Current and Recent Legislation:

S.2114 "The Global Warming Response Act" (2006-07 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Barbara Buona (18th District), Thomas H. Kean, Jr. (21st District), and Bob Smith (17th District)

This Act acknowledges that there is some uncertainty to the impacts of global climate change, while asserting that there are real, concrete steps individual State governments can take to reduce emissions and slow the warming trend.  This Act is New Jersey's commitment towards doing all it can to take responsibility for its part of the global effort to reduce our carbon footprint.  Specifically, the Global Warming Response Act calls for a reduction of the State's green house gas emissions to below 1990 levels by 2020.  Let us work together to make New Jersey a leader in working to prevent global climate change.

This bill was passed in the Senate 36-1, in the Assembly 72-8-0 and signed into law by Governer Corzine July 6th, 2007.  It is now Public Law 2007. c. 112

S.2147 (2006-07 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsor: Joseph V. Doria, Jr. (31st District)

This bill allows the Board of Public Utilities to extend low-interest loans to municipalities for energy efficiency programs.  The act also establishes grants for innovative energy technology projects in municipalities.  The purpose is to encourage better energy use practices, and will reduce the level of green house gas emissions due to energy generation and consumption.

S.2148 (2006-07 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Paul A. Sarlo (36th District) and Barbara Buono (18th District)

This bill requires the Board of Public Utilities to give preference to residential dwellings that are certified as compliant with the Federal EnergyStar program when awarding financial incentives for installing photovoltaic equipment.  Photovoltaic cells can be used to harness the sun's energy.  Using such technologies can reduce the amount of electricity a residence uses, and thus can reduce our overall carbon emissions.  In our effort to reduce green house gases, promoting alternative energy sources is important.  This bill recognizes that caution needs to be used, and so preference is given to those homes already in compliance with the Federal EnergyStar program to ensure the household is reducing energy consumption in other areas.

S.2149 (2006-07 Legislative Session)

S. 696 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Bob Smith (17th District) and Andrew R. Ciesla (10th District)

This bill establishs the “New Jersey State Building Green Building Technology Task Force.” The purpose of the task force is to encourage departments of State government to embrace and incorporate green building technology in new government structures, and in the rehabilitation, maintenance and operation of existing facilities. Further, the task force shall cooperate with the Office of Smart Growth, in the Department of Community Affairs, to develop programs to encourage builders in smart growth areas to give appropriate consideration to green building technology.

S. 697 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsor: Bob Smith (17th District)

This bill creates the New Jersey Commission on Global Climate Change. The purpose of the commission is to evaluate potential impacts on the State from rising temperatures, to provide information on the actions of the federal government and other states to address global warming, to evaluate the benefits of those actions and any action taken on an international level, and to recommend plans for State action to address global climate change and its impact on the State.

S.699 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsor: Bob Smith (17th District)

This bill emphasizes New Jersey's commitment to promoting green building practices.  A building plan can achieve the highest amount of energy efficiency and energy savings if these technologies are incorporated from the beginning.  To facilitate green building practices, this act empowers the Commissioner of Community Affairs to amend energy sub-codes to improve energy efficiency, as long as the cost of improvements can reasonably be recovered by energy savings within 7 years.  This bill also requires the Commissioner to rely on the ten-year energy price projections of the Board of Public Utilities.  Improving energy sub-codes could raise the price of housing, so this bill also includes a requirement that the Commissioner establish a program to help home buyers with down payment assistance, if they can prove increased prices due to enhanced energy standards.

This bill passed the Assembly 66-12-1

S.703 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsor: Bob Smith (17th District)

The provisions in this act establish the right of multi-family dwellings to sub-meter water consumption and sewage.  Provisions for how water billing would work are laid out in the act.  Owners of multi-family dwellings must inform residents of sub-metering in advance, as well as clearly state how billing will work.  Service charges relative to sub-metering are exempt from local rent control or other regulations regarding rent increases.

S.704 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsor: Bob Smith (17th District)

This bill would supplement Public Law 1975, specifically the section on sprinkler systems.  The bill requires that every time a piece of property is sold that has a sprinkler system installed before September 8, 2000 have as a condition of sale that an automatic rain sensor or over-ride switch be installed on the system.  This provision encompasses commercial, retail, or industrial properties.  It also requires municipal certification that the sensor system has been installed.  Within twelve months of the passing of this bill, any commercial, retail, or industrial property that has a sprinkler system installed before September 8, 2000 will have to be retrofit with an automatic rain sensor, or over-ride switch.  The purpose of this bill is to conserve water use in the State and reduce waste.

