Official Site of The State of New Jersey

The State Planning Commission coordinates the policies of the State Development and Redevelopment Plan with other state agencies.

The Cross-Acceptance Process

The release of the Preliminary State Development and Redevelopment Plan marks the beginning of the Cross-Acceptance process. Cross-Acceptance is a bottom-up approach for comparing planning policies at different levels of government in order to attain the greatest degree of consistency among municipal, county, regional, and State plans with the new SDRP. Each step in the process is described by the State Planning Rules (N.J.A.C. 15:30). Throughout this process, various stakeholders can participate to create a more meaningful and viable State Plan by ensuring that municipal, county, and regional priorities are taken into consideration.

Initial public engagement is the first step of Cross-Acceptance. Following the release of the Preliminary State Plan, the SPC holds joint public informational meetings with each county and the Highlands Council (N.J.A.C. 15:30-3.1).

As Cross-Acceptance proceeds, most formal interactions take place between the SPC and the “Negotiating Entities.” A Negotiating Entity is a participating county or regional planning authority, or any entity designated by the SPC should a county or regional planning authority decline to be the Negotiating Entity. Each Negotiating Entity is required to submit a work program to the SPC which outlines their public participation process.

Every participating municipality within the Negotiating Entity’s jurisdiction submits a Cross-Acceptance Response to the Negotiating Entity. The Negotiating Entity then compiles and summarizes the information received from the municipalities regarding their local plans and policies, and submits a County Cross-Acceptance Response to the SPC.

Following the submission of each County Cross-Acceptance Response to the SPC, OPA meets with each Negotiating Entity to identify issues requiring negotiation. Each Negotiating Entity then meets with the SPC’s Negotiating Committee, and OPA periodically reports on the progress made during these meetings. Upon the completion of negotiations, the SPC’s Negotiating Committee compiles the “Draft Statement of Agreements and Disagreements.” This document is then made available for public review.

Cross-Acceptance concludes with the SPC’s approval and dissemination the Statement of Agreements and Disagreements. The Statement of Agreements and Disagreements summarizes the results of the negotiations between the Negotiating Entities and the SPC’s Negotiating Committee.

Upon consideration of the products of the Cross-Acceptance process, the SPC determines if and how to amend the Preliminary State Plan. The SPC then produces the Draft Final State Development and Redevelopment Plan.

Additional Information

Information on other deliverables such as the Draft Infrastructure Needs Assessment and the Impact Assessment is found here.

Please contact the office to arrange review of previous Cross-Acceptance Reports. 

To submit your comments on the Preliminary Plan, please send emails to: stateplan.comments@sos.nj.gov or you can also complete the online form.

Click the links below to access the following documents (as they are made available).

• Cross-Acceptance Manual
• Cross-Acceptance Response Template
• County Cross-Acceptance Responses
• Negotiation Session Agendas & Reports
• Draft Statement of Agreements and Disagreements
• Final Statement of Agreements and Disagreements