Bill Text: NJ A1958 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Concerns exemptions from permits for certain agricultural activities under "Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act". *

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)

Status: (Passed) 2016-01-19 - Approved P.L.2015, c.272. [A1958 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2014-A1958-Amended.html

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[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 1958

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

216th LEGISLATURE

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2014 SESSION

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  CELESTE M. RILEY

District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)

Assemblyman  UPENDRA J. CHIVUKULA

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

Assemblyman  GILBERT "WHIP" L. WILSON

District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)

 

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Caride

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Concerns exemptions from permits for certain agricultural activities under "Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act."

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As amended by the Senate on January 7, 2016.

  

An Act concerning freshwater wetlands ¹exemptions,¹ and ¹[supplementing] amending¹ P.L.1987, c.156 ¹[(C.13:9B-1 et seq.)]¹.

 

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

 

     ¹[1. a.  For the purposes of any permit or letter of exemption involving agricultural activities issued by the department, or any enforcement action undertaken by the department involving agricultural activities, pursuant to the "Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act," P.L.1987, c.156 (C.13:9B-1 et seq.):

     (1)   An agricultural field shall be considered active, and not deemed abandoned, if any combination of crop production or maintenance or renovation of the field for agricultural purposes has taken place on the field within five years.  The lack of a commercial harvest or production of a crop on or from the agricultural field shall not be a determining factor in designating the agricultural field as abandoned;

     (2)   In any case in which an agricultural field has not been maintained or renovated for agricultural purposes, or used for commercial harvest or production of a crop, within five years preceding an application for a permit or letter of exemption, the resumption of crop production or maintenance or renovation of the agricultural field for agricultural purposes shall be considered minimally adverse to the environment and permissible if:  (a) the crop production on, or maintenance or renovation of, the field is related to the previous use of the agricultural field for agricultural purposes within the 25 years preceding the resumption of crop production or maintenance or renovation of the field; or (b) during the previous use of the agricultural field for agricultural purposes, it was disturbed, developed, or otherwise built upon for those purposes such that the agricultural field cannot return to a natural wetland state regardless of the length of time it is inactive, poorly maintained, or uncultivated.

     b.    As used in this section, "agricultural field" means a field used for agricultural purposes, including a blueberry field or cranberry bog; and "previous use" means crop production on, or maintenance or renovation of, a field.]¹

 

     ¹[2. a.  With regard to cranberry production, in addition to the provisions of section 1 and 3 of P.L.    , c.   (C.      ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the department shall issue any necessary permit or letter of exemption to the owner of an agricultural field, or the lessee or previous lessee of an agricultural field on State-owned land, and authorize the restoration of cranberry production on the agricultural field, provided that:

     (1)   the owner or lessee previously used the agricultural field for the production of cranberries, or maintained or renovated it for that purpose; and

     (2)   the department determined, within the 25 years prior to the effective date of P.L.    , c.   (C.      ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the agricultural field to be abandoned because it had not produced a crop for five years, although it was being maintained or renovated for agricultural purposes at the time of its designation as abandoned.

     b.    Any necessary permit or letter of exemption issued pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall authorize the owner or the lessee to produce cranberries on the agricultural field, and to maintain and renovate the agricultural field for the production of cranberries until such time as production of a cranberry crop is warranted.

     c.     The department shall renew the lease of any lessee or previous lessee of an agricultural field on State-owned land previously used by the lessee for the production of cranberries but whose lease was revoked or expired within the 25 years prior to the effective date of P.L.    , c.   (C.      ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) as a result of a department determination as described in paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section.

     If, after the department determined the agricultural field to be abandoned, another individual or entity leased the land previously leased and used by the previous lessee as described in subsection a. of this section, the department shall:

     (1)   reissue a lease to the previous lessee, as soon as it is practicable to transfer the lease of the land, or lease comparable land for the same purpose to the previous lessee of the land; and

     (2)   authorize the resumption of cranberry production on the leased State-owned land, including but not limited to, maintenance and renovation of the agricultural field until the lessee determines that production of a cranberry crop is warranted.]¹

 

