Christie Signs Sewer Bill Aiding Development

Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill Tuesday that aids land development but delays anti-pollution efforts, a move environmentalists said would mean further deterioration of the state's water quality.

At issue are sewer service designations, or areas of the state that are approved to someday have sewer service. The sewer boundaries are important because they determine where large-scale development can take place.

Under current rules, county governments can protect land from development and reduce dirty storm water and sewage overflow from running into New Jersey's waterways by removing the property from approved sewer service areas.

The new law keeps sewer service approvals in place for two years and prohibits governments from protecting land already eligible for development by removing the property from areas approved for sewer service.

Environmentalists said it will undo decades of progress in improving water quality.

"By signing the bill today, the governor is eliminating protections for drinking water and allowing millions of gallons of pollution into our waterways and the destruction of 300,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "Ink from a single pen can cause millions of gallons of water pollution."

Tittel said the Sierra Club would petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take water quality planning authority away from the state and assume direct federal oversight of it.

The new law also allows builders to apply to the state Department of Environmental Protection for exemptions for their particular projects. An exemption doesn't have to be consistent with the environmental rules if it provides a net environmental benefit, meaning developers could do mitigation projects on other sites to receive approvals to develop in sensitive areas.

Developments also could be added to sewer service areas even if there isn't treatment capacity there.

The New Jersey Builders Association welcomed the measure, saying it provides certainty to builders that their plans can move forward in a difficult economy. Sen. Steven Oroho, a Sussex County Republican, said last month the bill was needed to help put skilled tradesmen back to work.