New Jersey A 1846: Establishes New Jersey Healthy Soils Program; establishes grant program for soil testing of urban agriculture sites; establishes Urban Agriculture Site Soil Testing Fund.

Bill Text

ASSEMBLY, No. 1846

STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION

Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)

Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Reynolds-Jackson and Speight

SYNOPSIS
Establishes New Jersey Healthy Soils Program; establishes grant program
for soil testing of urban agriculture sites; establishes Urban Agriculture Site
Soil Testing Fund.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

A1846 QUIJANO
2

EXPLANATION – Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is
not enacted and is intended to be omitted in the law.

Matter underlined thus is new matter.
AN ACT concerning soil health, supplementing Title 4 of the 1
Revised Statutes, and amending P.L.2007, c.340. 2
3
BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State 4
of New Jersey: 5
6
1. (New section) As used in sections 1 through 5 of P.L. , c. 7
(C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill): 8
“Healthy soils” means soil with the continuing capacity to 9
function as a biological system, increase soil organic matter, 10
improve soil structure and water nutrient holding capacity, and 11
sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 12
“Program” means the New Jersey Healthy Soils Program 13
established pursuant section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending 14
before the Legislature as this bill). 15
“Urban agriculture” means city and suburban agriculture 16
including, but not limited to, backyard, roof-top and balcony 17
gardening, community gardening in vacant lots and parks, and 18
roadside urban fringe agriculture. 19
20
2. (New section) a. The Department of Agriculture, in 21
consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection and 22
the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, shall establish the 23
New Jersey Healthy Soils Program. The purpose of the program is 24
to: 25
(1) improve the health, yield, and profitability of the State’s 26
soils; 27
(2) increase biological activity and carbon sequestration in the 28
soils of the State by promoting practices based on emerging soil 29
science, including planting mixed cover crops, adopting no-till or 30
low-till farming practices, and rotation grazing; and 31
(3) promote widespread use of healthy soils practices among 32
farmers and other persons throughout the State. 33
b. To carry out the purposes of the program, the Department of 34
Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Environmental 35
Protection and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, 36
shall: 37
(1) provide incentives, including research, education, technical 38
assistance, and, subject to available funding, financial assistance to 39
farmers to implement farm management practices that contribute to 40
healthy soils within the State; 41
(2) provide incentives, technical assistance, and education to 42
persons in the State to maintain healthy soils; and 43
(3) determine whether the program may be implemented in a 44
manner to enhance other State and federal programs that provide 45
financial assistance to farmers. 46

A1846 QUIJANO
3

3. (New section) a. The Department of Agriculture, in 1
consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, shall 2
establish soil management guidelines for how to maintain and 3
promote healthy soils within the State. The guidelines shall 4
include, at a minimum, best practices to improve soil health in 5
agriculture, including urban agriculture, and in residential 6
landscaping for homeowners. 7
b. The guidelines established pursuant to this section, along with 8
information concerning the program established pursuant to 9
subsection a. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before 10
the Legislature as this bill), shall be published on the Department of 11
Agriculture and the Department of Environmental Protection’s 12
Internet websites and updated annually. 13
14
4. (New section) a. The Department of Agriculture, in 15
consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, shall 16
develop a grant program to pay for the costs of soil testing for 17
eligible farmers who grow food products on urban agriculture sites. 18
The soil testing provided pursuant to the grant program established 19
in this section, shall include testing for, at a minimum, pH, 20
percentage of organic matter, nutrients, micronutrients, petroleum 21
products and petroleum hydrocarbons, and metals including lead, 22
arsenic, cadmium, and nickel. 23
b. In establishing the grant program pursuant to this section, the 24
Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department 25
Environmental Protection, shall: 26
(1) establish eligibility criteria for farmers working on urban 27
agriculture sites; 28
(2) establish guidelines and procedures for the submission of 29
grant applications, and criteria for the evaluation of such 30
applications; 31
(3) establish soil testing protocols and the amount of a grant to 32
be awarded to each applicant; and