A3810

An Act establishing a “Value-Added Dairy Farming Program” in the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, and supplementing P.L.1974, c.80 (C.34:1B-1 et seq.).

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. As used in this act:

"Authority" means the New Jersey Economic Development Authority established pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1974, c.80 (C.34:1B-4).

“Department” means the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.

“Program” means the “Value-Added Dairy Farming Program” established pursuant to subsection a. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

"Qualified dairy farmer" means a person or business entity that produces valued-added dairy products and that, at the time of application for participation in the program and receipt of a loan from the revolving loan fund, is independently owned and operated, operates primarily within this State, and satisfies other criteria that may be established by the authority.

“Revolving loan fund” means the “Value-Added Dairy Farming Revolving Loan Fund” established pursuant to subsection b. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

“Value-added dairy product” means a dairy product created by a qualified dairy farmer by means of a change in the physical state of a dairy commodity, and shall include, but not be limited to, cheese, cultured sour cream, yogurt, kefir, butter, ice cream, evaporated milk, condensed milk, and concentrated milk.

2. a. The authority shall establish a “Value-Added Dairy Farming Program.” The authority shall maintain and administer the program for the purpose of financing the expansion of value-added dairy production in this State. The authority shall, jointly with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, define the types of dairy products that shall be considered as value-added dairy products under the program not inconsistent with section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), develop program guidelines, and develop materials to provide to qualified dairy farmers seeking to expand value-added dairy production in this State.

b. The authority shall establish a revolving loan fund to be known as the "Value-Added Dairy Farming Revolving Loan Fund." The authority shall maintain and administer the revolving loan fund under the program, and shall provide low-interest loans from monies in the revolving loan fund to qualified dairy farmers participating in the program.

c. In connection with any application for a loan to be made pursuant to this section, the authority may require a program applicant to pay for the cost of any appraisal, credit investigation or report, survey, or other professional service performed by a third party that is deemed necessary by the authority to properly evaluate the application.

d. All repayments on loans made pursuant to this section, and interest on those loans, shall be deposited in the revolving loan fund. Earnings received from monies in the revolving loan fund shall be credited to the revolving loan fund.

3. The authority and the department shall jointly adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act including, but not limited to, the criteria and procedures concerning loan applications, the criteria and procedures for selecting from competing loan applications and for awarding loans to qualified dairy farmers, criteria and procedures to be followed by qualified dairy farmers in administering revolving loan funds supported by the program, criteria for determining the terms and conditions of loans and loan repayments, and criteria for determining nonperformance and declaring default in the administration of loans.

4. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the authority shall allocate $1,000,000 from monies available to the authority from other business development programs administered by the authority, as the authority deems appropriate, or from other monies as may be made available to the authority from public or private sources, for deposit into the “Value-Added Dairy Farming Revolving Loan Fund” to effectuate the purposes of P.L., , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

5. This act shall take effect on the 90th day after enactment, except that the authority and the department may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“EDA”) to establish a “Value-Added Dairy Farming Program” (program). The EDA is required to maintain and administer the program to finance the expansion of value-added dairy production in this State. The EDA, jointly with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (“department”), is required to define the types of dairy products that shall be considered as value-added dairy products under the program, to include, at least, cheese, cultured sour cream, yogurt, kefir, butter, ice cream, evaporated milk, condensed milk, and concentrated milk. The EDA, jointly with the department, is also required to develop program guidelines and materials to provide to qualified dairy farmers seeking to expand value-added dairy production in this State. The EDA and the department are required to jointly adopt rules and regulations, to govern administration of the program.

The bill requires EDA to establish, maintain, and administer a "Value-Added Dairy Farming Revolving Loan Fund," as part of the program. The bill requires EDA to allocate $1,000,000 from monies available to the EDA for other business development programs, as EDA deems appropriate, or other sources, for deposit in the revolving loan fund. The EDA is required to use monies in the revolving loan fund to make low-interest loans to qualified dairy farmers participating in the program to finance the expansion of value-added dairy production in this State. Loans from the revolving loan fund are required to be awarded based on the criteria established by the EDA, jointly with the department, and all repayments of loans and interest are required to be deposited in the revolving loan fund, along with earnings received from monies in the revolving loan fund. The EDA is authorized to require a loan applicant to pay for the cost of any appraisal, credit investigation or report, survey, or other professional service that is deemed necessary to properly evaluate a loan application.

Under the bill, a “qualified dairy farmer" is defined as a person or business entity that produces value-added dairy products and that, at the time of application for participation in the program and receipt of a loan from the revolving loan fund, is independently owned and operated, operates primarily within this State, and satisfies other criteria that may be established by the EDA.

The bill takes effect on the 90th day after enactment, but the EDA and department are permitted to take certain anticipatory administrative action prior to the bill’s effective date.