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Tales From A Rigged Regulatory Regime – Chapter 13

Segments within Silos

Where’s Gov. Christie as NY’s Gov. Cuomo Kills Constitution Pipeline?

A large crowd packed the Chesterfield elementary school last night to demand that the Christie DEP deny a “dewatering” permit and kill the 28 mile “Southern Reliability Link” pipeline through the Pinelands and the compressor station in Chesterfield.

Many challenged DEP to follow the lead of NY Governor Cuomo’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), who last friday denied a Clean Water Act Section 401 “Water Quality Certificate” that killed the massive proposed Constitution gas pipeline. Cuomo’s pipeline kill follows his ban on fracking in NY, huge wins for NY activists.

The elementary school location was the perfect institution and forum for the hearing – some brought their children or spoke passionately about intolerable risks to their kids – that illustrated the values of the community.

The turnout and testimony were impressive and signaled the Chesterfield – North Hanover – Bordentown community’s strong opposition, including local governments and State legislative leaders.

The community’s organized and rational opposition was a stark contrast to the absurdity of the DEP’s regulatory proceeding – a process I’ll call “segments within silos”.

Although the project has received other federal (FERC) and State (BPU) approvals, the Christie DEP could still kill the pipeline by denying required federal Clean Water Act approvals and State wetlands permits.

Despite the fact that Gov. Christie is a strong gas and pipeline supporter and his Energy Master Plan is driving the proliferation of gas pipelines and power plants across the State, activists must ramp up pressure on Governor Christie and his DEP Commissioner Bob Martin and demand that they enforce clean water laws.

Even in the likely event that DEP rubber stamps all the permits (dewatering, stream encroachment, and freshwater wetlands), a campaign targeted on DEP’s Clean Water Act WQ Certificate and permit powers will yield significant benefits.

First of all, that effort lays a foundation for administrative appeals of the permits at the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). This delays the finalization of permits.

Second, OAL decisions could then be challenged in court. In that regard, litigation has already been filed by PPA and Sierra Club.

Third, and perhaps strategically the most important, delays from appeals and litigation coupled with continued high profile public opposition could encourage the next round of candidates for Governor to pledge to exercise those powers and kill pipelines and fossil infrastructure, strengthen DEP regulations, and reverse the Christie Energy Master Plan in the next administration.

That’s exactly how we killed 15 proposed garbage incinerators and developed the nations most progressive State Solid Waste Plan and strongest recycling program under the Florio Administration in 1990.

I)  DEP’s abdication of role as Trustee of Water Resources – segments within silos

DEP began the hearing on the wrong foot, by explicitly warning the public to limit comments to just the compressor station (not the pipeline and the entire project) and to just the dewatering permit aspects of the compressor station (as opposed to other pending DEP permits and the broad impacts of the entire project, including the effects of climate change).

That is a gross attempt to narrow the scope of the public’s concern to a tiny segment of the entire project and to one small DEP silo instead of the multiple DEP permits and regulatory responsibilities. That is the epitome of bureaucratic silo decision-making.

[adding absurdity and insult to injury, DEP limited speakers to just 3 minutes, monitored by an obnoxious huge traffic light – green, yellow, RED – manned by of all people, The State Geologist!]

The entire project is a massive $2 billion regional fossil infrastructure project. It begins with the fracking fields of Pennsylvania, the PennEast pipeline, the NJNG “Southern Reliability Link” pipeline, the SJG Pinelands pipeline and the BL England power plant!

I called out the absurdity of that abuse and noted that it conflicted with the DEP’s legal duty under the Water Supply Management Act to serve as Trustee for the State’s water resources and to enforce requirements under the dewatering permit regulations that the applicant (Transco) establish that the water diversion is in the public interest.

The law directs DEP to act as Trustee for the people of the state – who own water resources in common – not serve the private interests of an out of state corporation.

II)  Next Steps

DEP extended the written public comment period on the dewatering permit until May 17, so get your cards and letters in to DEP. See this for comment info.

Next up is the freshwater wetlands permit, and that permit is key, because DEP will use it as the State’s Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certificate. In contrast to NY State DEC, who just used this certificate power, the DEP has what is known as a federally delegated wetlands program.

