Senate Commerce Committee Statement to Senate, No. 3906, Tree Experts and Tree Care Operators Licensing Act

Summary

Senate Commerce Committee statement to Senate on Senate Bill No. 3906, dated February 10, 2025, reporting the bill favorably with committee amendments. The bill adds enforcement and penalty provisions to the Tree Experts and Tree Care Operators Licensing Act. The New Jersey Board of Tree Experts or the Department of Environmental Protection may issue compliance orders, bring civil actions, levy civil administrative penalties or seek civil penalties. A civil administrative penalty is $1,000 for each violation and $2,500 for a second or subsequent violation. The committee removed provisions treating each day of a violation as an additional violation.

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     SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE

                    STATEMENT TO

                  SENATE, No. 3906
                  with committee amendments



 STATE OF NEW JERSEY
                  DATED: FEBRUARY 10, 2025

    The Senate Commerce Committee reports favorably and with
committee amendments Senate Bill No. 3906.
    As amended, this bill revises the "Tree Experts and Tree Care
Operators Licensing Act" to provide enforcement and penalty
provisions. The bill provides that the New Jersey Board of Tree
Experts or the Department of Environmental Protection, upon a
violation of the "Tree Experts and Tree Care Operators Licensing
Act,” may:
   (1) issue an order requiring any person in violation of the law to
comply;
   (2) bring a civil action in accordance with the provisions of the
bill;
   (3) levy a civil administrative penalty in accordance with the
provisions of the bill; or
   (4) bring an action for a civil penalty in accordance with the
provisions of the bill.
   Recourse to one remedy available under the bill will not preclude
recourse to any of the other remedies prescribed in the bill or by
any other applicable law.
    The bill provides that whenever the board finds a person in
violation of any provision of the “Tree Experts and Tree Care
Operators Licensing Act," or any rule or regulation adopted
pursuant hereto, the board may issue an order:
   (1) specifying the provision or provisions of the law, rule,
regulation, permit, approval, or authorization of which the person is
in violation;
   (2) citing the action which constituted the violation;
   (3) requiring compliance with the provision or provisions
violated;
   (4) denying, suspending, or revoking a license or business
registration; and
   (5) providing notice to the person of the right to a hearing on the
matters contained in the order.
    The bill provides that the board or the Commissioner of
Environmental Protection is authorized to institute a civil action in
the Superior Court or municipal court for appropriate relief from
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any violation of the “Tree Experts and Tree Care Operators
Licensing Act," or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto.
The relief may include, singly or in combination:
   (1) a temporary or permanent injunction;
   (2) assessment of the violator for the costs of any investigation,
inspection, or monitoring survey which led to the establishment of
the violation, and for the reasonable costs of preparing and bringing
the legal action under the provisions of the bill;
   (3) assessment of the violator for any costs incurred by the State
in removing, correcting, or terminating the adverse effects resulting
from any unauthorized regulated activity for which legal action
under the provisions of the bill may have been brought;
   (4) assessment against the violator for compensatory damages
for any loss or destruction of natural resources and for any other
actual damages caused by an unauthorized regulated activity; or
   (5) a requirement that the violator restore the site of the
violation to the maximum extent practicable and feasible.
    The bill authorizes the board to assess a civil administrative
penalty of $1,000 for each violation of the “Tree Experts and Tree
Care Operators Licensing Act,” or any rule or regulation adopted
pursuant hereto, or $2,500 for a second or subsequent violation. No
assessment will be levied pursuant to the bill until after the alleged
violator has been notified by certified mail or personal service.
    The bill requires that the notice:
    (1) identify the section of the law, rule, regulation, license, or
registration violated;
    (2) recite the facts alleged to constitute a violation;
    (3) state the amount of the civil administrative penalties to be
imposed; and
    (4) affirm the rights of the alleged violator to a hearing.
    The bill provides that the ordered party will have 20 days from
receipt of the notice within which to deliver to the board a written
request for a hearing. After the hearing and upon finding that a
violation has occurred, the board may issue a final order after
assessing the amount of the fine specified in the notice. If no
hearing is requested, the notice will become a final order after the
expiration of the 20-day period. Payment of the civil administrative
penalty will be due when a final order is issued or the notice
becomes a final order.
   A person who violates any provision of the “Tree Experts and
Tree Care Operators Licensing Act,” will be subject, upon order of
a court, to a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for a first violation
and not to exceed $2,500 for a second or subsequent violation.
   The bill repeals a separate section of “Tree Experts and Tree
Care Operators Licensing Act” that provides for the levying of fines
for violations.
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
    The committee amended the bill to remove provisions that deemed
each day that a violation of the bill occurs an additional violation of
the “Tree Experts and Tree Care Operators Licensing Act.”


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