Bill Text: NJ S2997 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes NJ Task Force on Highway Work Zone Safety.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-09-30 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Transportation Committee [S2997 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-S2997-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator FRED H. MADDEN, JR.
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
Senator NICHOLAS J. SACCO
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes NJ Task Force on Highway Work Zone Safety.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act creating the New Jersey Task Force on Highway Work Zone Safety.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Increased traffic congestion and a growing need to rehabilitate and reconstruct existing roads have presented states with a challenge to maintain work zone safety.
b. The Federal Highway Administration reported that there were 576 fatal crashes in construction and maintenance work zones in 2010 and that 639 workers were killed while working at road construction sites between 2003 and 2007.
c. In 2007, the Federal Highway Administration adopted regulations designed to decrease the likelihood of highway work zone fatalities and injuries to workers and motorists by establishing minimum highway work zone safety requirements and providing guidance to states for the use of traffic control strategies and devices in highway work zones.
d. The Federal Highway Administration regulations require each state receiving federal highway funding to develop a highway work zone safety program consistent with federal rules and regulations.
e. It is therefore in the public interest to establish a New Jersey Task Force on Highway Work Zone Safety to assist the New Jersey Department of Transportation in the development of regulations, policies, and procedures concerning highway work zone safety.
2. a. There is established in the Department of Transportation, the New Jersey Task Force on Highway Work Zone Safety. The purpose of the task force shall be to develop regulations, policies, and procedures for submission to the Commissioner of Transportation implementing the Federal Highway Administration's rules and regulations concerning work zone safety, as provided in part 630 of Title 23 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
b. The regulations shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) standards on the distance highway workers are required to maintain from high-speed traffic;
(2) standards for night time activity in a work zone; and
(3) a description of the circumstances that necessitate police presence, lane closures, ramp closures, and traffic stops at the work zone.
c. The task force shall consist of seven members as follows:
(1) the Commissioner of Transportation or the commissioner's designee, who shall serve ex-officio;
(2) four public members who shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, including one representative with specialized knowledge of highway work zone safety, one licensed professional engineer who has been actively engaged in highway traffic safety design in this State, one representative of organized labor, and one representative of transportation construction contractors in this State;
(3) one member appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the President of the Senate; and
(4) one member appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the General Assembly.
d. Within 90 days of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), a majority of the authorized membership of the task force shall be appointed and the task force shall hold its initial meeting. The members of the task force shall serve for the duration of the existence of the task force. Any vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. The task force members shall serve without compensation, but shall be eligible for reimbursement for necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for this purpose.
e. The task force shall elect a chair from among the members and be entitled to the assistance and services of the employees of any State department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require.
f. No later than 180 days after its initial meeting, the task force shall issue a report to the Governor and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1). The report shall include, but not be limited to, proposed regulations, policies, and procedures recommended for adoption by the department.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire upon the issuance of the report submitted by the task force pursuant to subsection f. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
STATEMENT
This bill establishes in the Department of Transportation, the New Jersey Task Force on Highway Work Zone Safety (task force). The purpose of the task force shall be to develop regulations, policies, and procedures for submission to the Commissioner of Transportation (commissioner) implementing the Federal Highway Administration's requirement that states develop a highway work zone safety program consistent with federal rules and regulations. The task force's recommendations are to include, but need not be limited to: (1) standards on the distance highway workers are required to maintain from high-speed traffic; (2) standards for night time activity in a work zone; and (3) a description of the circumstances that necessitate police presence, lane closures, ramp closures, and traffic stops at the work zone.
The task force is to consist of the following seven members: (1) the Commissioner of Transportation or the commissioner's designee, who shall serve ex-officio; (2) four public members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, including one representative with specialized knowledge of highway work zone safety, one licensed professional engineer who has been actively engaged in highway traffic safety design in this State, one representative of organized labor, and one representative of transportation construction contractors in this State; (3) one member appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the President of the Senate; and (4) one member appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the General Assembly.
The bill requires the task force to issue a report to the Governor and the Legislature no later than 180 days after the initial meeting of the task force.
