STATE OF NEW JERSEY
216th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2014 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Assemblyman GILBERT "WHIP" L. WILSON
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblywoman CELESTE M. RILEY
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Requires any State entity planting vegetation to use only vegetation native to area being planted, and when purchasing vegetation, to purchase, to the maximum extent possible, only from NJ businesses.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning native vegetation and supplementing Title 13 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
“Plant hardiness zone” means a zone identified as existing in New Jersey pursuant to the most recent edition of the Plant Hardiness Zone Map published by the United States Department of Agriculture.
“State entity” means a department, agency, or office of State government, including a State university or college, or an authority created by the State.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary, any State entity, when purchasing vegetation for purposes of landscaping, land management, reforestation, or habitat restoration, shall purchase, to the maximum extent possible, from a business located in the State of New Jersey.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary, any State entity, when planting vegetation for purposes of landscaping, land management, reforestation, or habitat restoration, shall plant only vegetation identified by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to section 4 of this act as being native to the particular plant hardiness zone in which the vegetation is being planted.
4. The Department of Environmental Protection shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act, including but not limited to rules and regulations that identify, for each plant hardiness zone, all of the particular species of vegetation that are native to the plant hardiness zone.
5. Section 3 of this act shall take effect on the 180th day after the date of enactment and the remainder of this act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require that whenever any State entity plants vegetation for purposes of landscaping, land management, reforestation, or habitat restoration, the State entity would be required to plant only vegetation that is native to the area being planted. In addition, when purchasing vegetation for such purposes, the State entity would be required, to the maximum extent possible, to purchase only from businesses located in New Jersey.
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) would be required to adopt rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of the bill, including rules and regulations that identify those particular species of vegetation that are native to each plant hardiness zone found within the State, as identified pursuant to the most recent edition of the Plant Hardiness Zone Map published by the United States Department of Agriculture. When planting in any given plant hardiness zone, State entities would be required to plant only those species identified by the DEP rules and regulations as being native to that zone.