Transportation Bills Passed by the Senate and Assembly Today

The following transportation legislation was passed by the Senate and Assembly today.

Bill Going to the Governor’s Desk

A740 (Johnson) / S2846 (Gopal): Requires State agencies in awarding contracts for purchase of items that require power source to consider items powered by fuel cells. The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 36-0. It now goes to the Governor’s Desk to sign.

“While fuel cells may be the future, right now the technology is still in the early stages. It’s very expensive to create and produce this technology, and we’re not yet ready to sustainably produce hydrogen. This is because most of the hydrogen from fuel cells comes from natural gas, completely undermining clean energy goals. We can research fuel cells, but we should be focusing our time and energy on moving forward on electric vehicles instead. We should be focusing on making electric vehicles available and accessible to people from all communities,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This is especially important because EVs can be hooked up to solar power and other renewable energy, making them better for the environment and public health than vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells”

A4552 (Houghtaling) / S767 (Gopal): Eliminates five percent down payment requirement for local bond ordinances involving New Jersey Infrastructure Bank transportation projects. The bill passed the Assembly with a vote of 72-1-0. It now goes to the Governor’s Desk to sign.

“Many cities and towns in NJ, especially distressed communities that are low-income, can’t always afford the downpayment for important infrastructure or transportation projects. This legislation will help those communities of modest means be able to compete for funding for those projects,” said Jeff Tittel. “The Assembly needs to pass this bill and get it to the Governor’s desk.”

Passed by the Senate

S1010 (Lagana): Permits counties and municipalities to bond for alternative fuel vehicles. The bill passed with a vote of 25-12.

“We do not support this legislation because the definition for alternative fuel vehicles includes natural gas and propane vehicles. While it is important to help counties and municipalities move forward with purchasing electric vehicles, we shouldn’t be encouraging more dirty vehicles. This legislation needs to be amended to remove any vehicles that are not truly clean,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.