Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain warehouse operators to implement air pollution reduction and mitigation plans.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning air pollution caused by certain warehouse operations and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Compliance period" means a 12-month period of time during which a warehouse operator covered under the provisions of this act is required to implement an air pollution reduction and mitigation plan.
"Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection.
"Partial zero-emission vehicle" means a vehicle certified as a partial zero-emission vehicle pursuant to the California Air Resources Board vehicle standards for the applicable model year.
"Warehouse" means a building that stores cargo, goods, or products on a short- or long-term basis for later distribution to businesses or retail customers.
"Warehouse operator" means an entity that conducts day-to-day operations at a warehouse, including operations conducted through the use of third-party contractors, which entity may or may not be the owner of the warehouse.
"Zero-emission vehicle" means a vehicle certified as a zero-emission vehicle pursuant to the California Air Resources Board zero-emission vehicle standards for the applicable model year but shall not include a partial zero-emission vehicle.
2. a. No later than 24 months after the effective date of this act, the department shall develop, pursuant to the provisions of this act, a program to reduce and mitigate air pollution created by warehouse operations in the State.
b. Beginning 36 months after the effective date of this act, a warehouse operator that utilizes more than 50,000 square feet for its operations in a warehouse greater than 100,000 square feet in size shall not operate in the State unless it implements the standard air pollution reduction and mitigation plan developed by the department pursuant to section 3 of this act or a custom air pollution reduction and mitigation plan developed pursuant to section 4 of this act.
3. A warehouse operator may comply with the provisions of this act by implementing a standard air pollution reduction and mitigation plan, provided that the plan has been approved by the department pursuant to section 5 of this act. The department shall develop, as part of the rules and regulations adopted to implement this act, a template for the standard air pollution reduction and mitigation plan.
a. The standard air pollution reduction and mitigation plan shall require warehouse operators to accrue a number of air pollution reduction and mitigation points during a compliance period, using a formula established in the rules and regulations adopted to implement this act. The number of required points shall be proportional to the amount of semi-tractor-trailer truck traffic that originates from the warehouse operations during the previous compliance period, which shall be calculated using a formula developed by the department pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection a. of section 6 of this act. The department shall, during the first four years of the program established pursuant to subsection a. of section 2 of this act, multiply the number of required points by a factor between zero and one, which factor may vary according to warehouse operator size. Beginning on the fifth year of the program and thereafter, this factor shall equal one.
b. Under the standard air pollution reduction and mitigation plan, a warehouse operator may be awarded air pollution reduction and mitigation points only for the following activities completed during the compliance period:
(1) purchase of a zero-emission vehicle or partial zero-emission vehicle for use in the warehouse operator's semi-tractor-trailer truck fleet or as a vehicle used solely to perform warehouse operations;
(2) delivery of a load of cargo to, or the pick up of a load of cargo from, a warehouse using a semi-tractor-trailer truck that is a zero-emission vehicle or partial zero-emission vehicle;
(3) use of a vehicle that is a zero-emission vehicle or partial zero-emission vehicle to perform warehouse operations for one hour;
(4) installation of a charging or fueling station for zero-emission vehicles to support a warehouse's operations;
(5) use of a charging or fueling station to charge or fuel a zero-emission vehicle that is used solely to perform warehouse operations, or that is in the warehouse operator's semi-tractor-trailer truck fleet;
(6) installation of a solar electric power generation system on the premises of a warehouse used by the warehouse operator;
(7) generation of one kilowatt-hour of electric power using a solar electric power generation system installed on the premises of a warehouse used by the warehouse operator;
(8) installation of an air filtration system capable of removing automobile exhaust from the air at a school, daycare, hospital, community center, or other appropriate building, as determined by the department, which building is located in the same municipality as a warehouse used by the warehouse operator;
(9) replacement of a filter in an air filtration system capable of removing automobile exhaust from the air at a school, daycare, hospital, community center, or other appropriate building, as determined by the department, which building is located in the same municipality as a warehouse used by the warehouse operator; or
(10) provision of an alternative compliance payment of $1,000 for deposit into the Plug-in Electric Vehicle Incentive Fund established pursuant to section 7 of P.L.2019, c.362 (C.48:25-7).
The department shall develop a weighting system for the points given for activities listed in paragraphs (1) through (10) of this subsection. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to the contrary, the department may vary the weighting system for a compliance period, provided that warehouse operators are notified at least two calendar years in advance of any variation.
c. Air pollution reduction and mitigation points shall not be transferable, except that a warehouse operator that accrues more than the required number of points during a compliance period may carry forward the surplus points to the subsequent compliance period.
4. a. A warehouse operator may comply with the provisions of this act by implementing a custom air pollution reduction and mitigation plan, provided that the plan has been approved by the department pursuant to section 5 of this act.
b. A custom air pollution reduction and mitigation plan shall, at a minimum:
(1) describe the actions to be taken by the warehouse operator during the compliance period to reduce or mitigate air pollution caused by the warehouse operator;
(2) quantify the reduction of dust, ozone, nitrous oxides, and particulate emissions that the warehouse operator estimates would result from the actions described pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection;
(3) describe the method to be used to ascertain whether the actions have achieved the estimated emission reductions;
(4) establish a schedule of key milestones toward completing the proposed actions;