Clean Water Action Alert January 2012 |
| This is your last chance to fight for clean water! Politicians in the New Jersey Senate and Assembly will make a final vote on Monday, January 9th that would weaken clean water protections and give us polluted water for years to come.
Please contact legislators immediately and tell them to vote NO on A4335/S3156. This legislation will give us dirty water, higher utility costs and paved over open spaces. The American Littoral Society and 12 other environmental groups released a report that details the additional water pollution that would result from passage of this dirty water bill. This proposal will undermine environmental protection by allowing development in environmentally sensitive areas like wetlands, endangered species habitat and next to reservoirs. This developers’ proposal would also weaken environmental standards protecting home wells. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has written to New Jersey condemning the proposal as bad for New Jersey and concern about violations of the federal Clean Water Act. See how to TAKE ACTION, including a sample letter to legislators, BELOW Background:In 2008, The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) adopted the Water Quality Management Planning Rule (WQMP) that took a holistic approach to making sure development happens in appropriate places, ensured adequate clean, plentiful water supplies & treatment and protected important existing habitats. Under this rule, over 300,000 acres across the state and individual wells would be protected from inappropriate, polluting development! If this proposed legislation successfully removes these protections, these areas will be opened for sprawl development. Since the adoption of the WQMP rule, County Planning agencies have spent the last three years — with the help of 1.6 million dollars in federal Clean Water Act funds — to develop smart, sustainable growth plans. These plans included environmentally protection policies for sewer service and septic areas. Until 2008, most municipalities were developing under plans that were 20-30 years old! With the adoption of the WQMP rule, municipalities finally had an up to date blueprint for the future and many are ready to cross the smart, sustainable development finish line. A4335/S3156 propose to extend the old plans putting 300,000 acres and clean water across the state at risk. The legislation allows the NJDEP to approve builder driven “site-specific” exceptions even when counties and municipalities have already planned an area for no sewer service. And even worse, this approval could be granted without proof that the utility authority has sufficient capacity to treat the additional wastewater! Under this proposal the environment and ratepayers lose and the developers win. Take Action for clean water:Contact your legislators and ask them to vote against A4335/S3156. Click here to e-mail your representatives. Sample Message (feel free to add your personal message about the clean water you care about most!)
Subject: Vote NO on A4335/S3156. I care about clean water. This legislation will give us dirty water, higher utility costs and paved over open spaces. This proposal will undermine environmental protection by allowing development in environmentally sensitive areas like wetlands, endangered species habitat and next to reservoirs. This developers’ proposal would also weaken environmental standards protecting home wells. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has written to New Jersey condemning the proposal as bad for New Jersey and a violation of the federal Clean Water Act. Again, I ask you to Vote NO on A4335/S3156. Thank you Click here to find additional contact information (phone numbers) for your representative – tell them to Vote NO on A4335/S3156 or Click here for an e-mail list of all NJ Senate and NJ Assembly members to send them the above sample message. Celebrating 50 Years of Caring for the Coast
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