Michele Siekerka, Esq., Assistant Commissioner, Economic Growth and Green Energy at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection provided a detailed but quick-paced summary of how the state’s almost-completed Strategic Plan will seek to balance new development with environmental protection.

The plan, she said, will employ an updated mapping of existing development and infrastructure to identify regional clusters to which future growth will be directed. Governor Christie, she noted, has directed all affected state agencies to eliminate conflicting regulations that block such growth. 

Siekerka acknowledged that, even within a single agency like the NJDEP, conflicting rules can be encountered. She said her agency is working to ‘de-conflict’ department ‘silos.’

As the state develops its plan to guide overall development in New Jersey, each of its 21 counties also are working to meet a July 15 deadline to submit Water Quality Management Plans to the NJDEP that include maps of future sewer service areas.  

Raymond Ferrara, PhD., a principal at of Omni Environmental, led the audience through a history of water quality management in New Jersey stretching back to 1977.  He said that the
cost and complexity of developing the plans were responsible for numerous
missed deadlines in the past.

After the administration of Gov. Chris
Christie arrived on the scene in January of 2010, DEP Commissioner Bob
Martin granted a deadline extension to April 7, 2011. The state
Legislature subsequently gave the counties additional time, extending the cutoff to July 15, 2012.  Roughly half of all counties now have submitted their plans and the DEP expects all counties to meet next month’s deadline.

Tim Dillingham, Executive Director of the American Littoral Society, raised concerns of the environmental community as the state begins to place a heavier emphasis on economic growth. 

David Fisher, PP/AICP, Vice President of Governmental Affairs at K. Hovnanian Homes, discussed problems that home builders can encounter with county water quality management plans.

Neil Yoskin, Esq.a partner at Sokol Behot and Fiorenzo, added the perspective of environmental attorneys who represent business owners seeking to develop property in the state.

Following the discussion, EnviroPolitics caught up with PlanSmart NJ’s Executive Director, Lucy Vandenberg and her panelists for the video interviews above. Neil Yoskin managed to escape the premises before we could snare him. Sorry, Neil.

Have an opinion on the State Strategic Plan or NJDEP’s Water Quality Management Plan? Use the box below. Signed submissions appreciated. Anonymous comments also accepted.

************************************************************************************************************

For
thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and
regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a free, 30-day subscription to our daily
newsletter EnviroPolitics. We track environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment.

What lies ahead for EPA’s resourceful Lisa Jackson?