Every time I turn around, the Corzine administration proves to be a disappointment. He promised to tackle the budget and ethics issues, but has taken only the smallest of steps. And now, the governor is taking a page from the Republican regulatory book, creating a task force to review the development permit process.
Lisa Jackson, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, dismissed the attacks as she unveiled the task force proposal today. She said it may find ways to expedite and streamline DEP reviews of urban redevelopment projects, for example, that aid the state’s economic growth.
“It’s not about weakening or changing our environmental regulations or protections….First and foremost is the protection of human health, the environment and our natural resources,” Jackson said. “But the way our process is now, every permit is treated the same, and that doesn’t seem to be the smart way to go.”
Task forces like this almost always tend to back industry — a fact that environmental groups understand from their time fighting the Whitman administration’s anti-environmental agenda. Gov. Whitman eliminated the public advocate, gutted the state Department of Environmental Protection and created a business ombudsman charged with helping businesses navigate red tape — moves designed to privilege business over the state’s average residents.
The first President Bush used a similar task force, headed by Vice President Dan Quayle, to gut regulations.
Jackson says that won’t happen, but the timing of the proposal was curious, coming
two weeks after a Department of Community Affairs subcommittee report surfaced recommending environmental regulations be eased to allow the construction of affordable housing in suburban and rural areas.
That report said DEP regulations are skewed against builders and recommended giving the state Planning Commission the power to override DEP rules and local building laws.
“The DCA joined the builders in cynically blaming environmental regulation for the economy hurting, and this task force is the administration’s cover for an environmental roll-back in New Jersey,” said Bill Wolfe of the New Jersey chapter of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
Has the governor decided to place business interests above the interests of state residents? He has not done much of late to dissuade me from this fear.
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Hank Kalet 