STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Exempts community gardens composting on-site from certain DEP permits under certain conditions.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning permits for certain community gardens and supplementing Title 13 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, a community garden that operates an on-site composting system shall not be required by the Department of Environmental Protection to obtain a permit, approval, or other authorization issued by the department pursuant to the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), the "New Jersey Statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act," P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.11 et al.), the "Air Pollution Control Act (1954)," P.L.1954, c.212 (C.26:2C-1 et seq.), or the "Water Pollution Control Act," P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.), or any rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto, for the operation of the on-site composting system provided that:
(1) the property on which the composting system is located is exclusively used as a community garden;
(2) the composting system only uses vegetative waste generated by the community garden; and
(3) all compost generated from the composting system is used on-site exclusively for the community garden.
b. As used in this section, community garden means any publicly or privately owned piece of land maintained and cultivated as a garden by members of the surrounding community.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill exempts community gardens that operate an on-site composting system from any permits required by the Department of Environmental Protection under the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), the "New Jersey Statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act," P.L.1987, c.102 (C.13:1E-99.11 et al.), the "Air Pollution Control Act (1954)," P.L.1954, c.212 (C.26:2C-1 et seq.), or the "Water Pollution Control Act," P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.), or any rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
To be eligible for the exemption provided by the bill: (1) the property may only be used as a community garden; (2) the composting system may only use vegetative waste generated by the community garden; and (3) all compost generated from the composting system is required to be used on-site exclusively for the community garden. As defined in the bill, community garden means any publicly or privately owned piece of land maintained and cultivated as a garden by members of the surrounding community.