(a) Pursuant to the authority of N.J.A.C. 1:30-2.2, the State Agriculture Development Committee hereby adopts and incorporates by reference the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service's "Field Guide to On-Farm Composting," NRAES-114, as the agricultural management practice for on-farm compost operations operating on commercial farms, provided that:

1. Biosolids, including sludge derived materials, paper sludge, cotton sludge, slaughter wastes, and solid wastes subject to regulation under N.J.A.C. 7:26 are not part of the compost mixture;

2. The finished compost product is not distributed or sold to off-farm users, except as set forth in N.J.A.C. 2:76-2B.3(b)3;

3. The production or use of compost on a commercial farm be in accordance with the requirements of the Water Pollution Control Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10-1 et seq., N.J.A.C. 7:26A, N.J.A.C. 7:14A and this section;

4. Only finished compost meeting the product quality criteria at N.J.A.C. 7:26A-4.5(c) shall be land applied to commercial farms; and

5. The location of the compost areas and the land application of compost to commercial farms shall be in conjunction with and conformance to a farm conservation plan prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service ("USDA-NRCS") and approved by the soil conservation district.

(b) Within one year of the start-up of the composting operation, commercial farm operators shall attend a composting course sponsored by the Rutgers Extension County Agricultural or Resource Management Agents or other courses approved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

(c) Copies of the "Field Guide to On-Farm Composting" may be purchased through the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service, Cooperative Extension, 152 Riley Robb Hall, Ithica, NY 14853-5701. Purchasing information is also available on the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service's site on the World Wide Web at http://www.NRAES.org.