ACR117

A Concurrent Resolution concerning legislative review of the State Agriculture Development Committee rules and regulations pursuant to Article V, Section IV, paragraph 6 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey.

Whereas, Article V, Section IV, paragraph 6 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey provides that the Legislature may review any rule or regulation of an administrative agency to determine if the rule or regulation is consistent with the intent of the Legislature and, upon a finding that the rule or regulation is not consistent with legislative intent, may transmit such finding to the Governor and the head of the agency; and

Whereas, Upon finding that a rule or regulation, either proposed or adopted, is not consistent with legislative intent, Article V, Section IV, paragraph 6 provides that the Legislature shall transmit its findings in the form of a concurrent resolution to the Governor and the head of the Executive Branch agency which promulgated, or plans to promulgate, the rule or regulation, and the agency shall have 30 days from the time the concurrent resolution is transmitted to amend or withdraw the rule or regulation; and

Whereas, If the agency does not amend or withdraw the existing or proposed rule or regulation, Article V, Section IV, paragraph 6 provides that the Legislature may invalidate or prohibit the adoption of the proposed rule or regulation, following a public hearing held by either House on the invalidation or prohibition, the placement of a transcript of the public hearing on the desks of the members of each House of the Legislature in open meeting followed by the passage of at least 20 calendar days, and a vote of a majority of the authorized membership of each House in favor of a concurrent resolution invalidating or prohibiting the adoption of the rule or regulation; and

Whereas, On March 27, 2014, the New Jersey State Legislature passed Senate Bill No. 837 (1R), which allowed special occasion events, including weddings and other life milestones, to be conducted on a winery premises in order to promote agritourism under the State’s Right to Farm Act and the Farmland Preservation Program; and

Whereas, On May 12, 2014, Governor Christie exercised his authority pursuant to Article V, Section I, Paragraph 14 of the New Jersey Constitution to conditionally veto Senate Bill No. 837 (1R) and recommend specific amendments for consideration by the Legislature; and

Whereas, The amendments recommended in the conditional veto directed the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) to establish by regulation a pilot program to permit special occasion events to be conducted on New Jersey wineries that are located on preserved farmland; and

Whereas, In his conditional veto message, the Governor expressed his shared desire with the Legislature “to help the State’s forty eight licensed wineries to flourish”; and

Whereas, The conditional veto message further expressed the intention to allow New Jersey wineries “to continue to gain national recognition for their quality, sophistication, and enjoyment”; and

Whereas, The conditional veto message also commented that “as New Jersey’s wine production grows, the State will become an even bigger destination for cultural and personal events”; and

Whereas, Relying on the intention to promote New Jersey wineries expressed in the Governor’s conditional veto message, the Legislation reconsidered and passed Senate Bill No. 837 (1R) with the Governor’s recommended amendments on June 26, 2014 and it was thereafter enacted as P.L.2014, c.16 (C.4:1C-32.7 et seq.) on July 2, 2014; and

Whereas, P.L.2014, c.16 (C.4:1C-32.7 et seq.) required the SADC to establish a pilot program permitting special occasion events to be conducted on preserved farmland at a winery, gave the county agriculture development board or the SADC the authority to audit theses wineries for the purpose of a compliance with the program, and established penalties for failing to comply with the program requirements; and

Whereas, Pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2014, c.16 (C.4:1C-32.11), the SADC proposed a new rule on August 7, 2017 entitled “Winery Special Events on Preserved Farmland” and on October 26, 2017 the rule was adopted as N.J.A.C. 2:76-27 et seq.; and

Whereas, N.J.A.C. 2:76-27 et seq. imposes onerous and burdensome registration, compliance, income certification, and financial reporting requirements on wineries operating on preserved farmland that frustrate and undermine the intention expressed in the conditional veto statement to Senate Bill No. 837 (1R); and

Whereas, As part of the registration procedure, N.J.A.C 2:76-27 et seq. requires winery owners or operators to submit a property survey or site plan prepared by a New Jersey-licensed surveyor or engineer and provide by March 31 of each year a list of all special occasion events for the previous calendar year including the event name, number of attendees, location on the premises, and event frequency and dates; and

Whereas, A winery that fails to fully complete the registration form may be subject to civil penalties, which include a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for a first offense, $2,000 for a second offense, and $3,000 for a third or subsequent offense; and

Whereas, N.J.A.C. 2:76-27.6 establishes a detailed certification of income procedure that was not contemplated by Senate Bill No. 837 (1R) and requires a full itemized accounting of winery sales made on and off the licensed premises, which far exceeds the statutory requirement that gross sales from income generated by the winery from special occasion events account for less than 50 percent of the winery’s annual gross income; and

Whereas, In an interim report to the Legislature and Governor by the New Jersey SADC on June 2018 regarding the progress of the pilot program it was acknowledged that “some wineries indicate that the reporting and documentation requirements are overly burdensome and counter to efficient use of their resources”; and

Whereas, These stringent registration and income reporting requirements in addition to the other requirements imposed by N.J.A.C 2:76-27 et seq. inhibit the ability of wineries located on preserved farmland from holding special occasion events and contravene the intention expressed in the conditional veto message of Senate Bill No. 837 (1R), which is to allow “licensed wineries to flourish” and “continue to gain national recognition for their quality, sophistication, and enjoyment”; and

Whereas, Section 2 of P.L.2018, c.30 (C.4:1C-32.13) requires the SADC to submit to the Governor and Legislature an interim and final report to review the implementation and operation of the pilot program and summarize the activities of wineries on preserved farmland in their respective counties; and

Whereas, The SADC has circulated for discussion purposes a final draft report that proposes to extend the report’s parameters from wineries located on preserved farmland to all preserved farms, those with and without wineries on the premises; and

Whereas, A final report that addresses all preserved farms would fall outside of the scope of the Legislative mandate requiring the SADC to address the pilot program and the activities of wineries on preserved farmland; and

Whereas, The regulations adopted by the New Jersey SADC to implement a pilot program allowing wineries on preserved farmland to hold special events are overly burdensome and undermine the intent of the Legislature to promote the burgeoning wine industry in this State; and

Whereas, Statutory law requires the final report by the SADC to address the pilot program and the activities of wineries on preserved farmland, rather than all preserved farms; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (the Senate concurring):

1. The Legislature declares that N.J.A.C. 2:76-27 et seq. adopted by the New Jersey State Agriculture Development Committee to implement a pilot program allowing wineries on preserved farm land to hold special events is inconsistent with legislative intent.

2. Copies of this concurrent resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly or the Secretary of the Senate to the Governor, Secretary of Agriculture, and the chair of the State Agriculture Development Committee.

3. Pursuant to Article V, Section IV, paragraph 6 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey, the State Agriculture Development Committee shall have 30 days following transmittal of this resolution to amend or withdraw the adopted rules and regulations or the Legislature may, by passage of another concurrent resolution, exercise its authority under the Constitution to invalidate the rules and regulations in whole or in part.

STATEMENT

This concurrent resolution embodies the finding of the Legislature that the State Agriculture Development Committee regulations entitled “Winery Special Events on Preserved Farmland” and adopted as N.J.A.C. 2:76-27 et seq. are not consistent with the intent of the Legislature.

The State Agriculture Development Committee will have 30 days from the date of transmittal of this resolution to amend or withdraw the rules and regulations or the Legislature may, by passage of another concurrent resolution, exercise its authority under the Constitution to invalidate the rules and regulations in whole or in part.