A5660

An Act concerning deforestation caused by development and supplementing Title 13 of the Revised Statues.

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

1. a. The Department of Environmental Protection shall establish a program to require a permit and the approval of a compensatory reforestation plan for any development greater than five acres in size that would result in deforestation, except that this requirement shall not apply to a State entity subject to the requirements of PL.1993, c.106 (C.13:1L-14.1 et seq.). The development of an area greater than five acres in size that would result in deforestation shall require permit approval from the department pursuant to this section. The department shall issue a permit pursuant to this section only to a person that prepares and implements a compensatory reforestation plan approved by the department pursuant to this section and any rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto. The requirements of this section shall be in addition to any other permits, approvals, or other authorizations required by law, and the department may consolidate the requirements of this section into the permitting requirement of other regulatory programs administered by the department.

b. A compensatory reforestation plan required pursuant to this section shall establish a goal of no net loss of forested area in the State, using the Tree Replacement Factor set forth in paragraph (7) of subsection b. of section 2 of P.L.1993, c.106 (C.13:1L-14.2). A compensatory reforestation plan shall include, at a minimum:

(1) the area of forested land that would be deforested by the development;

(2) the proposed site of the compensatory reforestation;

(3) the estimated cost of the compensatory reforestation;

(4) the entity responsible for carrying out the compensatory reforestation, if applicable;

(5) the amount to be deposited in the "State Compensatory Reforestation Fund" created pursuant to section 2 of this act, if applicable; and

(6) any other information required by the department, as specified in rules and regulations adopted pursuant to section 3 of this act.

c. A compensatory reforestation plan approved and implemented pursuant to this act shall:

(1) occur on the same property as the deforestation, whenever practicable. Otherwise, the reforestation shall be carried out in the same municipality as the site of the deforestation, whenever practicable. In no case shall the reforestation occur outside the State;

(2) use trees purchased from a nursery located in the State, whenever practicable;

(3) utilize species based upon the approved planting plan and subject to the standards established by the American Association of Nurserymen. Diversity in species composition shall be required to reduce the risk of widespread loss of trees to single insect and disease infestation and, therefore, similar species shall not exceed 30 percent of the total planting;

(4) utilize species listed as native to New Jersey on the United State's Department of Agriculture's PLANTS Database;

(5) consider the effects of climate change when selecting species; and

(6) meet any other requirements established by the department in rules and regulations adopted pursuant to section 3 of this act.

d. A person may meet the compensatory reforestation requirements of this section by implementing a compensatory reforestation plan approved by the department, contracting with a third party to implement a compensatory reforestation plan approved by the department, or by depositing an amount sufficient to cover the costs of implementation of a compensatory reforestation plan, as determined by the department, into the "State Compensatory Reforestation Fund" created pursuant to section 2 of this act.

e. No later than 120 days after receipt of a compensatory reforestation plan, the department shall make a determination to approve the plan as submitted, approve the plan with conditions, or disapprove the plan. If the plan is disapproved, the department shall inform the applicant of the reasons for the disapproval. The applicant shall have 30 days thereafter to submit a revised compensatory reforestation plan to the department. If the department does not provide notice of its determination within 120 days after its receipt of a plan or a revised plan, the plan shall be deemed to have been approved, and the applicant shall proceed to implement the plan.

f. Commencing on the first day of the third month after the effective date of the rules and regulations adopted by the department pursuant to section 3 of this section, no project that would result in development greater than five acres in size that would result in deforestation shall be commenced without the approval of a permit together with:

(1) an approved compensatory reforestation plan; or

(2) the deposit of an amount sufficient to cover the costs of implementation of a compensatory the reforestation plan, as determined by the department, into the "State Compensatory Reforestation Fund" created pursuant to section 2 of this act.

g. The Department of Environmental Protection shall have the authority to enforce the provisions of this section. The Superior Court shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.), in connection with this section. The department may institute a civil action for injunctive relief to enforce this section and to prohibit and prevent a violation of this section, and the court may proceed in the action in a summary manner.

h. As used in this section:

"Deforestation" means the removal of all trees from a contiguous area greater than one-half acre in size with a tree density greater than 204 mature trees per acre.

"Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection.

“Development” means the same as that term is defined in section 3.1 of P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-4).

"Division" means the Division of Parks and Forestry in the Department of Environmental Protection.

2. a. There is established in the Department of Environmental Protection a special, nonlapsing fund to be known as the "State Compensatory Reforestation Fund." Monies in the fund shall be used by the department only to: (1) fund reforestation efforts, including the reforestation of lands owned by the State or a local government unit; or (2) to provide grants to private landowners to subsidize the costs of tree plantings pursuant to section 3 of this act. The fund shall be credited with:

(1) compensatory reforestation payments collected from developers pursuant to this act;

(2) any other moneys appropriated by the Legislature or otherwise made available to the department for the purposes of this act; and

(3) any interest earnings or other investment income earned or received on the moneys in the fund.

b. The department may establish other such reserves or subaccounts which, in the department’ discretion, are necessary or desirable to carry out the purposes of this act, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the department for its purposes.

3. The Department of Environmental Protection shall develop and administer a grant program to subsidize the costs of private landowners who plant trees on their property. The department shall develop an application method and criteria by which to award a grant. In no case shall a grant be awarded or used to fund the implementation of a compensatory reforestation plan pursuant to this act. The department shall use moneys in the "State Compensatory Reforestation Fund," created pursuant to section 2 of this act, for the issuance of grants pursuant to this section.

4. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.

5. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would require development projects larger than five acres in size that would result in deforestation to include the implementation of a compensatory reforestation plan, in the form of tree plantings or moneys deposited into the "State Compensatory Reforestation Fund," (fund), a special, nonlapsing fund in the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that would be established by the bill. The bill would also direct the DEP to create a program that would subsidize the costs of tree plantings for private landowners, using moneys from the fund.

Specifically, under the bill, the DEP would be required to create a new permitting program to review compensatory reforestation plans submitted by persons seeking to carry out development projects larger than five acres in size that would result in deforestation. The bill defines "deforestation" as the removal of all trees from a contiguous area greater than one-half acre in size with a tree density greater than 204 mature trees per acre. The new permit would be required beginning three months after the DEP adopts rules and regulations to implement the bill.

The bill would establish various requirements for a compensatory reforestation plan, as enumerated in subsection b. of section 1 of the bill, including that the plan establish a goal of no net loss of State forested area resulting from the development. The bill would also establish various requirements for the compensatory replanting, as enumerated in subsection c. of section 1 of the bill, including that the replanting be carried out on the same property as the deforestation, whenever practicable, and in the same municipality, whenever practicable.

A person would be authorized to meet the compensatory reforestation requirements of the bill by implementing the reforestation plan, contracting with a third party to implement the reforestation plan, or by depositing an amount sufficient to cover the costs of the reforestation, as determined by the department, into the fund.

The bill would also direct the DEP to develop and administer a grant program to subsidize the costs of private landowners who plant trees on their property. The DEP would use moneys in the fund to issue the grants. The bill would specify that grants could not be awarded or used to fund the implementation of a compensatory reforestation plan.