Bill Text: NJ S1815 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: "Ocean County Stormwater Management System Demonstration Act."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2011-08-25 - Absolute Veto, Received in the Senate [S1815 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S1815-Amended.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
"Ocean County Stormwater Management System Demonstration Act."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on August 23, 2010, with amendments.
An Act concerning stormwater utility systems and 1[amending and]1 supplementing 1[various parts of the statutory law] Title 58 of the Revised Statutes1.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. 1[(New section) Sections 1 through 7 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)] This act1 shall be known and may be cited as the "Ocean County Stormwater Management System Demonstration Act."
2. (New section) The Legislature finds and declares that it is in the public interest and to be the policy of the State to foster and promote by all reasonable means the relief of waters in or bordering the State from pollution and thus to reduce and ultimately abate the menace to the public health resulting from such pollution, and to promote the public health and welfare through appropriate management of stormwater.
The Legislature further finds that the acquisition, construction, operation, and maintenance of stormwater management systems are essential to the goals of protecting and improving the State's water quality, and are necessary to prevent and abate nonpoint sources of pollution, minimize stormwater runoff, control flooding, and enhance groundwater recharge.
The Legislature further finds that prior to the acquisition, construction, operation, and maintenance of stormwater management systems on a Statewide basis, it is necessary to demonstrate the feasibility in a pilot project; that such a pilot project should take place in an area bordering the shorefront of this State; and that Ocean County, which incorporates both Barnegat Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, is especially suited and provides the most conducive laboratory to demonstrate the feasibility of such a project.
The Legislature, therefore, declares it to be in the environmental and public health interests of the State of New Jersey to establish a stormwater management system pilot project in Ocean County.
3. 1[(New section)]1 As used in 1[sections 1 through 7 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)] this act1:
"Stormwater" means water resulting from precipitation that: (1) runs off of the land's surface; (2) is transmitted to the subsurface; (3) is captured by separate storm sewers or other sewerage or drainage facilities; or (4) is conveyed by snow removal equipment.
"Stormwater management system" means any equipment, plants, structures, machinery, apparatus, management practices, design practices, planning activities, or land, or any combination thereof, acquired, used, constructed, implemented or operated to convey stormwater, to control or reduce stormwater runoff and associated pollutants or flooding, to induce or control the infiltration of groundwater recharge of stormwater, or to eliminate illicit or illegal nonstormwater discharges into stormwater conveyances.
4. 1[(New section)]1 a. The governing body of Ocean County may by resolution establish, provide, and maintain a stormwater utility for the purpose of creating a stormwater management system to manage the stormwater runoff of the county.
b. 1[Every municipality,] The provisions of the "municipal and county utilities authorities law," P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-1 et seq.), or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, to the contrary notwithstanding, a county utilities authority created in Ocean County by resolution, may establish, provide and maintain a stormwater utility for the purpose of creating a stormwater management system to manage the stormwater runoff within its jurisdiction.
c. The1 county 1[,]1 or 1county utilities1 authority that creates and operates a stormwater utility is hereby authorized to charge and collect fees or other charges for direct or indirect use or services of the stormwater management system. The stormwater service charges may be charged to and collected from the owner or occupant, or both, of any real property. The owner of any real property shall be liable for and shall pay these charges to the 1[municipal]1 stormwater utility at the time when and place where such stormwater service charges are due and payable. The fees and charges shall 1[be determined in a manner consistent with the guidance provided in] use the defined unit by which runoff contributions may be calculated, as set forth in1 the stormwater utility guidance manual created by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to section 5 of 1[P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)] this act1 . Any fee or charge assessed pursuant to this subsection shall be calculated in a manner consistent with the guidelines established in the stormwater utility guidance manual created pursuant to section 5 of 1[P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)] this act1.
5. 1[(New section)]1 a. The Department of Environmental Protection shall create a stormwater utility guidance manual. The stormwater utility guidance manual shall provide guidance to a 1[municipality,]1 county 1[,]1 or authority seeking to establish, provide, and maintain a stormwater management system pursuant to any relevant authorizing law regarding rate structure and stormwater management system implementation. The rate structure guidance provided in the stormwater utility guidance manual shall 1[provide the means and methods of computing rates for stormwater utility charges] define the unit by which stormwater runoff contributions may be calculated1 and shall be directly related to the specific costs of the stormwater management system. 1[Adoption of the] The1 stormwater utility guidance manual, or any revisions thereto, shall 1be adopted after appropriate notice and opportunity for public comment but shall1 not be subject to the notice and publication requirements of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).
b. Five percent of the annual fees collected 1[by stormwater utilities as stormwater utility charges] pursuant to subsection c. of section 4 of this act1 shall be transferred to the department to fund program planning, implementation and coordination activities related to stormwater utilities and stormwater management systems.
c. The Department of Environmental Protection shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), any rules and regulations necessary to implement this act.
6. 1[(New section) Any] A1 county or 1county1 utilities authority managing both a stormwater management system and a sewerage system under authority granted pursuant to 1[P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)] this act1 or the "municipal and county utilities authorities law," P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-1 et seq.) shall maintain separate budgets, keep separate books and records, and incur separate costs for each such system.