As a result of delegated status, DEP may be confused and legally vulnerable on this issue.

DEP’s freshwater wetlands permit rules conflate the State permit and the federal WQ certificate: (NJAC 7: 7A-2.1)

(d) A permit issued under this chapter shall constitute the water quality certificate required under the Federal Act at 33 U.S.C. §1341 for any activity covered by this chapter. If a discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, as defined at N.J.A.C. 7:7A-1.4, does not require a permit under this chapter but does require a water quality certificate, the Department shall use the standards and procedures in this chapter to determine whether to issue the water quality certificate, except in the New Jersey Coastal zone, as described at N.J.A.C.7:7E-1.2(b).

But the 401 certificate and a freshwater wetlands permit are two legally and technically distinct actions.

In addition, DEP’s wetlands rules: expressly prohibit project segmentation; require consideration of the ecological effects of disturbance and hydro-modification, including impacts from “Draining, ditching or otherwise causing the depletion of the existing groundwater or surface water so as to modify the existing vegetation, values or functions of the wetland“; and explicitly require compliance with NJ’s State Surface Water Quality Standards: (NJAC 7:7A-7.2)

(b) The Department shall issue an individual freshwater wetlands or open water fill permit only if the regulated activity: [1.-4.]

5. Will not cause or contribute to a violation of any applicable State water quality standard;

That provision can be used to force consideration of SWQS, including anti degradation policies (there are designated C1 and Pineland PL classified streams impacted); narrative and numeric criteria, and existing use protections.

Those interested in the power of C1 anti-degradation and “existing use” protections in NJ’s SWQS should Google and OPRA DEP’s revocation of a NJPDES discharge permit to Sydney Brook to serve a proposed development known as “Milligan Farms” in Clinton NJ.

[*Update: The Milligan Farms case turned on the NJ SWQS “existing use” protections for wood turtle (NJAC 7:9B –  1.5(a)6.) – which explains why the Corzine DEP later killed wood turtle protections – but not the SWQS requirement to protect “existing uses” which is a federal Clean Water Act mandate.]

Here is how NY State DEC resolved those water quality issues in denying a 401 WQ certificate: (strongly urge you to read the whole thing, it is a work of art!)

Constitution’s failure to adequately address these concerns limited the Department’s ability to assess the impacts and conclude that the Project will comply with water quality standards. Project construction would impact a total of 251 streams, 87 of which support trout or trout spawning. Cumulatively, construction would include disturbance to 3, 161 linear feet of streams resulting in a total of 5.09 acres of stream disturbance impacts. Furthermore, proposed Project construction would cumulatively impact 85.5 acres of freshwater wetlands and result in impacts to regulated wetland adjacent areas totaling 4, 768 feet for crossings, 9.70 acres for construction and 4.08 for acres for Project operation. Due to the large amount of new ROW construction, the Project would also directly impact almost 500 acres of valuable interior forest. Cumulatively, within such areas, as well as the ROW generally, impacts to both small and large streams from the construction and operation of the Project can be profound and could include loss of available water body habitat, changes in thermal conditions, increased erosion, and creation of stream instability and turbidity.

The wetlands rules have other restrictions we can emphasize and urge DEP to enforce – so activists must get up to speed on the wetlands permit issues similar to the great work on the dewatering permit.

III)  Resist the Rigged Regulatory Regime

In the meantime, see if you can wrap your head around this (from theFERC NEPA Environmental Assessment)

“As indicated in table 8, Transco has proposed placing aboveground facilities, including Station 203, the electrical substation, and valve site, within wetlands. The FERC’s Procedures prohibit locating aboveground facilities in any wetland (Section VI.A.6) without further justification. To date, Transco’s proposed Station 203’s footprint does not totally avoid wetlands and Transco has not requested a modification from FERC’s Procedures. […]

Transco’s compliance with the FERC Plan and Procedures during construction, employing the wetland construction techniques specified in the Procedures, and adherence to the CSP would minimize impacts on wetlands. Following restoration, those portions of the modified agricultural wetland temporarily impacted and restored would be monitored in accordance with our Procedures and/or in accordance with protocols specified by the NJDEP (whichever is most restrictive). Based on Transco’s consultation with NJDEP, revegetation of temporarily impacted emergent wetlands is expected to be sufficient mitigation. The NJDEP would be consulted regarding forested wetlands and mitigation options for these permanent impacts, as necessary.  (page 21, FERC Environmental Assessment)

What does this mean? Translation?

