Bill Text: NJ A4886 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes DEP Permitting Review Commission.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-06-01 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee [A4886 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A4886-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman TROY SINGLETON
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes DEP Permitting Review Commission.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing the DEP Permitting Review Commission.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. The mission of the Department of Environmental Protection is to assist the residents of New Jersey in preserving, protecting, sustaining, and enhancing the State's environment to ensure the integration of high environmental quality, public health, and economic vitality;
b. The department has many diverse constituencies, which at many times have competing interests and goals that can create conflicts as the agency strives for environmental and public health protection while also acknowledging other priorities, including bolstering economic growth in New Jersey;
c. As a highly industrialized and densely populated state, yet gifted with an irreplaceable and precious complement of biodiversity and natural resources, New Jersey has had a long tradition of being a national leader in aggressively identifying and addressing new threats to the environment and public health, while working to enhance the overall quality-of-life of New Jersey residents, and as a result, the department is charged with implementing numerous environmental laws;
d. Over the years, the department has made significant strides in upgrading its electronic capabilities, allowing for electronic submittals of information and increasing its use of streamlined permitting processes, such as general permits and permits-by-rule, which have improved the efficiency of the department's services and the transparency of its decision-making;
e. The regulated community, however, continues to express frustration at the unpredictability and inefficiency of the department's permitting processes, and efforts must be taken to ensure that the department does not hinder economic growth in the State;
f. Currently, the department has an "Office of Permit Coordination and Environmental Review" whose mission is to ensure that "complex multi-media, high value projects receive proactive and facilitated communication and coordination in support of timely, predictable, and positive permit decisions";
g. This office, according to its website, serves as the primary manager for several large cross-program projects at any given time, while also providing a "one stop" or single point of entry for a second tier of smaller cross-program projects where the office serves as the coordinator and facilitates multi-program permits but is not the primary manager of the projects;
h. It should be a goal of every agency within State government to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of its operations, and especially so for an agency that impacts the residents and businesses of the State, and those thinking of coming to the State, in so many ways; and
i. It is therefore in the public interest to create a commission to assist the department in meeting its mission to preserve, protect, sustain, and enhance the State's environment by reviewing the operations and the permitting processes of the department, with the goal of developing recommendations on ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the department in order to ensure timely and efficient service to the residents of the State and the regulated community.
2. a. There is established the "DEP Permitting Review Commission." The commission shall be composed of nine members, as follows:
(1) the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, or the commissioner's designee;
(2) the Chief of the Environmental Permitting and Counseling Section of the Division of Law in the Department of Law and Public Safety, or the chief's designee; and
(3) seven members of the public who have experience with the various permitting programs within the department. Of these seven public members: three shall be appointed by the Governor; one shall be appointed by the President of the Senate; one shall be appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly; one shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate; and one shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of the General Assembly.
b. The public members of the commission shall be appointed within 30 days after the effective date of this act. The commission shall organize as soon as practicable, but no later than 30 days following the appointment of its members, and shall select a chairperson from among its members. The commission shall hold its first meeting as soon as practicable after the appointment of the seven public members. The commission may meet and hold hearings at the times and places it designates.
c. A majority of the membership of the commission shall constitute a quorum, and action may be taken at any meeting by the affirmative vote of a majority of the membership of the commission.
d. The commission shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes, and to employ stenographic and clerical assistance and incur traveling and other miscellaneous expenses necessary to perform its duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for its purposes. The Department of Environmental Protection shall provide primary staff support to the commission.
e. Members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the commission, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the commission for this purpose.
3. a. The DEP Permitting Review Commission shall review the operations and permitting processes of the department, with the goal of developing recommendations on ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the department in order to ensure timely and efficient service to the residents of the State and the regulated community, while, at the same time, meeting the department's mission to preserve, protect, sustain, and enhance the State's environment. The commission shall review the department's various permitting programs to determine if there are ways to consolidate permitting application requirements and review procedures in order to provide a more streamlined, comprehensive review for projects. The commission shall evaluate the feasibility of expanding the role of the department's "Office of Permit Coordination and Environmental Review" by offering a "one stop" or consolidated permit process for both large and small projects that require permits from multiple permit programs.
In conducting this review, the commission shall:
(1) consider the availability and use of technology among the permitting programs, and the staffing levels and management structure of the programs, and evaluate whether the funding provided for technology and staffing is sufficient to meet the needs of the department and the regulated community;
(2) work with the department to identify (a) standard tasks that are common to all department permit applications in order to eliminate those that are redundant or unnecessary, allow for the concurrent review of applications in a coordinated manner across programs, and apply uniform definitions, policies, and procedures concerning the permit review clock in relevant permit programs, and (b) other opportunities to make the permit review process more efficient; and
(3) identify opportunities, and the resources necessary, to upgrade electronic processing in permit programs, expand electronic applications and reporting in those programs where to do so results in significant program efficiencies, and enhance electronic systems to improve processing time and the sharing of information across programs to improve decision-making and provide greater public access to the data used by the department to make decisions.
In conducting its review and developing its recommendations, the commission shall work with interested members of the public and constituent groups who have regular contact with the Department of Environmental Protection as well as individuals and entities with experience in customer and public relations and information technology systems.
b. Within 120 days after its organizational meeting, the commission shall conduct the review required pursuant to subsection a. of this section and shall submit a report, to the Governor and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), summarizing its findings and providing recommendations for restructuring and re-engineering the department to ensure its functioning as an effective department of State government providing timely and efficient service to the residents of the State and the regulated community. The report shall contain any proposals for legislation and other appropriate legislative or regulatory action that the commission deems appropriate. Any member of the commission who does not concur with the report of the commission may issue a minority statement, which shall be included in the report transmitted to the Governor and the Legislature.
c. The Department of Environmental Protection shall post a copy of the report transmitted pursuant to subsection b. of this section on its internet website.
4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire on the 30th day after submission of the commission's report to the Governor and the Legislature pursuant to subsection b. of section 3 of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would establish the "DEP Permitting Review Commission." This commission would be charged with reviewing the operations and permitting processes of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The goal of this review would be developing recommendations on ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the DEP in order to ensure timely and efficient service to the residents of the State and the regulated community, while at the same time meeting the DEP's mission to preserve, protect, sustain, and enhance the State's environment. The commission would review the DEP's various permitting programs to determine if there are ways to consolidate permitting application requirements and review procedures in order to provide a more streamlined, comprehensive review for projects. The commission would also evaluate the feasibility of expanding the role of the DEP's current "Office of Permit Coordination and Environmental Review" in order to offer a "one stop" or consolidated permit process for both large and small projects that require permits from multiple permit programs.
The commission would be composed of nine members, as follows: the Commissioner of Environmental Protection or the commissioner's designee; the Chief of the Environmental Permitting and Counseling Section of the Division of Law in the Department of Law and Public Safety or the chief's designee; and seven members of the public, who have experience with the various permitting programs within the DEP. Of these seven public members, three would be appointed by the Governor, and one each would be appointed by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the General Assembly, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Minority Leader of the General Assembly.
The commission would issue a report to the Governor and the Legislature within 120 days after holding its first organizational meeting.
