By Ray Cantor, NJ Buriness and Industry Association
The pending closure of the Nestlé manufacturing plant, after 75 years in Freehold, is indeed a difficult time for the more than 220 workers it employs and bad news for the state and local economy.
Sadly, New Jersey may see further loss of legacy manufacturers like Nestlé given the extremes of the state’s recently adopted Environmental Justice rules.
Due to the expansive provisions of these new rules, the Nestlé plant is defined as being “disproportionately impacted” in an overburdened community. In fact, two-thirds of the state are now defined as being in an overburdened community under the new EJ law.
What we know about Nestlé is the company was considering closing the plant because its facility is “outdated.” We also know that Nestlé has a Title V air permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection and is thus subject to the EJ rules.
Related:
Nestlé sets closing date for Freehold plant after 75 years
Oh yeah…Sniff it while you can
And we know that to comply with the EJ law, Nestlé would have to make substantial upgrades and perhaps meet other criteria that the rules do not even specify, but would be imposed during the permitting process. There would be no certainty in timing, process, standards, or outcomes. These are not ideal conditions to operate a plant.
During the two-year process that went into formalizing the EJ rules, we repeatedly warned that the proposed — and now final — regulations well exceeded legislative intent in their breadth, had no balance whatsoever for the business community and failed to recognize the benefits of the good-paying jobs and the economy.
Ray Cantor is deputy chief government affairs officer at the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.
