New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 36 - GREEN ACRES PROGRAM › Subchapter 21 - NONPROFIT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS: PROJECT ELIGIBILITY, CONDITIONS, AND LIMITATIONS › Section 7:36-21.1 - General provisions and funding policies

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Nonprofits may apply to the Department for Green Acres matching grant funding for the development of land for public outdoor recreation and conservation purposes, to a maximum of 50 percent of the allowable project costs at 7:36-21.6. To be eligible for funding, a nonprofit development project either must be located within an Urban Aid municipality, a Densely or Highly Populated municipality, or a Densely Populated County, or the supermajority (more than two-thirds) of the users of the facility to be developed must be from those areas. There is no minimum or maximum amount that a nonprofit may request as a matching grant in such an application.
(b) Each year, the Department shall establish a maximum funding limit per project or per applicant based on total funding requests, available funds, project priorities established under 7:36-23.1, the legislative findings of the Garden State Preservation Trust Act (13:8C-2 ), and such considerations as the nonprofit's progress in expending any approved Green Acres funding, geographic distribution of applications, and total population or population density of the county and/or municipality(ies) in which the proposed project site is located.
(c) Any Green Acres funding award is subject to legislative appropriation.
(d) A nonprofit that receives Green Acres funding shall execute and donate to the State, at no charge, a permanent conservation restriction, historic preservation restriction, or both, as applicable, on the project site. The restriction shall be prepared or approved by the State. If the project is located on land owned in fee simple by a local government unit and listed on the local government unit's recorded ROSI, the nonprofit is not required to execute a restriction on the project site.
(e) All land and facilities developed with Green Acres funding must be accessible to the public.
(f) No grant shall be made to a nonprofit for a development project for recreation and conservation purposes on lands owned by a local government unit unless the local government unit is a co-applicant with the nonprofit or has otherwise indicated its approval in writing of the proposed development project.
(g) A development project shall be located on land that is owned in fee simple by the nonprofit, or on land for which the nonprofit has obtained an irrevocable lease approved by Green Acres for at least 25 years, except as described in (g)1 and 2 below. The 25-year term of the lease shall begin from the date of the proceed to bid letter described at 7:36-24.2(a).
1. If the land is not owned by the nonprofit but is listed on a local government unit's recorded ROSI, a use agreement may be used in place of a lease. The use agreement must be approved by Green Acres and must have a 25-year term that begins from the date of the proceed to bid letter described at 7:36-24.2(a).
2. If the land is held by the Department, the Department shall determine the appropriate term and provisions of the lease or use agreement.