7. 1[(New section)]1 Whenever a stormwater management system is constructed by any person in accordance with standards established therefor by a county or 1county1 utilities authority authorized to manage a stormwater management system pursuant to 1[P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)] this act1 or the "municipal and county utilities authorities law," P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-1 et seq.), the county or 1county1 utilities authority may accept the dedication of, and assume maintenance responsibilities for, the stormwater management system in accordance with the same procedures established and used for sewer or water facilities.
1[8. Section 2 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-2) is amended to read as follows:
2. It is hereby declared to be in the public interest and to be the policy of the State to foster and promote by all reasonable means the provision and distribution of an adequate supply of water for the public and private uses of counties and municipalities and their inhabitants, the collection, disposal and recycling of solid waste, including sewage sludge, in an environmentally sound manner, the relief of lands and waters in or bordering the State from pollution, from domestic, industrial and other sources, including pollution derived from chemical and hazardous wastes, and thus the reduction and ultimate abatement of the menace to the public health resulting from such pollution, and the generation of hydroelectric power , and the promotion of the public health and welfare through appropriate management of stormwater . It is the purpose and object of this act to further and implement such policy by
(1) Authorizing counties, or municipalities either separately or in combination with other municipalities, by means and through the agency of a municipal authority, to acquire, construct, maintain, operate or improve works for the accumulation, supply or distribution of water, works for the collection, treatment, recycling, and disposal of solid wastes, works for the collection, treatment, purification or disposal of sewage or other wastes, works for the collection, storage, treatment or disposal of stormwater, and works for the generation of hydroelectric power , or to contract with New Jersey-based private firms for the operation or improvement of works for the collection, storage, treatment or disposal of stormwater ;
(2) Authorizing service charges to occupants or owners of property for direct or indirect connection with and the use, products or services of such works, and providing for the establishment, collection and enforcement of such charges;
(3) Creating as bodies corporate and politic municipal authorities to have full responsibility and powers with respect to such works and the establishment, collection, enforcement, use and disposition of all such service charges;
(4) Providing for the financing of such works, for the issuance of bonds therefor, and for the payment and security of such bonds; and
(5) In general, granting to counties and municipalities and to such municipal authorities discretionary powers to provide for utility services designed to provide or distribute such a supply of water, to recycle or dispose of solid waste, to relieve pollution of such waters in or bordering the State , or to manage stormwater, at the expense of the users of such services or of counties or municipalities or other persons contracting for or with respect to the same or to generate hydroelectric power.
It is further declared that the acquisition, construction, operation, and maintenance of stormwater management systems are essential to the goals of protecting and improving the State's water quality, and are necessary to prevent and abate nonpoint sources of pollution, minimize stormwater runoff, control flooding, and enhance groundwater recharge.
(cf: P.L.1980, c.34, s.2)]1
1[9. Section 3 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-3) is amended to read as follows:
3. As used in this act, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
(1) "Municipality" shall mean any city of any class, any borough, village, town, township, or any other municipality other than a county or a school district, and except when used in section 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 42 or 45 of this act, any agency thereof or any two or more thereof acting jointly or any joint meeting or other agency of any two or more thereof;
(2) "County" shall mean any county of any class;
(3) "Governing body" shall mean, in the case of a county, the board of chosen freeholders, or in the case of those counties organized pursuant to the provisions of the "Optional County Charter Law," P.L.1972, c.154 (C.40:41A-1 et seq.), the board of chosen freeholders and the county executive, the county supervisor or the county manager, as appropriate, and, in the case of a municipality, the commission, council, board or body, by whatever name it may be known, having charge of the finances of the municipality;
(4) "Person" shall mean any person, association, corporation, nation, state or any agency or subdivision thereof, other than a county or municipality of the State or a municipal authority;
(5) "Municipal or water reclamation authority" shall mean a public body created or organized pursuant to section 4, 5 or 6 of this act and shall include a municipal utilities authority created by one or more municipalities and a county utilities authority created by a county;
(6) Subject to the exceptions provided in section 10, 11 or 12 of this act, "district" shall mean the area within the territorial boundaries of the county, or of the municipality or municipalities, which created or joined in or caused the creation or organization of a municipal authority;
(7) "Local unit" shall mean the county, or any municipality, which created or joined in or caused the creation or organization of a municipal authority;
(8) "Water system" shall mean the plants, structures and other real and personal property acquired, constructed or operated or to be acquired, constructed or operated by a municipal authority or by any person to whom a municipal authority has extended credit for this purpose for the purposes of the municipal authority, including reservoirs, basins, dams, canals, aqueducts, standpipes, conduits, pipelines, mains, pumping stations, water distribution systems, compensating reservoirs, waterworks or sources of water supply, wells, purification or filtration plants or other plants and works, connections, rights of flowage or division, and other plants, structures, boats, conveyances, and other real and personal property, and rights therein, and appurtenances necessary or useful and convenient for the accumulation, supply and redistribution of water;
(9) "Sewerage system" shall mean the plants, structures, on-site wastewater systems and other real and personal property acquired, constructed or operated or to be acquired, constructed, maintained or operated by a municipal authority or by any person to whom a municipal authority has extended credit for this purpose for the purposes of the municipal authority, including sewers, conduits, pipelines, mains, pumping and ventilating stations, sewage treatment or disposal systems, plants and works, connections, outfalls, compensating reservoirs, and other plants, structures, boats, conveyances, and other real and personal property, and rights therein, and appurtenances necessary or useful and convenient for the collection, treatment, purification or disposal in a sanitary manner of any sewage, liquid or solid wastes, night soil or industrial wastes;
(10) Utility system" shall mean a water system, solid waste system, sewerage system, stormwater management system, or a hydroelectric system or any combination of such systems, acquired, constructed or operated or to be acquired, constructed or operated by a municipal authority or by any person to whom a municipal authority has extended credit for this purpose;
(11) "Cost" shall mean, in addition to the usual connotations thereof, the cost of acquisition or construction of all or any part of a utility system and of all or any property, rights, easements, privileges, agreements and franchises deemed by the municipal authority to be necessary or useful and convenient therefor or in connection therewith and the cost of retiring the present value of the unfunded accrued liability due and owing by a municipal authority, as calculated by the system actuary for a date certain upon the request of a municipal authority, for early retirement incentive benefits granted by the municipal authority pursuant to P.L.1991, c.230 and P.L.1993, c.181, including interest or discount on bonds, cost of issuance of bonds, engineering and inspection costs and legal expenses, cost of financial, professional and other estimates and advice, organization, administrative, operating and other expenses of the municipal authority prior to and during such acquisition or construction, and all such other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the financing, acquisition, construction and completion of said utility system or part thereof and the placing of the same in operation, and also such provision or reserves for working capital, operating, maintenance or replacement expenses or for payment or security of principal of or interest on bonds during or after such acquisition or construction as the municipal authority may determine, and also reimbursements to the municipal authority or any county, municipality or other person of any moneys theretofore expended for the purposes of the municipal authority or to any county or municipality of any moneys theretofore expended for or in connection with water supply, solid waste, water distribution, sanitation , stormwater, or hydroelectric facilities;
(12) "Real property" shall mean lands both within or without the State, and improvements thereof or thereon, or any rights or interests therein;
(13) "Construct" and "construction" shall connote and include acts of construction, reconstruction, replacement, extension, improvement and betterment of a utility system;
(14) "Industrial wastes" shall mean liquid or other wastes resulting from any processes of industry, manufacture, trade or business or from the development of any natural resource, and shall include any chemical wastes or hazardous wastes;
(15) "Sewage" shall mean the water-carried wastes created in and carried, or to be carried, away from, or to be processed by on-site wastewater systems, residences, hotels, apartments, schools, hospitals, industrial establishments, or any other public or private building, together with such surface or ground water and industrial wastes and leacheate as may be present;
(16) "On-site wastewater system" means any of several facilities, septic tanks or other devices, used to collect, treat, reclaim, or dispose of wastewater or sewage on or adjacent to the property on which the wastewater or sewage is produced, or to convey such wastewater or sewage from said property to such facilities as the authority may establish for its disposal;
(17) "Pollution" means the condition of water resulting from the introduction therein of substances of a kind and in quantities rendering it detrimental or immediately or potentially dangerous to the public health, or unfit for public or commercial use;
(18) "Bonds" shall mean bonds or other obligations issued pursuant to this act;
(19) "Service charges" shall mean water service charges, solid waste service charges, sewer service charges, stormwater service charges, hydroelectric service charges or any combination of such charges, as said terms are defined respectively in [section 21 or 22 of this act or in section 7 of this amendatory and supplementary act] section 21 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-21), section 15 of P.L.1977, c.384 (C.40:14B-22.1), section 22 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-22), section 11 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), or section 7 of P.L.1980, c.34 (C.40:14B-21.1);
(20) "Compensating reservoir" shall mean the structures, facilities and appurtenances for the impounding, transportation and release of water for the replenishment in periods of drought or at other necessary times of all or a part of waters in or bordering the State diverted into a utility system operated by a municipal authority;
(21) "Sewage or water reclamation authority" shall mean a public body created pursuant to the "sewerage authorities law," P.L.1946, c.138 (C.40:14A-1 et seq.) or the acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto;
(22) "County sewer authority" shall mean a sanitary sewer district authority created pursuant to the act entitled "An act relating to the establishment of sewerage districts in first- and second-class counties, the creation of Sanitary Sewer District Authorities by the establishing of such districts, prescribing the powers and duties of any such authority and of other public bodies in connection with the construction of sewers and sewage disposal facilities in any such district, and providing the ways and means for paying the costs of construction and operation thereof," approved April 23, 1946 (P.L.1946, c.123), or the acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto;
(23) "Chemical waste" shall mean a material normally generated by or used in chemical, petrochemical, plastic, pharmaceutical, biochemical or microbiological manufacturing processes or petroleum refining processes, which has been selected for waste disposal and which is known to hydrolize, ionize or decompose, which is soluble, burns or oxidizes, or which may react with any of the waste materials which are introduced into the landfill, or which is buoyant on water, or which has a viscosity less than that of water or which produces a foul odor. Chemical waste may be either hazardous or nonhazardous;
(24) "Effluent" shall mean liquids which are treated in and discharged by sewage treatment plants;
(25) "Hazardous wastes" shall mean any waste or combination of waste which poses a present or potential threat to human health, living organisms or the environment. "Hazardous waste" shall include, but not be limited to, waste material that is toxic, corrosive, irritating, sensitizing, radioactive, biologically infectious, explosive or flammable;
(26) "Leachate" shall mean a liquid that has been in contact with solid waste and contains dissolved or suspended materials from that solid waste;
(27) "Recycling" shall mean the separation, collection, processing or recovery of metals, glass, paper, solid waste and other materials for reuse or for energy production and shall include resource recovery;
(28) "Sludge" shall mean any solid, semisolid, or liquid waste generated from a municipal, industrial or other sewage treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, or any other such waste having similar characteristics and effects; "sludge" shall not include effluent;
(29) "Solid waste" shall mean garbage, refuse, and other discarded materials resulting from industrial, commercial and agricultural operations, and from domestic and community activities, and shall include all other waste materials including sludge, chemical waste, hazardous wastes and liquids, except for liquids which are treated in public sewage treatment plants and except for solid animal and vegetable wastes collected by swine producers licensed by the State Department of Agriculture to collect, prepare and feed such wastes to swine on their own farms;
(30) "Solid waste system" shall mean and include the plants, structures and other real and personal property acquired, constructed or operated or to be acquired, constructed or operated by an authority or by any person to whom a municipal authority has extended credit for this purpose pursuant to the provisions of this act, including transfer stations, incinerators, recycling facilities, including facilities for the generation, transmission and distribution of energy derived from the processing of solid waste, sanitary landfill facilities or other property or plants for the collection, recycling or disposal of solid waste and all vehicles, equipment and other real and personal property and rights thereon and appurtenances necessary or useful and convenient for the collection, recycling, or disposal of solid waste in a sanitary manner;
(31) "Hydroelectric system" shall mean the plants, structures and other real and personal property acquired, constructed or operated or to be acquired, constructed or operated by an authority pursuant to the provisions of this act, including all that which is necessary or useful and convenient for the generation, transmission and sale of hydroelectric power at wholesale;
(32) "Hydroelectric power" shall mean the production of electric current by the energy of moving water;
(33) "Sale of hydroelectric power at wholesale" shall mean any sale of hydroelectric power to any person for purposes of resale of such power;
(34) "Alternative electrical energy" shall mean electrical energy produced from solar, photovoltaic, wind, geothermal, or biomass technologies, provided that in the case of biomass technology, the biomass is cultivated and harvested in a sustainable manner; [and]
(35) "Alternative electrical energy system" shall mean any system which uses alternative electrical energy to provide all or a portion of the electricity for the heating, cooling, or general electrical energy needs of a building ;
(36) "Stormwater" shall mean water resulting from precipitation that: (a) runs off of the land's surface; (b) is transmitted to the subsurface; (c) is captured by separate storm sewers or other sewerage or drainage facilities; or (d) is conveyed by snow removal equipment; and
(37) "Stormwater management system" shall mean any equipment, plants, structures, machinery, apparatus, management practices, design practices, planning activities, or land, or any combination thereof, acquired, used, constructed, implemented or operated to convey stormwater, to control or reduce stormwater runoff and associated pollutants or flooding, to induce or control the infiltration of groundwater recharge of stormwater, or to eliminate illicit or illegal nonstormwater discharges into stormwater conveyances .
(cf: P.L.2007, c.306, s.1)]1
1[10. Section 6 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-6) is amended to read as follows:
6. a. The governing body of any municipality which shall have created a sewerage authority may, by ordinance duly adopted, provide and determine that said sewerage authority shall be reorganized as a municipal authority and thereupon and thereby cause said sewerage authority to be organized as a public body corporate and politic existing under and by virtue of this act.
b. In any county which has created a sewerage authority or a county sewer authority or authorities, each such authority shall be reorganized as a county utilities authority and shall be continued as a public body corporate and politic existing under and by virtue of the municipal authorities law, P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-1 et seq.). The governing body of any county wherein a sewerage authority or a county sewer authority or authorities was reorganized pursuant to this section shall record such reorganization by resolution and file such resolution with the Secretary of State pursuant to section 7 of this act (C.40:14B-7).
c. No authority reorganized pursuant to this section shall acquire, construct, maintain, operate or improve a water system, a solid waste system , a stormwater management system, or a hydroelectric system until such time as the governing body authorizes such action, by ordinance in the case of a municipality, or by resolution in the case of a county.
d. Said body shall consist of the members of said sewerage authority or of said county sewer authority holding office at the time of such organization, together with successors in such membership appointed as if said sewerage authority or county sewer authority had originally been created pursuant to section 4 of this act, and, upon the passage of this amendatory and supplementary act or upon the taking effect of such ordinance and the filing of a certified copy thereof as in section 7 of this act provided, said body shall constitute a municipal authority contemplated and provided for in this act and an agency and instrumentality of said municipality or county. Said body as such municipal authority shall have all of the rights and powers granted and be subject to all the duties and obligations imposed by this act and, subject to the rights (if any) of the holders of any bonds or other obligations of said sewerage authority or county sewer authority theretofore issued, said body shall be the successor in all respects to said sewerage authority or county sewer authority and forthwith succeed to all of the rights, property, assets and franchises of said sewerage authority or county sewer authority and the said bonds or other obligations of said sewerage authority or county sewer authority shall be assumed by and become the obligations of said municipal authority, and the property of said sewerage authority or county sewer authority shall be vested in said municipal authority. Said body may at any time, by resolution duly adopted, change its corporate name and adopt the name and style of "the ........ municipal utilities authority" with the name of said municipality or county inserted.
(cf: P.L.1985, c.537, s.1)]1
1[11. (New section) a. Every municipal authority is hereby authorized to charge and collect rents, rates, fees or other charges for stormwater management on any owner or occupant, or both, of any real property situated in a constituent municipality to be determined in a manner consistent with the stormwater utility guidance manual created by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to section 5 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The owner of any real property shall be liable for and shall pay the stormwater service charges to the municipal authority at the time when and place where these charges are due and payable. The rents, rates, fees and charges shall be determined in a manner consistent with the stormwater utility guidance manual created by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to section 5 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
b. Any stormwater service charge imposed pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be calculated in a manner consistent with the guidance provided in the stormwater utility guidance manual created by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to section 5 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).]1
1[12. Section 19 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-19) is amended to read as follows:
19. (a) The purposes of every municipal authority shall be (1) the provision and distribution of an adequate supply of water for the public and private uses of the local units, and their inhabitants, within the district, and (2) the relief of waters in or bordering the State from pollution arising from causes within the district and the relief of waters in, bordering or entering the district from pollution or threatened pollution, and the consequent improvement of conditions affecting the public health, and (3) the provision of sewage collection and disposal service within or without the district, and (4) the provision of water supply and distribution service in such areas without the district as are permitted by the provisions of this act, and (5) the provision of solid waste services and facilities within or without the district in a manner consistent with the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.) and in conformance with the solid waste management plans adopted by the solid waste management districts created therein, and (6) the generation, transmission and sale of hydroelectric power at wholesale, and (7) the provision of stormwater management service within or without the district, and (8) the operation and maintenance of utility systems owned by other governments located within the district through contracts with said governments.
(b) Every municipal authority is hereby authorized, subject to the limitations of this act, to acquire, in its own name but for the local unit or units, by purchase, gift, condemnation or otherwise, lease as lessee, and, notwithstanding the provisions of any charter, ordinance or resolution of any county or municipality to the contrary, to construct, maintain, operate and use such reservoirs, basins, dams, canals, aqueducts, standpipes, conduits, pipelines, mains, pumping and ventilating stations, treatment, purification and filtration plants or works, trunk, intercepting and outlet sewers, water distribution systems, waterworks, sources of water supply and wells , and stormwater management systems, at such places within or without the district, such compensating reservoirs within a county in which any part of the district lies, and such other plants, structures, boats and conveyances, as in the judgment of the municipal authority will provide an effective and satisfactory method for promoting purposes of the municipal authority.
(c) Every municipal authority is hereby authorized and directed, when in its judgment its sewerage system or any part thereof will permit, to collect from any and all public systems within the district all sewage and treat and dispose of the same in such manner as to promote purposes of the municipal authority.
(d) Every municipal utilities authority is authorized to promote the production and use of alternative electrical energy by contracting with producers of alternative electrical energy for the installation, construction, maintenance, repair, renewal, relocation, or removal of alternative electrical energy systems, and for the purchase of excess alternative electrical energy generated by a producer of alternative electrical energy. Any purchase or sale of alternative electrical energy where such energy is distributed using the infrastructure of a public utility, as that term is defined in R.S.48:2-13, shall include the payment by the purchaser of all relevant non-bypassable charges as provided for in the "Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act," P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al.).
