---
type: "Bill"
title: "Establishes position of State Oceanographer."
description: "Establishes position of State Oceanographer."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nj"
legislature: "New Jersey Legislature"
session: "217"
identifier: "S 987"
citation: "New Jersey S 987 (217)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["BEACHES", "NJ HISTORY", "STATE GOVT"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Danielsen, Joe", "McKnight, Angela V.", "Pinkin, Nancy J.", "Smith, Bob"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 8
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2016-02-04T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2016-11-02T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/30f1eef7-7cf1-4384-967b-c96a5ab5d686"
source_url: "http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/downloads.asp"
source_hash: "9ba1e4b159cd3ec3cb1c8f0e972415a2161610fc62de5784e7cafa12bf5d7b46"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nj"]
---

# New Jersey S 987 (217) — Establishes position of State Oceanographer.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2016/Bills/S1000/987_I1.HTM)

## Votes

- Reported favorably out of committee — **4–0** (pass) · legislature
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **34–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported favorably out of committee — **5–0** (pass) · legislature
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **63–9** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Danielsen, Joe — primary (person)
- McKnight, Angela V. — primary (person)
- Pinkin, Nancy J. — primary (person)
- Smith, Bob — primary (person)
- Coughlin, Craig J. — cosponsor (person)
- Eustace, Tim — cosponsor (person)
- McKeon, John F. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-02-04T05:00:00+00:00** Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2016-02-04T05:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Senate Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2016-02-11T05:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (34-0) `passage`
- **2016-02-16T05:00:00+00:00** Received in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee `referral-committee`
- **2016-03-03T05:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2016-09-15T04:00:00+00:00** Substituted for A231 (1R)
- **2016-09-15T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (Passed Both Houses) (63-9-4) `passage`
- **2016-11-02T04:00:00+00:00** Approved P.L.2016, c.59. `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/30f1eef7-7cf1-4384-967b-c96a5ab5d686`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New Jersey legislature records).