EnviroPolitics photo The New Jersey Senate Environment and Energy Committee and the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee are meeting together late this afternoon in Toms River to receive testimony from members of the public and invited guests on the state’s Hurricane Sandy rebuilding and recovery efforts.

It is the fourth and final hearing held jointly by the environment committees to hear from residents, business owners, advocates and others as the one-year anniversary of the storm approaches. Hearings were held on Aug.15 in Atlantic City, Sept. 16 in Jersey City, and September 27 in Trenton.

As was the case for each of the previous hearings, the committees have invited Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Richard E. Constable III and Marc Ferzan, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Recovery and Rebuilding, to speak on the recovery efforts. To date, neither member of the Republican administration of Gov. Chris Christie has chosen to make an appearance before the Democrat-controlled committees, claiming they were too busy with the recovery efforts.

Today’s hearing was scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. in the LMH Room, Toms River Town Hall, 33 Washington Street, Toms River, NJ.

The Senate Committee is chaired by Senator Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) and the Assembly Committee is chaired by Assemblywoman L. Grace Spencer (D-Essex).

Videos and news stories from the previous Sandy hearings:
NJ Sandy stories: Stingy insurers, bungling bureaucrats 
Third NJ hearing today on hurricane recovery problems 
North Jersey also felt Superstorm Sandy’s punch
Lawmakers hear other side of NJ’s Sandy recovery story
New Jersey environmentalists on what Sandy taught us