Bill Text: NJ A5056 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Specifies that prior SADC approval is not required in order to authorize construction, installation, or operation of biomass, solar, or wind energy generating facilities, structures, or equipment on farmland preservation exception areas.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-12-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee [A5056 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A5056-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ALEX SAUICKIE
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Specifies that prior SADC approval is not required in order to authorize construction, installation, or operation of biomass, solar, or wind energy generating facilities, structures, or equipment on farmland preservation exception areas.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the construction, installation, and operation of biomass, solar, and wind energy generating facilities on preserved farms, and amending P.L.2009, c.213.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2009, c.213 (C.4:1C-32.4) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, a person who owns preserved farmland may construct, install, and operate biomass, solar, or wind energy generation facilities, structures, and equipment on the farm, whether on the preserved portion of the farm or on any portion excluded from preservation, for the purpose of generating power or heat, and may make improvements to any agricultural, horticultural, residential, or other building or structure on the land for that purpose, provided that the biomass, solar, or wind energy generation facilities, structures, and equipment:
(1) do not interfere significantly with the use of the land for agricultural or horticultural production, as determined by the committee;
(2) are owned by the landowner, or will be owned by the landowner upon the conclusion of the term of an agreement with the installer of the biomass, solar, or wind energy generation facilities, structures, or equipment by which the landowner uses the income or credits realized from the biomass, solar, or wind energy generation to purchase the facilities, structures, or equipment;
(3) are used to provide power or heat to the farm, either directly or indirectly, or to reduce, through net metering or similar programs and systems, energy costs on the farm; and
(4) are limited (a) in annual energy generation capacity, to the previous calendar year's energy demand plus 10 percent, in addition to what is allowed under subsection b. of this section, or alternatively at the option of the landowner (b) to occupying no more than one percent of the area of the entire farm, including both the preserved portion and any portion excluded from preservation.
The person who owns the farm and the energy generation facilities, structures, and equipment may only sell energy through net metering or as otherwise permitted under an agreement allowed pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection.
b. The limit on the annual energy generation capacity established pursuant to subparagraph (a) of paragraph (4) of subsection a. of this section shall not include energy generated from facilities, structures, or equipment existing on the roofs of buildings or other structures on the farm as of the date of enactment of P.L.2009, c.213 (C.4:1C-32.4 et al.).
c. A landowner shall seek and obtain the approval of the committee, in a form and manner prescribed thereby, before constructing, installing, and operating biomass, solar, or wind energy generation facilities, structures, and equipment on any preserved portion of the farm, as allowed pursuant to subsection a. of this section. [The] Before making a determination on an application, submitted pursuant to this subsection, which seeks the committee's approval to construct, install, or operate biomass, solar, or wind energy generating facilities on a preserved portion of the farm for the purposes of subsection a. of this section, the committee shall provide the holder of any development easement on the farm with a copy of the application [submitted for the purposes of subsection a. of this section], and the holder of the development easement shall have 30 days within which to provide comments to the committee on the application, concerning the merits of, and any objections to, the construction, installation, or operation of the proposed energy generating facilities, structures, or equipment on the preserved portion of the farm. [The committee shall, within] Within 90 days [of] after the committee's receipt, pursuant to this subsection, of an application seeking its approval to construct, install, or operate biomass, solar, or wind energy generation facilities on a preserved portion of a farm, the committee shall approve, disapprove, or approve with conditions [an], the application [submitted] and the associated construction, installation, or operation of the relevant biomass, solar, or wind energy generation facilities on a preserved portion of the farm, as proposed in the application, for the purposes of subsection a. of this section. The decision of the committee on the application shall be based solely upon the criteria listed in subsection a. of this section and the comments received, pursuant to this subsection, from the holder of the development easement.
d. No fee shall be charged of the landowner for review of an application submitted to, or issuance of a decision by, the committee pursuant to this section.
e. The committee may suspend or revoke an approval issued pursuant to this section for a violation of any term or condition of the approval or any provision of this section.
f. The committee, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Agriculture, shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this section, including provisions prescribing standards concerning impervious cover which may be permitted in connection with biomass, solar, or wind energy generation facilities, structures, and equipment authorized to be constructed, installed, and operated on lands pursuant to this section.
g. [In the case of] In addition to any committee approval that may be required pursuant to subsection c. of this section, whenever a landowner proposes to construct, install, or operate biomass energy generation facilities, structures, or equipment on any portion of a farm owned thereby, regardless of whether such facilities, structures, or equipment are proposed to be constructed, installed, or operated on a preserved portion of the farm or on a portion of the farm which is excluded from preservation, the landowner shall also seek and obtain the approval of the Department of Agriculture, as required pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2009, c.213 (C.4:1C-32.5), if the land is valued, assessed, and taxed pursuant to the "Farmland Assessment Act of 1964," P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.1 et seq.).
h. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, the construction, installation, or operation of any biomass, solar, or wind energy generation facility, structure, or equipment in the pinelands area, as defined and regulated by the "Pinelands Protection Act," P.L.1979, c.111 (C.13:18A-1 et seq.), shall comply with the standards of P.L.1979, c.111 (C.13:18A-1 et seq.) and the comprehensive management plan for the pinelands area adopted pursuant to P.L.1979, c.111 (C.13:18A-1 et seq.).
i. For the purposes of this section:
"Biomass" means an agricultural crop, crop residue, or agricultural byproduct that is cultivated, harvested, or produced on the farm and which can be used to generate energy in a sustainable manner.
"Net metering" means the same as that term is used for purposes of subsection e. of section 38 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-87).
"Preserved farmland" means land on which a development easement was conveyed to, or retained by, the committee, a board, or a qualifying tax exempt nonprofit organization pursuant to the provisions of section 24 of P.L.1983, c.32 (C.4:1C-31), section 5 of P.L.1988, c.4 (C.4:1C-31.1), section 1 of P.L.1989, c.28 (C.4:1C-38), section 1 of P.L.1999, c.180 (C.4:1C-43.1), sections 37 through 40 of P.L.1999, c.152 (C.13:8C-37 through C.13:8C-40), or any other State law enacted for farmland preservation purposes.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.213, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would amend the law pertaining to the construction, installation, and operation of biomass, solar, and wind energy generation systems on preserved farms. Existing law requires the State Agriculture Development Committee (the committee) to review, and to approve, disapprove, or conditionally approve, landowner applications seeking to construct, install, or operate biomass, solar, or wind energy generating facilities, structures, or equipment on farmland, regardless of whether those facilities, structures, and equipment are proposed to be constructed, installed, or operated on a preserved portion of the farm or on a portion of the farm (known as a "farmland preservation exception area") which has been formally excluded from preservation.
This bill would clarify that a landowner is required to submit, and that the committee is required to review and approve, disapprove, or conditionally approve, an application for the construction, installation, or operation of a biomass, solar, or wind energy generating facility, structure, or equipment on a preserved farm, as provided by existing law, only when the landowner is proposing to construct, install, or operate such facility, structure, or equipment on a preserved portion of the farm, and not when the landowner is proposing to construct, install, or operate such facility, structure, or equipment on a farmland preservation exception area.
The bill would additionally clarify, however, that a landowner will still be required to obtain the prior approval of the Department of Agriculture, as provided by existing law, in order to construct, install, or operate any biomass facility, structure, or equipment on any portion of a preserved farm, regardless of whether that portion of the farm is actually preserved or is excluded from preservation.
