N.J.S.A. 58:10A-14 — Legislative oversight committees

58:10A-14. Legislative oversight committees The Senate Committee on Energy and Environment and the Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Environment are hereby designated as the Legislative Oversight Committees for the Water Pollution Control Act. The Department of Environmental Protection is directed to submit any proposed rules or regulations to the Legislative Oversight Committees, prior to the holding of public hearings on such proposed rules or regulations and to promptly submit to either committee any information concerning the administration of said act which either Legislative Oversight Committee may request. The Legislative Oversight Committees shall review, evaluate and recommend alterations to any such proposed rules or regulations and shall recommend whatever administrative alterations it may choose in order to effectuate the Legislative intent of this act. L.1977, c. 74, s. 15. 58:10A-14.1. Report on implementation and enforcement actions; notice of significant noncompliers in newspaper a. On or before March 15, 1992, and annually thereafter, the department shall prepare a report on implementation and enforcement actions taken during the preceding calendar year by the department and delegated local agencies pursuant to P.L.1977, c.74. Information in the report shall be compiled so as to distinguish, as applicable: enforcement actions taken by the department from those of delegated local agencies; violations of, and enforcement actions against, publicly owned treatment works from those of, or against, other permitted facilities; violations of effluent limitations from reporting violations--including discharging monitoring reports, compliance schedule progress reports, and pretreatment reports--and other violations; and violations of effluent limitations for hazardous pollutants from those for nonhazardous pollutants. The report shall be transmitted to the Governor, the members of the Legislature, the Assembly Environment Quality Committee and the Senate Energy and Environment Committee, or their successors, and to the Office of Legislative Services not later than March 31 of each year. b. Within 30 days of publication of the report pursuant to this section, the commissioner shall transmit a written notice to at least one newspaper in each county, with circulation throughout that county which shall: (1) Identify the owner, trade name and location of all facilities listed as significant noncompliers; (2) Identify all of the significant noncompliers who have been assessed penalties pursuant to section 6 of P.L.1990, c.28 (C.58:10A-10.1), the amount of the penalties assessed against, and the amount paid by, each significant noncomplier; (3) Indicate the availability of the annual reports required under this section, and the address and phone number for securing copies. L.1990,c.28,s.9. 58:10A-14.2. Contents of annual report a. The annual report provided pursuant to section 9 of P.L.1990, c.28 (C.58:10A-14.1) shall include, but need not be limited to, the following information for the preceding calendar year: (1) the number of facilities permitted by the department or delegated local agencies pursuant to P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.) as of the end of the calendar year, by surface water discharge permits; (2) the number of new permits or permit renewals issued; (3) the number of permit approvals contested by a permittee or other party; (4) the number of permit modifications, other than permit renewals; (5) the number of schedules of compliance adopted pursuant to administrative orders or administrative consent agreements involving interim enforcement limits that relax permit limitations; (6) the number of facilities, including publicly owned treatment works, inspected at least once by the department or local agencies; (7) the number of enforcement actions resulting from facility inspections; (8) the number of actual permit violations; (9) the number of actual effluent violations constituting serious violations, including violations that are being contested; (10) the number of defenses for upsets, bypasses or testing or laboratory errors granted pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1990, c.28 (C.58:10A-10.2) that involved a serious violation; (11) the number of permittees qualifying as significant noncompliers, including permittees contesting such designation; (12) the number of unpermitted discharges; (13) the number of pass throughs of pollutants; (14) the number of enforcement orders--administrative and judicial--issued for violations; (15) the number of violations for which civil penalties or civil administrative penalties have been assessed; (16) the number of violations of administrative orders or administrative consent orders, including violations of interim enforcement limits, or of schedule of compliance milestones for starting or completing construction, or for failing to attain full compliance; (17) the number of violations of schedules of compliance milestones for starting or completing construction, or attaining full compliance, that are out of compliance by 90 days or more from the date established in the compliance schedule; (18) the dollar amount of all assessed civil penalties and civil administrative penalties; (19) the dollar amount of enforcement costs recovered in a civil action or civil administrative action from a violator; (20) the dollar amount of civil administrative penalties and civil penalties collected, including penalties for which a penalty schedule has been agreed to by the violator; (21) The specific purposes for which penalty monies collected have been expended, displayed in line-item format by type of expenditure and including, but not limited to, position numbers and titles funded in whole or in part from these penalty monies; and (22) the number of criminal actions filed by the Attorney General or county prosecutors pursuant to section 10 of P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-10). b. In addition to the information required pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the report shall: (1) list the trade name of each permittee determined to be a significant noncomplier by the department or delegated local agency, and the address and permit number of the facility at which the violations occurred, and provide a brief description and the date of each violation, and the date that the violation was resolved, as well as the total number of violations committed by the permittee during the year; (2) list the trade name of each permittee who is at least six months behind in the construction phase of a compliance schedule, as well as the address and permit number of the facility, and provide a brief description of the conditions violated and the cause of delay; (3) list the trade name, address and permit number, of each permittee who has been convicted