Bill Text: NJ S386 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: "Hybrid Swimming Pool Heating Act."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-12 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee [S386 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S386-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
"Hybrid Swimming Pool Heating Act."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning swimming pool heating systems and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Hybrid Swimming Pool Heating Act."
2. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. New Jersey is heavily dependent on propane and natural gas, importing the majority of the fossil fuels it consumes.
b. Rising worldwide demand for propane and natural gas and a shrinking supply create rising and unstable prices that can harm New Jersey consumers and the economy.
c. Propane and natural gas are carbon emitting fossil fuels and a major source of global warming pollution and air pollutants.
d. New Jersey's population and economy will put a strain on energy supplies and threaten the ability of the State to meet its global warming reduction goals unless specific steps are taken to reduce the demand and generate clean and efficient energy.
e. The use of propane or natural gas to power swimming pool heating systems accounts for a significant percentage of the State's propane and natural gas consumption.
f. Hybrid swimming pool heating systems have great potential to represent an untapped propane and natural gas savings.
g. In addition to financial and energy savings, hybrid swimming pool heating systems can help protect against future gas and electricity shortages and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign sources of energy.
h. Hybrid swimming pool heating systems can help preserve the environment and protect the public health by reducing air pollution, including carbon dioxide, a leading global warming gas, and nitrogen oxide, a precursor to air pollution.
i. Growing demand for hybrid technologies will create jobs in New Jersey, promote greater energy independence, help to protect consumers from rising energy costs and improve air quality.
j. It is in the interest of the State of New Jersey to promote hybrid swimming pool heating systems and other technologies that directly reduce demand for propane or natural gas.
k. The State should create a program that promotes a mainstream market for hybrid swimming pool heating systems that directly reduces demand for propane and natural gas in residential, multifamily, commercial, municipal, governmental or educational swimming pool installations in the State and requires the installation of hybrid swimming pool heating systems in a cost efficient manner.
3. As used in this act:
"Board" means the Board of Public Utilities.
"Hybrid swimming pool heating system" means a system which uses both a solar swimming pool heating collector and either a propane or a natural gas powered swimming pool heater the primary purpose of which is to provide heat to a swimming pool while minimizing the use of propane or natural gas.
"Solar swimming pool heating collector" means a device or system that is used to collect or capture heat from the sun to be used in heating a swimming pool.
"Swimming pool gas customer" means either a propane or natural gas customer that uses propane or natural gas to heat a swimming pool, or a hot tub connected to a swimming pool, with or without the aid of a solar swimming pool heating collector.
4. a. The Board of Public Utilities, in consultation with the Department of Community Affairs and the Department of Environmental Protection, shall establish a hybrid swimming pool heating program to be administered by the board in conjunction with propane gas suppliers and natural gas suppliers. The program shall establish criteria with which a swimming pool gas customer must comply in order to receive propane or natural gas service to heat a swimming pool.
b. The board shall establish criteria for new and existing swimming pool gas customers to require the use of hybrid swimming pool heating systems within a timeframe to be adopted by the board. Within three years from the date of enactment of this act every swimming pool in the State that uses propane or natural gas shall use a hybrid swimming pool heating system.
c. The program shall conform with the following standards:
(1) Within the timeframe prescribed by the board a swimming pool gas customer, in order to continue or initiate receiving propane or natural gas service for heating a swimming pool, shall have a hybrid swimming pool heating system on the customer's swimming pool that includes a solar swimming pool heating collector equivalent in area to a minimum of 25% of the surface area of the swimming pool or capable of providing a minimum of 25% of the heating demand of the swimming pool;
(2) Any solar swimming pool heating collector used in a hybrid swimming pool heating system for a multifamily residential, commercial, municipal, governmental or educational swimming pool installation shall have, at a minimum, a certification from either the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation, the Florida Solar Energy Center, or an equivalent designated by the board;
(3) Solar swimming pool heating collectors shall be installed in conformity with the manufacturer's specifications and all applicable codes and standards;
(4) Installation guidelines for solar swimming pool heating collectors shall be designed to: (a) maximize the performance of the system; (b) achieve the greatest energy production or displacement possible per dollar expended by swimming pool gas customers; and (c) conform with all applicable municipal and county ordinances regarding building design or density; and
(5) The board may grant an exemption from the requirements of this act if the swimming pool gas customer provides to the board a signed and sworn statement, conforming to standards established by the board, from a licensed solar or swimming pool contractor verifying that: (a) installing a hybrid swimming pool heating system in the particular location would be physically impossible; or (b) compliance with this act would cause undue economic hardship to the swimming pool gas customer.
d. The board, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection and the Commissioner of Community Affairs, shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations, as appropriate, to implement the provisions of this act.
5. a. If any person, or other entity, is found to have violated any provision of this act or any rule, regulation, or order adopted or issued pursuant thereto, the board may institute a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction for injunctive relief to enforce those provisions and to prohibit and prevent that violation, and the court may proceed in the action in a summary manner.
b. Any person, or other entity, who violates this act or any rule, regulation or order adopted or issued pursuant thereto shall be liable to: a civil administrative penalty of up to $500 for each offense, to be imposed by the board pursuant to standards adopted in rules or regulations; or a civil penalty of up to $500 for each offense, to be collected with costs in a civil action by a summary proceeding pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.) or in any case before a court of competent jurisdiction wherein injunctive relief has been requested. The Superior Court and the municipal courts shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999" in connection with this subsection. If the violation is of a continuing nature, each day during which it continues shall constitute an additional, separate and distinct offense. The board is authorized to compromise and settle any claim for a penalty under this subsection in such amount in the discretion of the board as may appear appropriate and equitable under all of the circumstances.
c. All monies collected pursuant to this section shall be used by the board to defray administrative costs directly related to the implementation and enforcement of this act.
6. This act shall take effect on the 90th day after the date of enactment, but the Board of Public Utilities may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill entitled the "Hybrid Swimming Pool Heating Act," would establish a program to be administered by the Board of Public Utilities in conjunction with propane and natural gas suppliers in the State that would promote a mainstream market for hybrid swimming pool heating systems which directly reduces demand for propane and natural gas in residential, multifamily, commercial, governmental or educational swimming pool installations in the State.
The program would require, within three years after the date of enactment into law of the bill, every pool in the State using propane or natural gas for heat to have a hybrid swimming pool heating system. The timeframe for the transfer to hybrid swimming pool heating systems would be established by the board. In cases where installation of a hybrid swimming pool heating system would not be possible or economically sound the board may grant an exemption from the requirements of the bill.
Transferring to hybrid swimming pool heating systems would potentially create jobs in New Jersey in hybrid technologies, promote greater energy independence, help to protect consumers from rising energy costs and improve air quality. Swimming pool gas customers would recoup the cost of their investment through lower usage costs as a result of reduced usage of propane or natural gas and would benefit from additional system stability and pollution reduction benefits.
