§ 13:8C-23 — Submission of recommendations, requests for funding.

23. a. (1) At least twice each State fiscal year, the Department of Environmental Protection shall submit to the trust a list of projects that the department recommends to receive funding from: the Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund, based upon a priority system, ranking criteria, and funding policies established by the department pursuant to P.L.1999, c.152 (C.13:8C-1 et seq.); or any Green Acres bond act with respect to moneys allocated therein for appropriation for the purpose of acquiring or developing lands for recreation and conservation purposes, based upon a priority system, ranking criteria, and funding policies established by the department pursuant to law and any rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto. To the extent the department receives a sufficient number of applications from local government units for the funding of projects to acquire or develop, for recreation and conservation purposes, lands located in municipalities eligible to receive State aid pursuant to P.L.1978, c.14 (C.52:27D-178 et seq.), and those projects qualify for funding based upon the priority system, ranking criteria, and funding policies established by the department, in any State fiscal year the percentage of funding from the Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund for such projects recommended by the department shall be substantially equivalent to or greater than the percentage derived by dividing the total amount allocated pursuant to P.L.1983, c.354, P.L.1987, c.265, P.L.1989, c.183, P.L.1992, c.88, and P.L.1995, c.204, for local government unit projects for recreation and conservation purposes in municipalities eligible to receive State aid pursuant to P.L.1978, c.14 (C.52:27D-178 et seq.) by the total amount allocated pursuant to P.L.1983, c.354, P.L.1987, c.265, P.L.1989, c.183, P.L.1992, c.88, and P.L.1995, c.204, for all local government unit projects for recreation and conservation purposes. In any State fiscal year, not less than 20% of the total amount of funding from the Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund for all State projects to acquire and develop lands for recreation and conservation purposes throughout the State recommended by the department shall be for State projects located in highly populated counties of the State with population densities of at least 1,000 persons per square mile according to the latest federal decennial census. The trust shall review the list and may make such deletions, but not additions, of projects therefrom as it deems appropriate and in accordance with the procedures established for such deletions pursuant to subsection d. of this section, whereupon the trust shall approve the list. At least twice each State fiscal year: (a) the trust shall prepare, and submit to the Governor and to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly for introduction in the Legislature, proposed legislation appropriating moneys from the Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund, or from any Green Acres bond act with respect to moneys allocated therein for appropriation for the purpose of acquiring or developing lands for recreation and conservation purposes, to fund projects on any such list; and (b) the Legislature may approve one or more appropriation bills containing a project list or lists submitted by the trust pursuant to this paragraph. (2) Any act appropriating moneys from the Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund, or from any Green Acres bond act with respect to moneys allocated therein for appropriation for the purpose of acquiring or developing lands for recreation and conservation purposes, shall identify the particular project or projects to be funded by those moneys, and any expenditure for a project for which the location is not identified by county and municipality in the appropriation shall require the approval of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee or its successor. Moneys may be appropriated to a local government unit that has prepared and adopted an open space acquisition and development plan approved by the department, or to a qualifying tax exempt nonprofit organization that in cooperation and with the approval of a local government unit is implementing or assisting in the implementation of an open space acquisition and development plan adopted by the local government unit and approved by the department, without identifying in the act the particular project or projects to be funded, provided that the appropriation will be expended in accordance with that approved plan and, with respect to Green Acres bond act moneys, the appropriation in that form is not inconsistent with the Green Acres bond act. (3) Any transfer of moneys appropriated from the Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund, or from any Green Acres bond act with respect to moneys allocated therein for appropriation for the purpose of acquiring or developing lands for recreation and conservation purposes, or any change in project sponsor, site, or type that has received an appropriation from the fund or from a Green Acres bond act, shall require the approval of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee or its successor but shall not require the approval of the Garden State Preservation Trust. b. (1) At least once each State fiscal year, the State Agriculture Development Committee shall submit to the trust a request for funding that includes a list of projects that the committee recommends to receive funding from the Garden State Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, based upon a priority system, ranking criteria, and funding policies established by the committee pursuant to P.L.1999, c.152 (C.13:8C-1 et seq.) and the "Agriculture Retention and Development Act," P.L.1983, c.32 (C.4:1C-11 et seq.), and any rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto. The trust shall review the request and may make such deletions, but not additions, of projects therefrom as it deems appropriate and in accordance with the procedures established for such deletions pursuant to subsection d. of this section, whereupon the trust shall approve the request. At least once each State fiscal year: (a) the trust shall prepare, and submit to the Governor and to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly for introduction in the Legislature, proposed legislation appropriating moneys from the Garden State Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to fund the request, including the projects on any such list; and (b) the Legislature may approve one or more appropriation bills containing the request and any project list or lists submitted by the trust pursuant to this paragraph. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph to the contrary, in any request submitted by the committee to the trust for funding to pay the cost of acquisition by the State of development easements on farmland or the cost of acquisition by the State, a local government unit, or a qualifying tax exempt nonprofit organization of fee simple titles to farmland, the committee shall not be required to submit a list of projects for which those funds are to be expended. (2) Any act appropriating moneys from the Garden State Farmland Preservation Trust Fund shall identify the particular project or projects to be funded with those moneys, and any expenditure for a project for which the location is not identified by county and municipality in the appropriation shall require the approval of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee or its successor. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph to the contrary, any appropriation of moneys from the fund to pay the cost of acquisition by the State of a development easement on farmland or the cost of acquisition by the State, a local government unit, or a qualifying tax exempt nonprofit organization of a fee simple title to farmland shall not be required to identify the particular project or identify its location by county or municipality, and the expenditure of those moneys shall not require the approval of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee or its successor. (3) Any transfer of moneys appropriated from the Garden State Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, or change in project sponsor, site, or type that has received an appropriation from the fund, shall require the approval of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee or its successor but shall not require the approval of the Garden State Preservation Trust. c. (1) At least once each State fiscal year, or at such other interval as the New Jersey Historic Trust in consultation with the Garden State Preservation Trust deems appropriate, the New Jersey Historic Trust shall submit to the Garden State Preservation Trust a list of projects that the New Jersey Historic Trust recommends to receive funding from the Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund, based upon a priority system, ranking criteria, and funding policies established by the New Jersey Historic Trust pursuant to P.L.1999, c.152 (C.13:8C-1 et seq.) and P.L.1967, c.124 (C.13:1B-15.111 et al.), and any rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto. The Garden State Preservation Trust shall review the list and may make such deletions, but not additions, of projects therefrom as it deems appropriate and in accordance with the procedures established for such deletions pursuant to subsection d. of this section, whereupon the Garden State Preservation Trust shall approve the list. At least once each State fiscal year, or at such other interval as the Garden State Preservation Trust in consultation with the New Jersey Historic Trust deems appropriate: (a) the Garden State Preservation Trust shall prepare, and submit to the Governor and to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly for introduction in the Legislature, proposed legislation appropriating moneys from the Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund to fund projects on any such list; and (b) the Legislature may approve one or more appropriation bills containing a project list or lists submitted by the Garden State Preservation Trust pursuant to this paragraph. (2) Any act appropriating moneys from the Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund shall identify the particular project or projects to be funded by those moneys, and any expenditure for a project for which the location is not identified by county and municipality in the appropriation shall require the approval of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee or its successor. (3) Any transfer of moneys appropriated from the Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund, or change in project sponsor, site, or type that has received an appropriation from the fund, shall require the approval of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee or its successor but shall not require the approval of the Garden State Preservation Trust. d. Whenever the Garden State Preservation Trust deletes a project from a list of projects that has been submitted to the Garden State Preservation Trust pursuant to subsection a., b., or c. of this section, the Garden State Preservation Trust shall, in consultation with the applicant and the department, the committee, or the New Jersey Historic Trust, as the case may be, review and reevaluate the merits and validity of the project. After completion of this review and reevaluation, if the department, committee, or New Jersey Historic Trust, as the case may be, continues to recommend funding of the project, it shall transmit its reasons therefor in writing to the Garden State Preservation Trust and place the project on the next or a subsequent list of projects submitted to the Garden State Preservation Trust pursuant to subsection a., b., or c. of this section. The Garden State Preservation Trust shall include the project in the next proposed legislation appropriating moneys from the Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund, Green Acres bond act, Garden State Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, or Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund, as the case may be, that is submitted to the Governor, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the General Assembly pursuant to subsection a., b., or c. of this section, together with a written report setting forth the rationale of the Garden State Preservation Trust in recommending deletion of the project from the proposed legislation and the rationale of the department, committee, or New Jersey Historic Trust, as the case may be, in recommending retention of the project in the proposed legislation. e. The Garden State Preservation Trust may at any time suggest projects to be considered or rejected for consideration by the department, the committee, or the New Jersey Historic Trust in the preparation of recommended project funding lists pursuant to this section. f. Projects involving the joint effort of more than one level of government or qualifying tax exempt nonprofit organization, or the joint effort of the department, the committee, and the New Jersey Historic Trust, or any combination thereof, shall be encouraged. g. For the purposes of efficiency and convenience, nothing in this section shall prohibit the Garden State Preservation Trust from combining the project lists, in whole or in part, of the department, committee, and New Jersey Historic Trust into one proposed appropriation bill or bills to be submitted to the Governor and Legislature for consideration and enactment into law as otherwise prescribed pursuant to this section. h. The total amount appropriated in any State fiscal year from the Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund and the Garden State Farmland Preservation Trust Fund for proposed projects pursuant to subsections a. and b. of this section shall not exceed $350,000,000, excluding grants, contributions, donations, and reimbursements from federal aid programs, including but not limited to funding received by the State from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, 16 U.S.C. s.4601-4 et al., and from other public or private sources as may be used lawfully for such projects. L.1999,c.152,s.23; amended 2000, c.10; 2000, c.91; 2004, c.126, s.2; 2005, c.178, s.6.