(cf: P.L.2007, c.306, s.2)]1
1[13. Section 20 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-20) is amended to read as follows:
20. Every municipal authority shall be a public body politic and corporate constituting a political subdivision of the State established as an instrumentality exercising public and essential governmental functions to provide for the public health and welfare and shall have perpetual succession and have the following powers:
(1) To adopt and have a common seal and to alter the same at pleasure;
(2) To sue and be sued;
(3) In the name of the municipal authority and on its behalf, to acquire, hold, use and dispose of its service charges and other revenues and other moneys;
(4) In the name of the municipal authority but for the local unit or units, to acquire, rent, hold, lease as lessor, use and dispose of other personal property for the purposes of the municipal authority;
(5) In the name of the municipal authority but for the local unit or units and subject to the limitations of this act, to acquire by purchase, gift, condemnation or otherwise, or lease as lessee, real property and easements therein, necessary or useful and convenient for the purposes of the municipal authority, and subject to mortgages, deeds of trust or other liens, or otherwise, and to hold, lease as lessor, and to use the same, and to dispose of property so acquired no longer necessary for the purposes of the municipal authority;
(6) To produce, develop, purchase, accumulate, distribute and sell water and water services, facilities and products within or without the district, provided that no water shall be sold at retail in any municipality without the district unless the governing body of such municipality shall have adopted a resolution requesting the municipal authority to sell water at retail in such municipality, and the board of public utility commissioners shall have approved such resolution as necessary and proper for the public convenience;
(7) To provide for and secure the payment of any bonds and the rights of the holders thereof, and to purchase, hold and dispose of any bonds;
(8) To accept gifts or grants of real or personal property, money, material, labor or supplies for the purposes of the municipal authority, and to make and perform such agreements and contracts as may be necessary or convenient in connection with the procuring, acceptance or disposition of such gifts or grants;
(9) To enter on any lands, waters or premises for the purpose of making surveys, borings, soundings and examinations for the purposes of the municipal authority, and whenever the operation of a septic tank or other component of an on-site wastewater system shall result in the creation of pollution or contamination source on private property such that under the provisions of R.S.26:3-49, a local board of health would have the authority to notify the owner and require said owner to abate the same, representatives of an authority shall have the power to enter, at all reasonable times, any premises on which such pollution or contamination source shall exist, for the purpose of inspecting, rehabilitating, securing samples of any discharges, improving, repairing, replacing, or upgrading such septic tank or other component of an on-site wastewater system;
(10) To establish an inspection program to be performed at least once every three years on all on-site wastewater systems installed within the district which inspection program shall contain the following minimum notice provisions: (i) not less than 30 days prior to the date of the inspection of any on-site wastewater system as described herein, the authority shall notify the owner and resident of the property that the inspection will occur; and (ii) not less than 60 days prior to the date of the performance of any work other than an inspection, the municipal authority shall provide notice to the owner and resident of the property in which the work will be performed. The notice to be provided to such owner and resident under this subsection shall include a description of the deficiency which necessitates the work and the proposed remedial action, and the proposed date for beginning and duration of the contemplated remedial action;
(11) To prepare and file in the office of the municipal authority records of all inspections, rehabilitation, maintenance, and work, performed with respect to on-site wastewater disposal systems;
(12) To make and enforce bylaws or rules and regulations for the management and regulation of its business and affairs and for the use, maintenance and operation of the utility system and any other of its properties, and to amend the same;
(13) To do and perform any acts and things authorized by this act under, through or by means of its own officers, agents and employees, or by contracts with any person;
(14) To enter into any and all contracts, execute any and all instruments, and do and perform any and all acts or things necessary, convenient or desirable for the purposes of the municipal authority or to carry out any power expressly given in this act subject to "Local Public Contracts Law," P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-1 et seq.); and
(15) To extend credit or make loans to any person for the planning, designing, acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving, equipping, furnishing, and operating by that person of any part of a solid waste system, stormwater management system, sewage treatment system, wastewater treatment or collection system for the provision of services and facilities within or without the district, which in the case of a solid waste system shall be in a manner consistent with the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.) and in conformance with the solid waste management plans adopted by the solid waste management districts created therein. The credits or loans may be secured by loan and security agreements, mortgages, leases and any other instruments, upon such terms as the authority shall deem reasonable, including provision for the establishment and maintenance of reserve and insurance funds, and to require the inclusion in any mortgage, lease, contract, loan and security agreement or other instrument, provisions for the construction, use, operation and maintenance and financing of that part of the aforementioned systems as the authority may deem necessary or desirable.
(cf: P.L.1984, c.178, s.2)]1
1[14. Section 24 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-24) is amended to read as follows:
24. a. Any local unit shall have power, in the discretion of its governing body, to appropriate moneys for the purposes of the municipal authority, and to loan or donate such moneys to the municipal authority in such installments and upon such terms as may be agreed upon between such local unit and the municipal authority.
b. Subject to section 61 of [this act (C.40:14B-60)] P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-61) , any local unit shall have the power to authorize as a general improvement or, in the case of a local unit which is a municipality, as a local improvement the construction and financing of any facilities for the collection, treatment and disposal of sewage or stormwater or for the collection, recycling or disposal of solid waste within the district arising within a district, or any facilities for the distribution of water within a district. Subject to the consent and approval of the municipal authority, such facilities may be operated by the local unit and the local unit may fix rates and charges for the use thereof, in addition to the payment of any special assessments levied by a municipality against lands and real estate specially benefited by such improvements. As provided in section 48 of [this act] P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-48), such facilities may be acquired and operated by the municipal authority as a part of the utility system, notwithstanding that special assessments may be or may have been levied for such improvements by a municipality.
(cf: P.L.1977, c.384, s.11)]1
1[15. Section 44 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-44) is amended to read as follows:
44. In the event that a sewer or stormwater service charge of any municipal authority with regard to any parcel of real property shall not be paid as and when due, the municipal authority may, in accordance with section 57 of [this act] P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-57) , cause the supply of water to such parcel by any county, municipality or other person to be stopped or restricted until such sewer or stormwater service charge and any subsequent sewer or stormwater service charge with regard to such parcel and all interest accrued thereon shall be fully paid to the municipal authority. If for any reason such supply of water shall not be promptly stopped or restricted as required by section 57 of [this act] P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-57) , the municipal authority may itself shut off or restrict such supply and, for that purpose, may enter on any lands, waters or premises of any county, municipality or other person. Such supply of water to such parcel shall, notwithstanding the provisions of this section, be restored or increased if the [State] Department of Health and Senior Services , upon application of the local board of health or health officer of the municipality where such parcel is situate, shall after public hearing find and shall certify to the municipal authority that the continuance of such stopping or restriction of such supply of water endangers the health of the public in such municipality.
(cf: P.L.1957, c.183 s.44)]1
1[16. Section 48 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-48) is amended to read as follows:
48. Any county, by resolution of its governing body, or any municipality, by ordinance of its governing body, or any other person is hereby empowered, without any referendum, to sell, lease, lend, grant or convey to any municipal authority, or to permit any municipal authority to use, maintain or operate as part of the utility system, any real or personal property owned by it, including all or any part of any water supply, water distribution , stormwater, or sewerage facilities, which may be necessary or useful and convenient for the purposes of the municipal authority and accepted by the municipal authority. Any such sale, lease, loan, grant, conveyance or permit may be made with or without consideration and for a specified or an unlimited period of time and under any agreement and on any terms and conditions which may be approved by such county, municipality or other person and which may be agreed to by the municipal authority in conformity with its contracts with the holders of any bonds. Subject to any such contracts with holders of bonds, the municipal authority may enter into and perform any and all agreements with respect to property so accepted by it, including agreements for the assumption of principal or interest or both of indebtedness of such county, municipality or other person or of any mortgage or lien existing with respect to such property or for the operation and maintenance of such property as part of the utility system.
(cf: P.L.1957, c.183 s.48)]1
1[17. Section 49 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-49) is amended to read as follows:
49. Any municipal authority for the carrying out and effectuation of its purposes, and (a) any of the local units (b) any other municipality whether within or without the district and (c) any other municipal authority, any sewerage authority or any other public body of the State empowered to treat or dispose of sewage or solid waste (all such local units, municipalities, other municipal authorities, sewerage authorities and other bodies being hereinafter referred to individually as a "governmental unit") for fostering the relief of waters in, bordering or entering the territorial area of the governmental unit from pollution or threatened pollution or assisting the municipal authority in carrying out and effectuating its purposes, may enter into a contract or contracts providing for or relating to the collection, treatment and disposal of sewage , stormwater, or solid waste originating in the district or received by the municipal authority, or originating in the territorial area of or collected by the governmental unit, by means of the sewerage , stormwater, or solid waste system or any sewerage , stormwater, or solid waste facilities of the governmental unit or both, and the cost and expense of such collection, treatment and disposal , or may enter into a contract with a New Jersey-based private firm for the operation or improvement of a stormwater management system for the collection, treatment or disposal of stormwater, and the cost and expense of such collection, treatment and disposal. Any municipal authority for the carrying out and effectuation of its purposes, and (a) any of the local units (b) any other municipality whether within or without the district and (c) any other municipal authority, any sewerage authority or any other public body of the State empowered to sell and supply water (all such local units, municipalities, other municipal authorities, sewerage authorities and other bodies being hereinafter referred to individually as a "governmental unit" ) for fostering the provision and distribution of an adequate supply of water within the territorial area of the governmental unit or assisting the municipal authority in carrying out and effectuating its purposes may enter into a contract or contracts providing for or relating to the sale or supplying of water to such municipal authority or to the governmental unit or to persons or properties within the district or the governmental unit, and the cost and expense of such sale or supplying of water. Any such contract may provide for the payment to the municipal authority by the governmental unit annually or otherwise of such sum or sums of money, computed at fixed amounts or by a formula based on any factors or other matters described in [section 21 or section 22 of this act] section 21 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-21), section 22 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-22) or section 11 of P.L. , c. (C. )(pending before the Legislature as this bill) or in any other manner, as said contract or contracts may provide, and may provide that the sum or sums so payable to the municipal authority shall be in lieu of all or any part of the service charges which would otherwise be charged and collected by the municipal authority with regard to persons or real property within the territorial area of the governmental unit. Such contract or contracts may also contain provisions as to the financing and payment of expenses to be incurred by the municipal authority and determined by it to be necessary for its purposes prior to the placing in operation of a sewerage, stormwater, solid waste or water supply and distribution system and may provide for the payment by the governmental unit to the municipal authority for application to such expenses or indebtedness therefor such sum or sums of money, computed as said contract or contracts may provide and as the governing body (hereinafter described) of the governmental unit shall, by virtue of its authorization of and entry into said contract or contracts, determine to be necessary for the purposes