STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator JOHN J. BURZICHELLI
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Senator PARKER SPACE
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Zwicker and Turner
SYNOPSIS
Requires Department of Agriculture to conduct inspections of on-farm dairy processing activities; transfers certain resources and employees from DOH to Department of Agriculture.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act requiring the Department of Agriculture to conduct inspections of on-farm dairy processing operations and supplementing Title 24 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The jurisdiction and authority vested pursuant to existing law in the Department of Health to conduct inspections of on-farm dairy processing operations is hereby transferred to the Department of Agriculture.
b. The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Health and local boards of health, shall oversee all inspections of on-farm dairy processing activities.
c. (1) All books, papers, records, documents, and equipment in the custody of, or maintained for the use of, the Department of Health for purposes of conducting inspections of on-farm dairy processing operations are transferred to the Department of Agriculture.
(2) All employees of the Department of Health who participate in the inspection of on-farm dairy processing operations are transferred to the Department of Agriculture. Persons transferred pursuant to this paragraph shall be assigned to such duties as the Secretary of Agriculture determines.
2. The Secretary of Agriculture may 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.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill transfers the authority of all on-farm dairy processing inspection activities from the Department of Health to the Department of Agriculture. Under the bill, the Department of Agriculture is required to collaborate with the Department of Health and local boards of health to oversee all on-farm dairy processing activities. The bill transfers all books, papers, records, documents, and equipment in the custody of or maintained for the use of the Department of Health for purposes of conducting inspections of on-farm dairy processing operations to the Department of Agriculture. In addition, the bill transfers all employees of the Department of Health who participate in the inspection of on-farm dairy processing operations to the Department of Agriculture.