SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 1263

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 6, 1996

      The Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee favorably reports Senate Bill No.1263 with Senate Committee amendments.

      This bill requires the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in cooperation with the Division of Travel and Tourism in the Department of Commerce and Economic Development, to establish a natural resources inventory, using the Geographic Information System, for the purposes of promoting ecologically based tourism and recreation in New Jersey. This inventory would contain information on New Jersey's natural, historic, and recreational resources. This bill requires DEP to publish and make available to the public at all state offices, within one year of the date of enactment, a pamphlet describing these resources of the State. The pamphlet would contain information on the location, available facilities and activities, operating hours, admission fees, parking fees, and phone numbers, together with any maps or indexes and any other information deemed helpful to facilitate the use of these areas.

      The bill also requires the DEP to make the information in the pamphlet available on the Internet within one year of the pamphlet's publication.

      Lastly, this bill appropriates $20,000 from the General Fund to the DEP in order to implement the bill's provisions.

      The committeee amended the bill to specify that the Commissioner of the DEP would consult with the Pinelands Commission to the extent that the natural resources inventory affects the pinelands area.