Introduction

The New Jersey State Planning Act (N.J.S.A. 52:18A-196 et. seq.) requires that the State Planning Commission “prepare and adopt as part of the State Plan a long-term Infrastructure Needs Assessment, which shall provide information on present and prospective conditions, needs and costs with regard to State, county and municipal capital facilities, including water, sewerage, transportation, solid waste, drainage, flood protection, shore protection and related capital facilities.”

With the release of the preliminary draft of the State Development and Redevelopment Plan in December of 2024, it is also time for an update to the Infrastructure Needs Assessment (INA) that is statutorily required to accompany the State Plan. The last INA was completed in 2001. The State Plan defines infrastructure broadly as “those capital facilities and land assets under public ownership, or operated or maintained for public benefit, that are necessary to support development and redevelopment and to protect public health, safety and welfare.”2 The 2001 INA addressed the seven statutorily required infrastructure systems as well 10 additional infrastructure systems. The current INA focuses on the same sectors and combines sectors where appropriate based on topic overlap.

This INA describes the federal, state, and local planning, policy, and regulatory framework that shapes infrastructure investment decisions in New Jersey and compiles and summarizes information and data presented in recent planning documents, capital investment plans, and/or provided by state agencies. The most comprehensive and methodologically consistent assessments of conditions and needs are prepared as part of regional, statewide, or national studies. Where these studies were available, they were used to compile need estimates. If comprehensive assessments were not available, information contained in sector and agency capital plans were utilized.

The goal of this assessment is to increase the time horizon for capital planning, help state and local agencies base capital budgets on long-term capital plans, and utilize consistent and coordinated capital planning methods. This assessment will present key findings and overall methodology then analyze sector-specific infrastructure needs.

Acknowledgements

Funding for this Infrastructure Needs Assessment for the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan (SDRP) was provided by New Jersey Office of Planning Advocacy within the NJ Department of State. The authors would like to thank Walter Lane and Donna Rendeiro for their guidance throughout the development of this needs assessment. This report was authored by the following people at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey:

Garin Bulger
Jon A. Carnegie
Kiran Ghosh
Hiyabu Habtemichael
Jeanne Herb
James Kenah
Andrew Olsen
Samuel Rosenthal
Jennifer Senick
Jacob Thompson
Jaclyn Trzaska
Leigh Ann Von Hagen