It means two things:

1) FERC’s  “prohibition” on location in wetlands is meaningless; and

2) DEP made commitments to Transco and green lighted the project months ago during pre-application meetings and discussions with Transco, months before there was any public awareness or opportunity to weigh in.

More to follow.

Go Out On Tuesday and Vote For Bernie Sanders

Restore a NY Political Legacy

Climate change is a “global environmental crisis of unprecedented urgency“

In last night’s debate [Full Trancript], Bernie Sanders called climate change a “global environmental crisis of unprecedented urgency” and highlighted the key challenge of our time:

right now, we have got to tell the fossil fuel industry that their short-term profits are not more important than the future of this planet.

Sanders called for a tax on carbon and bans on fracking and extraction of fossil energy resources (coal, oil, gas) on federal lands, the first step in a “Keep it in the Ground” strategy. Scientists warn that at least 80% of known fossil reserves must be kept in the ground if we are to avoid catastrophic warming.

He spoke passionately and clearly conveyed the critical sense of urgency:

Let me reiterate. We have a global crisis. Pope Francis reminded us that we are on a suicide course. Our legislation understands, Errol, that there will be economic dislocation. It is absolutely true. There will be some people who lose their job. And we build into our legislation an enormous amount of money to protect those workers. It is not their fault…

It is not their fault that fossil fuels are destroying our climate.

But we have got to stand up and say right now, as we would if we were attacked by some military force, we have got to move urgency — urgently and boldly.

Sanders put the climate challenge in historical perspective, and notably explicitly linked it to FDR’s New Deal and economic conversion for WW II:

What you do do is say that we are going to have a massive program — and I had introduced — introduced legislation for 10 million solar rooftops. We can put probably millions of people to work retrofitting and weatherizing buildings all over this country.

(CHEERING)

Saving — rebuilding our rail system.

(APPLAUSE)

Our mass transit system.

(APPLAUSE)

If we approach this, Errol, as if we were literally at a war — you know, in 1941, under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, we moved within three years, within three more years to rebuild our economy to defeat Nazism and Japanese imperialism. That is exactly the kind of approach we need right now.

Lead the world.

He also slammed Hillary Clinton for her efforts at the State Department to promote fracking around the world and the lack of US leadership on international climate control diplomacy, including the Paris agreement, which the father of climate science Jim Hansen called a “fraud”.

If that was all Sanders said all night, he would deserve to be President.

Obviously, Sanders could not summarize his full platform on energy, climate and the environment, so here is a link to read it and bulleted excerpts of the policy initiatives outlined:

• Reclaim our democracy from the billionaire fossil fuel lobby
• Accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels
• Invest in clean, sustainable energy
• Revolutionize our electric and transportation infrastructure
• Lead the international community to solve climate change and prevent international conflict

The stakes are very high – could not be higher – and the time to act boldly is short.

The need to fundamentally change the direction of the politics and economics of this country could not be greater.

This is the last opportunity we may have to try to meet the challenges we face – certainly the last of my lifetime.

Please get out and vote for Bernie on Tuesday! – and bring your family, friends, and neighbors!

I was born and grew up in New York. So did my mother and father. I was weened on the Revolutionary history, classic literature (from Irving’s Headless Horseman to Rip Van Winkle and Natty Bumpo), grand estates, and the rustic Hudson River school of painting and culture. The NY political tradition of FDR and the New Deal was gospel in our home. (Even Nelson Rockefeller got respect – and my grandfather worked on his Pocantico Hills Estate.)

