"Processing Establishment Fast Track Act"; establishes expedited permitting review program in Department of Agriculture for certain meat and poultry processing establishments.

S4510

SENATE, No. 4510

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED JUNE 24, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� DOUGLAS J. STEINHARDT

District 23 (Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren)

SYNOPSIS

���� �Processing Establishment Fast Track Act�;
establishes expedited permitting review program in Department of Agriculture
for certain meat and poultry processing establishments.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning certain meat and poultry processing
establishments and supplementing Title 24 of the Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� This act shall be known
and may be cited as the �Processing Establishment Fast-Track Act.�

���� 2.��� As used in this act:

���� �Administrators� means, for
the purposes of this act, Warren County Community College, and the Rutgers
Cooperative Extension at Rutgers University, the State University of New
Jersey.

���� �Department� means the
Department of Agriculture.

���� �Federal Meat Inspection Act�
means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1968, c.105 (C.24:16B-3).

���� �Meat� means the same as the
term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1968, c.105 (C.24:16B-3).

���� �Meat food product� means the
same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1968, c.105 (C.24:16B-3).

���� �Permitting delay� means any
failure by an agency to act upon a complete permit application within the
timeframes specified by this act.

���� �Permitting failure� means any
systemic, procedural, or administrative deficiency that materially impairs the
efficient and lawful processing of permit applications under the permitting
program established pursuant to section 3 of P.L.��� , c.���� (C.������� )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).

���� �Permitting program� means the
�Processing Establishment Fast Track Program,� as established in section 3 of
P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill).

���� �Poultry� means the same as
that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.1942, c.248 (C.4:11-35).

���� �Pre-permitting technical
assistance pilot program,� or �pre-permitting technical assistance program,�
means the advisory and technical assistance permitting support program for
qualifying meat and poultry establishments, established pursuant to subsection
c. of section 4 of this act.

���� �Primary establishment� or
�establishment� means an establishment engaged in the slaughtering, processing,
preparing, or packaging of animals, the carcasses of animals or parts thereof,
or meat or meat food products that are intended for use as human food.

���� �Processing Establishment Fast
Track Permitting Program� or �permitting program� means the program established
pursuant to subsection a. of section 3 of this act.

���� �Qualifying establishment�
means a meat and poultry establishment, licensed according to the Federal Meat
Inspection Act, that is no greater than 50,000 square feet, and engages in
custom slaughter, primary meat processing, limited meat processing, or other
licensed manufacturing activities.

���� �Secretary� means the
Secretary of Agriculture.

����

���� 3.��� a.� The department shall
establish the �Processing Establishment Fast Track Program,� to provide for the
expedited, interagency review of permits for qualifying establishments.� In
implementing the permitting program, the department shall collaborate with the
Department of Environmental Protection, and each of the various State and local
agencies for which a permit is required, in order to ensure the efficient and
timely processing of permit applications.� In establishing the permitting
program, the department shall coordinate a concurrent, interagency permit
review process for qualifying meat, meat food product, and poultry processing
establishments.� The program shall ensure:

���� (1) the simultaneous and
expeditious administration of each of the various permits required of an
establishment by any:

���� (a) principal department of
the Executive Branch of State government, any agency, commission, board,
bureau, office, or instrumentality within or created by a principal department,
any independent State authority, commission, instrumentality, or agency; and

���� (b) local government,
including regional sewerage authority and local planning or zoning boards;

���� (2) that, within 15 days of
receipt of each permit application, the Department of Environmental Protection,
and any other State or local agency for which a permit is necessary, return to
the applicant a completeness check and preliminary and explanatory review of
the application;

���� (3) that a final decision by
any State and local agency concerning the approval, conditional approval, or
disapproval of a permit application is made within 60 days of an applicant
establishment�s permit application submission;

���� (4) that all applicable State
and local agencies annually identify and report:

���� (i) the number of permit
applications received;

���� (ii) an account of permit
application completeness determinations;

���� (iii) average permit
processing timelines; and

���� (iv) permit approval and disapproval
rates.

���� b.� In the event that the
department fails to provide written notice of an application deficiency to an
applicant within 15 days of receipt of the application, the collective
application shall be deemed complete, and the applicant shall proceed in the
review process.� The department may delay application review and approval only
upon written notice of application deficiency to an applicant.

���� c.� As applicable, every State
and local agency shall recognize the engineered composting of slaughter
byproducts as an approved nutrient management method for qualifying facilities
which are already compliant with the �Solid Waste Management Act�, P.L.1970,
c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), the �Water Quality Planning Act�, P.L.1977, c.75
(C.58:11A-1 et seq.), Water Quality Management Planning rules, N.J.A.C.7:15-1.1
et seq., the New Jersey Meat and Poultry Inspection Act, P.L.1968, c.105
(C.24:16B-1 et seq.), the State Sanitary Code, P.L.1947, c.177 (C.26:1A-7 et
al.), and public health rules, N.J.A.C.8:52-14.1 et seq..

���� 4.��� a.� Under the permitting
program, the department, in consultation with Warren County Community College
and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension at Rutgers, the State University of New
Jersey, shall establish a one-year Processing Establishment Fast Track
pre-permitting technical assistance pilot program.� The department, with Warren
County Community College and Rutgers Cooperative Extension as administrators,
shall organize the pre-permitting technical assistance pilot program to provide
site readiness assessments, application completeness reviews, standardized
lease templates, considerations for public-industrial sites, and coordination between
utilities and qualifying meat, meat food product, and poultry processing
establishments.

���� b.� Upon identification of any
permitting delay or failure, as defined in this act, which poses material risk
to an applicant, the administrators shall, within 15 business days, transmit a
notification to the Governor and the Legislature.

