S2650

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Joseph F. Vitale and Barbara Buono which would expand the State Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) enforcement abilities and increase environmental penalties, bringing them more into line with current environmental priorities, was approved by the Senate today by a vote of 26-11, receiving final legislative approval.

“New Jersey’s environmental enforcers are currently hamstrung by the outdated and ineffective penalties they can impose for even the most serious environmental violations,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex. “Many of these penalties haven’t been updated in decades, and polluters take advantage of this fact to flaunt the law, viewing the meager fines as simply the cost of doing business in New Jersey. We need to give the DEP greater ability to impose serious penalties to clean up our communities in the Garden State.”

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Joseph F. Vitale and Barbara Buono which would expand the State Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) enforcement abilities and increase environmental penalties, bringing them more into line with current environmental priorities, was approved by the Senate today by a vote of 26-7.

“Right now, the DEP doesn’t have the authority to issue real penalties which protect our endangered natural resources,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex. “Many of our most important environmental regulations rely on outdated and ineffective penalties to force compliance. This bill would bring our environmental penalty structure into the 21st Century.”

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Joseph F. Vitale and Barbara Buono which would expand the State Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) enforcement abilities and increase environmental penalties, bringing them more into line with current environmental priorities, was approved by the Senate Environment Committee today by a vote of 3-0, with two abstentions.

“Some of our State’s most necessary environmental regulations are being enforced with decades-old penalties,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex. “Many of these penalties are so outdated that companies regularly shirk their environmental responsibility, paying slap-on-the-wrist fines as the cost of business in New Jersey. The bill would give the DEP the authority to go after the most egregious polluters with meaningful penalties that safeguard our State’s environmental interests.”

WOODBRIDGE – At a news conference at a contaminated site on Penval Road, state lawmakers today unveiled legislation which would impose tougher penalties on polluters Statewide and enhance the enforcement powers of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

“As it stands now, decades of environmental regulation have led to a crisscrossing maze of regulatory standards,” said Senator Joseph F. Vitale, D-Woodbridge, who is leading efforts for enforcement modernization. “We need to ensure that the DEP has the tools to pursue modern-day polluters and levy fines which fit the crime – not penalties which were set decades ago. We want to give our State regulators the power they need to protect New Jersey’s environment, and the quality of life in our communities.”