ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND SOLID WASTE COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 4118

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MAY 8, 2025

      The Assembly Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 4118.

      This bill, as amended by the committee, would establish Statewide targets to reduce the disposal of organic waste in landfills, and would require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to adopt regulations to achieve those targets.

      The Statewide targets established in the bill are as follows: (1) a 50 percent reduction in the level of the Statewide disposal of organic waste from the baseline year level by January 1 of the seventh year following the bill’s enactment; and (2) a 75 percent reduction in the level of the Statewide disposal of organic waste from the baseline year level by January 1 of the 12th year following the bill’s enactment.  The baseline year level would be determined by the DEP using the most recent year for which comprehensive and reliable data is available.  The DEP would be authorized to update the baseline year level by adopting rules and regulations if more accurate data becomes available.  The bill would require the DEP to adopt rules and regulations to achieve these targets within 18 months after the bill's enactment.  These regulations may require local governments to impose requirements on generators of organic waste or other appropriate persons or entities, and may authorize local governments to impose reasonable penalties for noncompliance.

      The regulations to be adopted by the DEP would be required to contain, among other components, requirements to ensure that certain percentages of excess, unused, and edible food that is currently disposed of is recovered for human consumption by certain dates.  The bill would also require the DEP to adopt, by regulation, a phased compliance schedule under which certain large generators of organic waste would be prohibited from disposing of organic waste in landfills.  The compliance schedule would be required to be based on the quantity of organic waste generated.  The initial phase of the compliance schedule would apply to generators that produce more than two tons of organic waste per week, and the DEP would be required to establish additional generator size thresholds and corresponding compliance dates for each threshold tier.

      The bill would authorize local governments to charge and collect reasonable fees from generators of organic waste and other appropriate persons or entities to recover costs the local government incurs in complying with the regulations.  The bill requires any fees imposed to be based on actual and reasonable costs incurred by the local government for compliance activities, including, but not limited to, organic waste collection, transportation, processing, public education, and program administration.  Each local government that imposes a fee would be required, where practicable, to implement a variable rate pricing system that charges generators in proportion to the quantity or volume of organic waste generated.

      No later than July 1, 2027, and every two years thereafter, the DEP would be required to prepare and submit a report analyzing the progress that the solid waste sector, State government, and local governments have made in achieving the organic waste reduction targets established in the bill.  Nothing in the bill would prohibit a local government from adopting, implementing, and enforcing requirements regarding the reduction of organic waste that are more stringent than, or in addition to, those adopted under the bill.

      No later than 12 months after the effective date of the bill, the DEP would be required to prepare and publish a Statewide Organic Waste Infrastructure Readiness Assessment.  The assessment would be required to evaluate the capacity of existing organic waste processing infrastructure, identify geographic, operational, and financial gaps, review permitting obstacles, and provide recommendations to support the reduction targets established in the bill.

      In addition, the bill permits the DEP to access civil penalties, in an amount and manner determined by the DEP, for any generator, hauler, or local government that violates of the bill’s provisions, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, provided that the penalties are proportionate to the nature, severity, and duration of the violation.  Penalties may be waived or reduced, in the DEP’s discretion, upon a showing of good faith efforts to comply with the bill’s provisions, and any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto.  No later than 18 months of the bill’s effective date, the DEP would be required to adopt regulations concerning the enforcement of the bill’s provisions, which would be required to include, but need not be limited to, procedures for providing notice of a violation, procedures for providing a reasonable opportunity to remedy the violation, and procedures for providing for an administrative hearing or appeal of a violation.

      The bill would also require the DEP to establish a program to provide grants or low-interest loans to counties, municipalities, nonprofit organizations, and private entities engaged in the collection, processing, or recovery of organic waste to support the implementation of bill’s provisions.  The bill requires the DEP to develop eligibility criteria and an application process for grants or loans to be awarded under the program, and includes authorized uses for grants and loans awarded under the program.

