Office of Legislative Services
State House Annex
P.O. Box 068
Trenton, New Jersey 08625
Legislative Budget and Finance Office
Phone (609) 847-3105
Fax (609) 777-2442
www.njleg.state.nj.us
LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
ASSEMBLY, No. 4761
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
DATED: MAY 22, 2023
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Requires DEP to perform certain assessments concerning regulation
of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Type of Impact: Annual State expenditure increase.
Agencies Affected: Department of Environmental Protection.
Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact
Annual State Cost Increase Minimum $115,000 to $483,000
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates that this bill could increase State
expenditures by at least $115,000 to $483,000 annually for the Department of Environmental
Protection to conduct the assessments and publish the reports required under the bill. This
range represents the minimum annual employee resource costs that the department could incur
under the bill.
Annual State costs could be significantly higher if the department uses a third party to conduct
the assessments or if a large amount of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
sampling is required. In addition, to the extent that additional employee resources are required,
or if the employee costs stated above rise above the estimated range, this fiscal estimate would
increase accordingly.
BILL DESCRIPTION
This bill requires the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct annual assessments
on the regulation of PFAS in drinking water. Specifically, the bill would require the department
to conduct an annual assessment of PFAS that are unregulated at the time of the assessment, in
order to determine whether a maximum contaminant level (MCL) or other drinking water standard
should be established for each additional PFAS. The bill would also require the department to
conduct assessments of whether current and proposed MCLs for PFAS adequately protect the
health of children, given their lower average body weight, as compared to an MCL based on the FE to A4761
2
average adult body weight. The bill would require the department to provide a written report
containing the findings of each assessment to the Governor and the Legislature, and to post the
report on its website.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None provided.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS estimates that this bill could increase State expenditures by at least $115,000 to
$483,000 annually for the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct the assessments
and publish the reports required under the bill. This range represents the minimum annual
employee resource costs that the department could incur under the bill and is based on the
department potentially requiring between 1.0 and 3.0 full-time equivalent employee resources to
conduct the annual assessments and publish the required reports. The OLS determines that the
salary cost of a full-time equivalent employee would be in the range of $72,000 to $100,000. The
annual cost to the State of 1.0 to 3.0 such employees would therefore be between $115,000 and
$483,000, inclusive of fringe benefits. If employee compensation is above this estimated range,
or if additional employee resources are required, this fiscal estimate would increase accordingly.
Annual State costs also could be significantly higher if the department uses a third party (i.e. a
university) to conduct the assessments. Depending on their scope, contracting out for these
assessments could cost the State between $200,000 and $300,000 per study, based on information
previously provided by the Executive. Costs under the bill would also increase if the department
needed to conduct extensive water sampling, which for a single PFAS could cost $30,000, not
including employee time to develop, write, and publish the findings.
The OLS notes that for the evaluation of current and proposed MCLs for PFAS and for
unregulated PFAS, a comprehensive scientific assessment of the available data on each of those
PFAS would have to be conducted. This involves reviewing studies, research papers, toxicological
data, and risk assessments; gathering and analyzing data; conducting studies; and engaging experts
in the field to understand the potential health effects of PFAS on adults and children. Based on
the assessment, the risks of the PFAS to human health would have to be evaluated. The process
of assessing each PFAS would likely cost millions of dollars over the course of many years. The
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, one of the 27 constituent institutes and
centers of the National Institutes of Health, reports that more than 9,000 PFAS have been
identified, but it is not known how many of these would be subject to the provisions of this bill.
Section: Environment, Agriculture, Energy, and Natural Resources
Analyst: Neha Patel
Senior Fiscal Analyst
Approved: Thomas Koenig
Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the
failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).