Advocacy

In 2020, the Native Plant Society of New Jersey instituted an advocacy committee. Our goal is to work with our state and federal legislators to promote a better environment, focusing on protecting native flora and encouraging their sale and cultivation, encouraging pollinators, and preventing the spread of invasive species. Some examples of the bills we have supported include A4137/S1029 (formerly A3677/S2186), a state bill that prohibits sale, distribution, or propagation of certain invasive plant species without a permit for the Department of Agriculture and the bipartisan federal Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (S1149) which aims to protect and restore both native wildlife and plants nationwide.

Get in touch with us:

New Jersey Environmental Legislation and Action Hub

This page highlights key environmental bills currently moving through the state legislature, as well as resources to help your municipality implement sustainable practices, protect biodiversity, and reduce long-term costs. 

Our goal is to make it easier for residents, advocates, and local officials to work together toward healthy and resilient communities.

Use this page to speak up when clean water, healthy neighborhoods, and quality of life are on the line. Small actions such as an email, a comment, a shared resource can help move good policy forward and protect the places we depend on every day.

Bills:

These are bills we are currently supporting. If you would like to help, please contact your state legislators and tell them to support and vote yes on these bills.

Invasives bill (A4137/S1029) Prohibits sale, distribution on, import, export or propagation on of certain invasive species without permit from Department of Agriculture; establishes NJ Invasive Species Council.  

Dark Skies bill (A2196/S1610) Requires outdoor lighting fixtures installed or replaced by, or on behalf of State, or at projects receiving State funds, to meet certain criteria.

Contact your Representatives:

Find your state representatives and senator here.

Model Ordinances for Healthier, Quieter, Greener Communities

The Native Plant Society of New Jersey’s Advocacy Committee has a set of model ordinances that municipalities can adopt to promote native plants and more sustainable practices across the state. These resources can help towns take meaningful local action for biodiversity and environmental health. These can even reduce municipal costs.

Native Plant Ordinance:

Created by Wild Ones Lawyer Rosanne Plante, this ordinance establishes minimum standards for the design, installation, and maintenance of landscaped areas that require the use of appropriate native vegetation and to promote the preservation of indigenous plant communities on site.

Pesticide Ordinance: 

Prohibits the use of synthetic pesticides on township-owned land. It was created and passed by Montclair. 

Dark Sky Model Ordinance: 

DarkSky International Policy Outdoor Lighting – Municipal Ordinance Template and User Guide establishes lighting standards that conserve energy, promote nighttime safety and minimize light pollution. Created by the Dark Sky NJ. 

Gas Leaf blower Ordinances: 

Prohibits the use of gas powered leaf blowers within the Township. 

Tree Removal and Replacement Ordinance:

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection requires that all Tier A municipalities take measures to control the removal of trees in order to reduce stormwater runoff and to promote infiltration of rainwater into the soil.

Listed below are resources to help identify appropriate trees for your municipality or ecoregion:

Learn more! The New Jersey Association of Planning & Zoning Administrators (NJAPZA) has organized a series of three free webinars on the tree ordinances. The recordings of session one can be found here:

Session One recording (password: Session#1)

Session Two recording (password: Session#2)

Other Resources:

What actions can I take:

Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting

Work with your HOA

Reducing Bird Collisions with Glass

For Policy Makers:

ANJEC Local Environmental Matters

Dark Sky Creating Codes and Statutes

NPSNJ Advocacy Alerts:

Advocacy Alert – NPSNJ @ NJLM 2025

The Native Plant Society will have a booth (#3213) at the New Jersey League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City. Stop by Booth 3213 and let us know what environmental projects are going on in your municipality. When: Tuesday, November 18: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Wednesday, November 19: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Thursday, November 20: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm Where: Atlantic City Convention Center (Atlantic City, NJ)

Advocacy Alert: Check Your Town’s Tree Removal and Replacement Ordinance

The Department of Environmental Protection has issued a requirement for New Jersey towns to adopt ordinances for tree removal by May 1 and replacement in order to comply with stormwater permits. However, there are concerns that these ordinances may limit tree species diversity and include non-native or invasive species, which goes against ecological best practices. It’s recommended to review local ordinances for the diversity and appropriateness of tree species and to advocate for amendments if necessary. Read more here.

