N.J. Admin. Code § 19:31B-1.2

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 12, June 17, 2024

Section 19:31B-1.2 - Eligibility standards

(a) Generally, preference for direct loans is given to projects which:

1. Are job intensive;

2. Will create or maintain tax ratables;

3. Are located in an economically distressed area; and/or

4. Represent an important economic sector of the State.

(b) For Smart Growth Pre-development loans, projects must be located in Planning Areas 1 and 2, designated centers or in municipalities with endorsed plans as defined by the State Redevelopment Plan, must evidence municipal support and be part of a local redevelopment plan.

(c) For brownfields loans:

1. The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings only for purposes of the Brownfields Loan Program, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

i. "Brownfields site" means any former or current commercial or industrial site that is currently vacant or underutilized and on which there has been, or there is suspected to have been, a discharge of a contaminant or on which there is a contaminated building or which has been remediated for industrial use, but requires further remediation for mixed-use residential development.

ii. "Contaminated building" means a structure for which abatement or removal of asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, contaminated wood or paint, and other infrastructure remedial activities is necessary.

iii. "Contamination" or "contaminant" means any discharged hazardous substance as defined pursuant to section 3 at P.L. 1976, c. 141 (N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11b), hazardous waste as defined pursuant to section 1 at P.L. 1976, c. 99 (N.J.S.A. 13:1E-38), or pollutant as defined pursuant to section 3 at P.L. 1977, c. 74 (N.J.S.A 58:10A-3).

iv. "Equity" means cash, development fees, costs for remediation and redevelopment project feasibility incurred within the 12 months prior to application, property value less any mortgages or liens, and the portion of the developer's fee that is delayed for a minimum of five years, and any other investment by the developer in the remediation or redevelopment project deemed acceptable by the Authority in its sole discretion but shall not include Federal, State, and local grants or Federal and State tax credits.

v. "Licensed site remediation professional" means an individual who is licensed by the Site Remediation Professional Licensing Board pursuant to section 7 at P.L. 2009, c. 60 (N.J.S.A. 58:10C-7) or the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to section 12 at P.L. 2009, c. 60 (N.J.S.A. 58:10C-12).

vi. "Local governmental redeveloper" means a municipal government, a municipal parking authority, a redevelopment agency acting on behalf of a municipal government as defined in section 3 at P.L. 1992, c. 79 (N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-3), a county improvement authority established pursuant to P.L. 1960, c. 183 (N.J.S.A. 40:37A-44 et seq.), or any subdivision, department, agency, or instrumentality of a county or municipality that is authorized to complete the remediation and redevelopment of a brownfield site.

vii. "Redevelopment project" means the specific construction project or improvement, including lands, buildings, improvements, real and personal property or any interest therein, including lands under water, riparian rights, space rights, and air rights, acquired, owned, leased, developed or redeveloped, constructed, reconstructed, rehabilitated or improved, undertaken by a developer, owner, or tenant, or both, at the brownfield site upon completion of the remediation project.

viii. "Remediation," "remediate," or "remedial activities" means all necessary actions to investigate and clean up or respond to any known, suspected, or threatened discharge of contaminants, including, as necessary, the preliminary assessment, site investigation, remedial investigation, and remedial action, as those terms are defined in section 23 at P.L. 1993, c. 139 (N.J.S.A. 58:10B-1), provided, however, that "remediation," "remediate," and "remedial activities" shall not include the payment of compensation for damage to, or loss of, natural resources.

ix. "Remediation project" or "project" means the investigation, assessment, and remediation of a brownfield site.

2. Applicants shall include potential purchasers or current owners of a brownfield site, including local governmental redevelopers, and shall not include individuals or entities responsible for, or individuals or entities who have common ownership or control with entities responsible for, any existing environmental contamination at the site or any individuals or entities that have indemnified a responsible party or a party who has common ownership or control with a responsible party. The applicant shall demonstrate to the Authority's satisfaction through the licensed site remediation professional or, as applicable for a structure, a qualified professional other than a licensed site remediation professional that the site is a brownfield site or the structure is a contaminated building;

3. Demonstrate site control or a path to site control for the brownfield site;

4. The brownfield site, in a remediated condition, shall have an appraised value equal to or greater than 100 percent of all debt financing, including the requested brownfields loan amount, unless the applicant can demonstrate other sources of collateral to the Authority's satisfaction;

5. Future use of the site shall be commercial, including, but not limited to, manufacturing and retail, or mixed use;

6. The applicant shall demonstrate the following to the Authority's satisfaction and based on the Authority's analysis, taking into account the costs of the remediation project:

i. The redevelopment project is economically feasible, meaning there is enough cash flow to repay debt financing, including the brownfields loan; and

ii. The redevelopment project has a funding gap, which shall be supported by a certification from the applicant that after making all good faith efforts to raise additional capital, additional capital cannot be raised from other sources;

