There is hereby established, to serve as an agency of the State and to perform the functions conferred upon it in this chapter, the State Soil Conservation Committee. The committee shall consist of 11 members: the Director of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, the associate director of the Cooperative Extension Service in Agriculture and Home Economics, the State Secretary of Agriculture, the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Economic Development, or a representative designated by any 1 of these individuals, and 1 member appointed by the Governor to serve at his pleasure. Six members shall be soil conservation district supervisors, who shall be elected at the annual meetings of soil conservation district supervisors for terms of 3 years and until their successors are appointed and qualified. Three supervisors shall be elected from the northern region which is composed of the counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren; and 3 supervisors shall be elected from the southern region which is composed of the counties of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Ocean and Salem. Of the first 3 members from each region 1 shall be elected for 1 year, 1 for 2 years, and 1 for 3 years. The committee shall invite the secretary of agriculture of the United States of America to appoint 1 person, a resident of the State of New Jersey, to serve with the above-mentioned members. The committee shall keep a record of its official actions, shall adopt a seal, which seal shall be judicially noticed, and may perform such acts, hold such public hearings, and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the execution of its functions under this chapter.
N.J.S. § 4:24-3