      Finally, the bill would provide that no later than December 31, 2025, the DEP cannot require recycling centers that process Class C recyclable material to operate within an enclosed structure.  No later than December 31, 2025, the DEP would also be required to adopt performance-based standards for odor, leachate, and vector control at recycling centers that process Class C recyclable material that are consistent with national best practices, including those developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Composting Council.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended to bill to:

      (1)  add a legislative findings and declarations section to the bill;

      (2)  add a definitions section to the bill;

      (3)  change the Statewide targets to reduce the disposal of organic waste in landfills to a 50 percent reduction from the baseline year level, established under the bill, by January 1 of the seventh year following the bill’s effective date and a 75 percent reduction from the baseline year level, established under the bill, by January 1 of the 12th year following the bill’s effective date, as opposed to a 50 percent reduction from the 2016 level by January 1, 2027 and a 75 percent reduction from the 2016 level by January 1, 2032;

      (4)  modify what is required to be included in the regulations adopted by the DEP pursuant to the bill to include:

      (a)  requirements to ensure that certain percentages of excess, unused, and edible food that is currently disposed of is recovered for human consumption by certain dates;

      (b)  a prohibition on the disposal in landfills of organic waste generated by persons or entities subject to the phased compliance schedule established pursuant to the bill;

      (c)  the provision of a two-year grace period from the effective date of any rule or regulation adopted by the DEP, during which no penalties would be imposed, provided there is a good faith effort to comply with the bill’s provisions; and

      (d)  the adoption of standards and best practices for minimizing contamination in source-separated organic waste streams;

      (5)  require the DEP to develop a phased compliance schedule for generators of organic waste based on the quantity of organic waste generated, including an initial phase that applies to generators that produce more than two tons of organic waste per week and additional generator size thresholds and corresponding compliance dates of each threshold tier;

      (6)  require the DEP to consult with recovery organizations, food banks, and public health agencies in developing regulations and implementation strategies related to edible food recovery;

      (7)  provide that any fee imposed by a local government unit pursuant to the bill’s provisions is required to be based on actual and reasonable costs incurred by the local government for compliance activities, including, but not limited to, organic waste collection, transportation, processing, public education, and program administration;

      (8)  require that each local government unit that imposes a fee pursuant to the bill’s provisions is required to, where practicable, implement a variable rate pricing system that charges generators in proportion to the quantity of volume of organic waste generated;

      (9)  require each local government unit that imposes a fee pursuant to the bill’s provisions to submit an annual report to the DEP;

      (10)  require the DEP to review any reported fee methodologies to be used by a local government unit and to develop and publish guidance, model ordinances, or best practices to assist local governments in establishing fee structures;

      (11)  provide that the report submitted to the DEP on July 1, 2027 would be required to include certain key performance metrics and that the report would be required to be submitted every two years thereafter;

      (12)  require the DEP to prepare and publish a Statewide Organic Waste Infrastructure Readiness Assessment to evaluate the capacity of existing organic waste processing infrastructure, identify geographic, operational, and financial gaps, review permitting obstacles, and provide recommendations to support the reduction targets established in the bill;

      (13)  require the DEP to establish, and update as necessary, a baseline year level for measuring the Statewide disposal of organic waste, which would be required to reflect the most recent year for which comprehensive and reliable data is available on the disposal of organic waste in New Jersey;

      (14)  require the DEP to publish, no later than 18 months of the bill’s effective date, a model ordinance for use by local governments to implement the bill’s provisions;

      (15)  permit the DEP to access civil administrative penalties for violations of the bill’s provisions, and require the DEP to adopt regulations concerning notice requirements, opportunities to remedy a violation, and opportunities for administrative hearings or appeals related to a violation;

      (16)  require the DEP to establish a program to provide grants or low-interest loans to counties, municipalities, nonprofit organizations, and private entities engaged in the collection, processing, or recovery of organic waste to support the bill’s provisions;

      (17)  provide that no later than December 31, 2025, the DEP may not require recycling centers that process Class C recyclable material to operate within an enclosed structure; and

      (18)  require the DEP, no later than December 31, 2025, to adopt performance-based standards for odor, leachate, and vector control at recycling centers that process Class C recyclable material that are consistent with national best practices; and

      (19)  make technical and clarifying changes to the bill.