New Jersey § 13:1e-169

§ 13:1e-169.

The Legislature finds that the ever-increasing costs of environmentally sound solid

waste disposal necessarily impose significant economic burdens on local governments

and residential taxpayers alike and put a severe strain on the ability of municipalities

to meet their budgetary requirements without periodic increases in local property

taxes; that while the individual escrow accounts that landfill owners are currently

required to maintain for closure were mandated to assure that sufficient funds would

be available upon the termination of landfills, those sanitary landfill facilities

approaching capacity will not have a sufficient time to generate the needed revenues;

that the proper disposal of solid waste and the environmentally sound and proper closure

of sanitary landfill facilities are governmental functions affected with the public

interest; that the considerable escrow and closing costs required to insure the proper

closure of sanitary landfills have contributed to these escalating disposal costs

or tipping fees; and that the State shall assume a concomitant share of the financial

obligations created by these requirements. The Legislature declares that it is the public policy of the State of New Jersey to

provide a funding source to defray the costs of increases in landfill tipping fees

required for closure and to provide needed assistance for such closures through the

issuance of grants and loans to local government units to stabilize these costs in

an efficient and equitable manner. The Legislature therefore determines that it is in the public interest to establish

a “Sanitary Landfill Closure and Rate Relief Fund” in the Department of Environmental

Protection, which program shall provide State funding to make grants and loans to

local governments to defray the costs of increases in landfill disposal tipping fees

specifically required for closure and to finance the closure of sanitary landfill

facilities approaching capacity.