1. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, when entering into a contract for a public highway project or a local road project, the Department of Transportation or the local contracting unit, as defined in and subject to the provisions of the “Local Public Contracts Law,” P.L.1971, c.198 (C. 40A:11-1 et seq.), shall authorize the contracted party to use recycled materials constituting a maximum of 35 percent, by weight, of the total pavement mixture for base and intermediate pavement courses, and a maximum of 20 percent, by weight, of the total pavement mixture for surface pavement courses, provided that, prior to the installation of asphalt mixtures containing reclaimed asphalt pavement, the contractor for the public highway project or local road project contracted pursuant to this section shall provide a mix design for approval to the Department of Transportation, which consists exclusively of materials, reclaimed asphalt pavement, mixtures, binders, and aggregates that meet or exceed the mix design specifications provided by the Department of Transportation.

b. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit a local contracting unit from electing, in its discretion, to allow a party contracted for the purposes of a local road project, which does not receive State funds, to use reclaimed asphalt pavement, for the purposes of the project, at higher maximum percentage rates than the rates established pursuant to this section.

c. All reclaimed asphalt pavement used pursuant to subsection b. of this section shall consist of only materials, mixtures, binders, and aggregates that have been approved under current Department of Transportation standard specifications.

d. As used in this section:

“Public highway” means public roads, streets, expressways, freeways, parkways, motorways, and boulevards, including bridges, tunnels, overpasses, underpasses, interchanges, rest areas, express bus roadways, bus pullouts and turnarounds, park-ride facilities, traffic circles, grade separations, traffic control devices, the elimination or improvement of crossings of railroads and highways, whether at grade or not at grade, bicycle and pedestrian pathways, and pedestrian and bicycle bridges traversing public highways and any facilities, equipment, property, rights of way, easements, and interests therein needed for the construction, improvement, and maintenance of highways.

“Local road project” means a transportation infrastructure project that is authorized by a county or municipality and involves the construction, repair, renovation, restoration, replacement, or extension of a highway, as defined by R.S.39:1-1, which is owned, controlled, or maintained by the county or municipality.

L.2023, c.160, s.1.