New Jersey Administrative Code › Title - EXECUTIVE ORDERS › Title 55 - CHRIS CHRISTIE › Section - Executive Order No. 142 (2020)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
Governor Philip D. Murphy
Executive Order No. 142 (2020)
An Order Permitting the Resumption of Non-Essential Construction, Curbside Pickup at Non-Essential Retail Businesses, and Gathering in Car
Issued: May 13, 2020.
Effective:
May 13, 2020 (Paragraphs 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8);
May 18, 2020 (Paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 9).
WHEREAS, in light of the dangers posed by Coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19"), I issued Executive Order No. 103 (2020) on March 9, 2020, the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, which declared both a Public Health Emergency and State of Emergency; and
WHEREAS, the Public Health Emergency declared in Executive Order No. 103 (2020) has been twice extended, through Executive Order No. 119 (2020), which I signed on April 7, 2020, and through Executive Order No. 138 (2020), which I signed on May 6, 2020, and continues to exist today; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with N.J.S.A. App. A:9-34 and -51, I reserve the right to utilize and employ all available resources of State government to protect against the emergency created by COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, as COVID-19 continued to spread across New Jersey and an increasing number of individuals required medical care or hospitalization, I issued a series of Executive Orders pursuant to my authority under the New Jersey Civilian Defense and Disaster Control Act and the Emergency Health Powers Act, to protect the public health, safety, and welfare against the emergency created by COVID-19, including Executive Order Nos. 104-133, Executive Order Nos. 135-138, and Executive Order Nos. 140-141 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are all adopted by reference herein; and
WHEREAS, among other measures to protect the health, safety, and welfare of New Jersey residents, Executive Order No. 122 (2020) prohibited non-essential construction projects from continuing in the State, given the risk of transmission at such construction sites among the workers; and
WHEREAS, to further limit the spread of COVID-19 through person-to-person contact, I issued Executive Order No. 107 (2020), which canceled all gatherings of individuals, and which thereby prohibited everything from informal events such as parties and celebrations to organized events of any kind, unless otherwise authorized; and
WHEREAS, the State Director of Emergency Management, who is the Superintendent of the State Police, issued Administrative Order No. 2020-4 to establish that gatherings of 10 persons or fewer are presumed to be in compliance with Executive Order No. 107 (2020); and
WHEREAS, while Administrative Order No. 2020-4 acknowledged there may be circumstances in which clear evidence showed an impermissible gathering was happening even if 10 persons or fewer were in attendance, law enforcement has not identified any such situations in practice, and instead is consistently enforcing violations of the prohibition on gatherings only where there have been more than 10 people in attendance; and
WHEREAS, in addition to limiting person-to-person contact at construction sites and gatherings, I also established statewide social mitigation strategies in Executive Order No. 107 (2020) that included closing the brick-and-mortar premises of non-essential retail businesses to the public; and
WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("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 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, as the rate of reported new cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey decreases, including a reduction in the total number of individuals being admitted to hospitals for COVID-19, the State can begin to take certain steps to lift certain restrictions that were designed to limit person-to-person contact; and
WHEREAS, even as the rate of reported new cases of COVID-19 decreases, the ongoing risks presented by COVID-19 mean that a considerable number of the State's current measures must remain in place, both to reduce additional new infections and to save lives, until additional metrics--such as expanded testing and use of contact tracing--have been satisfied; and
WHEREAS, given the decrease in the rate of reported new cases of COVID-19, permitting non-essential construction projects to resume subject to strict social distancing measures, allowing for gatherings at which individuals remain in their closed vehicles, and authorizing curbside pickup at non-essential retail businesses are each measures that are appropriately tailored to the current risk to public health and safety; and
WHEREAS, construction sites are generally limited to workers, rather than customers and other members of the public, and so involve less risk of significant transmission of COVID-19 in the community; and
WHEREAS, although gatherings generally present a significant risk of person-to-person transmission, attendees at gatherings who remain in their vehicles and therefore do not come into significant in-person contact during the gathering pose a lower threat to public health and safety, but permitting individuals to leave their vehicle or open their windows or roofs when in proximity with other individuals could result in significant person-to-person contact, meaning that there must be careful limits whenever individuals gather while remaining in their vehicles; and
WHEREAS, permitting curbside pickup at non-essential retail businesses is reasonable in that it avoids unnecessary contact between customers and staff in enclosed spaces, and instead only allows for the similar amount of limited contact that might happen when products are being delivered to a residence; and
WHEREAS, by contrast, the extensive interactions that would happen at in-person gatherings and that would happen from in-store retail operations continue to present a significant risk, and so the general ban on gatherings and the restrictions on in-store operations for non-essential retail businesses cannot be lifted at this time; and
WHEREAS, the Constitution and statutes of the State of New Jersey, particularly the provisions of N.J.S.A. 26:13-1et seq. and N.J.S.A. App. A:9-33 et seq., 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. The physical operations of all construction projects that were not designated as essential in Executive Order No. 122 (2020) are permitted to resume, subject to the conditions in paragraph 2 of this Order.
2. All businesses engaged in construction projects in the State, whether or not the projects were designated as essential under Executive Order No. 122 (2020), must adopt policies that include, at minimum, the following requirements:
a. Prohibit non-essential visitors from entering the worksite;
b. Engage in appropriate social distancing measures when picking up or delivering equipment or materials;
c. Limit worksite meetings, inductions, and workgroups to groups of fewer than 10 individuals;
d. Require individuals to maintain six feet or more distance between them wherever possible;
e. Stagger work start and stop times where practicable to limit the number of individuals entering and leaving the worksite concurrently;
f. Identify congested and "high-risk areas," including but not limited to lunchrooms, breakrooms, portable rest rooms, and elevators, and limit the number of individuals at those sites concurrently where practicable;
g. Stagger lunch breaks and work times where practicable to enable operations to safely continue while utilizing the least number of individuals possible at the site;
h. Require workers and visitors to wear cloth face coverings, in accordance with CDC recommendations, while on the premises, except where doing so would inhibit the individual's health or the individual is under two years of age, and require workers to wear gloves while on the premises. Businesses must provide, at their expense, such face coverings and gloves for their employees. If a visitor refuses to wear a cloth face covering for non-medical reasons and if such covering cannot be provided to the individual by the business at the point of entry, then the business must decline entry to the individual. Nothing in the stated policy should prevent workers or visitors from wearing a surgical-grade mask or other more protective face covering if the individual is already in possession of such equipment, or if the businesses 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 the premises due to a medical condition that inhibits such usage, neither the business nor its staff shall require the individual to produce medical documentation verifying the stated condition;
i. Require infection control practices, such as regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage and disposal;
j. Limit sharing of tools, equipment, and machinery;
k. Where running water is not available, provide portable washing stations with soap and/or alcohol-based hand sanitizers that have greater than 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol;
l. Require frequent sanitization of high-touch areas like restrooms, breakrooms, equipment, and machinery;
m. When the worksite is an occupied residence, require workers to sanitize work areas and keep a distance of at least six feet from the occupants; and
n. Place conspicuous signage at entrances and throughout the worksite detailing the above mandates.