New Jersey Administrative Code › Title - EXECUTIVE ORDERS › Title 55 - CHRIS CHRISTIE › Section - Executive Order No. 125 (2020)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
Governor Philip D. Murphy
Executive Order No. 125 (2020)
An Order to Implement Additional Mitigation Requirements on NJ TRANSIT, Private Carriers, and Restaurants to Limit the Spread of COVID-19
Issued: April 11, 2020.
Effective: April 11, 2020.
WHEREAS, through Executive Order No. 102 (2020), which I signed on February 3, 2020, I created the State's Coronavirus Task Force, chaired by the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health ("DOH"), in order to coordinate the State's efforts to appropriately prepare for and respond to the public health hazard posed by Coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19"); and
WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, through Executive Order No. 103 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, I declared both a Public Health Emergency and a State of Emergency throughout the State due to the public health hazard created by COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on April 7, 2020, I issued Executive Order No. 119 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, which declared that the Public Health Emergency declared in Executive Order No. 103 (2020) continues to exist; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with N.J.S.A. App. A:9-34 and -51, I reserved the right to utilize and employ all available resources of State government to protect against the emergency created by COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on March 16, 2020, through Executive Order No. 104 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, I established statewide social mitigation strategies for combatting COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, in recognition that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") has advised that social mitigation strategies for combatting COVID-19 require every effort to reduce the rate of community spread of the disease and that COVID-19 spreads most frequently through person-to-person contact when individuals are within six feet or less of one another, I issued Executive Order No. 107 (2020), on March 21, 2020, the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, which ordered steps to mitigate community spread of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 107 (2020) closed non-essential retail businesses to the public, but permitted essential retail businesses and other businesses that require an in-person workforce to continue to operate; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 107 (2020) permitted restaurants, cafeterias, dining establishments, food courts, bars, and all other holders of a liquor license with retail consumption privileges, to operate food delivery and/or take-out services during their normal business hours; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 107 (2020) stated that businesses or non-profits who have employees who cannot perform their functions via telework or work-from-home arrangements should make best efforts to reduce staff on site to the minimal number necessary to ensure that essential operations can continue; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 107 (2020) held that all New Jersey residents shall remain at home or at their place of residence, unless they qualified under certain defined categories, including reporting to, or performing, their job; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 107 (2020) stated that individuals who have to travel pursuant to the terms of the Order should only use public transportation only if they have no other feasible choice; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 107 (2020) also directed individuals who ride public transportation to abide by best social distancing practices, including making all efforts to stand or sit six feet away from other riders and frequently use sanitizing products; and
WHEREAS, as of April 11, 2020, according to the World Health Organization, there were more than 1,521,252 confirmed cases of [page=966] COVID-19 worldwide, with over 92,798 of those cases having resulted in death; and
WHEREAS, as of April 11, 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control, there were more than 425,889 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, with over 14,665 of those cases having resulted in death; and
WHEREAS, as of April 11, 2020, there were over 54,588 positive cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey, with at least 1,932 of those cases having resulted in death; and
WHEREAS, in response to the current emergency NJ TRANSIT (defined collectively as New Jersey Transit Corporation, NJ TRANSIT Rail Operations, Inc., NJ TRANSIT Bus Operations, Inc., NJ TRANSIT Mercer, Inc., and NJ TRANSIT Morris, Inc.), the private carriers that NJ TRANSIT has entered into contracts with for the provision of bus and light rail service (hereinafter referred to collectively as "Private Carriers"), the private carriers that NJ TRANSIT has not entered into contracts with and run their own individual lines of intrastate service in New Jersey as well as interstate service to New York and Pennsylvania (hereinafter referred to collectively as "Unaffiliated Private Carriers"), and the private carriers that NJ TRANSIT has entered into contracts with for the provision of Access Link paratransit services (hereinafter referred to as "Paratransit Private Carriers") have instituted enhanced cleaning efforts for vehicles across all its modes of transportation, including disinfecting vehicles every 4 hours, hard surface cleaning and disinfecting including handholds, arm rests, seating areas and restrooms; and
WHEREAS, in response to the current emergency, NJ TRANSIT has instituted enhanced cleaning regimens in stations including additional disinfecting of frequent customer touchpoints like ticket vending machines, handrails, and door handles; and
WHEREAS, as an added precautionary measure to protect bus operators and customers, NJ TRANSIT and Private Carriers have implemented rear-door boarding on all bus routes where rear-boarding is available, and seats near the bus operator have also been taken out of service to allow for proper social distancing for the operator; and
WHEREAS, NJ TRANSIT and Paratransit Private Carriers that operate the Access Link service have identified concerns with transporting passengers in minibuses, vans and sedans (hereinafter referred to as "Access Link vehicles") given risks to both the drivers and passengers, and in response have avoided the use of sedans; and
WHEREAS, NJ TRANSIT now encourages customers to use the NJ TRANSIT mobile ticketing app or to purchase paper tickets via ticket vending machines prior to boarding to limit cash transactions with the rail conductors and bus operators, and NJ TRANSIT has closed ticket windows at stations to avoid person to person contact; and
WHEREAS, in response to the current emergency, NJ TRANSIT has continually issued customer advisories noting that travel across all of its modes of transportation should be limited to essential personnel who do not have any other feasible means of transportation; and
