ASSEMBLY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 6179
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JANUARY 5, 2026
The Assembly State and Local Government Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 6179.
As amended by the committee, this bill would modify certain provisions concerning the licenses issued under P.L.1983, c.392 (C.13:1E-126 et seq.), colloquially known as the “A-901” law, and P.L.2019, c.397 (C.13:1E-127.1 et al.), colloquially known as the “Dirty Dirt” law.
Specifically, the bill would exempt the “intra-utility transportation or processing” of soil and fill recyclable materials from the provisions of the Dirty Dirt law. Under the bill, the “intra-utility transportation or processing” of soil and fill recyclable materials would include cases where a public utility, or a utility contractor, generates the materials at a utility facility and the materials are transported by a public utility or utility contractor to a utility facility that accepts soil, fill, and solid waste managed by the public utility or its utility contractor for temporary storage, characterization, and other management prior to final disposal or recycling. The bill would establish certain requirements, in the definition of “intra-utility transportation or processing,” in order for an activity to be considered exempt.
The bill would also amend the definition of “key employee” in the A-901 law to exclude brokers, consultants, and salespeople employed by, or who do business with, an applicant for an A-901 license. Under current law, these persons are considered “key employees” and are thus required to undergo fingerprinting and complete a personal history disclosure form. This bill would remove these requirements.
The bill would amend the definition of “broker” in the A-901 law to clarify that a person who retains the services of a licensed business concern to provide for the collection, transportation, treatment, storage, processing, transfer, or disposal of solid waste or hazardous waste, or the provision of soil and fill recycling services, at a property, would not be considered a broker by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The bill would also exclude from the definition of broker a person who arranges agreements for the collection, transportation, treatment, storage, processing, transfer, or disposal of solid waste or hazardous waste, or the provision of soil and fill recycling services from New Jersey to an out-of-state facility so long as any business concern engaged to perform services in New Jersey is licensed
In addition, the bill would modify the definition of “soil and fill recyclable materials” to modify the types of soil that would be included in the definition. For example, the bill would exclude alternative fill material approved for use at a site under the direction and oversight of a licensed site remediation professional (LSRP). The bill would also exclude, from the definition of “soil and fill recycling services,” the excavation, transportation, placement, or processing of soil and fill recyclable materials under the oversight of a LSRP.
The bill would also exempt the purchase and sale of soil and fill recyclable materials from the provisions the Dirty Dirt law, meaning that only persons involved in the collection, transportation, processing, brokering, storage, or disposition of soil and fill recyclable materials would be covered under that law. The bill would also establish a de minimis exemption from the provisions of the Dirty Dirt law, namely for persons that transport less than 200 cubic yards of soil and fill recyclable materials to or from a single site, or store less than 200 cubic yards of soil and fill recyclable materials at a single site. Finally, the bill would require persons covered under the Dirty Dirt law to submit an application for a soil and fill recycling license within 90 days, rather than 30 days as in current law, after the DEP adopts rules and regulations to implement the Dirty Dirt law.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
(1) modify the definition of the term “broker” to provide that the term does not include a person who retains the services of a licensed business concern to provide for the collection, transportation, treatment, storage, processing, transfer, or disposal of solid waste or hazardous waste, or the provision of soil and fill recycling services, at a property owned by, or under the control of, the person, rather than a person who retains those services on the person’s own behalf;
(2) modify the definition of the term “broker” to also provide that the term does not include a person who arranges agreements for the collection, transportation, treatment, storage, processing, transfer, or disposal of solid waste or hazardous waste, or the provision of soil and fill recycling services from New Jersey to an out-of-state facility so long as any business concern engaged to perform services in New Jersey is licensed;
(3) modify the definition of “soil and fill recycling services” to clarify that the term would include remediation activities involving soil and fill recyclable materials conducted by a licensed site remediation professional or a certified subsurface evaluator at certain sites;
(4) clarify an exemption to the definition of “soil and fill recycling services” for the generation of soil by certain State and local governmental entities;
(5) extend the deadline for persons covered under the Dirty Dirt law to submit an application for a soil and fill recycling license from 45 days to 90 days;
(6) clarify that any administrative action promulgated by the DEP pursuant to P.L.2019, c.397 (C.13:1E-127.1 et al.) would not impose a limit on the amount of recycled asphalt pavement stored, used, or reused in accordance with section 1 of P.L.2017, c.325 (C.13:1E-99.28a); and
(7) make technical changes.