SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE, No. 3474
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 26, 2024
The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports
favorably Senate Bill No. 3474.
The bill appropriates $10,067,905 to the Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP), of which $9,588,905 is to provide
grants to various nonprofit entities to acquire or develop lands for
recreation and conservation purposes, and $479,000 is to be used by
the DEP for associated administrative costs.
The funding in this bill is provided from constitutionally dedicated
corporation business tax (CBT) revenues pursuant to Article VIII,
Section II, paragraph 6 of the State Constitution. The “Preserve New
Jersey Act,” P.L.2016, c.12 (C.13:8C-43 et seq.), implements the
constitutional dedication of CBT revenues for open space, farmland,
and historic preservation. The “Preserve New Jersey Green Acres
Fund” was established by section 6 of the “Preserve New Jersey Act.”
The act provides that a certain amount of the portion of dedicated CBT
revenues allocated each year for the Green Acres program is to be used
for: the acquisition of lands for open space, including Blue Acres
projects, and development projects on State lands administered by the
DEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife and Division of Parks and
Forestry; grants and loans to fund local government open space
acquisition and development projects; and grants to nonprofit entities
to acquire or develop lands for recreation and conservation purposes.
This bill appropriates funds to be used to provide grants to
nonprofit entities to acquire or develop lands for recreation and
conservation purposes. Further, of the funding allocated for
acquisition and development projects by nonprofit entities, a certain
percentage is to be used to fund stewardship activities undertaken by
nonprofit entities. A “stewardship activity” is defined in the “Preserve
New Jersey Act” as an activity, which is beyond routine operations
and maintenance, undertaken to repair or restore lands acquired or
developed for recreation and conservation purposes for the purpose of
enhancing or protecting those lands for recreation and conservation
purposes.
Of the amount appropriated by the bill to provide grants to various
nonprofit entities: $5,701,800 is allocated for 11 acquisition projects;
$3,578,105 is allocated for four park development projects; and
$309,000 is allocated for two stewardship activity projects. In
addition, the bill appropriates $479,000 to the DEP for the purposes of 2
paying administrative costs associated with administering the
applicable provisions of the “Preserve New Jersey Act.”
The projects listed in the bill have been approved by the DEP and
the Garden State Preservation Trust.
The bill also would allow the DEP to re-distribute certain other
moneys, which have been returned to the department due to project
withdrawals, cancellations, or cost savings, for the purpose of
providing additional funding, for recreation and conservation
purposes, to previously approved and funded projects of nonprofit
entities, subject to the approval of the Joint Budget Oversight
Committee. This additional funding, if provided from a Green Acres
bond act, may include administrative costs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This bill is not certified as requiring a fiscal note.