutes of each meeting of the task force shall be published and
maintained on the Department of Environmental Protection�s Internet website.�
The task force shall hold public hearings in various regions of the State and
shall solicit feedback from the following entities:

���� (1) public fleets, including
county, city, electric utility, water district, solid waste, wastewater,
education, emergency, and law enforcement fleets;

���� (2) regional trucking and
drayage companies, small-, medium- and large-sized business enterprises,
national carriers operating in New Jersey, and first and final mile e-commerce
and air cargo couriers;

���� (3) public and investor-owned
utilities;

���� (4) class 1, 2, and 3
railroads, as applicable to New Jersey;

���� (5) producers of electric
vehicle infrastructure;

���� (6) producers and sellers of
petroleum products, biofuels, natural gas, propane, and hydrogen;

���� (7) environmental organizations
and environmental justice advocates;

���� (8) labor organizations;

���� (9) the New Jersey Motor
Vehicle Commission;

���� (10) automobile dealers, automotive
original equipment manufacturers, and manufacturers of internal combustion and
electric vehicles, including light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles; and

���� (11) local governments.

���� e.� The members of the task
force shall serve without compensation, but the department may, within the
limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force,
reimburse members for actual expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of
their official duties.

���� f.� Any vacancies in the
membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original
appointment.

���� g.� The Department of
Environmental Protection shall provide stenographic, clerical, and other
administrative assistance and professional staff as the task force requires to
carry out the task force�s work.� The task force shall be entitled to call to
the task force�s assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees
of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or
agency as the task force may require and as may be available for the task force�s
purposes.

���� h.� The task force shall
report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and, pursuant to
section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature no later than
two years following the initial organizational meeting of the task force.� A written
copy of the task force�s report shall be provided to the chair of the Senate
Environment and Energy Committee and the chair of the Assembly Environment,
Natural Resources and Solid Waste Committee, or their successor committees.

���� i.� Thirty days after the
submission of the report required pursuant to subsection h. of this section,
the task force shall dissolve.

���� 3. This act shall take effect
immediately, and shall expire 30 days after the submission of the report
required pursuant to subsection h. of section 1 of this act.

STATEMENT

���� This bill would establish the �Fleet
Conversion Task Force� (task force) in the Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP).� The task force would provide a report to the Governor and
Legislature, no later than two years after its first meeting, on the issue of
converting commercial motor vehicle fleets to zero-emission vehicles, after
which it would dissolve.

���� The task force would be
composed of 15 members: six ex-officio members and nine members of the public
appointed by the Senate President, Speaker of the General Assembly, and
Governor, as enumerated in subsection b. of section 1 of the bill.� The bill
would direct the task force to study the challenges faced by commercial motor
vehicle fleet owners and operators in converting their fleets to zero emission
vehicles, to coordinate with the necessary stakeholders to develop a
cost-effective ecosystem to support the transition to zero-emission motor
vehicle fleets, and to formulate recommendations for policy changes that could
ease compliance with any existing laws or policies, and recommendations for new
policies that could more effectively and efficiently reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from commercial motor vehicles.