Bill Text: NJ S313 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires businesses that violates State environmental laws to forfeit economic development subsidies under certain circumstances.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-01-13 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee [S313 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-S313-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator NILSA I. CRUZ-PEREZ
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Senator ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires businesses that violates State environmental laws to forfeit economic development subsidies under certain circumstances.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the forfeiture of economic development subsidies and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Authority" means the New Jersey Economic Development Authority established by section 4 of P.L.1974, c.80 (C.34:1B-4).
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Environmental Protection.
"Costs to address the environmental incident" means any costs incurred to mitigate the impact of an environmental incident on residents of the geographical area in the State impacted by the environmental incident, as determined by the commissioner. "Costs to address the environmental incident" shall include but not be limited to, the costs of environmental remediation necessary to contain and remediate the impact of the incident, housing relocation costs for impacted residents, the installation of air filtration and fire suppression systems within impacted buildings or structures, and the costs of psychological or mental health counseling for impacted residents.
"Economic development program" means any program administered by the authority pursuant to Title 34 of the Revised Statutes, and any rules and regulations issued pursuant thereto.
"Economic development subsidy" means any funds or financial assistance provided to a recipient business by or from a State public body with a value greater than $25,000 under an economic development program, including, but not limited to, any bond, grant, loan, loan guarantee, matching fund, tax credit, or other tax expenditure. "Economic development subsidy" shall not mean any contract under which a State public body purchases or otherwise procures goods, services, or construction on an unsubsidized basis, including any contract solely for the construction or renovation of a facility owned by a State public body.
"Environmental incident" means a violation of the State's environmental laws that causes a discharge into the air, land or water of this State, which results in a notice of violation from the department, and which has an adverse impact on the environment.
"Fund" means the Environmental Incident Recovery Fund established pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
"Recipient business" means any for-profit corporation, joint venture, limited liability company, partnership, sole proprietorship, or other form of business organization or entity either within or outside this State that receives an economic development subsidy.
"State public body" means the State of New Jersey or any agency, authority, board, commission or instrumentality of the State. "State public body" shall not mean a political subdivision of the State, or an agency, authority, board, commission or instrumentality of a political subdivision of the State.
"State's environmental laws" means the "Air Pollution Control Act (1954)," P.L.1954, c.212 (C.26:2C-1 et seq.), the "Radiation Protection Act," P.L.1958, c.116 (C.26:2D-1 et seq.), "Spill Compensation and Control Act," P.L.1976, c.141 (C.58:10-23.11 et seq.), the "Water Pollution Control Act," P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.), P.L.1986, c.102 (C.58:10A-21 et seq.), the "Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act," P.L.1993, c.139 (C.58:10B-1 et seq.), as amended and supplemented, the "Industrial Site Recovery Act," P.L.1983, c.330 (C.13:1K-6 et al.), the "Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act," P.L.1985, c.403 (C.13:1K-19 et seq.), the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), the "Comprehensive Regulated Medical Waste Management Act," P.L.1989, c.34 (C.13:1E-48.1 et seq.), the "Major Hazardous Waste Facilities Siting Act," P.L.1981, c.279 (C.13:1E-49 et seq.), the "Sanitary Landfill Facility Closure and Contingency Fund Act," P.L.1981, c.306 (C.13:1E-100 et seq.), the "Regional Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility Siting Act," P.L.1987, c.333 (C.13:1E-177 et seq.), the "Pollution Prevention Act," P.L.1991, c.235 (C.13:1D-35 et seq.), the "Safe Drinking Water Act" P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-1 et seq.), or any other law or regulation by which the State may compel a recipient business to perform containment or remediation activities on contaminated property.
"State Treasurer" means the Treasurer of the State of New Jersey.
"Tax expenditure" means the amount of foregone tax collections due to any abatement, reduction, exemption, credit, or transfer certificate against any State tax, including, but not limited to: taxes on raw materials, inventories, or other assets, taxes on gross receipts, income or sales, and use, excise, or utility tax. "Tax expenditure" shall not mean any credit against any tax liability of an employee; any personal exemption, homestead rebate, credit, or deduction for the expenses of a household or individual; or other reduction of the tax liability of an individual or household.
2. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, if the commissioner determines that a recipient business is responsible for any environmental incident, the recipient business shall, consistent with the provisions of this section, elect to either:
(1) forfeit a portion of the value of the economic development subsidies the recipient business is otherwise eligible to receive for the tax year in which a determination is made pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection c. of this section; or
(2) make a payment to the State.
b. (1) The value of the forfeiture or the amount of the payment required pursuant to this section shall be equal to the greater of:
(a) 20 percent of the total value of the economic development subsidies awarded to the recipient business for the tax year in which the determination is made; or
(b) the total costs to address the environmental incident, as determined pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection c. of this section. (2) Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection to the contrary, if, at the time of the commissioner's determination pursuant to subsection c. of this section, a recipient business has utilized the full value of any economic development subsidies provided to the business recipient for the tax year in which the environmental incident occurred, then the recipient business shall make a payment to the State equal to the total costs to address the environmental incident.
c. (1) The total costs to address the environmental incident shall be determined by the commissioner in consultation with the State Treasurer, the chief executive officer of the authority, and any other State officials or officers that the commissioner may deem appropriate. Upon the request of the commissioner, each State agency, authority, county, municipality, and political subdivision of this State shall make any information and materials available to the commissioner as the commissioner deems necessary to determine the total costs to address the environmental incident.
