Last modified on February 8th, 2023 at 6:00 pm

Starting in November 2022, the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Transactions and Public Land Administration (OTPLA) conducted a series of stakeholder meetings to obtain public input on Subchapters 25 and 26 of the Green Acres Program rules, N.J.A.C. 7:36.  The Green Acres Program rules may be found at:  https://njdepwptest.net/wp-content/uploads/greenacres/pdf/njac7_36.pdf 

Subchapters 25 and 26 govern the maintenance of Green Acres encumbered parkland and other post-funding responsibilities, including the diversion and disposal application processes. The Green Acres rules are not set to expire until December 2025. However, since the Department has not made substantial changes to the rules since 2005, we plan to update the rules before they expire. As part of this update, we will be moving these two subchapters (25 and 26) into a new chapter specific to OTPLA.

A list of “hot issues” that may be addressed in the upcoming rulemaking may be found here.  This list was intended to spur discussion at the stakeholder meetings, and is not intended to reflect a particular policy decision or position on the part of the Department.

Please note that this stakeholder process relates only to Subchapters 25 and 26; a future rulemaking will be initiated by the Green Acres Program relative to the remainder of the Green Acres Program rules at N.J.A.C. 7:36.

The stakeholder meetings have now concluded, but videos of each session may be viewed online:

1. November 29, 2022 from 10 AM to 1PM–targeted to nonprofit Green Acres funding recipients–meeting recording
2. December 13, 2022 from 2 PM to 5 PM–targeted to local government stakeholders (municipalities and counties)–meeting recording
3. December 15, 2022 from 9 AM to noon–targeted to local government stakeholders (municipalities and counties)–meeting recording
4. January 11, 2023 from 10 AM to noon–targeted to nonprofit Green Acres funding recipients–meeting recording
5. January 18, 2023 from 10 AM to noon–targeted to local government stakeholders (municipalities and counties)–meeting recording
6. January 24, 2023 from 1 PM to 3 PM–open to the general public–meeting recording
7. January 26, 2023 from 1 PM to 3 PM–open to the general public–meeting recording
8. January 31, 2023 from 6 PM to 8 PM–open to the general public–meeting recording

The Department will be accepting written public comment on these subchapters through February 28, 2023.  If you wish to submit a written comment, or have a question about the existing or future rules, please send an email to us at otpla@njdepwptest.net and include the word “Rulemaking” in the subject line.

Additional updates about the rulemaking process will be posted on this page as they are available.