After months of complaints from business and political leaders about new coastal management rules, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is now facing blistering criticism from environmental advocates for agreeing to a one-year delay and new review of regulations intended to prepare the state for sea-level rise and more flooding.
Jeff Tittel, a longtime environmental policy expert and former head of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said the decision was the first test of how Sherrill, a Democrat who took office in January, will deal with pressing environmental issues. “She’s on a path to really pare back and weaken environmental protection,” he said on Monday.
The regulations, known as the Resilient Environments and Landscape (REAL) rule, were adopted on the final day of Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration in January and have been strongly opposed by business and political leaders, including state Senate President Nicholas Scutari, a Democrat, and a coalition of mayors from coastal communities. They were to have taken effect on July 20.
“This extension gives us time to meaningfully engage with local leaders, communities and other stakeholders across New Jersey to get this right,” Sherrill said in a statement released Friday by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