     ¹[3. No agricultural field regulated pursuant to section 1 or 2 of this act may be deemed abandoned if any combination of crop production or maintenance or renovation of the field for agricultural purposes has taken place on the field within the prior five years.  The lack of a commercial harvest or production of a crop on or from the agricultural field shall not be a determining factor in designating the agricultural field as abandoned.]¹

 

     ¹1.   Section 4 of P.L.1987, c.156 (C.13:9B-4) is amended to read as follows:

     4.    The following are exempt from the requirement of a freshwater wetlands permit and transition area requirements unless the United States Environmental Protection Agency's regulations providing for the delegation to the state of the federal wetlands program conducted pursuant to the Federal Act require a permit for any of these activities, in which case the department shall require a permit for those activities so identified by that agency:

     a.     Normal farming, silviculture, and ranching activities such as plowing, seeding, cultivating, minor drainage, harvesting for the production of food and fiber, or upland soil and water conservation practices; construction or maintenance of farm or stock ponds or irrigation ditches, or the maintenance of drainage ditches; the installation of temporary farm structures with only a dirt or fabric floor, including hoophouses and polyhouses, and any grading or land contouring associated therewith on lands that were actively cultivated on or before July 1, 1988, have been in active agricultural use since then, were in active agricultural use at the time that the temporary farm structures were or are to be erected, and are identified as "ModAg" farmed wetlands on the Wetland Maps promulgated by the Department of Environmental Protection in 1988; maintenance of cranberry bogs and blueberry fields including, but not limited to, periodic flooding, sanding, control or suppression of weeds or brush in or around the bog or field, and pest control or suppression; maintenance, repair, or cleaning of dams, ditches, underdrains, floodgates, irrigation systems, or other drainage or water control facilities for cranberry bogs or blueberry fields; activities for the renewal or rehabilitation of a cranberry bog, including, but not limited to, removal of undesirable soil or vegetation, grading and leveling, installation, reconfiguration, repair or replacement of water control or supply systems or facilities, removal, relocation, or construction of internal dams, and planting of new vines in an appropriate soil layer;  construction or maintenance of farm roads or forest roads constructed and maintained in accordance with best management practices to assure that flow and circulation patterns and chemical and biological characteristics of freshwater wetlands are not impaired and that any adverse effect on the aquatic environment will be minimized;

     b.    Normal harvesting of forest products in accordance with a forest management plan approved by the State Forester;

     c.     Areas regulated as a coastal wetland pursuant to P.L.1970, c.272 (C.13:9A-1 et seq.);

     d.    Projects for which (1) preliminary site plan or subdivision applications have received preliminary approvals from the local authorities pursuant to the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.) prior to the effective date of this act, (2) preliminary site plan or subdivision applications have been submitted prior to June 8, 1987, or (3) permit applications have been approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers prior to the effective date of this act, which projects would otherwise be subject to State regulation on or after the effective date of this act, shall be governed only by the Federal Act, and shall not be subject to any additional or inconsistent substantive requirements of this act; provided, however, that upon the expiration of a permit issued pursuant to the Federal Act any application for a renewal thereof shall be made to the appropriate regulatory agency.  The department shall not require the establishment of a transition area as a condition of any renewal of a permit issued pursuant to the Federal Act prior to the effective date of this act.  Projects not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States Army Corps of Engineers and for which preliminary site or subdivision applications have been approved prior to the effective date of this act shall not require transition areas;

     e.     The exemptions in subsections a. and b. of this section shall not apply to any discharge of dredged or fill material into a freshwater wetland incidental to any activity which involves bringing an area of freshwater wetlands into a use to which it was not previously subject, where the flow or circulation patterns of the waters may be impaired, or the reach of the waters is reduced.

     f.  For the purposes of the exemptions in subsection a. of this section, a cranberry bog, blueberry field, or portion thereof, on which any of the activities specifically pertaining to cranberry bogs or blueberry fields listed in that subsection has occurred within the prior five years shall be considered an established, ongoing farming operation, and shall not be deemed abandoned.  The lack of a commercial harvest or production of a crop on or from the bog or field shall not be a determining factor as to whether the agricultural use has been abandoned.¹

(cf:  P.L.2014, c.89, s.1)

 

     ¹[4.] 2.¹     This act shall take effect immediately.