On July 1, 2020, Governor Murphy signed the Permit Extension Act of 2020, P.L. 2020, c.53 (“Chapter 53”) into law. The legislature crafted Chapter 53 as a policy response to the economic malaise caused by the COVID-19 crisis. By way of background, Governor Murphy conditionally vetoed a previous iteration of the law in June. Chapter 53 benefits businesses and developers by automatically extending various governmental approvals during the pendency of the crisis. The law also provides a relaxation for municipal action related to various deadlines under the Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL). However, and as will be discussed below, there is language in Chapter 53 that detracts from that goal.

Chapter 53 tolls state and local permit approvals in existence at the beginning of the COVID-19 extension period or issued during said period. The “COVID-19 extension period” is defined as the period beginning on March 9, 2020, and “continuing for as long as a public health emergency, pursuant to the Public Health Powers Act … has been declared by the Governor in response to COVID-19.” This language reflects a change requested by the governor. Under the legislature’s initial version of the law, the extension period would have also included the “state of emergency” declared by the governor in response to COVID-19—a time period which in the governor’s estimation that would have extended well beyond the “public health emergency.” The governor, concerned with negative environmental outcomes associated with a lengthy extension period, requested by way of conditional veto that the extension period be limited to the period of the “public health emergency” only.