32:1-35.72. Findings and determinations

The States of New York and New Jersey hereby find and determine that:

a. To prevent further deterioration of the economy of the port district and thereby to promote, preserve and protect trade and commerce in and through the Port of New York District as defined in the compact between the two states dated April 30, 1921 (hereinafter called the port district), it is the policy of each of the two states actively to promote, attract, encourage and develop economically sound commerce and industry through governmental action;

b. In order to preserve and protect the position of the port of New York as the nation's leading gateway for world commerce, it is incumbent on the States of New York and New Jersey to make every effort to insure that the port receives its rightful share of interstate and international commerce generated by the manufacturing, industrial, trade and commercial segments of the economy of the Nation and of the port district;

c. Since 1950 the number of available jobs in the port district, particularly within the older central cities thereof, has decreased, thereby resulting in the underutilization of available land and other resources, the erosion of the port district's tax bases and a rate of unemployment substantially in excess of the national average;

d. In order to preserve the port district from further economic deterioration, adequate industrial development projects and facilities must be provided, preserved and maintained to attract and retain industry within the port district;

e. A number of new industrial development projects and facilities should be organized into industrial parks or districts;

f. The construction of such industrial parks or districts shall conform to the policies of the two states with respect to affirmative action and equal employment opportunities;

g. Providing port district industrial development projects and facilities is in the public interest and involves the exercise of public and essential governmental functions which may include appropriate and reasonable limitations on competition and which must be performed by the two states, or any municipality, public authority, agency or commission of either state and by a joint agency of the two states to accomplish the purposes of this act;

h. That it is an objective of the two states, acting through the port authority, to facilitate reemployment of residents of the older cities through job training programs and employment opportunity priorities in connection with industrial development parks in their respective cities;

i. The acquisition and use by such joint agency of abandoned, undeveloped or underutilized land or land owned by governmental entities within the port district for the generation of jobs and to reduce the hazards of unemployment would promote, preserve and protect the industry, trade and commerce of the port district, and will materially assist in preserving for the two states and the people thereof the material and other benefits of a prosperous port community;

j. The collection, disposal and utilization of refuse, solid waste or waste resulting from other treatment processes is an activity of concern to all citizens within the port district, that the health, safety and general welfare of the citizens within the port district require efficient and reasonable collection and disposal services and efficient utilization of such refuse, solid waste or waste resulting from other treatment processes with adequate consideration given to regional planning and coordination, and, therefore, that the construction and operation of any port district industrial development project and facility should conform to the environmental and solid waste disposal standards and state and county plans therefor in the state in which such project or facility is located;

k. The dedication by the municipalities of the port district of refuse, solid waste or waste resulting from other treatment processes to resource recovery to permit the generation of lower priced energy and the recovery of useful materials, together with the commitment by such municipalities to pay fees to permit the delivery and removal after processing of such refuse or solid waste at rates and for periods of time at least sufficient to assure the continued furnishing of such lower priced energy and material is in the public interest and would be a major incentive for the attraction and retention of industry within the port district;

l . The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (hereinafter called the port authority), which was created by agreement of the two states as a joint agent for the development of terminal, transportation and other facilities of commerce of the port district and for the promotion and protection of the commerce of the port, is a proper agency to act in their behalf (either directly or by any subsidiary corporation) to finance and effectuate such industrial development projects and facilities;

m. It is desirable for the port authority, after consultation with the governing body of each municipality and within the city of New York the appropriate community board or boards and elsewhere another governmental entity or entities designated by such municipality in which industrial development projects or facilities are proposed to be located and with other persons, including but not limited to private real estate developers, to prepare and adopt a master plan providing for the development of such industrial development projects and facilities in the port district, which plan shall give consideration to the extent of unemployment and the general economic conditions of the respective portions of the port district and shall include among other things the locations and the nature and scope of such projects and facilities as may be included in the plan;

n. The undertaking of such industrial development projects and facilities by the port authority has the single object of and is part of a unified plan to aid in preserving the economic well-being of the port district and is found and determined to be in the public interest;

o. No such port district industrial development projects and facilities are to be constructed if the sole intent of the construction thereof would be the removal of an industrial or manufacturing plant of an occupant of such projects and facilities from one location to another location or in the abandonment of one or more plants or facilities of such occupant, unless such port district industrial development projects and facilities are reasonably necessary to discourage such occupant from removing such plant or facility to a location outside the port district or are reasonably necessary to preserve the competitive position of such project occupant in its industry;

p. No such port district industrial development projects or facilities are to be constructed unless and until the port authority has entered into an agreement or agreements with the municipality in which any such project or facility is to be located with respect to payments in lieu of real estate taxes and the location, nature and scope of any project or facility; and

q. Subject to entering into said agreement or agreements, the port authority should have the ability to acquire, lease, vacate, clear and otherwise develop abandoned, undeveloped or underutilized property or property owned by governmental entities within the port district and to finance and construct industrial development projects and facilities.

L.1978, c. 110, s. 1.