of the municipal authority. Every such contract shall be authorized and entered into under and pursuant to a resolution adopted by the authority in the case of municipal or other authority, an ordinance of the governing body in the case of a municipality, a resolution or ordinance of the governing body in the case of a county, and, in the case of any other public body, a resolution of the commission, council, board or body by whatever name it may be known (in this section sometimes referred to as "governing body") having charge of the finances of such public body, but the terms or text of said contract need not be set forth in full or stated in any such resolution or ordinance if the form of said contract is on file in the office of the clerk or other recording officer of the governmental unit or its governing body and the place in fact of such filing is described in the resolution or ordinance. Any such contract may be made with or without consideration and for a specified or an unlimited time and on any terms and conditions which may be approved by or on behalf of the governmental unit and which may be agreed to by the municipal authority in conformity with its contracts with the holders of any bonds, and shall be valid whether or not an appropriation with respect thereto is made by the governmental unit prior to authorization or execution thereof. Every such governmental unit is hereby authorized and directed to do and perform any and all acts or things necessary, convenient or desirable to carry out and perform every such contract and to provide for the payment or discharge of any obligation thereunder in the same manner as other obligations of such governmental unit. Subject to any such contracts with the holders of bonds, the municipal authority is hereby authorized to do and perform any and all acts or things necessary, convenient or desirable to carry out and perform every such contract and, in accordance with any such contract, to waive, modify, suspend or reduce the service charges which would otherwise be charged and collected by the municipal authority with regard to persons or real property within the territorial area of the governmental unit, but nothing in this section or any such contract shall prevent the municipal authority from charging and collecting, as if such contract had not been made, service charges with regard to such persons and real property sufficient to meet any default or deficiency in any payments agreed in such contract to be made by such governmental unit.
(cf: P.L.1979, c.86, s.14)]1
1[18. Section 54 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-54) is amended to read as follows:
54. Each county, municipality and other public body shall promptly pay to any municipal authority all service charges which the municipal authority may charge to it, as owner or occupant of any real property, in accordance with section 21 or section 22 of [this act] P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-21 or C.40:14B-22) or section 11 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the legislature as this bill) , and shall provide for the payment thereof in the same manner as other obligations of such county, municipality or public body.
(cf: P.L.1957, c.183, s.54)]1
1[19. Section 57 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-57) is amended to read as follows:
57. Each county and municipality owning or operating any system of water distribution serving 3 or more parcels of real property in the district shall, and every other person owning or operating any such system may and is hereby authorized to enter into and perform a contract with the municipal authority that it will, upon request by the municipal authority specifying a parcel of real property in the district with regard to which a service charge under section 22 of [this act] P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-22) or section 11 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the legislature as this bill) is unpaid, cause the supply of water from its system to such parcel of real property to be stopped or restricted, as the municipal authority may request, until such service charge and any subsequent service charge with regard to such parcel and the interest accrued thereon shall be fully paid or until the municipal authority directs otherwise. No such county, municipality or other person shall be liable for any loss, damage or other claim based on or arising out of the stopping or restricting of such supply, and the municipal authority shall pay the reasonable cost of so stopping or restricting such supply and of restoring the same and may agree to indemnify such county, municipality or other person from all loss or damage by reason of such stopping or restriction, including loss of profits.
(cf: P.L.1957, c.183, s.57)]1
1[20. Section 60 of P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-60) is amended to read as follows:
60. (a) No county, municipality or person shall discharge or suffer to be discharged directly or indirectly into any waters in or bordering a district any sewage which may or will cause or contribute to the pollution of such waters; provided, that this prohibition shall be applicable only to such part or parts of such waters as are in an area of the district bounded and described in a notice, inserted at least once in a newspaper published or circulating in the district, to the effect that the municipal authority has provided facilities reasonably sufficient in its opinion for the treatment and disposal of sewage which by discharge into such waters might cause or contribute to pollution of such waters, and that pollution of such waters is forbidden by law. Such a notice shall constitute prima facie evidence of the existence of facilities sufficient for the treatment and disposal of all such sewage.
(b) No county, municipality or person shall discharge or suffer to be discharged directly or indirectly into the sewage system , the stormwater management system, or the solid waste system of any municipal authority any matter or thing which is or may be injurious or deleterious to such sewerage system , stormwater management system, or solid waste system or to its efficient operation.
(c) No county, municipality or person shall discharge or suffer to be discharged directly or indirectly into the water system of any municipal authority or on any lands or into any waters tributary to such water system any matter or thing which is or may be injurious or deleterious to such water system or to its efficient operation or may or will cause or contribute to a danger to the health of the public in the district.
(d) Any county, municipality or person may be restrained, enjoined or otherwise prevented from violating or continuing the violation of any provision of this section in a proceeding in lieu of prerogative writ, or other appropriate proceeding, or in an action for injunctive or other relief instituted by a municipal authority or by any county prosecutor.
(e) No violation of any provision of this section shall be deemed to have occurred by reason of the discharge of sewage from any boat or vessel while afloat or on a marine railway in drydock.
(cf: P.L.1977, c.384, s.14)]1
1[21.] 8.1 This act shall take effect on the 180th day after the date of enactment, but the Department of Environmental Protection may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
