ASSEMBLY TRANSPORTATION AND INDEPENDENT AUTHORITIES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 4797

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JANUARY 19, 2023

      The Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 4797.

      As amended and reported, this bill would increase the percentage of New Jersey Department of Transportation approved reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) that can be used for local road projects. 

      Current law requires counties and municipalities receiving State funds for transportation projects to permit, for public highways under their jurisdiction, the use of a maximum of 25 percent of RAP, by weight, for base and intermediate pavement courses and the use of a maximum of 15 percent of RAP, by weight, for surface pavement courses.  This bill would increase, to 50 percent, the maximum amount of RAP that can be used for base and intermediate pavement courses, and to 35 percent, the maximum amount of RAP that can be used in surface pavement courses, for these purposes.  The bill would also require local contracting units, at a minimum, when entering into a contract for a local road project, to allow the contracted party to use up to 50 percent RAP, by weight, for base and intermediate pavement courses, and up to 35 percent RAP, by weight, for surface pavement courses.  However, nothing would prohibit a local contracting unit, in its discretion, from entering into a contract that authorizes RAP to be used at higher percentage rates, for a local road project, than the maximum rates required under the bill.  The bill defines a “local road project” to mean a transportation infrastructure project that is authorized by a county or municipality and involves the construction, repair, renovation, restoration, replacement, or extension of a highway which is owned, controlled, or maintained by the county or municipality.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

· correct a citation within the title;

· remove the term “recycled” and replace it with “reclaimed” when referring to reclaimed asphalt pavement;

· specifically require that the reclaimed asphalt pavement consist of only materials, mixtures, binders, and aggregates that have been approved by the New Jersey Department of Transportation; and

· change the effective date of the bill from immediate to on the first day of the sixth month after enactment.