Bill Text: NJ A5083 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Concerns skilled and trained workforce requirements at certain high-hazard industrial facilities.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-05-14 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee [A5083 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A5083-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DAVID BAILEY, JR.
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Concerns skilled and trained workforce requirements at certain high-hazard industrial facilities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning skilled and trained workforce requirements at certain high-hazard industrial facilities and amending P.L.2020, c.65.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2020, c.65 (C.34:11-56.72) is amended to read as follows:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. The use of unskilled and untrained workers at chemical manufacturing and processing facilities that generate, store, treat, handle, refine, process, and transport hazardous materials is a risk to public health and safety, and the risk to public health and safety is particularly high when workers are employed by outside contractors because they generally are less familiar with the operations of the facility and its emergency plans and the owner or operator of the facility has less incentive to invest in their training.
b. Requiring that workers employed by outside contractors at these facilities be paid at least at a rate equivalent to the prevailing journeyperson wage for their occupations, or be registered in approved apprenticeship programs, is necessary to provide an economic incentive for employers to use only the most skilled workers to perform work that poses a risk to public health and safety. The wage scale is also necessary to provide an economic incentive for the workers to obtain the mandatory advanced safety training required by section 3 of P.L.2020, c.65 (C.34:11-56.74).
c. Requiring that apprentices be registered in approved advanced safety training is necessary to ensure that these workers are receiving the proper training and on-the-job supervision and that the programs are subject to proper oversight.
d. The requirement that [at least 60 percent of the] journeypersons working for a contractor be graduates of an approved apprenticeship program is necessary to ensure that the majority of the journeypersons will have had appropriate classroom and laboratory instruction for their occupations. [A phase-in for this requirement will avoid disruption of the industry.]
e. Industrial facilities that generate, store, process, transport, or otherwise handle hazardous chemicals, petroleum products, and other hazardous substances pose significant risks to workers, surrounding communities, and the environment.
f. Construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair, and maintenance work performed by contractors or subcontractors at covered high-hazard industrial facilities requires workers with specialized training and experience due to the complex systems and hazardous materials present at those facilities.
g. Workers who are not properly trained or who are unfamiliar with the safety systems and operating conditions of high-hazard industrial facilities increase the likelihood of accidental releases, explosions, fires, and other catastrophic incidents.
h. Requiring contractors performing work at covered high-hazard industrial facilities to use a skilled and trained workforce helps ensure that facility workers have the necessary training, experience, and knowledge to perform work safely and effectively.
i. The use of a skilled and trained workforce reduces risks to public health and safety, protects the environment, and promotes workforce development through registered apprenticeship programs.
(cf: P.L.2020, c.65, s.1)
2. Section 2 of P.L.2020, c.65 (C.34:11-56.73) is amended to read as follows:
2. As used in this act:
"Apprenticeship program" means a registered apprenticeship program providing to each trainee combined classroom and on-the-job training under the direct and close supervision of a highly skilled worker in an occupation recognized as an apprenticeable trade, registered by the Office of Apprenticeship of the U.S. Department of Labor.
"Approved advanced safety training for workers at high hazard facilities" means a curriculum approved by the State Office of Apprenticeship pursuant to section 4 of this act.
"Covered high-hazard industrial facility" means a stationary source or other industrial facility that:
a. Generates, stores, handles, treats, processes, refines, transports, or otherwise uses hazardous chemicals or substances, or petroleum products; and
b. Prepares and submits a Risk Management Plan pursuant to subsection (r) of section 112 of the federal "Clean Air Act" (42 U.S.C. s.7412); or
c. Is subject to federal or State process safety management standards applicable to facilities handling highly hazardous chemicals.
"Covered high-hazard industrial facility" includes, but is not limited to, petroleum refineries, petrochemical manufacturing facilities, chemical manufacturing facilities, hydrogen production facilities, biofuel production facilities, and facilities engaged in carbon dioxide capture, sequestration, or enhanced oil recovery.
"Labor organization" means an organization which represents, for purposes of collective bargaining, employees of contractors or subcontractors engaged in contracting subject to the provisions of subsection a. of section 3 of P.L.2020, c.65 (C.34:11-56.74), and has the present ability to refer, provide or represent a sufficient number of qualified employees to perform the contracted work in a manner consistent with the provisions of P.L.2020, c.65 (C.34:11-56.72 et seq.) and a plan mutually agreed upon by the labor organization and the owner or operator.
"OEM" means original equipment manufacturer and refers to organizations who manufacture or fabricate equipment for sale directly to purchasers or other resellers.
"Prevailing hourly wage rate" means the prevailing hourly wage rate set for the applicable occupation and geographic area pursuant to the "New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act," P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.).
"Registered apprentice" means an apprentice registered in an apprenticeship program who is performing work covered by the standards of that apprenticeship program and receiving the supervision required by the standards of that apprenticeship program.
"Skilled journeyperson" means a worker who:
a. Has either graduated from an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation, or has at least as many hours of on-the-job experience in the applicable occupation as would be required to graduate from an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation; and
b. Has completed within the prior two calendar years at least 20 hours of approved advanced safety training for workers at high hazard facilities, including approved advanced safety training that occurred in an approved apprenticeship program. This requirement shall apply only to work performed on or after January 1, 2025.
