Forwarded by Jane Clark

A set of bullet points put together by NJ Sierra Chapter policy
analyst Bill Wolfe covering Whitman's environmental record.


The Real Whitman Environmental Record

Whitman Strengths:

1. Support for NJ State Plan (Plan was adopted pursuant to a 1985 Act) and
planning in general, but largely rhetorical and lacking in implementation.
Ignores growth management dimension, State agency regulatory and
infrastructure planning, permitting and financing tools, and the politics
of
"home rule" and limits to growth. For example, NJ lost about 60,000
acres/year under Whitman, the most in NJ history and the highest by far
percentage of undeveloped land lost in any state (NJ leads Nation with 42%
of total land area already developed.  If you add agricultural lands to
that
figure the amount of developed land is much higher)

2. Support for open space funding (funding is dedicated, but driven by debt
finance, not pay as you go). Whitman program does not significantly deviate
from NJ Green Acres program in place since 1962. Can not achieve its
million
acre goal (a "goal" originating in the NJ conservation community, not the
Governor's Office). Acquisitions are not linked to conservation objectives
and criteria and the program has been abused for political purposes.

3. Support for "smart growth", but the Club is suing the Administration on
the NJ coastal zone management rules (known as CAFRA) because they have no
environmental basis and would allow more development than allowed under
local zoning or rejected under the current market trends!


Whitman weaknesses

1. Aggressively championed environmental deregulation (regulatory reform)
under various guises: Netherlands Dutch Plan, NEPPS, voluntary compliance
et
al - Whitman touted that her administration was "open for business", and
opened the agency to industry lobbyists and consultants.  Joined industry
to
target state agency as whipping boy for causing 300,000-job loss and
industry outmigration. Promised that there would be a new day at the state
DEP.

2. Aggressively championed voluntary compliance and cut enforcement
fines/penalties by 80% across all program in first three years

3. Aggressively bashed the bureaucracy and cut agency budget by 30%,
diverted millions of dollars of environmental funding for budget/tax
relief;
put agency 100% "on budget" to increase ability of legislature to
politically harness the agency; put fee/fine/enforcement revenue in general
fund in violation of polluter pays; refunded millions of dollars in
financial assurance for site remediation; created tax credit "incentives"
whereby taxpayers pay polluters and developers for cleaning up
contaminated
sites and old landfills; et al - all designed to let polluters off the
hook,
promote business/industry agenda and intimidate and control the agency et
al.

4. Abolished the environmental prosecutor's office (and several other
comparatively minor Florio creations/initiatives for no apparent reason
other than political lineage).

5. Abolished the long standing Public Advocates office and replaced it with
a Business Ombudsman's Office established to pressure the State agency for
permit approvals, rollback of regs, enforcement relief, inside access and
an
early warning on any pending regulatory initiatives (all classic textbook
Reagan Administration OMB tactics).

6. Abolished the State DEP laboratory. Cut NJ Right to Know chemical list
by
over 1,000 chemicals. Issued an order mandating that Agency scientific
research be conducted only by in-state institutions.

7. Issued Executive Order (followed by act of legislature) rolling back any
NJ regulation that was more stringent than federal counterpart, unless
justified by a cost benefit analysis. This reversed 20 years of leadership
in NJ. This did things like deregulate used oil from NJ's hazardous waste
regulations and allow chemical companies in densely populated North Jersey
towns to escape more stringent air permit requirements and delay emergency
planning for extraordinary hazardous chemicals like those than caused the
fire/explosion at Napp Technologies in Lodi.

8. Supported and got enacted enforcement "Grace Period" legislation.

9. Administration supported rollback of NJ's national model pollution
prevention act - we defeated bill in the legislature by have lost the
battle
in regulatory agency implementation.

10. Administration supported rollback of NJ's national model legislation
known as the NJ Clean Water Enforcement Act - we defeated bill in
legislature but we have lost the battle in agency implementation (i.e.
there's mandatory enforcement of permits, but permits have been  weakened).

11. Administration did not oppose and essentially supported a disastrous
audit self disclosure immunity/privilege bill (we defeated this in
legislature, no thanks to Whitman).

12. As part of brownfields initiative, Administration supported additional
weakening of model NJ site remediation laws that held industries and
polluters accountable by requiring cleanup prior to sale or transfer of
contaminated property, stressed permanent remedies, open process et al.