Governor Murphy Vetoes A3677, NJ’s Invasive Species Bill

We have a disappointing update to A3677, the NJ Bill to prohibit the sale and traffic of invasive species. Governor Phil Murphy has vetoed it under the rationale that the Department of Environmental Protection needs to be more involved in the drafting of the bill. For a bill of such critical importance to our state’s ecology, it is surprising that Murphy and the DEP did not work more closely with the Assembly and Senate and instead punted the work back to them for another year. Although an override is possible, as the bill had unanimous and bipartisan support in both houses, it is unlikely given the late date We will be advocating to send the bill back in front of both houses when the new session starts. Read his statement here.

2023 Advocacy Update and Call to Action on Invasives

The Advocacy Committee of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey is excited to report on our progress in 2023 to protect the native plants of New Jersey and to look ahead to new legislation. Your participation, by contacting the governor and legislators, will make a difference.

Bill to Ban Invasives – Finally on the Governor’s Desk

For the last two years, we have been working to pass New Jersey Bill A3677/S2186. This bill aims to prohibit the sale, distribution, or propagation of certain invasive plant species and establishes the NJ Invasive Species Council. It’s a crucial step toward controlling invasive species and protecting our native plant ecosystems. In the spring of 2022, we pushed to move this bill forward when few had faith in it. In December 2022, our committee co-chair Laura Bush testified about it before the NJ Senate Environment and Energy Committee and again before the Assembly Agriculture and Food Security Committee in May 2023. The bill finally passed both houses with unanimous support last week and now we are delighted to announce that it is on Governor Murphy’s desk. Even though this bill had bipartisan support in both houses, this does not mean the governor is certain to sign it. Please reach out to the governor via the governor’s website, leave a voice mail at 1-609-292-6000 or send a text message to 1-732-605-5455 and encourage him to sign it. Letters are usually better, but there is no time!

There’s much more in our update here.

URGENT ADVOCACY ALERT: NJ ASSEMBLY VOTE ON INVASIVE SPECIES BILL 5/25/23

Update: this bill passed the Assembly on a vote of (74-0-0). Right now, the best thing to do would be to write your State Senator and ask to have the bill brought to the floor and voted on.

NPSNJ Supports the Bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (US Senate 1149)

The bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (S.1149) is before Congress again. In 2022, it passed the House 231-190, but didn’t make it through the Senate due to disagreements about funding. As a rare bill with bipartisan support, it has a real possibility of passing both houses this year, but we need your help to ensure its passage. This transformative bill, widely considered the biggest piece of environmental legislation since the Endangered Species Act of 1973, aims to protect and restore both native wildlife and plants, with a particular focus on those of greatest conservation need, including endangered or threatened species

NPSNJ Advocacy Alert: Warm up those Streetlights

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is seeking public comments by March 29 on PSE&G replacing streetlights to LEDs. In principle, this is good as it reduces energy use and thus mitigates climate change. The Native Plant Society of New Jersey is concerned about the color temperature of the proposed LED lights and requests that future installations of LED street lights have temperatures of 3000K or lower. 3000K vs 4000K Existing Sodium-vapor street lights have a temperature of around 2200K whereas new LED street lights are around 4000K, a “cooler” temperature much closer to daylight. There is scientific evidence that this is bad for pollinators, which in turn will be bad for native plants. Although the direct impact of these cooler color temperatures on nearby plant life is under-researched, evidence suggests that there are adverse effects from street lights on plants, which need darkness to anticipate the seasons, for example, to anticipate that fall and winter are coming and that it is time to lose their leaves and cooler lights, which are closer to “daylight” temperatures are more likely to impact this process. The American Medical Association also notes the disruption cooler temperature LEDs have on human health. You can make comments at this page. https://publicaccess.bpu.state.nj.us/CaseSummary.aspx?case_id=2111607 Select the comments tab.

September 2022 Advocacy Update

Two bills currently before the state legislature have the potential for greatly impacting New Jersey’s environment. We at the Advocacy Committee as well as the Board of Directors of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey are asking for your support. Please write your legislators and let them know that it is important that these bills get heard in committee, voted on, and passed. 

Help Save Caven Point Peninsula

Recently, A4264/S2807, the “Liberty State Park Conservation, Recreation, and Community Inclusion Act,” was passed and signed by the Governor, allowing commercial development of Liberty State Park but we still have a chance to save Caven Point Natural Area.