Bill Text: NJ A2633 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes farmland assessment for lands involved in maple syrup and other specialty crop production under certain circumstances.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-14 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture and Food Security Committee [A2633 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A2633-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes farmland assessment for lands involved in maple syrup and other specialty crop production under certain circumstances.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning farmland assessment, and amending P.L.1964, c.48.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 3 of P.L.1964, c.48 (C.4:4-23.3) is amended to read as follows:
3. Land shall be deemed to be in agricultural use when devoted to the production for sale of plants and animals useful to man, including but not limited to: forages and sod crops; grains and feed crops; dairy animals and dairy products; poultry and poultry products; livestock, including beef cattle, sheep, swine, horses, ponies, mules or goats, including the breeding, boarding, raising, rehabilitating, training or grazing of any or all of such animals, except that "livestock" shall not include dogs; bees and apiary products; fur animals; trees and forest products; or when devoted to and meeting the requirements and qualifications for payments or other compensation pursuant to a soil conservation program under an agreement with an agency of the federal government, except that land which is devoted exclusively to the production for sale of tree and forest products, other than Christmas trees, or devoted as sustainable forestland, and is not appurtenant woodland, shall not be deemed to be in agricultural use unless the landowner fulfills the following additional conditions:
a. The landowner establishes and complies with the provisions of a forest stewardship plan for this land, approved by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2009, c.256 (C.13:1L-31), or a woodland management plan for this land, prepared in accordance with policies, guidelines and practices approved by the Division of Parks and Forestry in the Department of Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture and the Dean of Cook College at Rutgers, The State University, which policies, guidelines and practices are designed to eliminate excessive and unnecessary cutting;
b. The landowner, and a forester from a list of foresters approved by the Department of Environmental Protection or other professional from a list of other professionals authorized by the department in consultation with the forest stewardship advisory committee established pursuant to section 8 of P.L.2009, c.256 (C.13:1L-36), annually attest to compliance with subsection a. of this section; and
c. The landowner annually
submits an application, as prescribed in section 13 of P.L.1964, c.48
(C.54:4-23.13), to the
assessor, accompanied by a copy of the plan established pursuant to subsection a. of this section; written documentation of compliance with subsection b. of this section; a supplementary woodland data form setting forth woodland management actions taken in the pre-tax year, the type and quantity of tree and forest products sold, and the amount of income received or anticipated for same; a map of the land showing the location of the activity and the soil group classes of the land; and other pertinent information required by the Director of the Division of Taxation as part of the application for valuation, assessment and taxation, as provided in P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.1 et seq.). The landowner shall, at the same time, submit to the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection an exact copy of the application and accompanying information submitted to the assessor pursuant to this subsection. For the purposes of this amendatory and supplementary act, "appurtenant woodland" means a wooded piece of property which is contiguous to, part of, or beneficial to a tract of land, which tract of land has a minimum area of at least five acres devoted to agricultural or horticultural uses other than the production for sale of trees and forest products, exclusive of Christmas trees, to which tract of land the woodland is supportive and subordinate; and "tree and forest products" shall include a crop designated as a specialty crop by the United States Department of Agriculture and produced from forested lands or woodlands, including, but not necessarily limited to, maple syrup produced from sap collected from trees on forested lands or woodlands.
For the purposes of section 7 of P.L.2009, c.213 and P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.1 et seq.):
(1) agricultural use shall also include biomass, solar, or wind energy generation, provided that the biomass, solar, or wind energy generation is consistent with the provisions of P.L.2009, c.213 (C.4:1C-32.4 et al.), as applicable, and the rules and regulations adopted therefor; and
(2) "biomass" means an agricultural crop, crop residue, or agricultural byproduct that is cultivated, harvested, or produced on the farm, or directly obtained from a farm where it was cultivated, harvested, or produced, and which can be used to generate energy in a sustainable manner, except with respect to preserved farmland, "biomass" means the same as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.2009, c.213 (C.4:1C-32.4).
(cf: P.L.2009, c.256, s.13)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill amends the "Farmland Assessment Act of 1964," N.J.S.A.54:4-23.1 et seq., to specify that maple syrup produced from sap collected from trees under a woodland management plan is included under the term "tree and forest products" for the purpose of eligibility for farmland assessment.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated maple syrup, as well as certain other agricultural products, as a specialty crop pursuant to the USDA Block Grant program.