13. Administration dropped the ball on the enhanced I&M program; supported
industry dominated effort to rollback of NJ Air Pollution Control Act and
regulations, especially the ability of the agency to determine, independent
of EPA BACT/LAER/MACT pursuant to state law, "state of the art air
pollution
control" requirements; to require air modeling and risk assessment in
permit
program; to impose pollutant emission fees; implement Employee trip
reduction program; et al. Administration stalled clean air action for years
in failed voluntary compliance driven OTAG (Ozone Transport Advisory
Group)process. Energy deregulation failed to address air quality, not
linked
to clean air, a fundamental objective of prior Florio administration who
consolidated the DEP with the energy planning functions of the State Board
of Utilities to form the DEPE(nergy). Little progress on clean air, e.g.
late to join very successful effort by NY State to sue Midwest power plants
under Section 126 of the Clean Air Act.

14. Backtracking on clean water act implementation - proposed a regulation
for a 10 year+ "interim permitting strategy" - we won this at EPA and in
public debate, which forced withdrawal of rule, but we have lost in
implementation at the regulatory agency (despite TMDL litigation in EPA
Region II, we have made no progress on the TMDL program here). Cut ambient
water quality monitoring network; proposed surface water quality standards
that were rejected by USEPA in 1996; et al.

15. Rescinded model 1993 State solid waste management plan that promoted
source reduction, mandated 60%+ recycling and called incineration a option
of "last resort" because the plan allegedly did not put sufficient emphasis
on in-state disposal capacity (at a time when the Supreme Court was about
to
issue the Carbone decision). Agency Commissioner remains pro-incineration.

16. Appointed an State DEP Commissioner who has no academic qualifications
(he's a high school drop out) but strong political history in Republican
Party and NJ legislature (a politically smart move as alternative to
appointing the head of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Assc. the rival
candidate at the time).

17. Whitman has political (as opposed to environmental) academic,
experience
and professional qualifications. Prior to becoming Governor, she was an
appointed Commissioner at the Board of Public Utilities that approved a
notoriously back room deal with the development arm of a water utility to
develop public water supply watershed lands. The Courts later threw out the
deal.

18. In October 2000, EPA Region II imposed sanctions (withheld $2.2 million
in Section 106 grant funds to NJ) pursuant to the Clean Water Act for the
State's failure to submit a 305(b) Water Quality Inventory Report for the
year 2000. The Club had internal agency documentation that the Report was
withheld by the Governor's Office, ostensibly for political reasons.

19) The NJ Assembly last month adopted a Resolution to veto the Whitman
proposed water quality management and watershed planning rules (they
fulfill
CPP, 208, 303 and TMDL requirements of Clean Water Act). The stated legal
basis for the Resolution was that the rules were inconsistent with
Legislative intent because they failed to protect water resources/water
quality. The NJ Senate had scheduled a floor vote for Monday on an
identical
Resolution released recently from Senate Regulatory Oversight Cmte., but in
deference to Whitman's EPA candidacy, pulled it from consideration to avoid
embarrassing the Gov;

20) In July 1999, USEPA Inspector General out of Region III issued a
critical audit of NJ's water monitoring and other water programs. Very
critical of Whitman budget cuts, lack of surface water quality standards,
et
al. In 1996, USEPA and USFWS opposed Whitman attempts to weaken NJ SWQS and
NPDES permit regulations. EPA shot down the Whitman cranberry industry
special wetlands GP (in the Pinelands) and killed a blatantly illegal
settlement agreement on NJ's largest wetland violation ever in the most
sensitive part of the state (the Pinelands). Even a State special
investigator said the deal was corrupt. The record on water is very poor.

21) In a May 1996 letter to Whitman, 7 leading NJ Senate Republicans, the
entire NJ shore delegation including the Senate Majority Leader, threatened
to oppose the Whitman budget and demanded that Whitman restore DEP budget
cuts because the budget cuts "would require dramatic reductions
unscientific, technical and human resources critical to the mission of the
Department".

22) EPA opposes the wetland permits for Meadowlands Mills development which
would fill 200 acres of wetlands. Whitman supports.

23) EPA opposes the wetland permits for Route 92. Whitman supports.

24) When Whitman was a Board of Public Utility Commissioner, she approved a
watershed development scheme to sell off watershed buffer lands. The deal
was so bad, that the NJ Republican legislature passed a law establishing a
watershed moratorium, to be effective until the state agency adopted
protective stream/watershed buffer regs, which they never have.

25) Whitman coasts on the accomplishments of others.

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