���� c.� Each State and local
agency involved in the permitting process shall cooperate and comply with
application supervision, provide timely access to relevant records and data,
and respond to any inquiry from the administrators within 30 days of receipt.

���� d.� The advisory functions and
technical assistance provided by the administrators under the pre-permitting
technical assistance program, established pursuant to this section, shall be
limited to monitoring, reporting, and advisory activities.� Nothing in this
section shall be construed to confer upon the administrators any authority to
approve or deny a permit application, modify a permitting decision, or enforce
any permitting requirements.

���� e.� No later than six months
following completion of the pilot program, the Secretary and administrators shall
provide a comprehensive report to the Governor, and to the Legislature,
pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), presenting information
necessary to assess the success of the pilot program.� This report shall
include, but shall not be limited to, the following information:

���� (i) all State and local
agencies involved in the permitting program;

���� (ii) the number of
applications received;

���� (iii) an account of
application completeness determinations;

���� (iv) average processing
timelines;

���� (v) approval and denial rates;
and

���� (vi) any permitting delay or
failure.

���� f.� (1) Following the first
year of the program, the department may adopt rules and regulations, pursuant
to the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to
convert the pre-permitting technical assistance pilot program into a permanent
program.

���� (2) If the permanent
pre-permitting technical assistance program is converted to a permanent program
pursuant to this subsection, it may, with the consent of the Legislature, facilitate
the involvement of State universities, county colleges, agricultural innovation
centers, the State Board of Agriculture, and county agriculture development
boards.

����

���� 5.��� The Secretary of
Agriculture shall, in accordance with the �Administrative Procedure Act,�
P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations as necessary
to implement this act.

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

STATEMENT

����

���� This bill, which would be
known as the �Processing Establishment Fast Track Act,� would establish an
expedited, interagency permit review process for qualifying meat, meat food
product, and poultry processing establishments.� Under the bill, the Department
of Agriculture (department) would coordinate an expedited, interagency permit
review process for qualifying establishments, across the Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) and each of the various State and local agencies
for which a permit is required, in order to ensure the efficient and timely
processing of permit applications.� State and local agencies may include, but
are not limited to, principal State departments in the Executive Branch of
government, agencies, commissions, boards, bureaus, offices, or
instrumentalities within or created by the principal departments, independent
State authorities, commissions, instrumentalities, or agencies, any local
governments, regional sewerage authorities, or local planning or zoning boards.

���� The bill would require the
department to ensure the efficient, simultaneous, and concurrent administration
of each of the various reviews and approvals required by each applicant
establishment, principal department of the Executive Branch of State
government, agency, commission, board, bureau, office, or instrumentality
within or created by a principal department, or any independent State
authority, commission, instrumentality, or agency.� The department would
enforce requirements that, within 15 days of a permit application�s receipt,
completeness checks and preliminary, explanatory review are returned by the DEP
and any other State or local agency for which a permit is necessary.

���� Final decisions by all
involved permitting agencies would be required within 60 days of an applicant
agricultural facility�s submission. The department would be authorized to delay
an application completeness review only upon providing written notice of an
application�s deficiency to an applicant.

���� All involved permitting
agencies would be required to identify and annually report upon the number of
applications received, an accounting of application completeness
determinations, average processing timelines, and approval and denial rates.

���� The permitting program would
recognize engineered composting of slaughter byproducts as an approved nutrient
management method for licensed qualifying establishments which are already
compliant with the �Solid Waste Management Act�, P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et
seq.), �Water Quality Planning Act�, P.L.1977, c.75 (C.58:11A-1 et seq.), Water
Quality Management Planning rules, N.J.A.C.7:15-1.1 et seq., the New Jersey
Meat and Poultry Inspection Act, P.L.1968, c.105 (C.24:16B-1 et seq.), the
State Sanitary Code, P.L.1947, c.177 (C.26:1A-7 et al.), and public health
rules, N.J.A.C.8:52-14.1 et seq..

���� Under the permitting program,
the department, in consultation with Warren County Community College and the
Rutgers Cooperative Extension at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey,
would establish a one-year Processing Establishment Fast Track pre-permitting
technical assistance pilot program (pilot program).� The department, with
Warren County Community College and Rutgers Cooperative Extension as
administrators, would organize the pre-permitting technical assistance pilot
program to provide site readiness assessments, application completeness
reviews, standardized lease templates, considerations for public-industrial
sites, and coordination between utilities and qualifying meat, meat food
product, and poultry processing establishments.�

���� The advisory functions and
technical assistance provided under the pilot program by the overseeing
agencies would not be granted any authority to approve or deny a permit
application, modify a permitting decision, or enforce any permitting
requirements.

���� The pilot program
administrators would transmit a notification to the Governor and the
Legislature within 15 days upon identification of any permitting delay or
failure which poses material risk to an applicant.� Each State and local agency
involved in the permitting process would be required to cooperate and comply
with application supervision, provide timely access to relevant records and
data, and respond to any inquiry from the administrators within 30 days of
receipt.�

���� Within six months of the
completion of the pilot program, the Secretary would be required to provide a
comprehensive report to the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2
of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), presenting information necessary to assess
the success of the pilot program.� This reporting would enumerate all involved
State and local agencies, the number of applications received, an account of
completeness determinations, average processing timelines, approval and denial
rates, and any permitting delay or permitting failure, as those terms are
defined in the act.

���� Following the first year of
the program, the department may, with consent of the Legislature, convert the
pre-permitting pilot program into a permanent program.

���� The permanent pre-permitting
technical assistance program may, with consent of the Legislature, facilitate
involvement of State universities, county colleges, agricultural innovation
centers, the State Board of Agriculture, and county agriculture development
boards.�

���� The Secretary of Agriculture
would be authorized to establish implementing rules and regulations.