A5605

An Act concerning the planting of certain grasses and plants and supplementing Title 23 of the Revised Statutes.

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

1. a. As used in this section:

“Covered project” means: (1) a new construction project that requires a building or landscaping permit; or (2) a redevelopment project that requires a building or landscaping permit and involves the disturbance of at least 50 percent of the landscaped area of the property on which the project occurs.

“Covered property” means: any commercial, institutional, or industrial property, including schools and businesses; a street, right-of-way, parking lot, median, or transportation corridor; or any property owned by the State or any county, municipal, or local government unit. “Covered property” shall not include a residential property.

“Functional turf” means turf that is (1) located in a recreational use area or other space that is regularly used for civic, community, or recreational purposes, including playgrounds, sports fields, picnic grounds, amphitheaters, parks, and the playing areas of golf courses, such as driving ranges, chipping and putting greens, tee boxes, greens, fairways, and roughs; (2) designated to be part of a water quality treatment solution required for compliance with federal, State, or local agency water quality permitting requirements, which is not irrigated and does not have herbicides applied; or (3) planted to deter wildlife and is mown no more often than once a year.

“Invasive plant species” means any living part of a plant that has photosynthetic capabilities and is a member of the biological kingdom Plantae, and any cultivar, variety, subspecies, or seeds, of such species, that is determined to be non-native or alien to a terrestrial, freshwater aquatic, or marine ecosystem of New Jersey, and the introduction of which into such terrestrial, freshwater aquatic, or marine ecosystem has caused, or is likely to cause, economic, ecological, or environmental harm, or harm to human health. “Invasive plant species” includes the following specific species:

(1) Norway maple (Acer platanoides);

(2) tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima);

(3) mimosa or silk tree (Albizia julibrissin);

(4) porcelain berry (Ampelopsis glandulosa var. brevipedunculata);

(5) Japanese angelica tree (Aralia elata);

(6) Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii);

(7) Japanese clematis (Clematis terniflora);

(8) autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata);

(9) weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula);

(10) winged burning bush (Euonymus alatus);

(11) English ivy (Hedera helix);

(12) Japanese hop (Humulus japonicas);

(13) sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneate);

(14) European privet (Ligustrum vulgare);

(15) Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii);

(16) Morrow’s honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii);

(17) purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria);

(18) Japanese crabapple (Malus toringo);

(19) Chinese silvergrass (Miscanthus sinensis);

(20) Eurasian water-milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum);

(21) Oriental photinia (Photinia villosa);

(22) running bamboo (Phyllostachys);

(23) Callery or Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana);

(24) common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica);

(25) jetbead (Rhodotypos scandens);

(26) multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora);

(27) European water chestnut (Trapa natans);

(28) Siebold’s arrowwood (Viburnum sieboldii);

(29) Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda);

(30) Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis); and

(31) any other species designated pursuant to subsection c of this section.

“Local government unit” means a county, a municipality, or any board, commission, committee, authority, or agency thereof that is subject to the provisions of the “Local Public Contracts Law,” P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-1 et seq.), including a housing authority or redevelopment agency created or continued under the “Local Redevelopment and Housing Law,” P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et seq.).

“Maintain” means an action to preserve the existing state of nonfunctional turf, or an invasive plant species that has already been installed, planted, or placed, but does not include planting new seed.

“Native plant” means a plant species that is indigenous to New Jersey.

“Nonfunctional turf” means turf that is not functional turf.

“Turf” means continuous plant coverage consisting of non-native grasses or grasses that have not been hybridized for arid conditions and which, when regularly mowed, form a dense growth of leaf blades and roots.

b. Commencing January 1, 2026, no person shall install, plant, or place, or allow any person to install, plant, or place, any nonfunctional turf or invasive plant species, as part of covered project, on any portion of covered property.

c. The Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with one another and any other relevant State entity, shall, no later than one year after the effective date of this act, develop a list of invasive plant species that are subject to the requirements of this act. The list shall include, but not be limited to, the species listed in subsection a. of this section. The list shall become effective immediately upon being filed with the Office of Administrative Law. Each year thereafter, in accordance with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), the departments shall adopt rules and regulations revising the list developed pursuant to this section, as may be necessary to designate new species as regulated invasive species for the purposes of this act.

d. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit:

(1) a person from maintaining, or allowing any person to maintain, any nonfunctional turf or invasive plant species installed or planted before January 1, 2026;

(2) a person from installing, planting, placing or allowing any person to install, plant, or place grass seed or sod that is composed of native plants;

(3) a municipality from establishing prohibitions on, or requirements for, nonfunctional turf, or invasive plant species that are more stringent than the requirements of this section.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would prohibit, beginning on January 1, 2026, persons from installing, planting, or placing, or allowing another person to install, plant, or place, any nonfunctional turf or invasive plant species on certain types of property during certain types of construction projects.

Specifically, the bill would apply to the following types of property: any commercial, institutional, or industrial property, including schools and businesses; a street, right-of-way, parking lot, median, or transportation corridor; or any property owned by the State or any county, municipal, or local government unit. The projects covered under the bill would be: (1) a new construction project that requires a building or landscaping permit; or (2) a redevelopment project that requires a building or landscaping permit and involves the disturbance of at least 50 percent of the landscaped area of the property on which the project occurs. “Non-functional turf” is defined by the bill to exclude, among other things, turf that is used for recreational purposes, including playgrounds, sports fields, picnic grounds, amphitheaters, parks, and the playing areas of golf courses, such as driving ranges, chipping and putting greens, tee boxes, greens, fairways, and roughs.

The bill would establish a list of the invasive species that would be covered by the bill’s provisions. The bill would also direct the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Agriculture to develop a list, which may be more expansive from the list in the bill.