ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
ASSEMBLY, No. 1370
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
ADOPTED JANUARY 23, 1997
Sponsored by Assemblyman STUHLTRAGER
An Act establishing farmland and open space preservation license plates and supplementing chapter 3 of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The director may issue farmland and open space preservation license plates for a motor vehicle owned or leased and registered in the State. In addition to the registration number and other markings or identification otherwise prescribed by law, the license plate shall display words or an emblem indicating support for, or interest in, the preservation of farmland and open space. The director shall choose the license plate design after soliciting input from the general public on the design.
b. The director shall collect a $50 application fee for the farmland and open space preservation license plate in addition to the fees otherwise prescribed by law for registration of a motor vehicle. The director shall collect annually, subsequent to the year of issuance of the license plate, a $10 fee for the license plate in addition to the fees otherwise prescribed by law for the registration of a motor vehicle.
c. In the event that the average cost per license plate as certified by the director and approved by the Joint Budget Oversight Committee, or its successor, is greater than the $50 application fee established in subsection b. of this section in two consecutive fiscal years, the director may discontinue the issuance of the farmland and open space preservation license plates.
2. a. There is created in the Department of Treasury a non-lapsing, interest bearing fund to be known as the "Garden State Preservation Fund." The fund shall be the depository of the fees collected pursuant to subsection b. of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill), after reimbursement to the division for costs reasonably and actually incurred in producing, issuing, and renewing the special license plates, including the cost of any initial computer programming changes.
b. Moneys in the Garden State Preservation Fund shall be appropriated and distributed as follows:
(1) 50% for recreation and conservation purposes consistent with the provisions of the "Green Acres, Farmland and Historic Preservation, and Blue Acres Bond Act of 1995," P.L.1995, c.204, or any subsequent bond act approved for similar purposes; and
(2) 50% for farmland preservation purposes consistent with the provisions of the "Green Acres, Farmland and Historic Preservation, and Blue Acres Bond Act of 1995," P.L.1995, c.204, or any subsequent bond act approved for similar purposes.
c. The director shall annually certify to the State Treasurer the average cost per license plate incurred in the immediately preceding year by the Division of Motor Vehicles in producing and issuing the farmland and open space preservation license plates. Interest or other income earned on moneys deposited pursuant to this section shall be credited to the Garden State Preservation Fund.
3. The Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall notify eligible motorists of the opportunity to obtain farmland and open space preservation license plates by including a notice with all motor vehicle registration renewals, and by posting appropriate posters or signs in all division facilities and offices, as may be provided by the Director of the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Agriculture, subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles. The Director of the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Agriculture shall supply the Division of Motor Vehicles with the notices, posters and signs to be circulated or posted by the division.
4. The Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, the Secretary of Agriculture and the State Treasurer shall develop and enter into an interagency memorandum of agreement setting forth the procedures to be followed by the agencies in carrying out their responsibilities under this act.
5. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after enactment, but the Director of the Department of Environmental Protection, the State Treasurer and the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles may take such anticipatory acts in advance of that date as may be necessary for the timely implementation thereof.
Establishes special license plate to aid farmland and open space preservation.