NJ A4574

Director of the Division of Housing and Community Resources in the Department of Community Affairs must establish a sandbag reserve program to collect, process, store, and distribute sandbags to local governments for flood mitigation.

The director, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, must conduct or contract a study on flooding prevalence examining elevation, climate, environmental changes, construction impacts, and proximity to water bodies.

Local governments must apply to participate by providing proposed sandbag placement locations, requested quantity and tonnage, and location-specific flooding history and geographic data.

Distribution priority will be determined based on application details and the flooding study, with preference given to areas most impacted by potential flooding.

Within one year of program establishment, the director must report to the Governor and Legislature on inventory levels, applications received, sandbags distributed, program impact, and distribution timelines; annual budget requests must include program needs thereafter.