of criminal conduct pursuant to subsection f. of section 10 of P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-10), or who has had any officer or employee convicted thereunder, and provide a brief description and the date of the violation or violations for which convicted; (4) list the name and location of any local agency that has failed to file with the department information required by section 11 of P.L.1990, c.28 (C.58:10A-14.3); and (5) provide a summary assessment of the water quality of surface and ground waters affected by discharges subject to regulation pursuant to P.L.1977, c.74 to the extent that such information is not otherwise required to be submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. c. The department may include in the report any other information it determines would provide a fuller profile of the implementation and enforcement of P.L.1977, c.74. The department shall also include in the report any information that may be requested, in writing, not later than November 30 of the preceding year, for inclusion in the annual report, by the Assembly Environmental Quality Committee or the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, or their successors. L.1990,c.28,s.10. 58:10A-14.3. Guidelines The department shall adopt guidelines to be utilized by delegated local agencies, the Attorney General and county prosecutors in providing information to the department for inclusion in the report to be prepared in accordance with section 10 of this act, and prescribing the format in which the information is to be provided. Every delegated local agency, the Attorney General, and each county prosecutor shall file with the department, not later than February 1 of each year, such information and in such form as may be required by the department. In the event that information required to be reported pursuant to this section is also required to be reported to the department within the immediately preceding 12 month period pursuant to another law, rule, regulation, or permit requirement, to the extent that identical information is required to be reported, the local agency shall be required only to resubmit the information that was previously reported to the department. L.1990,c.28,s.11. 58:10A-14.4. Clean Water Enforcement Fund There is created, in the Department of Environmental Protection, a special nonlapsing fund, to be known as the "Clean Water Enforcement Fund." Except as otherwise provided in P.L.1989, c.122, all monies from penalties, fines, or recoveries of costs or improper economic benefits collected by the department pursuant to section 10 of P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-10) on and after the effective date of this section, or section 6 of P.L.1990, c.28 (C.58:10A-10.1) shall be deposited in the fund. Unless otherwise specifically provided by law, monies in the fund shall be utilized exclusively by the department for enforcement and implementation of the "Water Pollution Control Act," P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.) and P.L.1990, c.28 (C.58:10A-10.1 et al.). Any unobligated monies in the fund at the end of each fiscal year or monies not required for enforcement purposes in the next fiscal year shall be transferred to the "Wastewater Treatment Fund" established pursuant to subsection a. of section 15 of P.L.1985, c.329, for use in accordance with the provisions of that act. L.1990,c.28,s.12. 58:10A-14.5. Wastewater Treatment Operators' Training Account There is created in the Department of Environmental Protection a special nonlapsing account, to be known as the "Wastewater Treatment Operators' Training Account." Monies deposited in the account shall be used to provide training, including continuing education, courses for wastewater treatment operators. A court shall order to be deposited into the account 10% of the amount of any penalty assessed and collected in an action brought by a local agency pursuant to section 10 of P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-10) or section 6 of P.L.1990, c.28 (C.58:10A-10.1), or by a public entity pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1972, c.42 (C.58:11-55). L.1990,c.28,s.13. 58:10A-14.6. Advisory Committee on Water Supply and Wastewater Licensed Operator Training There is established in the Department of Environmental Protection an Advisory Committee on Water Supply and Wastewater Licensed Operator Training. Committee members shall be appointed by the commissioner for three-year terms as follows: four members who shall be representatives of the department; two members who shall be representatives selected from a list prepared by the New Jersey Section American Water Works Association; one member who shall be a licensed operator; two members of the Water Pollution Control Association; two members who shall be selected from a list prepared by the Authorities Association of New Jersey, one of whom shall be from a water authority, and one from a wastewater treatment authority; one member who shall be selected from a list prepared by the New Jersey Business and Industry Council; three members who shall be selected from a list prepared by educational institutions in the State conducting courses in water supply or wastewater treatment operations, or which conducted an appropriate course in the immediately preceding academic year, one of whom shall be the Director of the Office of Continuing Professional Education at Cook College, the State University of Rutgers; and two members who shall be selected from environmental groups in the State actively concerned or involved in water quality or wastewater treatment. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment for the unexpired term. The advisory committee shall meet at least once a year, and shall organize itself in such manner and hold its meetings in such places as it deems most suitable. The department shall provide staff assistance to the advisory committee, to the extent that monies are available therefor. The advisory committee shall advise the department on the training and licensing of water supply and wastewater treatment operators and on related matters, or on any other matter referred to it by the department. The advisory committee shall review the training programs for, and identify the training needs of, water supply and wastewater treatment operators, and shall approve the annual allocations of monies for wastewater treatment operators' training programs from sums available in the "Wastewater Treatment Operators' Training Account," established pursuant to section 13 of P.L.1990, c.28 (C.58:10A-14.5). L.1990,c.28,s.14.

This is the verbatim text of N.J.S.A. 58:10A-14, retrieved from the New Jersey Legislature's public statute corpus. Statutes are amended periodically — for the most current version, check the external source link above. Kyzer is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice.