Bill Text: NJ S2664 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Transfers Lake Hopatcong Commission to DEP.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-07 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee [S2664 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-S2664-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator ANTHONY R. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
Senator STEPHEN M. SWEENEY
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Oroho
SYNOPSIS
Transfers Lake Hopatcong Commission to DEP.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act transferring the Lake Hopatcong Commission to the Department of Environmental Protection, amending P.L.2000, c.175, and repealing section 5 of P.L.2000, c.175.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 3 of P.L.2000, c.175 (C.58:4B-3) is amended to read as follows:
3. a. There is created [, in but not of] in the Department of Environmental Protection [,] the Lake Hopatcong Commission, which shall comprise 11 voting members, as follows: a representative of Morris county appointed by the Board of Chosen Freeholders thereof; a representative of Sussex county appointed by the Board of Chosen Freeholders thereof; a representative of Hopatcong borough appointed by the governing body thereof; a representative of Jefferson township appointed by the governing body thereof; a representative of Mount Arlington borough appointed by the governing body thereof; a representative of Roxbury township appointed by the governing body thereof; two members of the public appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate; a chairperson of the commission appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate; the Commissioner of Community Affairs, or a designee thereof, who shall serve ex officio; and the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, or a designee thereof, who shall serve ex officio.
b. Each county and municipal appointing authority as prescribed pursuant to subsection a. of this section may also respectively appoint an alternate member for each regular member appointed by the county or municipal appointing authority to act in the absence or disability of the regular member, and while so acting an alternate member shall have all the powers, including voting powers, of the regular member.
c. (1) The chairperson of the commission shall serve a term of three years and until a successor shall have been appointed and qualified. A chairperson may be reappointed to successive terms.
(2) Each member of the public appointed by the Governor shall serve a term of two years and until a successor shall have been appointed and qualified; except that of the two members of the public first appointed, one shall serve a term of two years and the other a term of one year. Members of the public appointed by the Governor may be reappointed to successive terms.
(3) Each member or alternate member appointed by a county or a municipality shall serve a term of two years and until a successor shall have been appointed and qualified; except that each member and alternate member first appointed by Sussex county, Mount Arlington borough, and Roxbury township shall serve a term of one year, and thereafter each member and alternate member appointed by that county and those two municipalities shall serve a term of two years and until a successor shall have been appointed and qualified. Members and alternate members may be reappointed to successive terms.
d. Vacancies in the appointed positions on the commission shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made but for the unexpired term only.
e. Members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but the commission may, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it, reimburse members for actual expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of their official duties.
f. Members of the commission shall serve at the pleasure of the relevant appointing authority.
(cf: P.L.2000, c.175, s.3)
2. Section 4 of P.L.2000, c.175 (C.58:4B-4) is amended to read as follows:
4. a. The Lake Hopatcong Commission shall organize as soon as may be practicable after the appointment of its members, and shall elect a secretary who need not be a member.
b. The commission shall meet regularly as it may determine, but not less than on a quarterly basis. Meetings of the commission shall be at such times and places as the commission deems appropriate and shall be subject to the provisions and requirements of the "Open Public Meetings Act," P.L.1975, c.231 (C.10:4-6 et seq.).
The commission shall also meet at the call of the Governor [or of] , the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, or the chairperson.
c. A majority of the membership of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of commission business. Action may be taken and motions and resolutions adopted by the commission at any meeting thereof by the affirmative vote of a majority of the full membership of the commission, except that any action to recommend or adopt an annual operating or capital budget shall require an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the full membership of the commission.
d. The commission shall be entitled to call to its assistance, and avail itself of the services of, such employees of the State, the two member counties, or the four member municipalities, or any political subdivisions, instrumentalities, entities, agencies, or authorities thereof, as it may require and as may be made available to it for the purpose of carrying out its powers, duties, and responsibilities under this act.
e. The commission may, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for those purposes, employ an executive director and other professional, technical, maintenance, and clerical staff, and incur such other miscellaneous expenses, as it may deem necessary in order to carry out its powers, duties, and responsibilities pursuant to this act.
(cf: P.L.2000, c.175, s.4)
3. Section 10 of P.L.2000, c.175 (C.58:4B-10) is amended to read as follows:
10. The Lake Hopatcong Commission shall, within 18 months after the date it organizes, prepare a progress report on its activities, and submit it, together with any recommendations for legislation, administrative action, or action by local governments, to the Governor, the Legislature, and the Senate Environment and Energy Committee, the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, and the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, or their respective successors.
(cf: P.L.2000, c.175, s.10)
4. Section 5 of P.L.2000, c.175 (C.58:4B-5) is repealed.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
Under current law, the Lake Hopatcong Commission is in but not of the DEP. This bill would place the Lake Hopatcong Commission in the DEP. The Lake Hopatcong Commission already coordinates with the DEP on any plan or program affecting the water quantity of Lake Hopatcong.
The bill also repeals a section of the "Lake Hopatcong Protection Act" which provides certain powers to the Lake Hopatcong Commission, because they would no longer apply to a Commission that is not an independent entity.
