Bill > A1461

Introduced Session

This bill would establish the Climate Change Mitigation and Resilience Financing Program in the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank (NJIB) and impose a per-kilowatt hour charge on electric public utility customers to finance the program. The purpose of the program would be to provide low interest loans and other financial assistance, through the NJIB, for climate change mitigation and resilience projects. Under the bill, "climate change mitigation project" means a project whose primary purpose is the construction, development, or production of energy sources, infrastructure, land management techniques, or technologies that eliminate, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gas emissions in the State. Climate change mitigation projects would include Class I or Class II renewable energy sources, community solar projects, energy efficiency improvements, energy storage, zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, zero-emission public transportation, carbon capture and sequestration technologies, reforestation of degraded land, or wetlands preservation and restoration. "Climate change resilience project" means an infrastructure project whose primary purpose is to protect human health, safety, the environment, or public infrastructure from the adverse effects of climate change including drought, sea level rise, extreme weather events, and harmful algal blooms. Climate change resilience projects would include sea barriers or other flood protection projects; water storage systems; the removal, relocation, or redesign of public infrastructure; and projects to mitigate harmful algal blooms. The NJIB would be authorized to make both short-term and long-term loans to finance climate change mitigation and resilience projects, and to issue bonds, notes, or other obligations to fund the program. Under the bill, the NJIB would be required to issue one or more separate series of bonds to be known as "New Jersey Climate Bonds." Proceeds from the bonds would be deposited into the State Climate Change Mitigation and Resilience Bank Fund, established under the bill, and used to finance climate change mitigation and resilience projects and for other costs associated with the financing program. Issuance of New Jersey Climate Bonds would be subject to existing laws concerning bonding, except that the trust would, to the greatest extent practicable, be required to make the bonds available for sale to individual investors, rather than institutional investors, and in denominations suitable for such sales. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) would be responsible for developing a priority system, ranking criteria, and funding policies for climate change mitigation and resilience projects financed under the bill. The DEP and the BPU would also be responsible for developing an annual project priority list to be submitted for approval by the State Legislature. The DEP would prioritize projects that have the largest impact on protecting human health, safety, the environment, and critical infrastructure in the State from the adverse effects of climate change; reducing the State's greenhouse gas emissions; and meeting the State's clean energy goals. The financing program would be funded by a non-bypassable, irrevocable charge imposed on the customers of each electric public utility in the State. Beginning 120 days after the effective date of the bill, the charge would be $0.0003 per kilowatt-hour sold to each customer. However, the charge would decrease over time as the State meets certain renewable energy targets established in law. The charge would phase out completely upon certification by the BPU that 100 percent of the kilowatt hours sold in the State are from Class I and Class II renewable energy sources.

Committee Categories

Robert Karabinchak (D)*,  Jim Kennedy (D)*,  Sterley Stanley (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document