58:29-7 Use of appropriated funds.

7. a. Any monies appropriated to the department pursuant to Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 6, subparagraph (a) of the New Jersey Constitution, and deposited in the fund, shall be used to support the purposes set forth in section 5 of this act to the extent that those purposes constitute activities in addition to those undertaken by the department in Fiscal Year 1997.

b. Monies shall be appropriated to the department pursuant to Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 6, subparagraph (a) of the New Jersey Constitution, deposited in the fund, and allocated for the following purposes:

(1) From the monies appropriated in Fiscal Year 1997 pursuant to section 8 of this act, 100 percent of the monies shall be used by the department to support the purposes established in subsections a. through j. of section 5 of this act;

(2) From the monies appropriated in Fiscal Year 1998, not more than 35 percent of the monies may be used to support the purposes identified in subsection k. of section 5 of this act and the remainder of the monies shall be used by the department to support the purposes established in subsections a. through j. of section 5 of this act; and

(3) From the monies appropriated in Fiscal Year 1999 and every year thereafter, not more than 50 percent of the monies may be used to support the purposes identified in subsection k. of section 5 of this act and the remainder of the monies shall be used by the department to support the purposes established in subsections a. through j. of section 5 of this act.

c. The department may not expend any monies that are or may be appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes identified in subsection k. of section 5 of this act until the department submits a list of proposed loan or grant recipients to the Legislature, and the Legislature, by the passage of a concurrent resolution, approves that list. The Legislature may approve all or part of that list and only those persons listed in the approved concurrent resolution may receive a watershed protection loan or grant from the department. The concurrent resolution may limit or specify the amount of any loan or grant and may establish any other condition of receiving the loan or grant. The list of proposed recipients submitted to the Legislature by the department shall specify the name of the proposed recipient, the amount of the loan or grant to be awarded, the intended purpose of the loan or grant, the watershed or watersheds involved, and any other information relevant to the award of the loan or grant.

d. The department may not expend any monies in Fiscal Year 1999 and thereafter that are or may be appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes identified in subsection k. of section 5 of this act until the department has adopted rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), concerning the development and implementation of watershed management activities by watershed management groups and the submission and review of loan and grant applications.

e. Any transfer of appropriated funds between purposes authorized by this section shall require the approval of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee or its successor. No such transfer of funds shall be approved by the committee or its successor if the transfer would cause exceedance of the funding percentage allocation limitations set forth in subsection b. of this section. Any transfer of funds from an approved loan or grant recipient to another approved loan or grant recipient shall also require the approval of the committee or its successor.

L.1997,c.261,s.7.