Establishes a �Port Support Zone� surrounding the Port Newark-Elizabeth Port Authority Marine Terminal (�the port�) for the purpose of increasing the efficient movement and storage of containers and cargo.

Establishes a �Port Support Zone� surrounding the Port Newark-Elizabeth Port Authority Marine Terminal (�the port�) for the purpose of increasing the efficient movement and storage of containers and cargo. Shipping volume at the port is expected to increase upon the completion of the expansion of the Panama Canal and the raising of the roadway of the Bayonne Bridge. The bill�s changes which impact the Port Support Zone, the area within a five-mile radius of the outermost boundary of the port, are necessary to position the State for the anticipated increased flow of containers and cargo into port.

The bill provides that, notwithstanding any law, rule, regulation, or ordinance to the contrary: (1) no amendment or revision to any zoning ordinance shall change the classification of a district zoned for commercial or industrial purposes and located within the Port Support Zone; and (2) an overweight commercial vehicle may travel along any road reasonably contiguous to the port, so long as that road is within an industrial or commercial zone of that municipality. The bill amends current law to increase the allowable amount of redevelopment incentive grants awarded for qualified projects in the port support zone. The bill provides that any redevelopment incentive grant agreement with a developer for a project within the port support zone would not exceed 40 percent of the total cost of the project, unless the project included environmental remediation, in which case the Economic Development Authority could increase the amount of the reimbursement by up to 75 percent of the environmental remediation costs. The bill authorizes the Department of Transportation (DOT) to
48 issue a special permit for the operation of overweight vehicles over designated routes reasonably contiguous to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Port Authority Marine Terminal, within the �Port support zone,� or both, if the vehicle, meets specified criteria. The bill directs the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Commissioner of Transportation, to identify contaminated sites within the Port support zone and to prioritize those sites based upon their potential for use as warehousing and bulk distribution centers in support of the Port Newark-Elizabeth Port Authority Marine Terminal. The bill directs the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to provide properties so identified with the highest priority for the department to cleanup and remove hazardous substances from those properties.The bill also directs the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to expedite any permit process involving the use of dredged materials on property located within the Port support zone if the property is being developed for a use to support the port.

Pending Committee action.

01/09/2024 Introduced. Referred to Assembly Committee on Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture.