Bill Text: NJ S3912 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires State Board of Agriculture to provide list of environmentally harmful plant species to Legislature each year.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-06-10 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee [S3912 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-S3912-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB ANDRZEJCZAK
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
Requires State Board of Agriculture to provide list of environmentally harmful plant species to Legislature each year.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning environmentally harmful plant species and supplementing chapter 7 of Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The State Board of Agriculture shall provide annually to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1) a list of all plant species, which, in the opinion of the board, should not be sold or cultivated in the State because of the plant's detrimental effect on the environment. For each item, the list shall include:
a. the binomial name and all common names of the plant;
b. the life cycle of the plant;
c. the means of reproduction of the plant;
d. the geographical distribution of the plant throughout the State;
e. whether or not the plant is considered by the Department of Environmental Protection to be an invasive species;
f. whether or not the plant has a detrimental effect on the migration and life cycle of animal pollinators; and
g. any detrimental effect on the environment caused by the plant.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the State Board of Agriculture to provide a list of environmentally harmful plants to the Legislature each year.
Certain non-native plant species are believed to have detrimental effects on the State's environment, including crowding out native plant species, depleting soil, increasing fire danger, and adversely affecting the migration and lifecycle of pollinators. One important step in mitigating the harmful effects of such plants is to prohibit people from buying them and cultivating them, because farmers and home gardeners often inadvertently facilitate the spread of invasive plant species.
This bill would allow the Legislature to remain informed of the latest recommendations from experts on invasive plant species, in order to better serve the public interest. The list of environmentally harmful plants would include information about the life cycle, means of reproduction, geographical distribution, adverse effects on pollinators, and adverse effects on the environment as whole of each plant.
