Bill Text: NJ A1584 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires Department of Agriculture to develop, and plant nurseries to make available to customers, brochure describing benefits of native plants.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-06-09 - Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading [A1584 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A1584-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ERIC HOUGHTALING
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblyman GORDON M. JOHNSON
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblyman PARKER SPACE
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Downey and Assemblyman Karabinchak
SYNOPSIS
Requires Department of Agriculture to develop, and plant nurseries to make available to customers, brochure describing benefits of native plants.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning public awareness of the benefits of native plants and supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. No later than 90 days after the effective date of this act, the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, shall develop, publish, and maintain on its Internet website:
(1) a downloadable, printable brochure describing the benefits of native plant species and the problems associated with invasive plant species; and
(2) a downloadable, printable sign that contains the following language in at least 14-point font: "DO YOU KNOW YOU HAVE LANDSCAPING CHOICES? Some plants, although legal to buy and sell, may have negative effects on New Jersey's native wildlife and ecosystems. For more information about plants that are beneficial to New Jersey wildlife and habitat, as well as invasive exotic plants, please visit the New Jersey Department of Agriculture's website at (insert appropriate Internet website address)."
b. A nurseryman shall make available to each customer of the nursery a copy of the brochure developed by the Department of Agriculture pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection a. of this section. A nurseryman may satisfy the requirement of this section either by making print copies of the brochure available in a conspicuous location at the nursery's point of sale or by posting the sign developed by the department pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section in a conspicuous location at the nursery's point of sale.
c. A nurseryman shall not be required to comply with the provisions of subsection b. of this section until the department has published on its Internet website the materials required to be developed pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
d. The department shall ensure compliance with the requirements of this section upon its annual inspection of a nursery pursuant to R.S.4:7-21.
e. As used in this section, the terms "nursery" and "nurseryman" shall have the same meanings as those terms are defined in R.S.4:7-15.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require a
plant nursery to make available to its
customers a brochure, developed by the Department of Agriculture, describing
the benefits of native plant species and the problems associated with invasive
plant species.
A nursery would satisfy the requirement of this bill either by making print copies of the brochure available in a conspicuous location at the point of sale or by posting a sign developed by the Department of Agriculture in a conspicuous location at the point of sale. The sign would read, in at least 14-point font: "DO YOU KNOW YOU HAVE LANDSCAPING CHOICES? Some plants, although legal to buy and sell, may have negative effects on New Jersey's native wildlife and ecosystems. For more information about plants that are beneficial to New Jersey wildlife and habitat, as well as invasive exotic plants, please visit the New Jersey Department of Agriculture's website at (insert appropriate Internet website address)."
The Department of Agriculture would be required to develop the brochure and the sign, and make those materials available in downloadable, printable format on its Internet website no later than 90 days after the effective date of the bill. A nursery would not be required to comply with the provisions of the bill until the department has published these materials on its Internet website. This bill is based on substantially similar legislation in Texas.
