SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 4833

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  NOVEMBER 13, 2025

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 4833.

      As reported, this bill establishes the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program in the Department of Transportation (DOT) to protect the citizens of New Jersey from the adverse effects of abandoned mines in the State, including mine subsidence and water quality degradation.

     The bill directs the DOT to develop a Statewide plan for the reclamation of abandoned mines (plan).  The bill establishes minimum requirements for the contents of the plan, including a ranked order of the mine reclamation projects designed to reclaim, backfill, stabilize, or otherwise render safe all dangerous mine voids present in the State.  After the DOT completes the plan, the bill directs the DOT to begin implementing the plan by carrying out the mine reclamation projects itself, contracting with private construction firms, or granting monies to local governments or private property owners to carry out the projects.

     The bill requires the DOT to make reasonable efforts to notify any known or unknown property owners before entering the property and implementing the plan.  Under the bill, the DOT is required to provide reasonable accommodations concerning the time, date, and manner of entry, at the request of the property owner.  The bill provides that any entry by the DOT is to be construed as an exercise of the State’s police power and is not to be construed as an act of condemnation or trespass. 

     Finally, the bill establishes the “Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program Fund” in the DOT to serve as the repository for federal grant monies secured by the department, State funds, or other monies which are to be used for mine reclamation projects.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that this bill will result in increased annual expenditures of an indeterminate magnitude for the State attributable to the establishment of the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program in the Department of Transportation.  The OLS is unable to determine the magnitude of the spending increase because the number of projects and the scale of each project remains unknown.

      Additionally, the OLS concludes that the bill may result in annual local revenue increases of an indeterminate magnitude associated with any grant money provided by the State to local municipalities for their role in abandoned mine identification and project delivery.

      The State may experience potential annual revenue increases from any federal grant money secured by the department that is to be used for mine reclamation projects.