BARNEGAT — Gov. Chris Christie has vetoed a bill that would have assessed fees on property owners in Ocean County to repair and retrofit stormwater basins as part of a plan to clean up Barnegat Bay. Environmentalists viewed the bill (S-1815) as a crucial component to cleaning up Barnegat Bay, one of the country’s most polluted and threatened coastal...
A biplane heads east as it flies over Barnegat Bay, crossing over Island Beach State Park and out over the ocean.BARNEGAT — Gov. Chris Christie has vetoed a bill that would have assessed fees on property owners in Ocean County to repair and retrofit stormwater basins as part of a plan to clean up Barnegat Bay.
Environmentalists viewed the bill (S-1815) as a crucial component to cleaning up Barnegat Bay, one of the country’s most polluted and threatened coastal estuaries.
The Ocean County freeholders, all of whom are Republicans, saw the bill as a tax for which they would have been blamed.
Stormwater basins and drains are conduits for pollution because they are not designed to trap nitrogen, an ingredient of lawn fertilizers that washes into the bay’s tributaries after heavy rainfall. Nitrogen encourages the growth of non-native species, killing off the native species.
Scientists have attributed changes in the bay, including a huge invasion of stinging sea nettles, to increased nitrogen levels.
In his veto message, Christie said his 10-point plan addressing the health of the bay is designed to make improvements with existing funds.
"While I fully share the sponsors’ concerns about Barnegat Bay, now is not the time to increase the tax burden," Christie wrote in his veto message Friday.
"I simply cannot support this imposition of the additional fees that would be required under this bill."
Christie noted the $16 million in state and federal funds his administration made available to Ocean County communities earlier this month for 25 stormwater projects affecting the bay.
But environmentalists say the state needs a stable source of financing because it will take an estimated $270 million to repair or retrofit all 2,700 basins in the watershed.
Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex), who sponsored a companion bill with state Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) said that Christie’s veto — the third of the legislative proposals affecting the bay — means that the governor is not as committed to the cleanup as he claims.
"Improving stormwater management would help us restore the beauty and health of the watershed, which is vital to our state’s economy,’’ McKeon said.
The bill would have given Ocean County, whose 33 communities are situated in the bay’s watershed, the option to establish a utility to manage the basin repairs. The utility would have had a wide range of choices on which to base such fees to businesses and homeowners.
Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, said the bill would have allowed the county to redirect some sewerage fees it now collects to the stormwater repair fund without assessing new fees.
Ocean County Freeholder Director Joseph Vicari said the county has spent $1 billion over the past two decades to help preserve the bay, and he thanked the governor "because it would be another burden on the taxpayers."
"We feel we’ve done our share," he said. "The state should be in partnership with us.’’
Previous coverage:
• Gov. Christie approves nation's strictest limits on fertilizers to protect Barnegat Bay
• Gov. Christie announces plan to protect Barnegat Bay, close Oyster Creek
• N.J. lawmakers pass stricter regulations on fertilizer in effort to clean up Barnegat Bay