"Skilled and trained workforce" means a workforce [that meets all of the following criteria] in which:
a. [(1) All the workers shall, as of January 1, 2021, be paid at least 80 percent of the applicable prevailing hourly wage rate, and shall be either registered apprentices or skilled journeypersons;
(2) All the workers shall, as of January 1, 2022, be paid at least 85 percent of the applicable prevailing hourly wage rate, and shall be either registered apprentices or skilled journeypersons;
(3) All the workers shall, as of January 1, 2023, be paid at least 90 percent of the applicable prevailing hourly wage rate, and shall be either registered apprentices or skilled journeypersons; and
(4) ] All the workers shall[, as of January 1, 2024,] be paid the applicable prevailing hourly wage rate pursuant to the "New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act" P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.), and shall be either registered apprentices or skilled journeypersons.
b. All the workers have, as of January 1, 2025, completed within the prior two calendar years at least 20 hours of approved advanced safety training for workers at high hazard facilities.
c. [(1) As of January 1, 2021, at least 30 percent of the skilled journeypersons shall be graduates of an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation.
(2) As of January 1, 2022, at least 40 percent of the skilled journeypersons shall be graduates of an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation.
(3) As of January 1, 2023, at least 50 percent of the skilled journeypersons shall be graduates of an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation.
(4) As of January 1, 2024, at least 60 percent of the skilled journeypersons shall be graduates of an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation.
(5) As of January 1, 2025, all of the workers shall have completed within the prior two calendar years at least 20 hours of approved advanced safety training for workers at high hazard facilities,
except that the] The requirements of [this] subsection [c.] b. shall not apply to the extent that the contractor requests qualified workers from a labor organization that refers or provides qualified workers, but the organization is unable to refer or provide sufficient qualified workers within 48 hours of the request, Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays excepted, and shall not apply to the extent that compliance is impracticable because an emergency requires immediate action to prevent harm to public health or safety or to the environment, but the criteria shall again apply as soon as the emergency is over or it becomes practicable for contractors to obtain a qualified workforce.
"State Office of Apprenticeship" means the Office of Apprenticeship in the State Department of Labor and Workforce Development. "The State Office of Apprenticeship" does not mean the Office of Apprenticeship in the United States Department of Labor.
(cf: P.L.2020, c.65, s.2)
3. Section 3 of P.L.2020, c.65 (C.34:11-56.74) is amended to read as follows:
3. a. An owner or operator of a [stationary source that is engaged in activities described in Code 324110, 325110, 325180, or 325199 of the North American Industry Classification System, as that code read on January 1, 2017, and has one or more covered processes for which the owner or operator or other industrial facility that is required to prepare and submit a Risk Management Plan] covered high-hazard industrial facility shall, when contracting with outside contractors for the performance of construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair, or maintenance work at the stationary source, require that the contractors performing the work, and any subcontractors of the contractors, use a skilled and trained workforce to perform all onsite work which is in an apprenticeable occupation in the building and construction trades. The requirement to use a skilled and trained workforce shall apply to the onsite workforce of each contractor and subcontractor performing work at the covered high-hazard industrial facility.
b. This section shall not apply to:
(1) Oil and gas extraction operations, and shall not apply to any contract awarded before January 1, 2021, unless the contract is extended or renewed after that date, and shall not apply to the employees of the owner or operator of the stationary source, or prevent the owner or operator of the stationary source from using its own employees to perform any work that has not been assigned to contractors while the employees of the contractor are present and working;
(2) Any owner or operator, or contractor or subcontractor of the owner or operator, who has entered into a project labor agreement or collectively bargained maintenance agreement with labor organizations with registered apprenticeship programs, if all contracted work at the facility or site subject to the provisions of this section is also subject to the provisions of the project labor agreement or collectively bargained maintenance agreement; or
(3) Contractors or subcontractors hired to perform OEM work for purposes of compliance with equipment warranty requirements.
(cf: P.L.2020, c.65, s.3)
4. This act shall take effect 180 days following the date of enactment and shall apply to contracts entered into on or after that date.
STATEMENT
This bill expands the application of skilled and trained workforce requirements at certain high-hazard industrial facilities.
Under current law, an owner or operator of a stationary source in certain high-risk chemical manufacturing and processing industries, when contracting with outside contractors for the performance of construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair, or maintenance work at the stationary source, must require that the contractors and subcontractors performing the work use a skilled and trained workforce to perform all onsite work which is in an apprenticeable occupation in the building and construction trades.
The industries subject to the law are identified by specific North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. This bill removes the NAICS code references and defines a "covered high-hazard industrial facility" based on safety-related criteria.
The bill defines a "covered high-hazard industrial facility" as a stationary source or other industrial facility that generates, stores, handles, treats, processes, refines, transports or otherwise uses hazardous chemicals, hazardous substances, or petroleum products and that is required to prepare and submit a Risk Management Plan pursuant to the federal "Clean Air Act" or comply with federal or State process safety management standards applicable to facilities handling highly hazardous chemicals.
It is the intent of this bill to expand the requirement for use of a skilled and trained workforce to apply to additional industrial facilities where the use of a skilled and trained workforce to perform contracted-out onsite work will reduce risks to public health and safety, protect the environment, and promote workforce development through registered apprenticeship programs.
