53:2-12 Licensure required for stevedore.

7. a. A person shall not act as a stevedore within the port of New York district in this State without having first obtained a license from the division, and a person shall not employ a stevedore to perform services as such within the port of New York district unless the stevedore is so licensed.

b. Any person intending to act as a stevedore within the port of New York district shall file in the office of the division a written application for a license to engage in that occupation, duly signed, and verified as follows:

c. If the applicant is a natural person, the application shall be signed and verified by that person and if the applicant is a partnership, the application shall be signed and verified by each natural person composing or intending to compose that partnership. The application shall state the full name, age, residence, business address, if any, present and previous occupations of each natural person so signing the application, and any other facts and evidence as may be required by the division to ascertain the character, integrity, and identity of each natural person signing the application.

d. If the applicant is a corporation, the application shall be signed and verified by the president, secretary, and treasurer thereof, and shall specify the name of the corporation, the date and place of its incorporation, the location of its principal place of business, the names and addresses of, and the amount of the stock held by stockholders owning five percent or more of any of the stock thereof, and of all officers, including all members of the board of directors. The requirements of subsection a. of this section as to a natural person who is a member of a partnership, and the requirements as may be specified in rules and regulations promulgated by the division pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall apply to each above-named officer or stockholder and their successors in office or interest, as the case may be.

In the event of the death, resignation, or removal of any officer, and in the event of any change in the list of stockholders who shall own five percent or more of the stock of the corporation, the secretary of the corporation shall forthwith give notice of that fact in writing to the division, certified by the secretary.

e. A license shall not be granted:

(1) If any person whose signature or name appears in the application is not the real party in interest, required by subsection d. of this section, to sign or to be identified in the application or if the person so signing or named in the application is an undisclosed agent or trustee for any real party in interest;

(2) Unless the division shall be satisfied that the applicant and all members, officers, and stockholders required by subsection d. of this section to sign or be identified in the application for license possess good character and integrity;

(3) Unless the applicant is either a natural person, partnership, or corporation;

(4) Unless the applicant shall be a party to a contract then in force or which will take effect upon the issuance of a license, with a carrier of freight by water for the loading and unloading by the applicant of one or more vessels of such carrier at a pier within the port of New York district;

(5) If the applicant or any member, officer, or stockholder required by subsection d. of this section to sign or be identified in the application for license has, without subsequent pardon, been convicted by a court of the United States or any State or territory thereof of the commission of, or the attempt or conspiracy to commit, treason, murder, manslaughter, or any of the offenses described in subsection h. of this section. Any applicant ineligible for a license by reason of any of those convictions may submit satisfactory evidence to the division that the person whose conviction was the basis of ineligibility has for a period of not less than five years, measured as hereinafter provided and up to the time of application, so acted as to warrant the grant of that license, in which event the division may, in its discretion issue an order removing that ineligibility. The aforesaid period of five years shall be measured either from the date of payment of any fine imposed upon that person or the suspension of sentence or from the date of the person's unrevoked release from custody by parole, commutation, or termination of sentence;

(6) If the applicant has paid, given, caused to have been paid or given, or offered to pay or give to any officer or employee of any carrier of freight by water any valuable consideration for an improper or unlawful purpose or to induce that person to procure the employment of the applicant by the carrier for the performance of stevedoring services; or

(7) If the applicant has paid, given, caused to be paid or given, or offered to pay or give to any officer or representative of a labor organization any valuable consideration for an improper or unlawful purpose or to induce the officer or representative to subordinate the interests of the labor organization or its members in the management of the affairs of the labor organization to the interests of the applicant.

f. When the application shall have been examined and further inquiry and investigation made as the division shall deem proper and when the division shall be satisfied therefrom that the applicant possesses the qualifications and requirements prescribed in this section, the division shall issue and deliver a license to that applicant. The division may issue a temporary permit to any applicant for a license under the provisions of this section pending final action on an application made for a license. A temporary permit shall be valid for a period not in excess of 30 days.

g. A stevedore's license shall be for a term of five years or fraction of that five-year period, and shall expire on the first day of December. In the event of the death of the licensee, if a natural person, or its termination or dissolution by reason of the death of a partner, if a partnership, or if the licensee shall cease to be a party to any contract of the type prescribed by paragraph (4) of subsection e. of section 7 of P.L.2017, c.324 (C.53:2-12), the license shall terminate 90 days after that event or upon its expiration date, whichever shall be sooner. A license may be renewed by the division for successive five-year periods upon fulfilling the same requirements as are established in this section for an original application for a stevedore's license.

h. Any license issued pursuant to this section may be revoked or suspended for a period as the division deems in the public interest or the licensee thereunder may be reprimanded for any of the following offenses on the part of the licensee or of any person required by this section to sign or be identified in an original application for a license:

(1) Conviction of a crime or other cause which would permit or require disqualification of the licensee from receiving a license upon original application;

(2) Fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation in securing the license or in the conduct of the licensed activity;

(3) Failure by the licensee to maintain a complete set of books and records containing a true and accurate account of the licensee's receipts and disbursements arising out of the licensee's activities within the port of New York district in this State;

(4) Failure to keep its books and records available during business hours for inspection by the division and its duly designated representatives until the expiration of the fifth calendar year following the calendar year during which occurred the transactions recorded therein; or

(5) Any other offense described in this section.

i. In addition to the grounds elsewhere established in P.L.2017, c.324 (C.32:23-229 et al.), the division shall not grant an application for a license as stevedore if the applicant has paid, given, caused to have been paid or given, or offered to pay or give to any agent of any carrier of freight by water any valuable consideration for an improper or unlawful purpose or, without the knowledge and consent of the carrier, to induce the agent to procure the employment of the applicant by the carrier or its agent for the performance of stevedoring services.

L.2017, c.324, s.7.