Agency overview | |
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Jurisdiction | New Jersey |
Headquarters | 401 E. State Street, 7th Floor, East Wing, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0402 |
Agency executive |
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Child agencies | |
Website | http://www.nj.gov/dep/ |
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution. NJDEP now has a staff of approximately 2,850.
The department was created on April 22, 1970, America's first official Earth Day, making it the third state in the country to combine its environmental activities into a single, unified agency, with about 1,400 employees in five divisions, charged with responsibility for environmental protection and conservation efforts. Governor William T. Cahill appointed Richard J. Sullivan as the first commissioner. [1]
In December 2017, Catherine McCabe was nominated by New Jersey governor-elect Phil Murphy to serve as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. [2] Shawn M. LaTourette succeeded her in January 2021. Other former Commissioners have included Lisa P. Jackson and Bradley M. Campbell.
The major goal of the air quality division is to ensure the cleanliness of the air quality by enforcing air-pollutant standards imposed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. [3]
Water monitoring and standards has the primary responsibilities of closely monitoring the state's fresh, marine, and ground waters, developing surface and ground water quality standards, and characterizing and assessing water quality. The gathered information, data, reports and analysis are used to inform organizations and the public to make better decisions on behalf of water usage. [4]
The land and open space division provides rules and includes information concerning wetlands, coastal, and stream/floodplain encroachment programs. [5]
The site remediation program requires all remediations in the state to proceed under the supervision of a licensed site remediation professional that they may follow the nine requirements set forth at N.J.S.A. 58:10B-1.3b. The goal of this program is to speed up and increase the pace of remediation, thus helping to decrease the threat of future contamination. [6]
A solid and hazardous waste management program is responsible for conducting educational and public relations campaigns on behalf of recycling, although its activities have been reduced since funding cuts in the mid-1990s. [7]
The Division of Parks and Forestry protects state and private lands from wildfire, manages the forests, educates the public, grows trees to maintain and restore forests in rural and urban areas, and preserves the diversity of the trees within the forests. [8]
The Division of Fish and Wildlife works towards protecting and managing the state's fish and wildlife resources. [9]
Cheesequake State Park is a 1,610-acre (2.52 sq mi) state park located in Old Bridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey, in the United States.
The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban area outside New York City just west of the lower Hudson River, which it roughly parallels, separated from it by the New Jersey Palisades. It also flows through and drains the New Jersey Meadowlands. The lower river, which is navigable as far as the city of Hackensack, is heavily industrialized and forms a commercial extension of Newark Bay.
Lisa Perez Jackson is an American chemical engineer who served as the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2009 to 2013. She was the first African American to hold that position.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection of New York's natural resources; manages Forest Preserve lands in the Adirondack and Catskill parks, state forest lands, and wildlife management areas; regulates sport fishing, hunting and trapping; and enforces the state's environmental laws and regulations. Its regulations are compiled in Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. It was founded in 1970, replacing the Conservation Department, and is headed by Basil Seggos.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's water supply and works to reduce air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and public health through enforcement of the state's environmental laws. It was created by Act 18 of 1995, which split the Department of Environmental Resources into the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Its current secretary is Rich Negrin.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is the Florida government agency responsible for environmental protection.
Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and Its Tributaries, Inc., or "CU", is a 501(c)(3) (nonprofit) regional watershed organization. It was founded in 1979 and incorporated in 1986.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS or PFASs) are a group of synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain. An early definition, from 2011, required that they contain at least one perfluoroalkyl moiety, –CnF2n+1–. Beginning in 2021, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expanded their terminology, stating that "PFASs are defined as fluorinated substances that contain at least one fully fluorinated methyl or methylene carbon atom (without any H/Cl/Br/I atom attached to it), i.e., with a few noted exceptions, any chemical with at least a perfluorinated methyl group (–CF3) or a perfluorinated methylene group (–CF2–) is a PFAS."
