SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 4214

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  OCTOBER 8, 2026

      The Senate Environment and Energy Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 4214.

      This bill would direct the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), within 18 months after the bill’s enactment, to adopt rules and regulations that establish standards for greenhouse gas emissions.  The standards would include Statewide greenhouse gas emission standards, standards for stationary sources of greenhouse gas emissions, such as power plants and industrial facilities, and other standards as necessary for the State’s greenhouse gas emissions goals to be achieved.  The bill would also codify the finding made by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2009 that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health, safety, welfare, and the environment.

      The bill would amend the “Air Pollution Control Act (1954),” P.L.1954, c.212 (C.26:2C-1 et seq.), and the “Global Warming Response Act,” P.L.2007, c.112 (C.26:2C-37 et al.), to authorize the DEP to adopt rules and regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions.  Specifically, the bill would expand the authority given to the DEP to regulate air pollution in the State to also include “excess greenhouse gas emissions,” which is defined by the bill to mean “Statewide greenhouse gas emissions which exceed those of the limits established in section 4 of P.L.2007, c.112 (26:2C-40) or the interim benchmarks adopted pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2007, c.112 (C.26:2C-41).”  “Greenhouse gas” is defined by the bill to mean carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and any other gas or substance determined by the DEP to be a significant contributor to the problem of global warming.  The bill would direct the DEP to adopt rules and regulations, no later than 18 months after the bill’s enactment, which incorporate greenhouse gas emissions limits into the DEP’s operating permit requirements adopted pursuant to “Air Pollution Control Act (1954),” and include any other restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions deemed by the DEP to be necessary for the State to meet the requirements of the “Global Warming Response Act.”

      In addition, the bill would amend the “Global Warming Response Act,” to provide the DEP the authority, under that act, to adopt rules and regulations necessary to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions goals of that act including, but not limited to, restrictions on the sale and use of fossil fuel types or greenhouse gas emissions limits from stationary sources.

      Finally, the bill would direct the DEP to adopt rules and regulations, within 18 months after the bill’s enactment, to implement the current low emissions vehicle program in California.  The bill would also direct the DEP to periodically update the rules and regulations to reflect any subsequent changes to California’s program.