STATEMENT TO

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, No. 1029

with Senate Floor Amendments

(Proposed by Senator GREENSTEIN)

ADOPTED: FEBRUARY 25, 2025

      This floor amendment would:

      (1) provide that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Department of Agriculture (DOA) would be jointly authorized to enforce the bill's provisions, with the DOA given primary enforcement responsibility for any violations involving the sale, offer for sale, propagation for sale, or importation of invasive plant species, and the DEP given primary enforcement for all other violations;

      (2) provide that the penalties for violations involving the sale, offer for sale, propagation for sale, or importation of invasive plant species would be calculated on a per-violation basis, while all other penalties would be calculated on a per-day basis; and

      (3) reduce the timeline by which persons who receive a notice of a civil administrative penalty are required to respond to 20 days, rather than 35 days, in order to maintain conformity with the timeline for responding to administrative enforcement orders provided by the bill.