TRENTON — Environmental advocates today painted a bleak picture of what would happen to New Jersey’s natural resources if the state moves ahead with a plan that would allow businesses, towns and people to bypass environmental regulations. Leaders from nine advocacy groups gathered at the Statehouse and urged the Christie administration to drop the proposed "waiver rule," saying it...
Jeff Tittel, executive director of the area Sierra Club, speaks at a New Jersey Highlands Council meeting in this 2007 file photo.TRENTON — Environmental advocates today painted a bleak picture of what would happen to New Jersey’s natural resources if the state moves ahead with a plan that would allow businesses, towns and people to bypass environmental regulations.
Leaders from nine advocacy groups gathered at the Statehouse and urged the Christie administration to drop the proposed "waiver rule," saying it would open the door to more political influence by monied special interests, more flooding, more sprawl, more pollution.
"This waiver rule is one of the most dramatic rollbacks of environmental regulations we’ve seen in the state," said Jeff Tittel, director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club. "It’s a loophole big enough to drive a bulldozer through."
The state Department of Environmental Protection, which has proposed the change, says it’s in the middle of restructuring itself, and the waiver rule’s goal is to cut down on red tape. If approved, the rule would let developers or homeowners negotiate exemptions from some environmental regulations if they’re "unduly burdensome" or if there are conflicting rules from different state agencies.
DEP officials would decide whether a rule is "unduly burdensome" on a case-by-case basis. For example, DEP spokesman Larry Ragonese said, a waiver might be used if a city needs to dump excess snow into open water. The practice is currently prohibited, but in a blizzard the city may need to clear roads leading to a hospital, he said.
"The idea is simply to have common-sense government," he said. "There are times when waivers may improve the environment — better water flow, better septic and sewer treatment."
Ragonese said the waivers would only be granted for "exceptional cases," and any waiver would have to steer clear of areas covered by state or federal laws, regional air agreements, emissions trading programs, and health or safety standards.
But environmentalists weren’t convinced things would work out that way in practice. Tittel said the DEP rules that could be waived all derive from larger state or federal laws, and that tweaking DEP rules amounted to tweaking legislative mandates.
Denise Patel of the Work Environment Council, which represents 70 groups, said the waivers could jeopardize workers’ safety because the same rules that protect residents often protect employees at places like oil refineries.
"It favors large business over small business at a time when the economy is just starting to recover," she said.
Meanwhile, a leading Democrat in the Legislature said the "unduly burdensome" requirement was too subjective and would lead to "an onslaught of lawsuits." The move was part of Gov. Chris Christie’s plan to "dismantle decades of environmental regulation," said Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex).
"I just don’t understand why you would want to vest this authority in an unelected bureaucrat who will decide which regulations apply," she said. "The point of regulations is that they apply to everyone."
The DEP plans to hold a public hearing on the waiver rule Thursday at its Trenton offices, and it will collect public comments until May 6. "We know that each of the waivers will be scrutinized by critics of the process," Ragonese said. "We welcome that."
Previous coverage:
• N.J. proposes 'waiver' allowing DEP to bypass rules to approve development projects