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A4367
ASSEMBLY, No. 4367
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman� ALEX SAUICKIE
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
���� Revises certain requirements concerning grants to
fund soil and water conservation projects on preserved farms.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning certain soil and water conservation projects
and amending P.L.1983, c.32.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 17 of P.L.1983,
c.32 (C.4:1C-24) is amended to read as follows:
���� 17.� a. (1) Landowners within
a municipally approved program or other farmland preservation program shall
enter into an agreement with the board, and the municipal governing body, if
appropriate, to retain the land in agricultural production for a minimum period
of eight years.�
���� (2) Any landowner whose land
is within a municipally approved program or other farmland preservation program
or any landowner whose land qualifies for differential property tax assessment
pursuant to the "Farmland Assessment Act of 1964," P.L.1964, c.48
(C.54:4-23.1 et seq.), and which is included in an agricultural development
area, may enter into an agreement to convey a development easement on the land
to the board. The development easement may be permanent or for a term of 20
years.�
���� (3) Any agreement entered into
pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection shall constitute a restrictive
covenant and shall be filed with the municipal tax assessor and recorded with
the county clerk in the same manner as a deed.� Any development easement
conveyed pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be filed with the
municipal tax assessor and recorded with the county clerk in the same manner as
a deed.� The recording of any such agreement or development easement of limited
term shall include notification that the committee may exercise the first right
and option to purchase a fee simple absolute interest in the land pursuant to
P.L.1989, c.28 (C.4:1C-38 et al.).�
���� b.� A landowner, or a farm
operator as an agent for the landowner, whose land is within a municipally
approved program or other farmland preservation program, or is subject to a
development easement conveyed pursuant to subsection a. of this section, shall
be eligible to, and may, apply to the local soil conservation district
[
and the board
]
for a grant
for a soil and water conservation project approved by the State Soil
Conservation Committee, subject to the provisions of P.L.1983, c.32 (C.4:1C-11
et al.).
���� c.� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.1989, c.310.)
���� d.� Approval by the local soil
conservation district
[
and
the board
]
for grants for soil and water conservation projects shall be contingent upon a
written agreement by the person who would receive funds that the project shall
be maintained for a specified period of not less than three years, and shall be
a component of a farmland conservation plan approved by the local soil
conservation district.�
If an applicant fails to maintain the project for
the agreed upon term, they may be required to repay, on a pro rata basis as
determined by the entities providing the grant funds, to the board or the
committee, or both, as the case may be, any remaining funds from grants for
soil and water conservation projects provided pursuant to this section, except
in the case of bankruptcy, death, or incapacitating illness of the owner, or as
the result of a documented extreme weather event, in which case no repayment of
grant funds shall be required.
�
���� e.� If
[
the landowner
applying for funds
]
an applicant
for a soil and water conservation project pursuant to this
section
[
provides
50% of those
]
will receive
funds
[
without
assistance
]
from
[
the
]
a
county, the local soil conservation district shall review, approve,
conditionally approve
,
or disapprove the application
and forward the
application to the applicable county agriculture development board for
concurrence.� If an applicant will not receive funds from a county, the local
soil conservation district shall review, approve, conditionally approve, or
disapprove the application.� In either case, the local soil conservation
district shall forward the application to the State Soil Conservation Committee
.�
The committee shall certify that the land on which the soil and water
conservation project is to be conducted has had a development easement conveyed
from it pursuant to subsection a. of this section or is part of a municipally
approved program or other farmland preservation program
and shall review,
approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the application
.
(cf: P.L.1989, c.310, s.1)
���� 2. This act shall take effect
immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill would revise certain
requirements concerning grants to fund soil and water conservation projects on
preserved farms.
���� Specifically, the bill would
clarify that an application for a soil and water conservation project grant
would be required to be submitted to a county agriculture development board
(CADB) only when the county is providing a share of the funding.� If a county
is not providing a share of the funding, the grant application would only be
required to be submitted to the local soil conservation district, which would
forward the application to the State Soil Conservation Committee.
���� The bill would also establish
provisions that would require grant recipients to pay back grant funding to a
CADB or the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC), in the event that
the recipient did not maintain the project for the agreed upon time.� The bill
would establish exceptions in the case of the bankruptcy, death, or
incapacitating illness of the owner, or as the result of a documented extreme
weather event.
���� Finally, the bill would also
eliminate the statutory cost-share requirement for grants for soil and water
conservation projects.� Under current law, the landowner is required to provide
50 percent of the project costs.
���� Soil and water conservation
projects are considered �stewardship activities� under the �Preserve New Jersey
Act,� P.L.2016, c.12 (C.13:8C-43 et seq.) and are thus eligible to receive
corporation business tax (CBT) funds that are constitutionally dedicated to
farmland preservation.� In order to obtain a soil and water conservation grant,
landowners apply to local soil conservation districts, which assist in
developing farm conservation plans and ensure projects are necessary and
feasible. �Applications are then forwarded to the State Soil Conservation
Committee, which recommends projects to the SADC for funding approvals.