Water in Arkansas is an important issue encompassing the conservation, protection, management, distribution and use of the water resource in the state. Arkansas contains a mixture of groundwater and surface water, with a variety of state and federal agencies responsible for the regulation of the water resource. In accordance with agency rules, state, and federal law, the state's water treatment facilities utilize engineering, chemistry, science and technology to treat raw water from the environment to potable water standards and distribute it through water mains to homes, farms, business and industrial customers. Following use, wastewater is collected in collection and conveyance systems, decentralized sewer systems or septic tanks and treated in accordance with regulations at publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) before being discharged to the environment.
The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey overseen by the cabinet-level New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). The division is "dedicated to the protection, management and wise use of New Jersey's fish and wildlife resources". The division issues licenses, stamps and permits for hunting, fishing and trapping and the proceeds from such sales directly fund the division's operations, specifically includes the operation of two fish hatcheries and associated stocking programs, a pheasant farm, enforcement of fish and wildlife regulations, habitat protection, fish and wildlife research, wildlife management area maintenance and improvement, education, and other programs and activities".
Catherine McCabe is a retired public administrator and environmental lawyer who served as acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from January to February 2017 and commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection from January 2018 to January 2021.
Kauffman & Minteer Inc. (K&M) was an industrial transportation company that operated from 1960 to 1981 in Burlington County, New Jersey. After cleaning their trucks, they dumped the waste water into a nearby lagoon that was not properly lined. The lagoon flooded and the waste water containing chemicals, migrated over to wetlands, causing damage to vegetation and seeping into underground drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) got involved in 1989 and conducted a few remediation attempts but the extent of the damage is hard to determine as the different underground pathways of water are unpredictable. The site is currently an active superfund site that is closely monitored by the EPA.
Brook Industrial Park (BIP) is an industrial area occupying 4.5 acres of the Borough of Bound Brook, New Jersey, in the United States of America. It is located on the northern bank of the Raritan River. Industrial, chemical and pesticide operations began in 1971 and eventually lead to the contamination of groundwater and exposure of workers to harmful dioxins. Throughout 1980 to 1988 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) conducted studies to determine if there were any threats being posed on the workers, community or environment by the BIP companies in their disposal of processed and stored chemicals.
Price Landfill is a 26-acre site located in Pleasantville, Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Price Landfill is also known as Price Sanitary Landfill, Prices Pit, Price Landfill No.1 and Price Chemical Dump. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) added Price Landfill to the Superfund National Priorities List on September 20, 1983, because of the hazardous chemicals found on the site and in the groundwater. The site was originally owned by Mr. Charles Price and was used to mine sand and gravel, which was shut down in 1968. The site was then turned into a private landfill in 1969 and then a commercial solid waste landfill in 1971. At this point the landfill was used to dispose of liquid waste by companies, specifically Atlantic City Electric Company. The liquid waste consisted of industrial chemicals, oils and greases/sludges, septic tank and sewer wastes, which were disposed on the site for 8 years, ending altogether in 1976, but in the meantime, having contaminated the groundwater, soil, air, and nearby creeks, specifically Absecon Creek. Chemicals dumped on the site are believed to be 1,2-Dichloroethane, arsenic, benzene, chloroform, lead, and vinyl chloride, all of which contaminated the groundwater, soil, air, and nearby creeks. The USEPA originally got involved in 1982 by beginning to correct the damage. Currently the USEPA states that they are continuing to monitor and treat the groundwater and land, and that hazards to humans are controlled.
Environmental law in New Jersey consists of legislative and regulatory efforts to protect the natural environment in the State of New Jersey. Such efforts include laws and regulations to reduce air and water pollution, regulate the purity of drinking water, remediate contaminated sites, and preserve lands from development, particularly in the Pinelands of southern New Jersey and the Highlands in the north of the state. Environmental laws in New Jersey are enforced primarily by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).
New Jersey Air Pollution Control Law consists of legislative and regulatory measures intended to limit the amount of harmful substances found in the air. In New Jersey, the federal Clean Air Act and the state Air Pollution Control Act (1954) are the most significant pieces of air pollution control legislation. These laws are implemented and enforced by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).
New Jersey Water Pollution Control Law consists of legislative and regulatory measures intended to limit the amount of harmful substances found in the state's lakes, rivers, and groundwater. In New Jersey, the federal Clean Water Act and the state Water Pollution Control Act are the most significant pieces of water pollution control legislation. These laws are implemented and enforced by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).