Bill > A4041

Introduced Session

This bill directs the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) to establish a program to provide grants to local government units and qualifying tax exempt nonprofit organizations for the acquisition of development easements on privately-owned woodlands. The purpose of the program would be the preservation and stewardship of lands for agricultural, silvicultural, or horticultural use and production. The use of such funding, for the bill's purposes, is to be consistent with the provisions of the "Preserve New Jersey Act," P.L.2016, c.12 (C.13:8C-43 et seq.) and the State Constitution. In order to be eligible for inclusion in the new development easement program established pursuant to the bill, a woodland would be required to: (1) be at least five acres in size; (2) be devoted to the production for sale of tree or forest products, other than Christmas trees, or be appurtenant woodlands to land so devoted; (3) be managed by the landowner in accordance with a forest stewardship plan approved pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2009, c.256 (C.13:1L-31), a woodland management plan approved pursuant to section 3 of the "Farmland Assessment Act of 1964," P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.3), or a plan approved pursuant to the federal Forest Stewardship Program administered by the United States Forest Service; (4) not be a property targeted for acquisition or preservation by the Department of Environmental Protection or the Garden State Preservation Trust, as certified by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection or the commissioner's designee; (5) be supportive of, or include, an existing parcel of farmland; and (6) be located in an agricultural development area designated pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1983, c.32 (C.4:1C-11 et al.). The appraisal process for development easements under the program would be the same as that for farmland under the provisions of subsection e. of section 8 of P.L.2016, c.12 (C.13:8C-50), which were recently revised by P.L.2023, c.245. Under the program, the SADC would use constitutionally dedicated corporation business tax (CBT) revenues in order to provide grants to local government units and qualifying tax exempt nonprofit organizations to fund the acquisition of development easements. The bill would stipulate that up to 15 percent of the annual appropriations of moneys from the "Preserve New Jersey Farmland Preservation Fund" by the SADC could be used for the program. The grants distributed by the SADC would be authorized to cover up to 80 percent of the costs of acquisition of a development easement by a local government unit, and up to 50 percent of the costs of acquisition of a development easement by a nonprofit organization. The bill would also require that those moneys in the "Preserve New Jersey Farmland Preservation Fund" that are used to provide grants to local government units and nonprofit organizations to acquire development easements on farmland and woodlands be awarded on the condition that grant awardees will expend the funds with first priority given to the preservation of farmland, second priority given to the preservation of farmland with appurtenant woodlands, and third priority given to the preservation of woodlands that are supportive of, or include, existing farmland under the program established pursuant to this bill. It is the intent of the bill's sponsor to establish a program that is different from the Green Acres program administered by the Department of Environmental Protection in the following ways. First, properties in the program would remain in private hands. Although the Green Acres program has the ability to obtain development easements, rather than acquiring land outright, it has in recent years chosen to focus exclusively on land acquisition. This program, by contrast, would not involve the acquisition of land by the State. Secondly, properties that participate in this program would remain subject to property taxes, thus not depriving municipalities of needed revenue. Third, the bill would allow for small properties to participate in the program, as opposed to the larger properties that are prioritized by the Green Acres program. Fourth, this program would encourage the effective protection and management of woodlands by the property owners themselves, who are in the best position to do so. Finally, the program would allow small farms with large tracts of supportive woodlands, which may not qualify for preservation under current farmland preservation program rules, to qualify for funding.

Committee Categories

Alex Sauickie (R)*,  Dawn Fantasia (R), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste Committee (on 03/07/2024)

Official Document