ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 2114

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: SEPTEMBER 19, 1996

      The Assembly Environment, Science and Technology Committee favorably reports Assembly Bill No. 2114.

      This bill would establish a special Pinelands license plate, with proceeds obtained therefrom dedicated to the preservation of the Pinelands. The plate would bear words and an emblem designed by the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles in consultation with the Pinelands Commission. Motor vehicle owners and lessees would be able to obtain the plate for an initial fee of $50 and an annual $10 renewal fee. These fees would be in addition to the registration fees otherwise prescribed by law.

      The additional fees would be deposited in the "Pinelands Preservation Fund," created by the bill, and used exclusively to pay (1) for license plate costs, (2) for the costs of surveys and appraisals and other necessary costs incurred by the Department of Environmental Protection to acquire lands in the Pinelands National Reserve that have limited practical use because of their location and that are held by landowners who both own less than 50 acres in the reserve and have exhausted existing remedies to secure relief, and (3) for approved Pinelands acquisition projects in accordance with applicable State and federal laws relating to the protection of the Pinelands National Reserve and the pinelands area.