Poison Pill exempts scores of major development projects
Trenton — On Monday, the Department of Environmental Protection quietly posted the new controversial “Category One” waters initiative on its website – no press confenence photo ops – not even a press release – this time, now that the details of the plan are known. This contrasts with the announcement of the proposal last Earth Day, when DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson basked in praise of environmentalists.
In addition to abandoning proposed protections for the Wallkill, Pequest, and Stony Brook rivers, close review of the devils in the details reveals another even larger flaw.
DEP has created a major grandfathering loophole in the rule, allowing many major development projects to circumvent the new protections, according to an analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As a result, construction will be allowed to pierce protective buffers around the state’s most ecological valuable rivers, lakes and streams.
“Buried in these rules are enough special interest gifts to keep the spirit of Christmas alive in Trenton for many years to come,” stated New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, a former DEP official who once headed the Category One (C1) program designed to shield water-bodies that either support critical wildlife or feed into a major drinking-water source from development-induced pollution. “Favors for developers with politically connected projects can only be found by playing hide-and-go-seek through 300 pages of regulatory underbrush.”
Although hailed by DEP as “unprecedented” protections when proposed on Earth Day 2007, the final rules are far more modest, omitting hundreds of miles of waterways vital to wildlife and drinking water. In addition, the new rules contain a raft of convoluted exceptions and set aside science-based criteria for new legally untested methods that may be a poison pill, causing the entire rule to be invalidated.
Betrayal – DEP Commissioner Jackson holds Earth Day Press Photo-Op with environmentalists at Stony Brook Watershed.Then she turned around and abandoned the Stony Brook to accommodate BMS million square foot expansion.
One gaping loophole buried in the C1 adoption document would grandfather hundreds of projects that had previously obtained DEP permits or local land use approvals. As a result, thousands of acres of environmentally sensitive streams and buffers would be destroyed by projects with old permits that now trump the new C1 stream protections.
Another key issue is exemptions for pending projects. Even though DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson signed the C1 adoption document on May 20, 2008, she delayed the effective date until it is formally published in the New Jersey Register, which will be June 16th at the earliest.
This grandfather loophole has already exempted one big project, an 800,000 square-foot corporate office park expansion known as Berwind, located on Carter Road in Hopewell (previously known as Lucent Technologies). According to August 20, 2007 comments submitted by a lawyer on behalf of Berwind Property Group (BPG) in Hopewell campus, the project would be precluded by a C1 designation: “If adopted, the [C1] rule would have a devastating affect on BPG’s ability to redevelop its property…”
On May 29, 2008, the Hopewell Township Planning Board approved the project while refusing to acknowledge that the new C1 rules, adopted just days earlier, would preclude the project.
“By delaying the effective date, DEP has set off a land rush by developers to exempt themselves from the new rules,” Wolfe added, noting that the Hopewell Township Planning Board blocked his submission of testimony last week so that the impending CI rules would not be part of the hearing record. “DEP has crafted this so that the exceptions swallow the rule.”
See the final C1 rules (grandfather language starts on page 105)
http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/adoptions/adopt_080616a.pdf
Read the PEER testimony on Berwind which could not be delivered
http://www.peer.org/docs/nj/08_4_6_njpeer_testimony.pdf
View the C1 comments from BPG lawyer
http://www.peer.org/docs/nj/08_4_6_bpg_comments.pdf
Look at the major flaws in the new C1 rules
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1054
New Jersey PEER is a state chapter of a national alliance of state and federal agency resource professionals working to ensure environmental ethics and government accountability
Selfishness often leads to self destruction, unless the representatives who are in custodial positions see beyond their current personal interests their actions are going to hurt their loved ones eventually – that is assuming that they have children, nieces and nephews that they care about. The natural infrastructure are all connected, continuous damage to part(s) of the natural infrastructure will result in its destruction and ultimately the human species as we know it.
Don’t be ridiculous. The human species is NOT going to be destroyed if you environmentalists don’t get your way. There is enough environmental regulation in NJ to choke a horse. Relaxing a rule or two is a good idea. It provides a counter-balance for all the excesses your kind has been granted by the wacky liberals in Trenton.
Why is Bill jumping on a 800,000 square foot expansion? When filled it will add thousands of new jobs in this state. Would you rather have those jobs move out of this state with the rest of business?
I also like how Bill Wolfe quotes himself in his opinion. Are you sure you got that quote right Bill?
enviroman – The 800,000 square feet expansion should be built where there is water, sewer, public transportation and a nearby work force.
The Carter Road Hopewell lcoation is in teh middle of nowehre and will csots taxpares millions for road, water adn swer improvements, plus all the commuter traffic.
This is a 1970’s offioce park when we need 21 st century envriometnally sane design adn land use planning.
Obviously, you must not read my posts very often because if you did, you’ll notice that I sometimes cross post PEER press releases.
The above is a national distribution press release – check out our website:
http://www.peer.org
TYPO CORRECTED VERSION!
enviroman – The 800,000 square feet expansion should be built where there is water, sewer, public transportation and a nearby work force.
The Carter Road Hopewell location is in the middle of nowhere and will csots taxpayers millions for road, water and sewer improvements, plus all the commuter traffic.
This is a 1970’s offioce park when we need 21 st century envriometnally sane design adn land use planning.
Obviously, you must not read my posts very often because if you did, you’ll notice that I sometimes cross post PEER press releases.
The above is a national distribution press release – check out our website:
http://www.peer.org
rightwaynj – once it’s gone, it doesn’t come back. How many other states need an open space tax to preserve a bit of green?
And every week I see more & more commercial property vacancies for rent. Let’s really think before building more.
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