N.J.S.A. 13:1B-15.145 — Application, acceptance and expenditure of funds

13:1B-15.145. Application, acceptance and expenditure of funds The department may apply for, accept and expend funds from any public or private source for the purposes of planning and implementing the program in accordance with the provisions of this act. L.1983, c. 560, s. 13, eff. Jan. 17, 1984. 13:1B-15.146. Findings, declarations The Legislature finds and declares that this State has a rich natural heritage which is in danger of disappearing as the State continues to experience economic and industrial growth; that a program to conduct an inventory of rare plants, animals, and natural communities throughout New Jersey was established in 1984 through a cooperative agreement between the Department of Environmental Protection and The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit conservation organization; that this program is providing up-to-date information on rare species and natural communities to planners, developers, and conservation agencies for use in resource management, environmental impact assessment, and both public and private land protection efforts; that this program enables the State to share information, in a national network, with the more than 40 other states with comparable programs; that the continued success and usefulness of the program is dependent upon continuously updating and refining the information in the inventory; that, by design, The Nature Conservancy intended to end their participation in the program after fiscal year 1987 but has temporarily extended their participation pending the establishment of a formal program; the Legislature therefore determines that in order to preserve the State's natural diversity the Natural Heritage Program needs to be formally recognized and established. L. 1988, c. 127, s. 1. 13:1B-15.147. Natural Heritage Program There is established in the Division of Parks and Forestry, Department of Environmental Protection, a Natural Heritage Program. The purpose of the program is to identify the most critically important natural areas in the State and provide detailed up-to-date information on rare species and natural communities to planners, developers, and conservation agencies for use in resource management, environmental impact assessment, and both public and private land protection efforts. L. 1988, c. 127, s. 2. 13:1B-15.148. Functions The functions of the program shall include, but need not be limited to: a. Maintaining and updating, through data collection and field work, a partially computerized data base which includes lists of rare and endangered species, and natural communities ranked according to rarity, as well as information on the location, quality, protection status, and sources of information of individual occurrences of the above species and natural communities; and b. Providing information on species and natural community occurrences to other government agencies, consultants, and private landowners seeking to preserve natural diversity and advice on how best to protect these occurrences. L. 1988, c. 127, s. 3. 13:1B-15.149. Fees The Commissioner of Environmental Protection is authorized to charge and collect fees in an amount sufficient to cover the costs of any services performed pursuant to this act. Such fees shall be in addition to any appropriation received by the department for this program and shall be devoted entirely and exclusively to carrying out the purposes and provisions of this act. L. 1988, c. 127, s. 4. 13:1B-15.150. Administration With the approval of the Governor, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection may cooperate with and receive money from the federal government, or any county or municipal government or from private sources for the purposes of this act and to supplement administration of the program. L. 1988, c. 127, s. 5.

This is the verbatim text of N.J.S.A. 13:1B-15.145, retrieved from the New Jersey Legislature's public statute corpus. Statutes are amended periodically — for the most current version, check the external source link above. Kyzer is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice.