NY State Senate Bill 2017-S6342

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Agriculture Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to agriculture
May 11, 2017	referred to agriculture

co-Sponsors

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9712
Current Committee:: Senate Agriculture
Law Section:: Agriculture and Markets Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §301, Ag & Mkts L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: A2678
2021-2022: A6408
2023-2024: A3948

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Includes urban farming within farm operations for purposes of agricultural districts.

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S6342

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in
relation to including urban farming written agricultural districts

 PURPOSE :

This bill would include urban farming within farm operations for
purposes of agricultural districts.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section one amends subdivision 11 of section 301 of the agriculture
and markets law to include "urban farming" in the definition of "farm
operation." "Urban farming" is defined as the cultivation of fruits,
vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants, as well as the limited
keeping and raising of fowl or bees and the practice of aquaculture.

Section two establishes the effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :

The State Office of Real Property Tax Services defines a "farm
operation" as land where produce is grown physically upon the ground,
with roots in the soil. This arbitrary definition serves to exclude
most modern urban and small farms from the agricultural assessment

process.

Modern growers may want to include greenhouses on a small farm
operation, or on the roof of a building. A mushroom grower working for
an internet meal delivery service cannot qualify since they are grown
upon logs. These types of urban and small farm operations are
considered ineligible under the rules promulgated by the Commissioner
of Agriculture and Markets. When the law was written in 1971, small
suburban farms and urban farm operations did not exist and therefore
were not considered.

This bill would amend the state's definition of a farm operation to
encompass the definition of urban farming when determining
agricultural assessments. There are tremendous benefits to encouraging
urban agriculture. Converting land to previous surface helps clean
stormwater and reduce runoff, produces a sustainable local food source
for schools, restaurants, grocery stores and households and is
economically beneficial.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

New bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6342
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 11, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MURPHY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Agriculture
 
 AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to  includ-
   ing urban farming written agricultural districts
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 11  of  section  301  of  the  agriculture  and
 markets  law,  as  amended by chapter 35 of the laws of 2016, is amended
 and a new subdivision 19 is added to read as follows:
   11. "Farm operation" means the land and on-farm buildings,  equipment,
 manure  processing and handling facilities, and practices which contrib-
 ute to the production, preparation and marketing of crops, livestock and
 livestock products as a commercial enterprise, including  a  "commercial
 horse  boarding  operation"  as  defined in subdivision thirteen of this
 section, a "timber operation" as defined in subdivision fourteen of this
 section, "compost, mulch or other biomass crops" as defined in  subdivi-
 sion  seventeen  of this section [and], "commercial equine operation" as
 defined in subdivision eighteen of this section AND "URBAN  FARMING"  AS
 DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION NINETEEN OF THIS SECTION. Such farm operation may
 consist  of  one  or more parcels of owned or rented land, which parcels
 may be contiguous or noncontiguous to each other.
   19. "URBAN FARMING" MEANS THE CULTIVATION OF FRUITS, VEGETABLES, FLOW-
 ERS AND ORNAMENTAL PLANTS, AS WELL AS THE LIMITED KEEPING AND RAISING OF
 FOWL OR BEES AND THE PRACTICE OF AQUACULTURE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11588-01-7

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Senate Bill S6342

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Agriculture Committee

co-Sponsors

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S6342

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Sponsored By

Terrence Murphy

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Agriculture Committee

co-Sponsors

Susan Serino

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S6342 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments