ASSEMBLY TRANSPORTATION AND INDEPENDENT AUTHORITIES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 862

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MAY 8, 2025

      The Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 862.

      As amended and reported, this bill requires the Department of Transportation (department) to include additional information on pothole repairs in the annual “Report to the Governor and Legislature on New Jersey’s Roadway Pavement System” (annual report).

      Under the bill, the department is required to, in addition to identifying the repair and maintenance projects that were completed during the foregoing fiscal year, including an estimate of the cost impact to the department for each maintenance and repair project, the department is required to include in the annual report:  (1) the number of maintenance pothole repairs; (2) an estimate of the cost impact to the department maintenance pothole repairs that utilized road surface material or treatment including the tonnage of materials the department utilized for maintenance pothole repairs; and (3) the number of pothole damage claims filed by users of State roadways and the associated costs of damages as recorded and provided by the Department of the Treasury.

      Lastly, the bill requires the annual report to be made available to the public on the department’s Internet website.

      As amended and reported by the committee, Senate Bill No. 862 is identical to Assembly Bill No. 2596, which was also amended and reported by the committee on this date.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

      (1) clarify that the annual report is to include the number and cost impact of maintenance pothole repairs, rather than pothole repair projects, and include information concerning the tonnage of materials the department utilized for such repairs, rather than the resources the department allocated for each maintenance and repair project;

      (2) remove a provision that required the annual report to include an estimate for the timeframe to conduct each maintenance and repair project, including the response times to conduct emergency pothole repair projects;

      (3) include a provision that the annual report is to include information concerning the number of pothole damage claims filed by users of State roadways and the associated costs of damages as recorded and provided by the Department of the Treasury;

      (4) remove a requirement that the department conduct a life cycle cost analysis of the pavement surfaces not later than one year after the bill’s effective date, which analysis includes the number of pothole damage claims filed by users of State roadways and the associated costs of damages to vehicles, as recorded by the Division of Risk Management within the Department of the Treasury; and

      (5) revise the bill’s synopsis.