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Category:
Organizations
Save NJ Coalition
SaveNJ is a coalition comprised of over 40 environmental, labor, housing and land preservation groups that banded together in response to what is arguably the worst piece of legislation ever passed in the State of New Jersey, S1368/A3008 Permit Streamlining in Smart Growth Areas, which is commonly referred to as the "Fast Track Bill".
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Detailed Information:
The Fast Track Bill was pushed through the Senate and Assembly with blinding speed and appears to have been political payback to builders lobbies for the passage of the Highlands Preservation Act.
The Highlands is an area in Northwest NJ that has exceptional drinking water supplies and ecological significance. Governor McGreevy and the legislature preserved sections of the Highlands to protect the drinking water and habitat in late June 2004.
The Fast Track Bill, which opened up an estimated 1.5 million acres in the rest of New Jersey to expedited development and weakened permitting processes, was passed immediately after the Highlands Preservation Act Highlands Act despite very strong opposition from the Save NJ coalition.
Simply put, Fast Track is the wrong track for New Jersey. New Jerseyans everywhere want and deserve more protection from sprawl, pollution and overdevelopment, not less. A policy that expedites growth in a state like New Jersey, already the most developed in the nation, throwing gasoline on a fire. It can only make a bad situation, even worse.
Despite New Jerseyans' disgust with overdevelopment, this new law gives the developers even more advantage to pave over our rapidly shrinking open space and degrade our natural resources in the direct path of development. Governor McGreevy should pledge to reverse course on the fast track legislation, immediately strengthen regulatory protections for the state's water and natural resources, and work to substantially increase state funding for open space preservation.
According to Rutgers University, New Jersey will be the first in the nation to reach full build out within 30 to 50 years, at which point all the available and yet to be preserved open space will be urbanized. The developers will surely win this last leg of the race for open space in New Jersey, unless quick action by the Govenor is taken to:
Adopt rules and regulations this fall that minimize the damage this law does to the environment and public health.
Keep promises to pass new rules and laws within the year to promote clean air and safe adequate water supplies, protect threatened and endangered species, etc.
Repeal the Fast Track law and replace with real "smart growth" legislation
Coalition Members List
American Littoral Society (ALS)
Association of NJ Environmental Commissions (ANJEC)
Bergen SWAN
Camden County NAACP
Citizens Against a Radioactive Environment (CARE)
Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and Its Tributaries, Inc.
Clean Ocean Action (COA)
Clinton Township Community Coalition
Coalition for Affordable Housing and the Environment (CAHE)
Coalition Against Toxics
Communication Workers of America (CWA Local 1034)
Delaware Riverkeeper Network
Edison Wetlands Association
Environmental Defense
Environmental Law Clinic-Columbia University of Law
Great Swamp Watershed Association
Green Party of Mercer County
Highlands Coalition
Ironbound Community Corporation
Jersey Coast Anglers Association (JCAA)
Lacey Rail-Trail Environmental Committee
Morris Land Conservancy
Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater (MCFC)
Newton Creek Watershed Association
NJ Conservation Foundation (NJCF)
NJ Audubon Society
NJ Environmental Federation (NJEF)
NJ Environmental Justice Alliance (NJEJA)
NJ Environmental Lobby (NJEL)
NJ League of Women Voters
NJ Public Interest Research Group (NJ PIRG)
NJ Sierra Club
NJ State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs
NJ Work Environment Council (NJ WEC)
NY/NJ Baykeeper
NY-NJ Trail Conference
Park Savers
Partners for Environmental Quality (PEQ)
Passiac River Coalition
Pequannock River Coalition
Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA)
Rahway River Association
Republicans for Environmental Protection
Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic
Shark River Cleanup Coalition, Inc.
Skylands CLEAN, Inc.
Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
Upper Raritan Watershed Association
Warren County Environmental Commission
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