Every sewerage authority is hereby empowered, in its own name but for the local unit or units, to acquire by purchase, gift, grant or devise and to take for public use real property, within or without the district, which may be deemed by the sewerage authority necessary for its purposes, including public lands, waters, parks, roads, playgrounds, reservations and public or private rights in waters within or without the district, and any property within or without the district owned by or in which any county, municipality or political subdivision of the State, or public body or agency of such political subdivision, has any right, title or interest. Such sewerage authority is hereby empowered to acquire and take such real property, including any such public property or such public interest therein, by condemnation, in the manner provided by chapter 1 of Title 20, Eminent Domain, of the Revised Statutes (R.S. 20:1-1 et seq.) and, to that end, may invoke and exercise in the manner or mode of procedure prescribed in said chapter, either in its own name or in the name of any local unit or units, all of the powers of such local unit or units to acquire or take property for public use.

Upon the filing of a complaint in any action to fix the compensation to be paid for any such property, or at any time thereafter, such sewerage authority may file with the clerk of the county in which such property is located and also with the Clerk of the Superior Court a declaration of taking, signed by the sewerage authority, declaring that possession of 1 or more of the tracts or parcels of land or property described in the complaint is thereby being taken by and for the use of the sewerage authority. The said declaration of taking shall be sufficient if it sets forth (1) a description of each tract or parcel of land or property to be so taken sufficient for the identification thereof to which there may or may not be attached a plan or map thereof; (2) a statement of the estate or interest in the said land or property being taken; (3) a statement of the sum of money estimated by the sewerage authority by resolution to be just compensation for the taking of the estate or interest in each tract or parcel of land or property described in said declaration; and (4) that, in compliance with the provisions of this act, the sewerage authority has established and is maintaining a trust fund as hereinafter provided.

Upon the filing of the said declaration, the sewerage authority shall deposit with the Clerk of the Superior Court the amount of the estimated compensation stated in said declaration. In addition to the said deposits with the Clerk of the Superior Court the sewerage authority at all times shall maintain a fund on deposit with a bank or trust company doing business in this State in an amount at least equal to the aggregate amount deposited with the Clerk of the Superior Court as estimated compensation for all property described in declarations of taking with respect to which the compensation has not been finally determined and paid to the persons entitled thereto or into court. Said fund shall consist of cash or securities readily convertible into cash constituting legal investments for trust funds under the laws of this State or may consist of all or some part of the proceeds of bonds of the sewerage authority held by any trustee for the holders of such bonds and available for payment for the land or other property described in such declarations of taking. Said fund shall be held by or on behalf of the sewerage authority to secure and may be applied to the payment of just compensation for the land or other property described in such declarations of taking. The sewerage authority shall be entitled to withdraw from said fund from time to time so much as may then be in excess of the aggregate amount deposited with the Clerk of the Superior Court as estimated compensation for all property described in declarations of taking with respect to which the compensation has not been finally determined and paid to the persons entitled thereto or into court.

Upon the filing of the said declaration as aforesaid and depositing with the Clerk of the Superior Court the amount of the estimated compensation stated in said declaration, the sewerage authority, without other process or proceedings, shall be entitled to the exclusive possession and use of each tract of land or property described in said declaration and may forthwith enter into and take possession of said land or property, it being the intent of this provision that the action to fix compensation to be paid or any other proceedings relating to the taking of said land or interest therein or other property shall not delay the taking of possession thereof and the use thereof by the sewerage authority for the purpose or purposes for which the sewerage authority is authorized by law to acquire or condemn such land or other property or interest therein.

The sewerage authority shall cause notice of the filing of said declaration and the making of said deposit to be served upon each party to the action to fix the compensation to be paid, who resides in this State, either personally or by leaving a copy thereof at his residence, if known, and upon each such party who resides out of the State, by mailing a copy thereof to him at his residence, if known. In the event that the residence of any such party or the name of such party is unknown, such notice shall be published at least once in a newspaper published or circulating in the county or counties in which the land is located. Such service, mailing or publication shall be made within ten days after filing such declaration. Upon the application of any party in interest and after notice to other parties in interest, including the sewerage authority, the Superior Court may direct that the money deposited with the Clerk of the Superior Court or any part thereof be paid forthwith to the person or persons entitled thereto for or on account of the just compensation to be awarded in said action; provided, that each such person shall have filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court a consent in writing that, in the event the award in the said action shall be less than the amount deposited, the court, after such notice as the court prescribes and hearing, may determine his liability, if any, for the return of such difference or any part thereof and enter judgment therefor. If the amount of the award as finally determined shall exceed the amount so deposited, the person or persons to whom the award is payable shall be entitled to recover from the sewerage authority the difference between the amount of the deposit and the amount of the award, with interest at the rate of 6% per annum thereon from the date of making the deposit. If the amount of the award shall be less than the amount so deposited, the Clerk of the Superior Court shall return the difference between the amount of the award and the deposit to the sewerage authority unless the amount of the deposit or any part thereof shall have theretofore been distributed, in which event the court, on application of the sewerage authority and notice to all persons interested in the award and affording them an opportunity to be heard, shall enter judgment in favor of the sewerage authority for such difference against the party or parties liable for the return thereof.

The sewerage authority shall not abandon any condemnation proceeding subsequent to the date upon which it has taken possession of the land or property as herein provided.

In addition to other powers conferred by this act or by any other law, and not in limitation thereof, every sewerage authority, in connection with construction or operation of any part of a sewerage system, shall have power to make reasonable regulations for the installation, construction, maintenance, repair, renewal, relocation and removal of tracks, pipes, mains, conduits, cables, wires, towers, poles or any other equipment and appliances (herein called “facilities” ) of any public utility, as defined in section 48:2-13 of the Revised Statutes, in, on, along, over or under any real property, including public lands, waters, parks, roads, streets, highways, playgrounds and reservations. Whenever in connection with construction or operation of any part of a sewerage system, any sewerage authority shall determine that it is necessary that any such facilities, which now are, or hereafter may be, located in, on, along, over or under any such real property, including public lands, waters, parks, roads, streets, highways, playgrounds and reservations, should be relocated in such real property, including public lands, waters, parks, roads, streets, highways, playgrounds and reservations, or should be removed therefrom, the public utility owning or operating such facilities shall relocate or remove the same in accordance with the order of the sewerage authority; provided, however, that the cost and expenses of such relocation or removal, including the cost of installing such facilities in a new location, or new locations, and the cost of any lands or any rights or interest in lands or any other rights acquired to accomplish such relocation or removal, less the cost of any lands or any rights or interests in lands or any other rights of the public utility paid to the public utility in connection with the relocation or removal of such property, shall be paid by the sewerage authority and may be included in the cost of such sewerage system. In case of any such relocation or removal of facilities, as aforesaid, the public utility owning or operating the same, its successors or assigns, may maintain and operate such facilities, with the necessary appurtenances, in the new location or new locations for as long a period, and upon the same terms and conditions, as it had the right to maintain and operate such facilities in their former location.

L.1946, c. 138, p. 662, s. 20. Amended by L.1951, c. 127, p. 556, s. 7; L.1953, c. 177, p. 1461, s. 5; L.1956, c. 113, p. 500, s. 1, eff. June 21, 1946.