I was blessed by countless hours on the glorious Hudson River and spent many days rambling the woods and estates in the historic Hudson Valley. We vacationed in the Adirondacks and Catskills and spent many weekends in Harriman Park and Bear Mountain. I saw Mickey Mantle play in Yankee Stadium (first Major League game I  ever went to as a Little Leaguer). School trips would take us to incredible places like Broadway plays, the UN, Rockefeller Center, and the Empire State building. I still recall the 1964 World’s Fair.

I loved New York before it was a tourism marketing slogan.

I went through NY public schools, began my education at Clarkson College up in the north country, graduated SUNY Binghamton and spent 2 years at Cornell’s graduate school – my thesis topic was on land use controls to protect the river valley aquifers of the southern tier (Big Flats).

I’ve lived in the lower Hudson Valley (Westchester & Putnam counties), the north country (Potsdam), the Southern tier (Binghamton) and the Finger Lakes region (Ithaca) for more than 25 years of my life. Good friends went to school in New Paltz, Cobleskill, Elmira, Fredonia, Syracuse, and Plattsburgh and I spent a lot of time in those places.

One of my Mom’s proudest achievements was to have worked with the Mario Cuomo administration as School Board President on a plan to cleanup and reuse the old GM plant in then North Tarrytown (now Sleepy Hollow).

I know and love the place. And I’ve got a lot of friends I grew up with still living there. So, I must appeal to my New York friends.

[PS – Hillary Clinton is no New Yorker! She’s a Wall Street Carpetbagger. Bernie is too much a gentleman to have pointed that out.]

The Forest Stewardship Plan poses an imminent danger to the natural forests and wildlife on Sparta Mountain.”  ~~~~ Hardyston Township (3/31/16)

The public comment period for the DEP’s controversial Sparta Mountain logging plan closed on March 31, so the criticism is starting to roll in.

I filed an OPRA for all the comments on 3/31 which DEP has not yet responded to, so I will do a more comprehensive post when I get all the documents.

The Hardyston Township  comments were very critical and illustrate not only the substance of local concerns, but suggest an organizing strategy for opponents of the plan.

I had not anticipated the strength and the effective organizing by the numerous lake Homeowners Associations.

The Highlands are blessed with many lakes – natural and man made – that provide not only places rich in aquatic life, but sites of organized political support for land preservation and protection of forest and water resources.

The lake homeowners are vested in the high quality of life that the splendid natural resources of the Highlands provide. They have good relationships with local officials and are well respected, credible, and effective voices for preservation. The Beaver Lakes folks obtained high powered legal support and submitted killer legal arguments (provided upon request, likely the subject of a future post).

My sense is that they were so well organized and effective organically on their own, in spite of and not as a result of advocacy groups with significant resources and paid staff, like the Highlands Coalition.

The Highlands Coalition prepared solid technical criticism of the DEP plan, but inside baseball and technical comments without strong and effective political organizing are doomed to fail.

HiCo needs to do much, much better in making the case to the public and organizing opposition.

Here is the intro and excerpts of the issue headers from the Hardyston comments – with an even more critical conclusion:

1) The Forest Stewardship Plan (hereafter “Plan”) poses an imminent danger to the natural forests and wildlife on Sparta Mountain.

2) The Plan presents potential dangers to wildlife, water supply, land and natural resources.

3) The Plan presents potential danger to the homes and infrastructure in the area of Sparta Mountain.

4) The Plan risks interference with the aesthetics of the surrounding area.

5) The NJDEP did not conduct any preliminary testing to determine the “real life” impact of the Plan.

6) The NJDEP failed to work cooperatively with Sussex County & local governments in developing the Plan.

Failure to consider climate change risks is a fatal flaw

NJ should follow NY State’s lead

“an appeal to science, reason, and moral sanity”

As we last noted, the legislature backed away from taking the final step to veto the Christie DEP’s proposed 900+ page “overhaul” of current flood hazard, storm water management, and coastal management rules, see:

• Senate Committee Blinks In Showdown On Veto of Christie DEP Clean Water Rule Rollbacks

Subsequent to that open Senate hearing, I learned that DEP met behind closed doors and briefed Legislators to defend the original proposal and outline their complex plan to adopt certain provisions of the original proposal and to propose substantive changes in a new “concurrent proposal”.

