Bill > A4011

Introduced Session

This bill would provide that a development at a commercial farm that creates 1.25 acres or less of regulated impervious surface, regulated motor vehicle surface, or a combination thereof, would not be considered a major development and therefore, that a commercial farm would not be subject to the requirements or permitting fees associated with a major development under the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) stormwater management rules at N.J.A.C.7:8-1.1 et seq. The bill would also permit, but not require, the DEP to adopt rules and regulations establishing new standards and requirements for commercial farms that create 1.25 acres or less of regulated impervious surface or regulated motor vehicle surface, or a combination thereof, so long as the rules and regulations are less stringent than those for major developments. It is the view of the sponsor that existing State laws and regulations concerning stormwater management, which consider development at commercial farms to be a "major development," impose excessive requirements and permitting fees that are disproportionate to the relative lack of risk of stormwater management runoff at commercial farms. The sponsor notes that in the specific case of a development to construct a hay barn at a particular commercial farm, the costs of compliance with existing State laws and regulations concerning stormwater management, including the creation of a basin, engineering costs, and permitting fees, doubled the cost of the original development from $250,000 to $500,000.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Alex Sauickie (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee (on 02/05/2026)

Official Document