(2) Upon determining the total costs to address the environmental incident, the commissioner shall provide written notice to the recipient business that the recipient business is required to forfeit economic development subsidies or make a payment to the State. The notice shall include an explanation of the commissioner's determination, including an explanation of the amounts necessary to support each category of costs to address the environmental incident. The commissioner shall also transmit a copy of the written notice to the State Treasurer and chief executive officer of the authority.
(3) Upon receipt of the notice from the commissioner, the State Treasurer, in consultation with the chief executive officer of the authority, shall provide written notice to the recipient business certifying the amount of economic development subsidies to be forfeited or the payment to be provided to the State.
d. (1) Not later than 30 days following receipt of the notice provided pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection c. of this section, a recipient business shall either notify the commissioner, chief executive officer of the authority, and the State Treasurer of its election to forfeit its economic development subsides or provide a payment to the State in lieu of forfeiting its economic development subsidies. If a recipient business elects to forfeit its economic development subsidies, the business shall make such arrangements as are necessary to effectuate the forfeiture. If a recipient business elects to provide a payment to the State in lieu of forfeiting its economic development subsidy, the payment shall be made to the State Treasurer no later than 30 days following the date on which the notice of election was provided pursuant to this paragraph.
(2) The proceeds of any payment received by the State shall be deposited into the Environmental Incident Recovery Fund established pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and shall be appropriated by the Legislature to provide reimbursement payments to residents of communities impacted by an environmental incident for costs incurred to address the environmental incident.
e. If a recipient business fails to comply with the requirements of this section, the recipient business shall forfeit all economic development subsidies awarded to the business, and its affiliates, until such time as the requirements of this section are met.
f. Any agreement entered into between the authority and a recipient business for the issuance of an economic development subsidy on or after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall include a provision specifying that a recipient business shall be subject to the provisions of this section.
3. a. There is established in the Department of Environmental Protection a separate, nonlapsing fund to be known as the "Environmental Incident Recovery Fund." The fund shall be administered by the department and shall be used solely to provide reimbursement payments to residents of communities impacted by an environmental incident for costs incurred to address the environmental incident. The fund shall contain a subaccount for each payment received by the State Treasurer for a specific environmental incident.
b. The fund shall consist of any payments received by the State Treasurer pursuant to subsection d. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of the funds, investment earnings of the fund, moneys contributed to the fund by private sources, and any other moneys that may become available for its purpose. The moneys in the fund may be invested and reinvested by the Director of the Division of Investment in the Department of the Treasury. All costs of administering the fund, including the necessary and proper expenses incurred by the department in administering the fund, shall be paid from the fund. The department shall not encumber, invest, divest, or disburse moneys from the fund for any purpose not specifically included in this section.
c. Subject to the appropriation of funds by the Legislature, the department shall make distributions from the fund in accordance with the following criteria and any rules or regulations adopted by the department. The department shall establish a process by which residents of communities impacted by an environmental incident may apply for a reimbursement from the fund. Payments from the fund may be made only for costs incurred by residents of a community impacted by an environmental incident to address the environmental incident. Payments may not be made to satisfy a financial commitment for services or expenses that would otherwise have been paid from another public or private source, including, but not limited to, Medicaid or private insurance.
4. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection, in consultation with the State Treasurer and the Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.
5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to economic developments subsidies for which an agreement is entered into between the authority and a recipient business on or after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires a business that has been awarded an economic development subsidy by a State public body and is found to be in violation of the State's environmental laws to forfeit a portion of the economic development subsidy provided to the business or provide a payment to the State.
The bill provides that if the Commissioner of Environmental Protection determines that a recipient business is responsible for an environmental incident, the business is required to forfeit the economic development subsidy or provide a payment to the State equal to the greater of: (1) 20 percent of the economic development subsidies awarded to the business recipient for the tax year in which a determination is made under the bill or (2) the total costs to address the environmental incident. Under the bill, these costs include, but are not limited to, costs of environmental remediation necessary to contain and remediate the impact of the incident, housing relocation costs for impacted residents, the installation of air filtration and fire suppression systems within impacted buildings or structures, and the costs of psychological or mental health counseling for impacted residents.
The bill directs the commissioner, in consultation with the State Treasurer and the chief executive officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA), and any other State officials the commissioner deems appropriate, to determine the amount of costs necessary to address the environmental incident. The bill requires the commissioner to provide written notice to the recipient business of the amount of the economic development subsidies to be forfeited or the payment to be made to the State. The bill directs the State Treasurer, in consultation with the chief executive officer of the EDA, to provide a written notice to the recipient business certifying the amount of economic development subsidies to be forfeited or payment to be made to the State. A recipient business may choose to either forfeit economic development subsidies or make a payment to the State.
The bill requires any payments received by the State to be deposited into a new Environmental Incident Recovery Fund established by the bill and appropriated to provide reimbursement payments to residents of communities impacted by an environmental incident for costs incurred to address the environmental incident. The bill provides that if a recipient business fails to forfeit its economic subsidy or provide a payment to the State, the recipient business is required to forfeit all economic development subsidies awarded to the recipient business and its affiliates until the requirements of the bill are satisfied. The bill also requires future economic development subsidy agreements entered into by the authority to include a provision specifying that a recipient business is subject to the provisions of the bill.
