Bill > A1529

Introduced Session

This bill would prohibit the sale, offering for sale, distribution, importation, exportation, or other propagation of certain invasive plant species in the State, except under a valid permit issued by the Department of Agriculture (DOA), and it would require the DOA to adopt rules and regulations establishing and implementing a permitting program to facilitate the safe sale, import, export, introduction, distribution, and propagation of regulated invasive species in the State. The bill would also establish, in the statutory law, with certain modifications, the New Jersey Invasive Species Council (council) that was originally created by Governor Corzine's Executive Order No. 97 of 2004. The bill defines "regulated invasive species" to mean an invasive plant species, and any non-hybrid sub-species, variety, cultivar, or other subcategory thereof, which is included in a list of invasive species to be developed by the DOA under the bill. The bill would expressly exempt, from its prohibitions and permitting requirements, certain plant cultivars and varieties of Chinese Silvergrass, which have been deemed to be non-invasive, and it would further authorize the department's rules and regulations to establish criteria for the exemption, from the bill, of other cultivars, subspecies, and varieties of ordinarily invasive plant species which are proven to be non-invasive, by virtue of sterility factors or other unique and stable genetic traits. The bill would require the DOA, within one year after the bill's effective date, to develop a list of the regulated invasive species that are subject to the bill's permitting requirements. Each year thereafter, the DOA would be required to update the departmental list, as necessary to designate new species as regulated invasive species for the bill's purposes. In order to designate a new plant species as a regulated invasive species, the DOA would be required to find that the species threatens, or has the potential to threaten, the ecological, cultural, historical, or infrastructure resources of, or human health in, the State. The departments would not be authorized to designate a species as a regulated invasive species solely on the basis that it is non-native to New Jersey. The bill also requires the DOA's rules and regulations to incorporate labeling requirements for regulated invasive species, permit application requirements, criteria for permit approval, and a fee schedule. The DOA would further be required, in consultation with the Invasive Species Council and other relevant entities, as deemed appropriate, to develop or provide physical and digital educational materials, for distribution to consumers at the point of sale. These materials are to identify the State's regulated invasive species, as well as the best propagation, cultivation, and management practices to be used in order to prevent the spread of a regulated invasive species, and, where applicable, alternative species that can be more safely propagated in the State. A person who violates the bill's provisions would be subject to a warning for a first offense and a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for a second offense, up to $2,000 for a third offense, and up to $5,000 for a fourth or subsequent offense. Any violator would be provided with a three-month period in which to remediate any violation before being subjected to an enhanced penalty for a subsequent offense under the bill's provisions. The DOA would also be authorized to seek injunctive relief, as necessary to prevent an ongoing violation, and to seize and destroy any invasive plant species that forms a basis of a violation. The DOA would be required to conduct nursery inspections, in a manner and form similar to inspections for nursery stock conducted pursuant to law, to evaluate compliance with the bill's provisions. The New Jersey Invasive Species Council, as established under the bill, would consist of a combination of ex-officio members from State agencies and pubic members appointed by the Governor. The council would be charged with examining and revising the 2009 New Jersey Strategic Management Plan for Invasive Species, prepared by the New Jersey Invasive Species Council pursuant to Executive Order No. 97 of 2004. The council would be required to submit the revised plan to the Governor and the Legislature no later than two years after the effective date of the bill. The council would also be charged with the following duties: (1) reviewing comprehensive lists of invasive species and likely invasive species present in New Jersey and the nearby states of New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia for possible inclusion on the list; (2) developing procedures for the addition of new species to the departmental list maintained under the bill; (3) providing recommendations to the DOA regarding their addition of new species to the list of regulated invasive species; and (4) performing various other tasks related to the management of invasive species. The bill would exclude, from the council's responsibilities, the requirement - present in Executive Order No. 97 - to plan, design, and implement two invasive species eradication and native plant restoration pilot projects.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Clinton Calabrese (D)*,  Aura Dunn (R), 

Withdrawn Because Approved P.L.2025, c.290. (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document