WHEREAS, NJ TRANSIT, Private Carriers and Unaffiliated Private Carriers have been forced to adjust the weekday rail, bus and light rail service to special schedules to continue to accommodate essential travel while also accounting for the decline in available workforce and ridership related to COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, in those situations where NJ TRANSIT and Private Carriers have observed certain rail, bus and light rail lines that continue to experience more customers than would be ideal for social distancing protocols, NJ TRANSIT and Private Carriers have added select trips particularly on certain intracity bus lines, and have instituted cross-honoring for NJ TRANSIT bus tickets and passes on all NJ TRANSIT rail lines to increase travel options for bus customers; and
WHEREAS, NJ TRANSIT workers, Private Carrier workers, Unaffiliated Private Carrier workers and Paratransit Private Carrier workers are regularly interacting with members of the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the nature of their jobs often requires close contact with the public; and
WHEREAS, members of the public that must continue to report to work due to the essential nature of their jobs, as well as members of the public seeking to access essential services and obtain critical goods like food and medicine, and have no feasible choice other than to take public transportation, may be forced to come in close contact with other individuals on train cars, buses, light rail vehicles and Access Link vehicles, given their size and layout; and
WHEREAS, given the nature of public transportation, members of the public that have no feasible choice other than to take public transportation will necessarily come into contact with multiple common surfaces; and
WHEREAS, residents continue to require access to restaurants and other food establishments during the present crisis; and
WHEREAS, even as we have limited essential business operations, the number of COVID-19 cases in New Jersey is anticipated to continue to increase for the immediate future, meaning we must take additional steps to ensure that NJ TRANSIT, Private Carriers, Unaffiliated Private Carriers, Paratransit Private Carriers and passengers on public transportation, as well as restaurants, bars, food establishments and their patrons, are following public health guidelines regarding social distancing, cleaning, sanitizing, and hygiene practices, in addition to those aforementioned efforts NJ TRANSIT, Private Carriers, Unaffiliated Private Carriers and Paratransit Private Carriers have already undertaken; and
WHEREAS, imposing specific mitigation requirements on NJ TRANSIT, Private Carriers, Unaffiliated Private Carriers and Paratransit Private Carriers will further protect their workers and will permit members of the public to continue to report to work due to the essential nature of their jobs when they have no feasible choice other than to take public transportation, while also preventing increased spread of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, imposing similar mitigation requirements on restaurants, bars, and other such retailers providing food for takeout and/or delivery, will allow residents to access a critical resource while still taking necessary precautions to stop further spread of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, the CDC has now recommended that all residents wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, particularly in areas of significant community-based transmission; and
WHEREAS, the CDC has stated that such cloth face coverings must fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face, be secured with ties or ear loops, include multiple layers of fabric, allow for breathing without restriction, and be able to be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to shape; and
WHEREAS, the CDC has also stated that cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance; and
WHEREAS, the CDC has also recommended certain cleaning and disinfecting procedures for businesses to reduce potential spread of COVID-19 to staff and members of the public; and
WHEREAS, on April 8, 2020, I issued Executive Order No. 122 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, which instituted a series of requirements to ensure that the CDC's recommendations and other public health and safety related measures would be properly implemented in essential retail contexts, among others, that remain open to the public during this Public Health Emergency; and
WHEREAS, the Constitution and statutes of the State of New Jersey, particularly the provisions of N.J.S.A. 26:13-1et seq., N.J.S.A. App. A: 9-33 et seq., N.J.S.A. 38A:3-6.1, and N.J.S.A. 38A:2-4 and all amendments and supplements thereto, confer upon the Governor of the State of New Jersey certain emergency powers, which I have invoked;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
1. Where NJ TRANSIT has continued to operate utilizing an in-person workforce under the terms of Executive Order No. 107 (2020), NJ TRANSIT must adopt policies that include, at minimum, the following requirements:
a. NJ TRANSIT workers may limit occupancy at 50% of the stated maximum capacity, on all trains, buses and light rail lines in accordance with any guidelines instituted by NJ TRANSIT operational divisions;
b. Require infection control practices, such as coughing and sneezing etiquette and proper tissue usage and disposal;
c. Arrange for contactless pay options across all modes of transportation wherever feasible. Such policies shall, wherever possible, consider populations that do not have access to internet service;
d. Arrange for back door entry on buses wherever feasible, and take seats out of service near the bus operator to allow for proper social distancing from the bus operator wherever feasible;
e. Require frequent sanitization of high- touch areas in stations, like restrooms, waiting areas, credit card machines, and keypads;
f. Place conspicuous signage at stations and throughout train cars, buses and light rail vehicles, if applicable, alerting workers and customers to the required six feet of physical distance; and
Require workers and customers to wear cloth face coverings while on trains, buses and light rail vehicles except where doing so would inhibit that individual's health or where the individual is under two years of age, and require workers to wear gloves when in contact with customers. NJ TRANSIT must provide, at its expense, such face coverings and gloves for their workers, to the extent supplies are available. If a customer refuses to wear a cloth face covering for non-medical reasons, then NJ TRANSIT workers may decline entry to the individual, in accordance with any guidelines instituted by NJ TRANSIT operational divisions. Nothing in the stated policy should prevent workers or customers from wearing a surgical-grade mask or other more protective face covering if the individual is already in possession of such equipment, or if NJ TRANSIT is otherwise required to provide such worker with more protective equipment due to the nature of the work involved. Where an individual declines to wear a face covering on a train, bus or light rail vehicle due to a medical condition that inhibits such usage, neither NJ TRANSIT nor its workers shall require the individual to produce medical documentation verifying the stated condition.