S.705 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

 Primary Sponsor: Bob Smith (17th District)

This bill is a compliment to S.2156, however this new bill covers residential properties.  Specifically, S.2157 requires the installation of automatic rain sensors or over-ride switches as a condition of sale for any residential property with a sprinkler system installed before September 8, 2000.  A municipal certification is required, as well, to ensure the technology was intsalled properly.

S.706 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Bob Smith (17th District) and Robert W. Singer (30th District)

This bill would require the adoption of an energy rating code to be used by home inspectors.  The Commissioner of Community Affairs, along with the Board of Public Utilities and Home Inspection Advisory Committee shall create the code, making sure it complies with the Federal EnergyStar program requirements.  This way every home buyer can receive a detailed report on the energy efficiency of a home before purchase.  Having this information will allow the citizens of New Jersey to make better decisions when comparing and buying a new home.

Primary Sponsors: Bob Smith (17th District) and Paul A. Sarlo (36th District)

This bill establishes matching grants for municipalities, counties, and school districts to install resource saving technologies in public buildings.  The goal of the program is to reduce our impact on the environment through conserving natural resources and lowering our carbon emissions.  The program also hopes to reduce long-run operating costs of public buildings.  The bill will establish the "Public Buildings Energy and Resource Conservation Fund", which will fund the grants.

Primary Sponsor: Bob Smith (17th District), Paul A. Sarlo (36th District)

This bill establishes forest stewardship and forest certification programs in the Department of Environmental Protection.  Forests are a critical ecosystem for the State of New Jersey.  Forests provide many services such as filtering the air, sequestering carbon, emitting oxygen, and filtering water, just to name a few.  Forests also provide economic services such as timber and tourism, and social benefits in the form of recreation areas.  Forest stewardship attempts to balance human use of forests with the long term health and growth of the forest. 

S.714 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

 Primary Sponsors: Bob Smith (17th District) and Nicholas P. Scutari (22nd District)

This bill would require the Site Improvement Advisory Board to offer recommendations to encourage sustainable development.  New Jersey will reach total build out within a few generations unless something is done to curb rampant growth.  As the most densely populated state in the Union, it is important for us to look at how we grow and develop in the years to come.  This bill will help us grow in a sustainable manner, which in turn will help preserve open and natural spaces throughout the state.

S.1065 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Bob Smith (17th District) and Bill Baroni (14th District)

This bill permits an electric public utility, electric power supplier or basic generation service provider to enter into an agreement with a building owner to install or otherwise provide to the building owner a solar energy system to be used for such building in exchange for financial compensation from such owner, or with respect to such renewable energy credit allowed under subsection e. of section 38 of P.L.1999, c.23 (N.J.S.A.48:3-87) that may be derived from the production of solar renewable energy by such solar energy system pursuant to the agreement entered into with the owner under this section for the installation or the provision of the solar energy system. The purpose of the bill is to create an incentive to electric utilities and suppliers to encourage more building owners to use solar energy systems for their buildings. This incentive will help meet the State’s goal of increasing the use of solar power, which is a renewable form of energy.

S.1066 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Bob Smith (17th Distrcit) and Paul A. Sarlo (36th District)

This bill requires the executive director of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, in consultation with the Commissioner of Community Affairs, to establish and administer a program that makes low-interest loans available to a developer or redeveloper who constructs a new building or renovates an existing building that, when completed, qualifies as a “high performance green building.” A “high performance green building” is defined in the bill as a building having at least 15,000 square feet in total floor area that is designed and constructed in a manner that achieves at least a silver rating according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System as adopted by the United States Green Building Council.

S.1077 "The Green Building Tax Credit" (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsor: Bob Smith (17th District)

This bill provides tax credits toward the corporation business tax, gross income tax and other taxes for developers and owners who design and build buildings that meet certain "green building" criteria. These criteria ensure that participating developers build using materials and technologies that minimize environmental impacts and provide a healthier environment. This bill also provides additional incentives for designing and building buildings which exceed the required green building standards.

The "Green Building Tax Credit Act" will be administered by the Department of Community Affairs in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury. It will be available for seven years, and the total of all credits which could be allocated in the first fiscal year after enactment would be no more than $20 million. In subsequent years, up to $50 million of credit allocations are authorized per year. Developers and owners may apply no more than 20% of their total tax credit in any tax year.

S.1096 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Bob Smith (17th District) and Christopher Bateman (16th District)

This bill would create the Solar and Wind Energy Commission to study the feasibility of solar and wind energy installation on State owned property.

The commission would make recommendations and report on the findings and conclusions of the study. The study would investigate all State owned property that could feasibly support solar or wind energy installations, including buildings and land. The commission would research the financial implications of installing and maintaining solar or wind energy and the projected energy and financial savings to the State, including the potential for net metering. Additionally, the commission would include a discussion of property values, land use, community impact, planning and development, and environmental factors related to the State owned property sites where solar or wind energy installations are feasible.

S. 1117 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Bob Smith (17th District) and Jennifer Beck (12th District)

This bill allows an electric public utility, electric power supplier, basic generation service provider, gas public utility or gas supplier to establish a program under which the customers of these entities may request the entities, or any person on behalf of these entities, to conduct an energy audit of the residential or commercial buildings owned by the customer requesting the energy audit. The energy audit program may provide that, of the energy saved as a result of the implementation of the energy efficiency or conservation measures which are recommended by the energy audit reports conducted for the customers of each of these entities: 1) 50 percent of the energy savings achieved by the customers of each entity may be applied by that entity towards receiving any applicable credit for the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions under any program established by the Department of Environmental Protection; and 2) 50 percent of such energy savings may be applied by the aforementioned entities towards financing the costs of conducting the energy audit.

S.1299 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsor: Bob Smith (17th District)

This bill would permit the location of certain renewable energy facilities in areas zoned for industrial use. The bill defines “renewable energy facility” as a facility that engages in the production of electric energy from solar technologies, photovoltaic technologies, or wind energy. Specifically, the bill provides that a renewable energy facility on a parcel or parcels of land comprising 20 or more contiguous acres would be a permitted use within every industrial district of a municipality.

S.1303 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Bob Smith (17th District) and Bill Baroni (14th District)

This bill would add a definition of "inherently beneficial use" to the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.). Specifically, the bill defines an "inherently beneficial use" as "a use which is universally considered of value to the community because it fundamentally serves the public good and promotes the general welfare. Such a use includes, but is not limited to, a hospital, school, child care center, group home, or a wind, solar or photovoltaic energy facility." Of those enumerated uses, the courts have specifically declared hospitals, schools, child care centers, and group homes to be inherently beneficial uses. This bill would codify those decisions and also include a wind, solar or photovoltaic energy facility as an inherently beneficial use. This bill is intended to ensure that facilities that supply electrical energy produced from wind, solar or photovoltaic technologies will be considered an inherently beneficial use.

S.1537 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Bob Smith (17th District) and Andrew R. Ciesla (10th District)

This bill establishes procedures to allow the use of competitive contracting procedures by governmental entities to enter into guaranteed energy savings contracts. A “guaranteed energy savings contract” means a contract, entered into pursuant to the provisions of this bill upon enactment into law, for the evaluation and recommendation of energy savings, energy conservation measures, water conservation measures, or a combination thereof, and for implementation of one or more such measures.

2.1538 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Bob Smith (17th District) and Christopher Bateman (16th District)

This bill would allow a person who owns preserved farmland to construct, install, and operate solar or wind energy facilities and equipment on the farm, for the purpose of generating power or heat, and to make improvements to any agricultural, residential, or other building or structure on the land for that purpose, provided that the solar or wind energy generation facilities and equipment do not interfere significantly with the use of the land for agricultural production, as determined by the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC), are owned by the landowner, and are used to provide power or heat to the farm, either directly or indirectly, or to reduce, through net metering or similar programs and systems, energy costs on the farm.  

S.1788 (2008-09 Legislative Session)

Primary Sponsors: Robert W. Singer (30th District) and Bob Smith (17th District)

This bill amends Public Law 1975 which establishes guildelines for municipal planning boards.  Planning boards are charged with creating a plan for using the lands of the municipality to protect human health and promote general welfare.  S.2150 adds to this law a guideline that municipalities may include elements of green building and sustainable development to master plans.  These master plans can promote green building construction , natural resource management, and other aspects of sustainable development.