TYPE: Legislation
NUMBER: S2476
DESCRIPTION: Amends law to limit DEP's direct oversight of remediation of portion of contaminated site under certain circumstances.
POSITION: Opposed
TO: Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee
New Jersey League of Conservation Voters is opposed to bill S2476 that amends law to limit DEP’s direct oversight of remediation of portion of contaminated site under certain circumstances.
New Jersey is the densest state in the country, has a long industrial and polluted past, and the repercussions of these confluence of factors are exhibited in many ways.
In our small state, we have over 10,000 brownfields showcasing the amount of abuse and public health effects our citizens have had to bear and manage. Although this legislation does not impact the DEP’s authority to review or inspect, with the polluted history of NJ, we caution that this is irresponsible for our state to allow a few good actors to sidestep DEP oversight during the remediation process and warn against these actions.
We should be actively overseeing projects that have major public health implications and not trusting, in faith, the firms that established these toxic landscapes in the first place.
We should be putting our public health, our communities, and our environment on a priority list, and work to make sure we are moving forward and building a healthy and sustainable future for our children and grandchildren. We urge you not to support it.
Thank you.