It is unclear exactly who attended this closed door legislative DEP meeting – including environmental groups – but what is clear is that it confirms exactly the Kabuki I suspected after listening to the Senate hearing.

Additionally, after the closed door meeting with legislators, on March 15, 2016, DEP met with a “by invitation only” group of Stakeholders to present their adoption and re-proposal plan.

Invited environmental groups walked out of that meeting because Delaware Riverkeeper was unable to attend and DEP would not allow their designated representative to attend  (see this link to find list of attendees, hear the walkout discussion, and listen to an audio MP3 of the meeting).

Importantly, 3 representatives of US EPA Region 2 attended the meeting.  EPA officials and their press office refused to comment on EPA’s position when asked several days after the meeting. So, the writing seems to be on the wall that EPA is softening on their original opposition.

I won’t go int detail here – those interested can listen to the audio of the March 15 meeting where DEP made a lengthy and detailed oral presentation – but merely say that it is clear that DEP is committed to moving forward with the bulk of the original proposal, with a few clarifications to resolve what they claim are misunderstandings by environmental groups.

DEP is sticking with their story that the original proposal did not in fact weaken any protections.

The only real substantive improvement the DEP will re-propose seems to be DEP’s concession to the FEMA objections. Based on what I heard, DEP also may have satisfied EPA’s concerns regarding compliance with Clean Water Act requirements.

Given a June 1 legal deadline to adopt the proposal and what I fear is the abandonment of opposition by Legislative Democrats and EPA – curiously,  environmental groups seem to have moved on as well –  adoption of the proposal is imminent.

So, I figured I’d make a last ditch effort to provide a compelling reason to abandon the original proposal.

I sent this note to DEP and Legislative leadership: an appeal to science, reason, and moral sanity:

Hi Vince –

Energy, land use and infrastructure decisions made now will determine how vulnerable our children and grandchildren will be to rising sea-levels.

So, I thought the Department should be aware of the science, regulatory policies, and standards with respect to consideration of climate change adopted by our neighbors at the NY State DEC that are of direct relevance to NJ’s Flood Hazard Area program, including projected sea level rise elevations (for inland and coastal areas).

These standards are far more conservative and protective than NJ’s with respect to flood and wave elevations, design storm, flood hazard area, and volumes:

“This Part applies to consideration of sea-level rise by the Department, other State agencies, and applicants for relevant permits and approvals in the context of programs specified in the Community Risk and Resiliency Act.”

Part 490, Projected Sea-level Rise – Express Terms 6 NYCRR

http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/103877.html

The technical basis for the NY DEC standards is found in the ClimAID Report (2014 update),

ClimAID: 2011 and 2014

In 2011, Responding to Climate Change in New York State (ClimAID) provided the first projections of sea-level rise specifically along New York’s coastlines and estuaries. The ClimAID 2014 Supplement refined these projections to take into account all known components of sea-level rise, based on advances in physical understanding, climate modeling and computing and reflecting observational data that include Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy. DEC considers these projections to be the best available at this time for New York planners.

see:

http://www.nyserda.ny.gov/About/Publications/Research-and-Development-Technical-Reports/Environmental-Research-and-Development-Technical-Reports/Response-to-Climate-Change-in-New-York

In addition, NY DEC has plans and regulatory policies regarding projected climate impacts and adaptation strategies and requirements for projected increased storm and rainfall frequency, magnitude, and intensity of direct relevance to NJ FHA design storms and flood hazard area delineation, see: Sea Level Rise Task Force Report

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/administration_pdf/slrtffinalrep.pdf

While NJ does not have legislation directly analogous to the NY State Community Risk and Resiliency Act,  NJ law does authorize the Department to consider – if not require – consideration of best available science as the basis for regulatory policy and standards.

Equally, the Legislature has recognized the reality of climate change in passing the Global Warming Response Act. It is time for the Department to recognize climate change risks across the board.

I was encouraged recently when the Department proposed NJPDES CSO permits that included design standards for the 500 year storm.

