Directs Dept. of Agriculture to establish "Urban Gardening Pilot Program"; appropriates $100,000.

A1953

ASSEMBLY, No. 1953

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO

District 20 (Union)

Assemblywoman HEATHER SIMMONS

District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)

SYNOPSIS

���� Directs Dept. of Agriculture to establish "Urban
Gardening Pilot Program"; appropriates $100,000.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act

concerning urban gardening and making an
appropriation.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� As used in this act:

���� "Applicant" means
any municipality or nonprofit organization applying for a grant pursuant to
this act.

���� �Department� means the
Department of Agriculture.

���� "Low-income area"
means a census tract, as reported in the most recently completed decennial
census published by the United States Census Bureau, that has a poverty rate of
at least 20 percent or in which the median family income does not exceed 80
percent of the Statewide or metropolitan median family income, whichever is
greater.

���� �State-wide nonprofit
organization� or �nonprofit organization� means a charitable organization
serving qualified State residents and having operations throughout the State,
that is a corporation organized in the State operated exclusively for
charitable purposes under the "New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation Act,"
Title 15A of the New Jersey Statutes, and is exempt from federal income tax
under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code (26
U.S.C.s.501(c)(3)).

���� "Program" means the
�Urban Gardening Pilot Program� established pursuant to section 2 of this act.

���� �Urban area� means a
neighborhood in, or portion of, a city of the first class, second class, third
class, or fourth class in the State or a neighborhood in, or portion of, a
municipality eligible to receive State aid pursuant to P.L.1978, c.14 (C.52:27D-178
et seq.).

���� �Urban gardening� means
gardening in an urban area on land or in or on a building or the rooftop
thereof, where flowers, fresh produce, or other agricultural products are grown
or raised for consumption as food by traditional agricultural methods, in greenhouses
using the appropriate methods for these structures, or through the use of
aquaponics, hydroponics, or another nontraditional method of farming.� �Urban
gardening� shall not include the cultivation of marijuana for medicinal or any
other purpose.

���� 2.��� a.� The
department shall establish and administer a pilot program, to be known as the
�Urban Gardening Pilot Program,�
to improve local
neighborhood conditions in low-income areas of the State by providing three
qualified applicants with grants, of up to $35,000, to create an urban garden.
The department shall identify no fewer than three projects
in different low-income areas of the State that the department considers to be
appropriate for the pilot program.� The department shall operate the pilot
program for three consecutive years. The grants shall be used by qualified
applicants to establish an urban garden in a low-income area of the State.� The
goal of the urban garden shall be to improve local neighborhood conditions and
integrate residents of diverse communities.�

���� b.��� In
establishing and implementing the program, the department may enter into
agreements with local agencies, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and
individuals for funds in order to leverage its grants with funds from such
entities.� The terms and conditions of any agreements for funds shall be
determined by the department.

���� 3.��� a.� The department shall
provide grants to three applicants determined to be qualified by the department
to participate in the program, in accordance with the criteria set forth in
this section.� Three qualified applicants shall be awarded a grant of up to
$35,000 each, which shall be used by the applicant over the three-year pilot
program established pursuant to this act.

���� b.��� In order to receive a
grant from the department pursuant to this act, the applicant shall meet the
following requirements:

���� (1)� the applicant shall
demonstrate to the satisfaction of the department that the applicant has access
to an urban area upon which a viable urban garden may be established;

���� (2)� the applicant shall
demonstrate to the satisfaction of the department that the urban garden is to
be located within a low-income area of the State; and

���� (3)� the applicant shall
demonstrate that the applicant has or will have a contractual relationship with
an agronomist or with a qualified individual from the New Jersey Cooperative
Extension Service to teach local residents how to plant and cultivate fresh produce
or other agricultural products for consumption as food in the urban garden.

���� c.��� In determining the
criteria for qualifying applicants for grants, the department shall consider:

���� (1)� the degree to which the
program will advance local community goals for improving the neighborhood and
integrating residents of different ethnic backgrounds; and

���� (2)� the level of financial
and other participation provided by the applicant or by local and economic
development agencies, county government entities, for-profit and nonprofit
organizations, or lending institutions.

���� d.��� An applicant shall, as a
condition of receiving a grant pursuant to this act, commit to:

���� (1)� using the grant for an
urban garden only; and

���� (2)� complying with any other
criteria established by the department.

���� e.��� The department shall
review each complete application and approve three applications that meet the
requirements of this section and any other criteria adopted by the department.

���� f.���� A grant shall be made
by the department in the manner the department establishes, subject to the
terms and conditions considered appropriate by the department that are
consistent with the purposes of this act.

���� 4.���
No
later than three years after the effective date of this act, the Secretary of
Agriculture shall prepare and submit a written report to the Governor and,
pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature
summarizing the activities and findings of the program, providing information
on whether the program provided benefits to the local communities, evaluating
the
effectiveness of urban gardening in low-income areas as a means of improving
the conditions in the neighborhood and

integrating
residents of different ethnic backgrounds
, and providing
recommendations for legislative action, including whether or not to make the
program permanent.

���� 5.�� There is appropriated to
the Department of Agriculture the sum of $100,000 from the General Fund in
order to implement the provisions of this act. The department may retain an
amount for administrative costs and transaction fees not to exceed 5 percent of
the appropriated funds.

���� 6.��� This act shall take
effect immediately, and shall expire upon the submittal by the department of
the report required pursuant to section 4 of this act.�

STATEMENT

����� This bill establishes the
�Urban
Gardening Pilot Program� in the Department of Agriculture (department) to
provide grants to three qualified applicants to establish an urban garden in a
low-income area of the State.� The bill requires the department to award three
qualified applicants a grant of up to $35,000 each, which the applicant will
use for an urban garden for the three-year pilot program.� The goal of the
urban gardening program is to improve the local neighborhood conditions and
integrate residents of diverse communities.�

����� The bill requires an agronomist or a
qualified individual from the New Jersey Cooperative Extension Service to teach
local residents how to plant and cultivate fresh produce or other agricultural
products for consumption as food in the urban garden.�

����� Within three years of the effective date
of the bill, the Secretary of Agriculture would be required to prepare and
submit a written report to the Governor and to the Legislature summarizing the
activities and findings of the program.� The report would provide information
on whether the program provided benefits to the local communities, evaluate
the effectiveness of urban
gardening in low-income areas as a means of improving the neighborhood
and
integrating residents of different ethnic
backgrounds
, and provide recommendations for
legislative action, including whether or not to make the program permanent.

�����
The bill appropriates $100,000 to the Department of
Agriculture from the General Fund in order to provide grants to three qualified
applicants as required under the bill.