 | NJBIA and Labor Testify Against Watershed Rules Before Assembly Oversight Committee | |
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| News Release: October 16, 2000 The New Jersey Business and Industry Association todayjoined with the state's largest labor union to oppose proposed watershedrules that would create a bureaucratic nightmare for property owners, land-useplanners, and developers throughout New Jersey. NJBIA testified in supportof legislation, ACR-126/ACR-124, that asks the Whitman Administration toamend or withdraw the rules.
Testifying before the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee, NJBIAFirst Vice President Jim Sinclair urged legislators to use their constitutionalauthority to prohibit adoption of the watershed regulations proposed bythe New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Sinclair testifiedwith Kevin Jarvis of the New Jersey AFL-CIO. "The proposed rule creates a development project 'czar,' deep with inthe NJDEP. This will become a decision making bottleneck that will impactall new development," Sinclair said. "Our opposition to these rules does not mean we don't support watershedplanning. We do," Sinclair continued. "But the proposed ruleunsuccessfully tries to accomplish too many questionable and conflictingpolicy goals under the umbrella of federally mandated watershed planning. The document is filled with untested assumptions, inadequate analysis andquestionable legislative authorization to proceed in the manner that theyhave." Sinclair pointed out that the proposed rule has a broad scope and wouldessentially cede most land-use planning authority to the DEP. "The proposed rule is the first of a series of rule proposals that willbecome regulatory teeth in the implementation of the State Plan and thepermanent implementation of the Governor's sewer moratorium. Thiswill disturb the economy." Sinclair added that the rules were pushed through too quickly, withinadequate time for public comment, and that insufficient economic impactanalysis had been conducted. Furthermore, watershed management hasnever been implemented on a scale being proposed by the DEP. "Watershed planning, permitting and management itself is an unprovenenvironmental concept," Sinclair said. "There are no statewide modelsto copy or modify. There are no watershed plans in any state thatmatch the scale and regulatory impact of these rules. This is newterritory." Additionally, Sinclair said the proposed rules would place too mucharbitrary decision making in the hands of the DEP. "By arbitrarily stopping any new development beyond existing sewer lines,we are taking the power away from local officials to decide what theircommunity should be and look like," Sinclair said. Sinclair and Jarvis testified in favor of ACR 124, sponsored by AssemblymenLeonard Lance and Richard Bagger and ACR-126 sponsored by Assembly MajorityLeader Paul DiGaetano and Minority Leader Joe Doria. Both resolutionswould begin the process of legislative oversight over state regulations,a power granted to the Legislature by amendment to the State Constitutionin 1992. If the concurrent resolution passes both houses, the Whitman Administrationwill have 30 days to amend or withdraw the proposed regulations. If no action is taken, the Legislature can invalidate the rules with avote by a simple majority in both houses. NJBIA and the AFL-CIO are leading a coalition of business and labororganizations, called the Coalition for Balanced Economic and EnvironmentalPolicies, opposed to the new rules. |
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