7. Applications shall meet a minimum score and may be prioritized or selected in competitive rounds based on criteria that considers factors related to the economic distress of the municipality and the benefits of the proposed redevelopment project to the municipality and the State, including, but not limited to:

i. The applicant is a non-profit entity;

ii. The level of economic distress in the municipality as determined by the brownfield site being located in one of the 50 most distressed municipalities in the Municipal Revitalization Index, in an eligible Opportunity Zone pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §§ 1400Z-1 and 1400Z-2, or in a municipality serviced by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Community Collaborative Initiative;

iii. Investment received through a fund qualifying pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §§ 1400Z-1 and 1400Z-2, or engagement and collaboration with the Department of Environmental Protection Community Collaborative Initiative;

iv. The brownfields site is located in Planning Area 1 (Metropolitan) pursuant to the State Planning Act, P.L. 1985, c. 398 (N.J.S.A. 52:18A-196 et seq.) and within a one-half mile radius, with bicycle and pedestrian connectivity, to the mid-point of a New Jersey Transit Corporation, Port Authority Transit Corporation, or Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation rail, bus, or ferry station, including all light rail stations, or a high frequency bus stop as certified by the New Jersey Transit Corporation;

v. The proposed plan for the reuse of the brownfield site is consistent with applicable local redevelopment plans;

vi. The amount of the projected new tax revenues generated from the proposed use of the brownfield site;

vii. The need of the loan to the viability of the remediation project and the redevelopment project;

viii. The public health and environmental benefits of the proposed redevelopment project, in addition to the remediation of the brownfield site; and

ix. The length of time the brownfield site has been abandoned or underutilized; and

8. Remediation projects previously approved for reimbursement through the Brownfields and Contaminated Site Remediation Reimbursement Program are not eligible. Remediation projects that have not received any assistance from the Brownfields and Contaminated Site Remediation Program are eligible for a Brownfields loan provided that the loan is used for separate uses other than the reimbursement assistance.

(d) For Edison Innovation Fund loans, projects will be considered eligible if they have the following characteristics:

1. A commercially available product that meets the Authority's programmatic requirements in revenue thresholds, that is, for the Edison Innovation Angel Growth Fund, a minimum $ 250,000 in prior 12-month commercial revenues; for the Edison Innovation VC Growth Fund, a minimum $ 500,000 in prior 12-month commercial revenues; and, for the Edison Innovation Growth Stars Fund, a minimum of $ 2 million in prior 12-month commercial revenues;

2. A meaningful and defined market and customer base for the technology;

3. A management team possessing appropriate skill sets, capacity and financial resources and willingness to strengthen management through other means such as advisory or consultant services;

4. A meaningful customer base, partners, strategic alliances and professional relationships;

5. An ability to leverage the Authority's resources by evidence of other fund raising and need for future capital requirements;

6. A clear record of specific operational and research milestones achieved to date and proposed schedule and means to achieve future milestones; and

7. A current and complete business plan including a detailed financial model.

(e) For Edison Innovation Fund loans, a business shall not be eligible as follows:

1. A business that has received assistance under the Edison Innovation Fund from the Authority or similar assistance provided by any other State agency, shall not be eligible for the Edison Innovation Angel Growth Fund.

2. A business shall not be eligible for assistance under the Edison Innovation Angel Growth Fund, the Edison Innovation VC Growth Fund, or the Edison Innovation Growth Stars Fund, if the business has received assistance under the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities' Edison Clean Energy Manufacturing Fund and/or the Edison Innovation Green Growth Fund.

N.J. Admin. Code § 19:31B-1.2

Amended by R.2004 d.346, effective 9/20/2004.
See: 36 N.J.R. 2305(a), 36 N.J.R. 4321(a).
Added (d) and (e).
Amended by R.2005 d.274, effective 8/15/2005.
See: 37 N.J.R. 1714(a), 37 N.J.R. 3058(a).
In (e) substituted "," for "and" following "Commerce", added "and Tourism" following "Growth"; added (f).
Amended by R.2005 d.319, effective 9/19/2005.
See: 37 N.J.R. 2153(a), 37 N.J.R. 3722(a).
Added (g) and (h).
Amended by R.2006 d.369, effective 10/16/2006.
See: 38 N.J.R. 3001(a), 38 N.J.R. 4503(a).
Deleted (g) and (h).
Amended by R.2008 d.271, effective 9/15/2008.
See: 40 N.J.R. 2659(a), 40 N.J.R. 5247(a).
In the introductory paragraph of (f), substituted "Edison Innovation" for "New Jersey Growth".
Amended by R.2011 d.195, effective 7/18/2011.
See: 43 N.J.R. 955(a), 43 N.J.R. 1602(b).
Rewrote (f)1; in (f)6, inserted "and" at the end; in (f)7, substituted a period for "; and" at the end; deleted (f)8 and (f)9; and added (g).
Amended by R.2013 d.036, effective 2/19/2013.
See: 44 N.J.R. 2944(a), 45 N.J.R. 359(b).
Rewrote (g)2.Amended by R.2014 d.187, effective 12/15/2014.
See: 46 N.J.R. 1682(a), 46 N.J.R. 2420(a).
Deleted former (b) and (c); recodified former (d) through (g) as new (b) through (e); and in (c), substituted "and the" for a comma following "Protection", and deleted "and the New Jersey Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission" following "Treasury".
Amended by R.2017 d.010, effective 1/3/2017.
See: 48 N.J.R. 2031(a), 49 N.J.R. 134(a).
In (d)1, substituted "that" for "which", and ", a minimum $ 250,000 in prior 12-month commercial revenues; for" for "and".
Amended by R.2019 d.111, effective 10/7/2019.
See: 51 N.J.R. 820(a), 51 N.J.R. 1537(a).
Deleted former (c) and added new (c).

Recodified from 19:31-3.2 56 N.J.R. 807(a), effective 5/6/2024