S 765 New Jersey Senate · 2024-2025 Regular Session

Revises law prohibiting feeding of bears; establishes program in DEP for distribution of bear-proof garbage cans.*

This bill creates a "Bear Smart Fund" within New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to fund the distribution of bear-proof garbage cans to residents. The fund will be financed by civil penalties from bear-feeding violations (e.g., $100-$500 fines) and state or federal grants. The DEP will prioritize distributing these cans in counties with large bear populations - Sussex, Warren, Morris, and Passaic - to reduce human-bear conflicts, with residents possibly paying a small fee. The program may partner with municipalities or waste companies to lower costs, while existing bear-feeding prohibitions remain in place except for specific exceptions like bird feeders under strict conditions.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Sub-Topics: Waste Management

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2024

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 9, 2024 Last action Dec 19, 2024

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Reprint SEG 10/10/24 1R → Reprint Senate 12/19/24 2R · 9 edits

MAJOR

The Senate amended S765 to add a new section establishing a 'Bear Smart Fund' in the Department of Environmental Protection to purchase and distribute bear-proof garbage cans, primarily in Sussex, Warren, Morris, and Passaic counties. The bill also broadened the feeding prohibition from black bears to all bears, removed an intent requirement, added an exemption for standard outdoor garbage receptacles, explicitly allowed baiting under the hunting/trapping exemption, and redirected civil penalties into the new fund instead of to local municipalities.

FISCAL

A new 'Bear Smart Fund' is established in DEP as a special, nonlapsing fund. It is credited with civil penalties collected under the bear feeding law, any state or federal appropriations for this purpose, and interest earnings on fund balances.

Civil penalties collected for violations are now directed to the 'Bear Smart Fund' rather than to the municipality where the violation occurred as previously provided under R.S.23:10-19.

REQUIREMENT

DEP must establish a program to purchase and distribute bear-proof garbage cans to residents. The department may charge a small fee per can and may cooperate with municipalities, counties, authorities, or private waste companies to reduce costs and assist with distribution.

The phrase 'with the intention of feeding, attracting, or enticing a black bear' was removed from subsection a(1), eliminating the intent requirement and making the offense one of strict liability.

SCOPE

Distribution of bear-proof garbage cans is prioritized in counties with large bear populations, specifically Sussex, Warren, Morris, and Passaic counties, with the goal of minimizing human-bear conflicts.

The prohibition on feeding bears now applies to all 'bears' rather than only 'black bears,' broadening the species covered.

ELIGIBILITY

The condition for the feeding prohibition changed from 'in a manner potentially accessible to bears' to 'in an area known to be frequented by bears AND in a manner accessible to bears,' adding a geographic element while removing the word 'potentially.'

A new exemption (subsection b(9)) is added for the placement outdoors of a designated, appropriate garbage receptacle containing garbage for collection and disposal by local government or its agent, protecting normal residential garbage can use from the bear feeding prohibition.

The hunting and trapping exemption (subsection b(7)) now explicitly includes baiting, with the condition that baiting occurs only during the correct time of year for the target species.

Introduced Version → Reprint SEG 10/10/24 1R · 9 edits

MAJOR

The bill expands its scope from black bears to all bears, removes the intent requirement from the feeding prohibition, restructures birdfeeder exemptions by adding a blanket winter exemption (Dec 1-Mar 31), adds new exemptions for licensed hunters/trappers and properly closed storage buildings, tightens cat colony feeding rules in bear areas, and replaces the flat up-to-$1,000 penalty with a tiered structure ($100-$500 first offense, $300-$1,000 subsequent) while eliminating the prior written warning requirement.

SCOPE

The prohibition now applies to all bears rather than only black bears, broadening the law's reach to include other bear species.

REQUIREMENT

The feeding prohibition is restructured: the requirement of 'intention to feed, attract, or entice' is removed, and the qualifier 'when black bear are known to frequent the area' is removed. The new standard is simply acting 'in a manner potentially accessible to bears.'

For shelters, pounds, and managed cat colonies, a new requirement is added: in areas known to be frequented by bears, feeding time is limited to a maximum of two hours daily and feed sites must be actively monitored.

ELIGIBILITY

The birdfeeder exemption is restructured: a blanket exemption now applies from December 1 through March 31 with no conditions, while the April 1 through November 30 period retains the existing conditions (suspended 10 feet, area kept clean, emptied nightly, corrected within 48 hours).

New exemption added for any properly licensed person engaged in legal hunting or trapping activities, provided they use correct equipment and hunt or trap during the correct time of year for the target species.

New exemption added for storage of food, pet food, garbage, bird seed, or other bear attractants in an outbuilding, shed, or garage when the door is closed.

ENFORCEMENT

The civil penalty structure changes from a flat 'up to $1,000 per offense' to a tiered system: not less than $100 nor more than $500 for the first offense, and not less than $300 nor more than $1,000 for the second and each subsequent offense.

The requirement that a person must first receive a prior written warning before being assessed a civil penalty is deleted.

FISCAL

Penalty remittance changes from being directed to the municipality where the violation occurred (within 30 days) to simply 'as provided in R.S.23:10-19,' which likely directs funds to a state-level account rather than local municipalities.

Floor votes

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No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Dec 19, 2024

Upper · Passed

Senate Amendment (Voice) (Ruiz)

upper

Oct 10, 2024

Upper · Passed

Reported out of Senate Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading

upper

Feb 15, 2024

Committee

Transferred to Senate Economic Growth Committee

upper

Jan 9, 2024

Introduced

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee

upper

2 primary · 8 co-sponsors