If I were in your shoes, I would write Commissioner Martin a memo ASAP and recommend that the Department withdraw the current proposed FHA rule revisions and re-propose new rules based on the best available science that considers climate change and includes adaptation standards similar to NY DEC.

Finally, if I and many others were able to attend the Department’s “by invitation only” Stakeholder meetings, you would have been advised of this information prior to rule proposal, and we might have avoided the current impasse.

I am copying Senator Smith on this so that the Legislature may be advised of the science and regulatory policies that are relevant to their current ongoing review for consistency with Legislative intent.

Respectfully,

Why is Christie “guessing” about drinking water protections?

Christie has a scandalous record on dismantling drinking water protections 

DEP scientists and regulators have known for years that there are loopholes in testing and treatment requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act and that as a result thousands of children were being exposed to unsafe levels of lead and many other chemicals.

They did NOTHING with that knowledge. REPEAT: NOTHING to warn the public or close gaping regulatory loopholes. ~~~ Bill Wolfe

We all recall Gov. Christie’s infamous sarcastic joke that backfired – “I worked the cones, actually.”

But that was no joke.

It was a conscious attempt by the Gov. to dismiss the “Bridgegate” scandal and cover up his own vulnerability.

So, during Gov. Christie’s press conference earlier this week on the lead problem, I heard an echo of that “I worked the cones” rhetorical stunt – a sense of deja vu in how he tersely responded to virtually the only tough question he was asked by reporters about his record on drinking water.

I was watching on-line and could not hear the full question posed, but it asked the Governor about the failure of the NJ Drinking Water Quality Institute (DWQI) to meet for almost 4 years during his tenure.

The Gov. responded in a dismissive way: (listen at time 44:30)

I don’t know why they didn’t meet. My guess is that they didn’t have a quorum, because we couldn’t get confirmation of nominees from the Senate, is my guess. … In 1984, I was at the University of Delaware.

So let’s refresh the Governor’s memory and briefly note how he neglected protections for drinking water and is therefore partially accountable for failure on the lead issue.

Briefly, the Governor is lying –

The failure of the DWQI to meet for almost 4 years had nothing to do with the lack of a quorum – It was the direct result of an order by his own DEP Commissioner Bob Martin.

The Christie DEP has failed to protect drinking water as a matter of policy – and that scandalously irresponsible neglect is far deeper and broader than just lead.

I) Christie Killed Drinking Water Protections

The Christie administration has a scandalous record on drinking water – and it is not limited to crippling the DEP and the Drinking Water Quality Institute and ignoring its recommendations. Let’s recap the lowlights:

1. Christie’s Moratorium killed perchlorate drinking water standard

Christie’s Executive Order #1 moratorium on regulations killed a DEP proposed drinking water standard (known as an MCL)  for the chemical perchlorate, a chemical found in rocket fuel and explosives that effects the thyroid gland and thus human development.

The DEP scientists at the DWQI found:

Pregnant women and infants are considered to be sensitive subpopulations for perchlorate’s effects, as hypothyroidism can have serious consequences on neurodevelopment.

DEP Commissioner Martin, to protect the Governor, flat out lied about why the proposed MCL was killed and was caught in that lie and called out in a Bergen Record editorial for it. (May, 2, 2010):

Martin’s new opinion came about after he was embarrassed publicly. The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility released e-mails sent to Martin from the EPA that made clear that even if the agency imposed a limit, 6 1/2 years could elapse before the rule was in place, Staff Writer James O’Neill reported. Martin would have been playing Russian roulette with the public’s health.

They lie with impunity.

There is no need to guess about this record – it is a historical fact.

2. Christie’s DEP Commissioner Bob Martin killed the Drinking Water Quality Institute

The Drinking Water Quality Institute, which conducts toxicological risk assessments and makes recommendations to DEP to adopt drinking water standards, was prohibited from meeting for almost 4 years by DEP Commissioner Martin.

I was told by DEP professionals directly involved that this was a result of the DWQI deliberations on chromium and PFOA on September 10, 2010, which were reported in the media. These news reports blindsided and enraged Martin and he pulled the plug on the DWQI.

