Troubling News From Trenton

Two troubling discussions are underway in Trenton, one in the Assembly, and the other at the Department of Environmental Protection.  Both, if enacted, are bad news for the Upper Raritan Watershed and the rest of New Jersey.  

In the Assembly, bill A2486 would prohibit the DEP from adopting any regulation that provides for more than minimum federal environmental requirements. This measure was pulled on March 14th but it has strong advocates and we expect it will reappear.  If passed, this bill would affect rules about coastal dumping, air quality, stormwater, flood hazard and water quality planning, wetlands... the list goes on and on.  Federal standards are broadly written, and we need regulations that are tailored to the specific conditions in our state.

In March, the DEP announced it was proposing a rule that would allow the agency to supersede existing laws and regulations and allow it to approve waivers of strict compliance with its rules "to address situations where rules conflict, or a rule is unduly burdensome in specific application, or a net environmental benefit would be realized, or a public emergency exists."  The "waiver rule," as it is known, is an outgrowth of Governor Christie's "Common Sense Principles" for state agencies.  DEP Commissioner Bob Martin says it will maintain environmnetal protection as it cuts through the state's bureaucracy and red tape.  This might sound reasonable enough at first glance, however what this really means is that the DEP may give itself the authority to supersede both laws and regulations, and then decide on its own who needs to comply with its rules, and who doesn’t.   This makes a mockery of the regulatory process, and deprives the public of any meaningful opportunity to comment on individual waiver decisions.  The proposed rule is available online at http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/notices.html.  A public hearing on the waiver proposal is scheduled for Thursday, April 14th at 3 pm, in the DEP's public hearing room at 401 East State Street in Trenton. Written comments may be submitted through May 6 to: Gary J. Brower, Esq., ATTN: DEP Docket No. 03-11-02, NJDEP, Office of Legal Affairs, 4th Floor, PO Box 402, Trenton, NJ 08625-0402.

Please join URWA and tell our representatives in Trenton and the DEP that the environment and our health will inevitably suffer with regulations and rule changes like the these.