13:1D-136 Performance partnership agreement.

3. a. Pursuant to the performance contract authority established by subsection q. of section 12 of P.L.1970, c.33 (C.13:1D-9), the Department of Environmental Protection shall enter into a performance partnership agreement with the New Jersey Corporation for Advanced Technology for the purposes of establishing and administering an energy and environmental technology verification program for the identification, evaluation, verification and, through the coordination and revision of regulatory mechanisms and requirements, the promotion and expedited commercial use of innovative energy and environmental technologies.

b. The department, in consultation and in conjunction with the corporation, shall develop and establish evaluation and verification procedures, processes and protocols for the purposes of:

(1) Determining the application and use, and the outcome of the application and use, of certain energy and environmental technologies;

(2) Studying, evaluating and verifying the benefits of any innovative energy and environmental technologies; and

(3) Identifying beneficial and innovative technologies requiring assistance with regulatory mechanisms and requirements.

c. The department shall develop a technical guidance document for the program that shall include, but not be limited to, a technical manual for each class or category of technology and the permits required for its commercial use, and the evaluation and verification procedures, processes, and protocols developed and established pursuant to subsection b. of this section to be used by the program for evaluating, verifying and promoting a technology. The technical guidance document also shall provide for the revision of such protocols, processes and procedures to accommodate verification procedures employed and proposed by the corporation. The technical guidance document shall define the procedural and substantive requirements for selection for, and participation in, the program and the review of applications pertaining thereto, and shall clarify any department and corporation interpretations of any laws, rules, and regulations relating to the review, selection and verification of a technology for the program. The department shall publish the technical guidance document, and any revisions thereto, in the New Jersey Register. The adoption of a technical guidance document, or of the revisions thereto, shall not be subject to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).

d. The corporation shall provide notification of the availability of participation in the technology verification program, as it deems appropriate and in the manner it determines shall reach persons with technologies likely to be eligible for evaluation and verification under the technology verification program. The corporation shall accept applications for the review and consideration for verification of technologies under the program, in accordance with the procedures, processes and protocols established pursuant to subsection b. of this section and the technical guidance document developed pursuant to subsection c. of this section. After a review of the application to preliminarily evaluate and verify that the technology may have significant energy or environmental benefits, the corporation may select a technology as a candidate for evaluation and verification under the program and shall notify the department of the selected technology and the results of the preliminary evaluation of the technology and the protocols for its verification.

e. Upon notice of the selection of a technology, the department shall review any and all laws, rules or regulations affecting the development and commercial use of the selected technology and, as the department deems appropriate and necessary, shall consult with the applicant whose technology has been selected. The department shall coordinate the required permits, permit review, permit approvals and other required action on the part of federal and State agencies, entities and officials to assist in the promotion and expedited commercial use of the verified technology upon its verification.

f. The corporation, in conjunction and cooperation with the department and its action pursuant to subsection e. of this section, shall evaluate the selected energy or environmental technology and its performance, and, whenever appropriate, shall verify the technology evaluated. The evaluation and verification shall include, but not be limited to, ascertaining the conservation or environmental benefit of the technology being evaluated and confirming that the technology in fact achieves the alleged benefit and has a significant net beneficial environmental effect from its overall performance.

g. The Department of Environmental Protection may adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), any rules or regulations necessary to expedite the commercial use of energy or environmental technologies selected for the program and verified by the corporation as a technology with a significant net beneficial environmental effect from its overall performance, or required to implement the provisions of this section.

h. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall implement the contract provisions, protocols, processes, procedures, rules and regulations established pursuant to subsections a. through d. of this section, and shall require any person engaged in a permit process to work in conjunction with the corporation and rely on its evaluation and verification processes.

i. The department shall work closely with the State Treasurer to include in State bid specifications, as deemed appropriate by the State Treasurer, any technology verified under the energy and environmental technology verification program established pursuant to this section.

L.1999,c.400,s.3.