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A1513 • 2026

Prohibits sale of milkweed plants treated with certain pesticides.

Prohibits sale of milkweed plants treated with certain pesticides.

Agriculture
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Calabrese, Clinton
Last action
2026-01-13
Official status
Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Prohibits sale of milkweed plants treated with certain pesticides.

Prohibits sale of milkweed plants treated with certain pesticides.

What This Bill Does

  • Prohibits sale of milkweed plants treated with certain pesticides.
  • Topic: Agriculture and Natural Resources Fiscal note: This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-01-13 New Jersey Legislature

    Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee

Official Summary Text

Prohibits sale of milkweed plants treated with certain pesticides.
Topic:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Fiscal note:
This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
A1513

ASSEMBLY, No. 1513

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman CLINTON CALABRESE

District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Prohibits sale of milkweed plants treated with
certain pesticides.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning the sale of milkweed plants 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.� No person shall
sell, offer for sale, or transport for sale in the State any milkweed
(Asclepias spp.) plant that has been treated with a pesticide determined by the
Department of Environmental Protection to be harmful to the monarch butterfly (Danaus
plexippus).�

���� b.��� The Department of
Environmental Protection, in consultation with 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 to implement the
provisions of this section, including establishing a list of pesticides that
are harmful to monarch butterflies.�

���� c.��� (1)� A person who
violates this section shall be liable to a civil penalty of up to $100, to be
collected in a summary proceeding pursuant to the �Penalty Enforcement Law of
1999,� P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).� If the violation is of a
continuing nature, each day during which it continues shall constitute a
separate and distinct offense.� The municipal court and the Superior Court
shall have jurisdiction to enforce the �Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999.��

���� (2)� The Department of
Environmental Protection, the Department of Agriculture, and any county or
municipality shall have the authority to enforce the provisions of this
section.�

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill would prohibit the
sale, offer for sale, or transportation for sale in the State of any milkweed
plant that has been treated with a pesticide determined by the Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) to be harmful to monarch butterflies.� The DEP,
in consultation with the Department of Agriculture, would develop a list of
such pesticides.� A person who violates the law would be liable to a civil
penalty of up to $100, and each day during which the violation continues would
constitute a separate offense.�

���� The monarch butterfly is
perhaps the most iconic and studied butterfly in North America.� Each year,
millions of monarchs migrate from their overwintering sites in Mexico and
California to the northern United States and Canada, stopping at sites along the
way, including New Jersey, to feed and reproduce.� However, in recent years,
migrating monarch populations in New Jersey and across the country have
decreased significantly.� A report from the World Wildlife Fund indicates that
migrating monarch butterflies are in �grave danger,� as their overwintering
colonies in Mexico now occupy a small fraction of the land they once did.�
Scientists estimate that, in 2013, the migrating monarch population was just 35
million butterflies, a sharp decline from the nearly one billion monarchs that
made the 1,500 mile journey in 1990.

���� A major cause of the decline
in the monarch butterfly population is the widespread loss of a plant called
milkweed due to human development.� Milkweed is the only plant on which monarch
butterflies lay their eggs, and the monarch�s main larval food source.� In
recent years, there has been a renewed effort by governments, individuals, and
organizations to plant milkweed and build and protect butterfly habitats so
that future generations may enjoy the annual monarch migration.� However, new
research has shown that plants treated with certain pesticides, including
neonicotinoids, can harm monarch butterflies and their larva.� This bill would
prohibit the sale of milkweed treated with harmful pesticides in order to
protect New Jersey�s migrating monarch butterfly population.��