Decline in N.J. pollution control raises environmental concern

The review comes on the heels of a decision by Gov. Christie to pull out of a regional environmental initiative

Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerGov. Chris Christie last week decided to pull out of a regional environmental initiative.

TRENTON — State scrutiny of air polluters ranging from oil refineries to neighborhood dry cleaners slipped during the past decade, according to a Star-Ledger review.

Statistics show that while oversight of New Jersey smokestacks often fluctuated during the decade, inspections, investigations and enforcement all hit lows in 2010.

Department of Environmental Protection numbers show that from fiscal year 2001 to fiscal year 2010:

•Routine inspections of air polluters decreased 65 percent, from 1,387 to 490.

•Surprise investigations, often spurred by complaints, fell 40 percent, from 1,027 to 621.

•Actions taken against polluters breaking the law fell 25 percent, from 984 to 739.

•Staffing for air pollution enforcement dropped 19 percent, from 75 people to 61 people.

Environmentalists said the numbers show the weakened state of a department stripped of jobs under former Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine during dire budget times.

The numbers only cover the first six months of Gov. Chris Christie’s term, but the DEP faces fresh pressure from the governor, who had said he wants to cut regulation and be more business-friendly.

Last week, the Republican governor pulled the state out of a landmark regional program intended to reduce air pollution, calling it a useless tax. Detractors seized on the move as another break for corporate polluters.

"At the very least, after this decision, no one can argue that this governor favors environmental protection," Assembly environment chairman John McKeon (D-Essex) said.

The Christie administration also plans to bolster alternative ways for polluters to settle their debts rather than pay a fine. That move matches the DEP’s shift in recent years away from slapping polluters and toward enticing them to behave better, an approach officials said led to the decline in enforcement actions. Clean air advocates criticize the approach as back-room dealing.

"The best environmental benefit is a penalty structure that deters the violation in the first place," said David Pringle, political director of the New Jersey Environmental Federation.

The link between the DEP’s enforcement muscle and the quality of New Jersey air is hard to measure. Industrial air pollution in the state fell during the decade, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, because some businesses closed and stricter federal pollution laws were enacted.

But a weakened DEP does not bode well for more improvement, said Craig Oren, a law professor at Rutgers University in Camden and an expert on the Clean Air Act.

"It’s safe to say that the less the department enforces, the more emissions there will be," Oren said.

From 2002 to 2009, the percentage of air polluters following the law fell from 75 percent to 66 percent, according to the DEP.

DEP officials said the enforcement numbers show a more efficient program to improve compliance and air quality. Scrutiny of polluters is getting better, they said.

"Is the cup half empty or half full?" said Wolfgang Skacel, assistant commissioner for compliance and enforcement. "You’re viewing it as we must be doing a bad job because compliance rates have dropped. We’re looking at it as we’re doing a good job."

DEP officials also said the department performed fewer inspections because more were delegated to county health agencies. According to the DEP’s most recent report on that work, however, county agencies completed 3,377 air inspections in 2009, only 63 more than in 2001.

When asked about the numbers, DEP spokesman Larry Ragonese said the agency gave more duties to counties but also cut back on inspection requirements due to the costs.

When state inspectors do find polluters breaking the law, they often postpone formal action and instead talk out the problem, Skacel said. That approach, adopted in 2007, has reduced the number of enforcement actions, he said.

"What we’ve done is try to get to compliance quicker," Skacel said.

The state in 2010 collected about $3.1 million as a result of those actions, the lowest amount since 2003. But in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, the DEP has already collected $3.4 million, officials said.

Fines might dip under Christie as the DEP allows more polluters to undertake an alternative approach known as "environmental projects," rather than pay fines, Skacel said. The projects cost polluters as much, if not more, than fines and often yield better results, he said.

The use of environmental projects is not new, but their success has been mixed, said Oren.

"The trick is being sure you’re actually getting a clear improvement in environmental quality," he said. "That’s often very hard to do. It’s hard to track, and to be honest, sometimes the projects aren’t really that successful."

Environmental advocates take a tougher stance.

"It basically makes it open season on air violations," said Jeff Tittel, director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club.