New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 14 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Chapter 5 - ELECTRIC SERVICE › Subchapter 9 - ELECTRIC UTILITY LINE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT › Section 14:5-9.3 - General provisions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) An EDC shall ensure that vegetation
				management is conducted in accordance with this subchapter on any energized
				conductors of 600 volts and higher, whether for distribution or transmission,
				that the electric public utility owns, in whole or in part.
(b) Each EDC shall obtain, and shall ensure
				that its contractors obtain, all required permits and licenses prior to
				commencement of vegetation management.
(c) An EDC that utilizes chemical or
				biological agents in vegetation management shall comply with any laws or
				regulations governing the use of those biological and chemical
				agents.
(d) Each EDC shall employ a
				vegetation manager, who is an electric utility arborist. The VM shall be a
				utility employee, not a contractor. The electric public utility shall provide
				the VM with the authority and the resources to administer all aspects of the
				utility's vegetation management program, and the VM shall ensure that the
				electric public utility complies with this subchapter. The VM's name and
				contact information shall be posted on the electric utility's website and shall
				be included on all notifications provided pursuant to the notice requirements
				of 14:5-9.10.
(e) Each EDC shall ensure that all
				contractors hired to perform vegetation management inform their workers of all
				applicable Federal and State laws, rules or regulations that apply to the work
				performed under this subchapter. The EDC shall also ensure that all contractors
				comply with each applicable requirement of this subchapter and all other
				applicable law.
(f) In addition to
				the vegetation management work required under this subchapter, an EDC, at the
				sole discretion of the EDC's VM, may perform additional vegetation management
				work, on the EDC's distribution system, which is requested to meet the
				aesthetic desires of a municipality or a private property owner and which is
				brought to the attention of the EDC's VM before the EDC's vegetation management
				commences in a municipality or on a private property owner's property, provided
				that the additional work requested will not impair the EDC's ability to meet
				the reliability and safety objectives of this subchapter, negatively impact the
				EDC's schedule of vegetation management work, or require incremental costs. An
				EDC that performs vegetation management on the EDC's distribution system at the
				request of a municipality, government agency, or private property owner, other
				than the vegetation management work required under this subchapter, may require
				the requesting party to pay any incremental cost above the EDC's cost to
				perform the vegetation management required by this subchapter. This subsection
				shall not apply to transmission line vegetation management required under
				14:5-9.7.
(g) Upon a written request from a
				municipality, an EDC may, but is not required to, temporarily suspend
				compliance with one or more of the vegetation management requirements of this
				subchapter, within the following limits:
1.
				The suspension of compliance shall apply only to the distribution system, and
				shall not apply to transmission line vegetation management required under
				14:5-9.7;
2. The suspension of compliance shall apply
				only to those portions of a distribution system that are located within the
				municipality, and that do not affect service to any adjacent
				municipality;
3. The EDC shall not
				suspend compliance with any requirement if the suspension would result in
				danger to the public; and
4. If the
				suspension results in additional costs to the EDC due to lack of tree trimming
				or other vegetation management, the municipality shall reimburse the EDC for
				additional costs.