Bills that Weaken Environmental Protections

For Immediate Release

January 16, 2015

Contact Jeff Tittel 609-558-9100

Bills that Weaken Environmental Protections

Benefit Analysis Benefits Polluters

There is a bill quickly moving through the statehouse that is an attack on the environment, public health, and safety. A3804 (Casagrande) requires agencies to have to do an analysis of any rule before it is readopted to see if benefits outweigh cost and burden or if there is an alternative. Jeff Tittel released the following statement on this legislation:

"This bill is dangerous and could affect many issues including environment, public health, and safety. This bill requires a cost benefit analysis, but does not allow analysis to quantify protections of important public health, environment, or safety benefits of the regulations or rules. For instance a rule that requires a reduction of toxic chemicals in drinking water can look at the cost to the company or ratepayers for additional treatment. However, it cannot look at the cost savings from prevention or benefits to health and the environment. For example children who do not get sick or do not get cancer from drinking water that is now treated. In addition, if there are regulations on clean air they cannot look at the health savings like children not having asthma attacks. This bill does not take into account other environmental issues like endangered species, contiguous forest, or stream buffers that prevent flooding.

If New Jersey had a rule banning LNG terminals off our coast, under this legislation when they did the cost benefit analysis that rule would have been overturned because it would have prevented jobs and potentially could raise natural gas prices. Under this legislation, it would not quantify the financial benefits of for protecting fisheries, tourism and not having an explosion in an LNG terminal was banned. Since Assemblywoman Casagrande very much opposes LNG off our coast she should see how this legislation could undermine her efforts to stop Port Ambrose.

This legislation not only effects regulations on environment and public health, but many other important issues as well. For example with airbags on cars, they cannot look at lives saved or injuries avoided. Instead, they would just look at the cost to the auto-manufactures. Also this legislation could affect a rule requiring mammograms, since there are additional costs to government and medical insurers. With no dollar figure for prevention, a rule on requiring mammogram screenings could be struck down.

Clearly the purpose of this bill is to roll back environmental protections. It calls for a cost-benefit analysis without describing what those are. This is part of Christie Administrations attach on the environment, public health, and safety. Are health and safety included or is it just an excuse to weaken environmental and health standards? This bill comes from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), who Assembly Casagrande is a member of. ALEC is a group that drafted bills like Stand Your Ground, Voter ID Laws and is funded by the Koch Brothers and big polluters. This bill benefits polluters at a cost to the public," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

More Red Tape to Stop Environmental Protections

Another bill A1879 (Burzichelli) will change permitting processes and public oversight by changing the procedures for adopting new rules giving one governmental agency the veto power over another agency's rules. For example it will allow the Department of Community Affairs to try to stop the Department of Environmental Protection's stream buffer rules to allow housing developments next to streams. It also says rules can be challenged for cost. For example, DOT believes it is cheaper to fill in a wetland for building a new highway but DEP could call for a bridge to lessen impacts. DOT could challenge that agency decision because it is cheaper to fill in the wetlands, even though it will cause more environmental impacts and flooding. It then sets up a process where the administrative law judge could then side with one of the agencies overturning the DEP's stream buffer rules. This bill not only attacks environmental regulation, but takes the power away from of the DEP and hands it over to another state agency and an administrative law judge. This bill violates federal delegation of critical environmental law programs in the state of New Jersey. We also believe it violates the separation of power in the Constitution and undermines governmental process. This takes authority away from Governor over his own agencies and gives power over to administrative law judge. This bill comes from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) which is funded by the Koch Brothers and big polluters.

"This bill is not about getting rid of red tape. This bill adds more red tape, while weakening environmental and health protections. This is a bill to benefit special interests against the public," said Jeff Tittel Director of New Jersey Sierra Club. "This bill from ALEC drafted by polluters creates a complex process to take away environmental protection for the people of New Jersey. This bill adds more Red Tape and makes things much more complex, while the real purpose is to weaken health and environmental protections."