The chemical industry has long strongly opposed DEP regulation of both chromium and PFOA due to multi-billion $ compliance liability. So, Martin was responding to the long known and very public industry agenda to block regulation of these chemicals.

There is no need to guess about this record – it is a historical fact.

See this post for a blow by blow account and additional information.

3. Christie DEP Commissioner Martin Ignored DWQI Recommendations to adopt strict standards for 15 contaminants and address hundreds of unregulated chemical contaminants

DEP failed to adopt drinking water standards recommend by the DWQI for the following:

• Hazardous Contaminants, March 2009
• Radon-222, February 2009
• Perchlorate, October 2005

DEP scientists have known for many years that there are over 500 unregulated chemicals in NJ’s drinking water sources. The Christie DEP simply ignored a DEP Policy Paper suggesting a new “treatment based approach” to require treatment to remove these chemicals.

This strategy represents a proactive approach to protecting public health in the absence of definitive scientific information on the human health effects of the contaminants being detected. Rather than wait for health-effect studies to be completed, this option proposes the use of water treatment as a protective measure.

There is no need to guess about this record – it is a historical fact.

4. Christie Killed the NJ Water Supply Plan

During the press conference, the Governor claimed that we do not have sufficient information to act to respond to the lead issue. He claimed that we do not know the extent of the problem or what cost effective solutions might be.

Like the child who killed his parents and then appealed to the court for mercy as an orphan, this so called lack of information is due directly to the fact that the Governor killed the DEP’s scientists attempts to update the Statewide Water Supply Master Plan.

That plan would provide the data to frame the issue and develop policy solutions regarding health risks, infrastructure, and lead abatement strategies.

See: DEP Water Supply Plan Still Buried In Gov. Christie’s Office

ADVISORY COUNCIL THIRSTY FOR LOOK AT DRAFT WATER-SUPPLY MASTER PLAN

There is no need to guess about this record – it is a historical fact.

5. Christie DEP provided a back door for industry scientists to challenge DEP science and frustrate regulation.

Regulated entities on DEP’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) – including industry giants like Dupont – have used additional access provide by Gov.Christie’s Executive Order #2 regulatory process and the SAB, to frustrate DWQI deliberations and delay and block DEP science and regulations.

See:  Chemical Industry’s War on Science Gains Support of Christie’s DEP

II) Unfunded mandates

The Governor claims that any drinking water sampling or treatment requirements would be a state mandate and therefore must be paid for by the state:

Time 23:00 minutes “It would have to be paid for by the state”

Christie failed to note that his own Executive Order EO#4 has discouraged DEP from adopting regulatory protections, despite the fact that the unfunded mandate law does not block DEP from adopting uniform regulations to protect public health.

Amazingly, Christie failed to note that his own Executive Order #4 includes an exemption for “emergent circumstances that threaten public health”:

4. If the proposed regulation is necessary to respond to emergent circumstances that threaten the public health, safety or welfare, the responsible agency head may suspend the reporting requirement, by written notice to the Lieutenant Governor. However, as soon as practicable after the emergency has been addressed, the Lieutenant Governor shall reinstate the reporting requirement by giving written notice to the responsible agency head, providing a specific deadline for the agency to comply.

DEP could readily adopt lead control measures that would apply uniformly and thus not be deemed an “unfunded mandate”:

52:13H-3. Laws, rules, regulations, not unfunded mandates

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, the following categories of laws and rules or regulations shall not be unfunded mandates:

b. those which are imposed on both government and non-government entities in the same or substantially similar circumstances;

DEP scientists and regulators have known for many years that there are loopholes in testing and treatment requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act and that as a result thousands of children were being exposed to unsafe levels of lead and many other chemicals.

They did NOTHING with that knowledge. REPEAT: NOTHING to warn the public or close gaping regulatory loopholes.

But DEP has been ordered to stand down, first by the policy set in Christie’s own Executive Orders #2 and #4 and then by the management of his own DEP Commissioner.

There is no need to guess about this record – it is a historical fact.

Where is the media on all this?

It is a far bigger scandal than Bridgegate.