NJ A5293

Municipalities can receive preservation bonus credits against their affordable housing obligations if they contain or sustain designated natural, cultural, or environmental resources and enact regulations to protect them

The Department of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, must develop formulas for bonus credits covering eight resource categories: critical headwaters, water resources, land conservation, wildlife/habitat, climate resilience, historical/cultural resources, community engagement/education, and sustainable building practices

Credit formulas must evaluate factors including ecological importance, habitat diversity, biodiversity, rarity or uniqueness, and the societal, cultural, recreational, educational, and aesthetic value of resources

Municipalities protecting critical headwaters serving drinking water for populations of at least 1,000,000 qualify for preservation bonus credits if they enact and enforce water quality safeguards

Preservation bonus credits count toward the existing 25 percent cap on bonus credits that can apply to a municipality's prospective affordable housing need obligation in the fourth round or subsequent rounds