13:1E-28.3. Annual economic benefit for certain neighboring municipalities

2. a. Any municipality with a population density of more than 1,500 persons per square mile, according to the latest federal decennial census, that shares a common boundary with a municipality within which is located, pursuant to an adopted and approved district solid waste management plan, a sanitary landfill facility:

(1) any part of which lies within 1,300 feet of the common boundary between the municipalities, as determined by the Department of Environmental Protection;

(2) that received more than 700,000 tons of solid waste in the 1992 calendar year or in any calendar year thereafter; and

(3) that is owned or operated by a county or by a county utilities authority created pursuant to the "municipal and county utilities authorities law," P.L.1957, c.183 (C.40:14B-1 et seq.), shall be entitled to an annual economic benefit in consideration for the proximity of the sanitary landfill facility. The annual economic benefit shall be not less than the equivalent of $0.50 per ton, and not more than $1.50 per ton, of all solid waste accepted for disposal at the sanitary landfill facility, as determined by the department, during the 1993 calendar year and each year thereafter.

b. A municipality that qualifies for an economic benefit pursuant to subsection a. of this section may negotiate with the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility to determine the actual dollar amount of the annual economic benefit to be paid to that municipality.

The owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility shall annually pay to every municipality qualifying under subsection a. of this section the full amount due under this subsection, except that the owner or operator shall pay the 1993 economic benefit by the last day of the first quarter of the 1994 calendar year. Each municipality qualifying under subsection a. of this section may anticipate the annual economic benefit for the purposes of preparing its 1994 budget and each annual budget thereafter. For the purposes of calculating the method of payment, the owner or operator of the sanitary landfill facility may, subject to the prior agreement of a municipality qualifying under subsection a. of this section and to the approval of the Department of Environmental Protection, provide that municipality with any of the following benefits in consideration for the proximity of the sanitary landfill facility:

(1) The exemption from all fees and charges for the disposal of solid waste generated within the boundaries of the municipality;

(2) The receipt of a lump sum cash payment; or

(3) Any combination thereof.

c. Every owner or operator of a sanitary landfill facility required to make annual payments to a municipality qualifying pursuant to subsection a. of this section may petition the Department of Environmental Protection for an increase in its tariff which reflects these payments. The department, within 60 days of the receipt of the petition, shall issue an appropriate order that these payments shall be passed along to the users of the sanitary landfill facility as an automatic surcharge on any tariff filed with, and recorded by, the department for the solid waste disposal operations of the facility.

d. In issuing any order required by this section, the Department of Environmental Protection shall be exempt from the provisions of R.S.48:2-21.

L.1994,c.27,s.2.