New Jersey A 1553: Requires gubernatorial and legislative candidates report contributions within 48 hours of receipt; requires Election Law Enforcement Commission to post reports within 72 hours of filing.

Bill Text

A1553 

ASSEMBLY, No. 1553 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman CLINTON CALABRESE

District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblywoman AURA K. DUNN

District 25 (Morris and Passaic)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Inganamort

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes abandoned mine reclamation program in 
DOT.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative 
Counsel.

�� 

An Act concerning abandoned mine reclamation and supplementing 
Title 27 of the Revised Statutes.

���� Be It 
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of 
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� As used in 
P.L. , c. 
(C. ) (pending before the 
Legislature as this bill):� 

���� "Abandoned mine" 
means a mine where mining operations have occurred in the past and no mining 
operations have occurred for five years or more. �

���� �Commissioner� means the 
Commissioner of Transportation.� 

���� �Department� means the 
Department of Transportation.� 

���� �Fund� means the �Abandoned 
Mine Reclamation Program Fund� established pursuant to section 5 of 
P.L. , c. 
(C. ) (pending before the 
Legislature as this bill).� 

���� "Mine" includes any 
mines and mineshafts within the State, whether on the surface or underground 
and any mining plant, material, equipment or explosives on the surface or 
underground, which may contribute to the mining or handling of ore or other 
metalliferous or nonmetalliferous products. The term "mine" shall 
also include quarry, sand pit, gravel pit, clay pit and shale pit.� 

���� �Program� means the Abandoned 
Mine Reclamation Program established pursuant to section 2 of 
P.L. , c. 
(C. ) (pending before the 
Legislature as this bill).� 

���� �Reclamation plan� or �plan� 
means the State reclamation plan for abandoned mines developed pursuant to 
section 3 of P.L. , c. 
(C. ) (pending before the 
Legislature as this bill).� 

���� 2.��� There is established in 
the Department of Transportation the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program.� The 
purpose of the program shall be to protect the citizens of New Jersey from the 
adverse effects of abandoned mines in the State, including mine subsidence and 
water quality degradation, through the creation and execution of a reclamation 
plan and mine reclamation projects.

���� 3.��� a.� The department shall 
develop, in consultation with the section chief of the mine safety section of 
the Department of Labor and Workforce Development established pursuant to 
section 3 of P.L.1954, c.197 (C.34:6-98.3), a State reclamation plan for abandoned 
mines.� 

���� b.��� The reclamation plan 
shall provide, at a minimum:� 

���� (1)�� a comprehensive mapping 
of all abandoned mines in the State;

���� (2)�� an identification of the 
mines that pose the greatest threat to human life, safety, property, and 
infrastructure, including, water, electric, and transportation infrastructure, 
or where evidence indicates that the subsidence of the mine poses an imminent 
or continuous threat to the surrounding structures;

���� (3)�� a ranked order of the 
reclamation projects designed to reclaim, backfill, stabilize, or otherwise 
render safe all mine voids present in the State, including an estimate of the 
costs of each project;

���� (4)�� information about the 
ownership status of each mine identified pursuant to paragraph (1) of this 
subsection; and

���� (5)�� a recommended course of 
action to safely reclaim abandoned mines in the State.� 

���� c.���� Employees of the 
department shall have the right to enter upon any property for the purpose of 
conducting exploratory work necessary to implement the provisions of this 
section or to determine the feasibility of restoring, reclaiming, abating, 
controlling, or preventing the adverse effects of an abandoned mine.� At least 
two months prior to entry, written and verbal notice shall be provided to the property 
owners, if known, or if not known, by posting notice upon the premises and 
advertising once in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality of the 
land.� The department shall provide reasonable accommodations concerning the 
time, date, and manner of entry, at the request of the property owner.� Any 
entry pursuant to this subsection shall be construed as an exercise of the State�s 
police power and shall not be construed as an act of condemnation or trespass.� 

���� d.��� The department shall not 
require a property owner to expend any funds for the implementation of the 
provisions of this section.� 

���� 4.��� a.� After completing the 
reclamation plan pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , 
c. (C. ) 
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), the department shall begin 
implementing the plan.� 

���� b.��� To implement the plan, 
the department may carry out the mine reclamation projects itself, contract 
with private construction firms, or distribute grants to local governments or 
private property owners.� 

���� c.