SENATE, No. 210

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Senators CONNORS and BASSANO

An Act establishing Pinelands preservation license plates and supplementing chapter 3 of Title 39 and chapter 18A of Title 13 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 for a motor vehicle registered in this State special license plates bearing, in addition to the registration number and other markings or identification otherwise prescribed by law, words and an emblem indicating support for, or an interest in, Pinelands preservation. The license plate shall be designed by the director, in consultation with the Pinelands Commission created by section 4 of P.L.1979, c.111 (C.13:18A-4). Issuance of Pinelands preservation license plates shall be subject to all applicable requirements of chapter 3 of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes, except as hereinafter otherwise specifically provided.

    b. The director shall collect a $50 application fee for the Pinelands preservation license plate in addition to the fees otherwise prescribed by law for the registration of the 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 the motor vehicle. The additional fees required by this subsection shall be deposited into the Pinelands Preservation Fund, established pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill).

    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 Pinelands preservation license plates. On a quarterly basis, the State Treasurer shall transfer a sum equal to the division's cost of producing and issuing the Pinelands preservation license plates from the Pinelands Preservation Fund, established pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now before the Legislature as this bill), to the division.

    d. 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 Pinelands preservation license plates.

    2. a. There is created in the Department of the Treasury a non-lapsing, interest-bearing fund to be known as the "Pinelands 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 before the Legislature as this bill). Interest or other income earned on monies deposited into the Pinelands Preservation Fund shall be credited to the fund.

    b. Moneys in the Pinelands Preservation Fund shall be appropriated and distributed exclusively: (1) to reimburse the Division of Motor Vehicles for all costs incurred by that division, as stipulated by the director of that division, in producing and issuing the Pinelands preservation license plates; (2) to pay 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) to pay for Pinelands acquisition projects approved by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection in accordance with applicable State and federal laws relating to the protection of the Pinelands National Reserve and the pinelands area .

    Of the initial fees collected from the issuance of Pinelands preservation license plates, an amount not to exceed $100,000 shall be allocated to the Division of Motor Vehicles to pay the cost of any computer programming changes that may be necessary to implement the Pinelands protection license plates program established by this act.

    3. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after enactment.

STATEMENT

    This bill establishes a special Pinelands license plate, with proceeds dedicated to the preservation of this ecologically sensitive wilderness area. 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 for license plate costs, approved Pinelands acquisition projects in accordance with applicable State and federal laws relating to the protection of the Pinelands National Reserve, and to pay 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.

Establishes special license plate to aid Pinelands preservation.