Industry Lobbyists Have Gutted Effective Regulation
NJ Has Gone Backwards Over the Last 30 Years, As Toxic Plastic & Packaging Waste Has Exploded
I got a random unsolicited email from the Senate Environment Committee giving me a heads up that the Environment Committee would soon consider a substitute for S3398 (Smith), titled “The packaging Product Stewardship Act” – “An act concerning the disposal of packaging products”.
I am not working on this bill and have no idea why the heads up was sent to me, but it sure sparked memories!
Over 30 years ago, in 1993 the Florio DEP proposed a Solid Waste Plan that sought to fundamentally shift the policy and focus of traditional waste management from disposal to upstream product manufacturing and “lifecycle materials management”. The concepts were based on “industrial ecology” and European laws and programs, particularly the German program.
During the late 1980’s, I was involved with DEP “lifecycle assessment” scientific research projects, which found that over 90% of the environmental impacts of materials in the waste stream were caused by upstream activities, prior to disposal. Yet the overwhelming DEP regulatory program oversight was limited to disposal, which was less than 10% of the impacts. Clearly reform and refocus were required.
The overall reform approach was to shift financial and management responsibility for waste to manufacturers and encourage – or even regulate – their production, distribution and marketing practices to encourage “pollution prevention”, “toxics use reduction”, “source reduction”, and “polluter pays” policies.
Obviously, this was perceived by the business community as a radical expansion of DEP’s regulatory powers into the prerogatives of corporate investment and product manufacturing practices and it was strongly opposed by corporate America, particularly powerful NJ based industries, including consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals.
I’ve previously written about how corporate lobbyists killed the Florio administration’s groundbreaking Pollution Prevention Act. That law originated in the same DEP “lifecycle assessment” research, including the stunning finding that 90% or more of air pollution from many DEP permitted large industrial facilities was not regulated by DEP air pollution control permits (i.e. pollution from unregulated sources, fugitive emissions, leaks, unregulated chemicals, etc). That law and program applied to chemicals and hazardous wastes and gave DEP enormous regulatory power.
So today I’ve briefly touched on the parallel Florio DEP “Source Reduction” solid waste policy. It is long dead as well and killed by the same corporate interests.
The Florio DEP source reduction policies were adopted in the 1993 Solid Waste Management Plan.
There was legislation drafted by DEP and sponsored by environmental leader Republican Assemblywoman Maureen Ogden to implement those policies, including providing regulatory authority to DEP and allocating financial and legal responsibility on the corporate sector. The bill was A973, titled: “The Household Hazardous Waste Management Act”.
The A973 bill was far broader in scope than household waste, and provided DEP authority to mandate “source reduction”, including alternative products and alternative production practices and ingredients to reduce both the toxicity and volume of manufactured products, on a lifecycle basis.
The NJ Legislature’s on line database only goes back to the 2000 legislative session, so I can’t provide a link to the bill. But take my word for it. At that time, I worked with DEP colleagues, legislators, and the Office of Legislative Services lawyers to draft the Dry Cell Battery Management Act and the Toxic Packaging Reduction Act, both laws passed and they significantly reduced the amount of toxic heavy metals entering the environment. Mike Winka (retired from BPU) and I lost a major battle with lobbyists from NJ’s consumer products industry on drafting and seeking passage of the Household Hazardous Waste Management Act (A973), sponsored by Assemblywoman Maureen Ogden [R]. Tom Johnson’s Star Ledger March 1994 front page coverage of that debate sealed the deal. Incoming Whitman DEP Commissioner Shinn killed the bill.
So, taking a brief look at the proposed Senate bill S3398, I can’t help but note that NJ has gone backwards over the last 30 years.
Sadly, that backtracking is masked by slogans like “Stewardship” and cheerleaders who are ignorant of this history.
I sent the note below to the OLS Environment Committee aide.
Who knows, maybe the current “green”, “sustainable development” “environmental justice” “corporate stewardship” crowd might read this and do some digging:
XXXXXX – how far back in time to OLS records go?
You should go back to the 1993-94 legislative session and review bill A973, sponsored by Maureen Ogden. It was titled “The Household Hazardous Waste Management Act”, but it applied far more broadly by providing regulatory authority to DEP to implement a “source reduction” policy (note definition of “source reduction”).
I worked on that bill for the Florio DEP for 2 years. Whitman killed it in 1994.
The bill drew strong opposition from the consumer products manufacturing lobby, and they brought in the national lawyers and lobbyists A Team from Washington DC to work the bill and defeat it.
It is amazing that thirty (30) years ago, the Legislature and Governor and DEP supported stronger legislation than S3398.
Can you send me the email address of Judy Enck, who I think is the enviro lead lobbyist on this bill?
Wolfe