SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 575

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 12, 2025

      The Senate Environment and Energy Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 575.

      As amended, this bill would require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to develop, and update as appropriate, guidelines on recommended recovered material content percentages for use by State and local agencies when entering into contracts for the purchase of goods to encourage the maximum purchase of goods made with recycled material.  The bill provides that these guidelines may be based upon, or incorporate by reference, guidelines developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, including but not limited to the recommended recovered materials content levels specified in the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Consolidated Recovered Materials Advisory Notice.

     The bill would require the Director of the Division of Purchase and Property and the Director of the Division of Property Management and Construction in the Department of the Treasury, and all State and local agencies having authority to contract for the purchase of goods, to ensure that all product specifications for new procurements reflect the guidelines, if applicable and to the extent practical and feasible.

      As amended and reported by the committee, Assembly Bill No. 575 is identical to Senate Bill No. 2751, as also amended and reported by the committee on this date.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      (1) extend the timeline for the DEP to develop the guidelines from 90 days to 180 days;

      (2) explicitly include compost as a good made with recycled material to be considered in the DEP’s guidelines;

      (3) require the DEP to publish the guidelines on the DEP’s website, rather than the New Jersey Register;

      (4) clarify that the bill would apply only to the procurement of goods, not services;

      (5) provide for additional exemptions from the bill’s provisions, including for binding contractual obligations for the purchase of goods entered into prior to the publication of the guidelines; and

      (6) make a technical change.