New Jersey P.L.1971, c.155

by New Jersey Legislature

CHAPTER 155, LAWS OF 1971

AN ACT concerning fees established by the Department of Environmental Protection, revising parts of the statutory laws and amending P.L.1954, c.212, P.L.1958, c.116 and P.L.1947, c.377.

BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 9 of P.L.1954, c.212 (C.26:2C-9) is amended to read as follows:

C.26:2C-9 Department's duties; fees.
9. The department shall control air pollution in accordance with the provisions of any applicable code, rule or regulation promulgated by the department and for this purpose shall have power to—
(a) Conduct and supervise research programs for the purpose of determining the causes, effects and hazards of air pollution;
(b) Conduct and supervise Statewide programs of air pollution control education including the preparation and distribution of information relating to air pollution control;
(c) Require the registration of persons engaged in operations which may result in air pollution and the filing of reports by them containing information relating to location, size of outlet, height of outlet, rate and period of emission and composition of effluent, and such other information as the department shall prescribe to be filed relative to air pollution, all in accordance with applicable codes, rules or regulations established by the department. Registration reports filed with the department shall be privileged and not admissible in evidence in any court;
(d) Enter and inspect any building or place, except private residences, for the purpose of investigating an actual or suspected source of air pollution and ascertaining compliance or noncompliance with any code, rules and regulations of the department. Any information relating to secret processes or methods of manufacture or production obtained in the course of such inspection, investigation or determination, shall be kept confidential and shall not be admissible in evidence in any court or in any other proceeding except before the department as herein defined. If samples are taken for analysis, a duplicate of the analytical report shall be furnished promptly to the person suspected of causing air pollution;
(e) Receive or initiate complaints of air pollution, hold hearings in connection with air pollution and institute legal proceedings for the prevention of air pollution and for the recovery of penalties, in accordance with this act;
(f) With the approval of the Governor, cooperate with, and receive money from, the Federal Government, the State Government, or any county or municipal government or from private sources for the study and control of air pollution;
(g) The department may in accordance with a fee schedule adopted as a rule or regulation establish and charge fees for any of the services it performs, which fees shall be annual or Periodic as the department shall determine. The fees charged by the department pursuant to this section shall not be less than $10.00 nor more than $500.00 based on criteria contained in the fee schedule.

2. Section 9 of P.L.1958, c.116 (C.26:2D-9) is amended to read as follows:

C.26:2D-9 Department's duties; fees.
9. The department shall:
(a) Administer this act and codes, rules or regulations promulgated by the commission;
(b) Provide the commission with the necessary personnel required to carry out its duties;
(c) Develop comprehensive policies and programs for the evalution and determination of hazards associated with the use of radiation, and for their amelioration;
(d) Advise, consult, and cooperate with other agencies of the State, the Federal Government, other states and interstate agencies, and with affected groups, political subdivisions and industries;
(e) Accept and administer according to law loans, grants or other funds or gifts from the Federal Government and from other sources, public or private, for carrying out its functions under this act;
(f) Encourage, participate in or conduct studies, investigations, training, research and demonstrations relating to the control of radiation hazard, the measurement of radiation, the effects on health of exposure to radiation and related problems as it may deem necessary or advisable for the discharge of its duties under this act;
(g) Collect and disseminate health education information relating to radiation protection;
(h) Require registration of sources of radiation, and require records concerning sources of radiation to be kept in such manner as may be prescribed by codes, rules or regulations of the commission;
(i) Review plans and specifications on the design and shielding for radiation sources submitted pursuant to codes, rules or regulations of the commission for the purpose of determining possible radiation hazards;
(j) Inspect radiation sources, their shielding and immediate surroundings and records concerning their operation for the determination of any possible radiation hazard;
(k) Have power, to be exercised subject to codes, rules and regulations of the commission, to require, issue, renew, amend, suspend and revoke licenses for the construction, operation or maintenance of sources of radiation including byproduct materials, source materials and special nuclear materials in quantities not sufficient to form a critical mass. The codes, rules and regulations may provide for recognition of other State or Federal licenses, subject to the registration requirements prescribed by or under the authority of this act;
(l) Have the power in accordance with a fee schedule adopted as a rule or regulation in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act" P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to establish and charge fees for any of the services it performs, which fees shall be annual or periodic as the department shall determine. The fees charged by the department pursuant to this section shall not be less than $10.00 nor more than $500.00 based on criteria contained in the fee schedule.

3. Section 10 of P.L.1947, c.377 (C.58:4A-14) is amended to read as follows:

C.58:4A-14 Permit to drill well; report after drilling well.
10. No well shall be drilled until a permit therefor where required by the provisions of this act, has been secured from the said department. Application for each such permit shall be made upon forms prescribed and supplied by the department, and the applicant for a permit shall give such information pertaining to the proposed well as the commissioner shall require. Each application shall be accompanied by t, fee of $5.00. As a further condition to the issuance of such permit, the division may require that accurate samples of the materials encountered in sinking the proposed well shall be preserved and delivered to the State Geologist or one of his authorized representatives. Within 60 days of the completion of the drilling of any well, a report, on forms prescribed and supplied by the department, shall be filed by the driller with the department giving the log (i.e. description of materials penetrated), the size and depth of the well, the diameters and lengths of casing and screen installed therein, the static and pumping levels and the yield of the well, and such other information pertaining to the construction or operation of the well as the department may require. Any driller failing to file the report required by this section within the time specified or to deliver the samples of material required in this section, or who shall willfully file an incomplete or incorrect report, shall be liable to a penalty of $25.00 which may be collected and enforced in an action by the department in the name of the State in a court of competent jurisdiction in a summary manner, without a jury, in accordance with the procedure prescribed in "The Penalty Enforcement Law" (N.J.S.2A:58-1 et seq.). All penalties and costs collected in such actions shall be payable to the municipality in which the offense occurred.

4. This act shall take effect on the first day of the month following enactment.

Approved May 20, 1971.