NJIT - PublicInfo: State Chamber Environmental Committee

NJIT - PublicInfo: State Chamber Environmental Committee NJIT



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State Environmental Committee Meets on Campus

	December 10, 2004 The New Jersey State Chamber Environment Committee held its public meeting at NJIT on Friday, Dec. 10. The group of about 25 members met in room 3140 of the GITC building. Don Sebastian, PhD, senior vice president of research and development, spoke to the committee about NJIT’s efforts to develop technology, such as biometrics and strategic airships, which will help the state improve homeland security. NJIT President Robert Altenkirch also briefly spoke to the group. Altenkirch, who entered the meeting during a spirited debate about how to regulate diesel fuel, quipped that the meeting reminded him of a “NJIT budget meeting, where I am headed right now.” Altenkirch noted that one committee member was an NJIT graduate and that he hoped the committee would hold more meetings at NJIT. The first guest speaker, Lisa Jackson, assistant commissioner for the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Compliance and Enforcement unit, talked about her effort to develop a self-disclosure rule in New Jersey. If companies found that they had an environmental problem, she said, the self disclosure rule would let them contact the DEP directly and disclose the problem. Those who filed self disclosure forms would then receive a lighter penalty, said Jackson. Some of the committee members said companies would be reluctant to disclose a problem, since they see the DEP as a punitive agency mired in bureaucracy and red tape. Jackson said she was working to make the self disclosure rule as simple and unthreatening as possible, but that she was not sure how many industries would file such forms if they were authorized. The second guest speaker, Assemblyman John McKeon, the chairman of the Assembly’s Environment Committee, talked about the success of the Highland Preservation Act, which he said has kept a large swath of land untouched by development. He also talked about the pros and cons of the so-called “fast-track” legislation, which would promote development in the state’s designated smart growth areas. Unrelated to environmental issues, McKeon, the mayor of W. Orange and a close ally of acting Gov. Richard Codey, said it is likely that Codey will run for Governor at the end of his term. “A few months ago,” McKeon said, “there was no way Codey would run for Governor. But now, it’s more than likely that he will run.” McKeon ended his talk and the meeting, by discussing how complex these issues are and how the state’s budget deficit is making it even harder to make progress. He noted, though, that to move forward on environmental issues everyone – companies, regulators, taxpayers – must be willing to compromise if the state is to have a safe environment and a strong economy.

Maintained by University Communications. Date of last update: 03/10/2005 04:55 PM