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
[First Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 4761
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
DATED: DECEMBER 19, 2023
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Requires DEP to perform certain assessments concerning regulation
of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Type of Impact: Periodic or potentially annual State expenditure increase.
Agencies Affected: Department of Environmental Protection.
Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact
State Cost Increase Minimum $115,000 to $483,000 Per Assessment
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates that this bill could increase State
expenditures by at least $115,000 to $483,000 for the Department of Environmental Protection
to conduct the required assessments every five years and publish the reports required under the
bill. This range represents the minimum employee resource costs that the department could
incur under the bill.
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 perform assessments on the
regulation of PFAS in drinking water every five years. Specifically, the bill would require the
department to conduct an assessment of PFAS that are unregulated pursuant to State or federal
law, or any rules and regulations adopted at the time of the assessment, in order to determine
whether a maximum contaminant level (MCL) or other drinking water standard should be FE to A4761 [1R]
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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 the higher ratio of drinking water intake by weight of children, in addition to the
lower body weight of children as compared to a maximum contaminant level based on the 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 for the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct the required assessments
every five years and publish the reports required under the bill. This range represents the minimum
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 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 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. It is unknown if
the department would have to retain these employees on a periodic or annual basis to meet the
assessment and reporting requirements of the bill.
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.
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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.).