Bill Text: NJ AR120 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Requests EPA to assist DEP in developing total maximum daily loads for Barnegat Bay.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-12-14 - Filed with Secretary of State [AR120 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2010-AR120-Amended.html

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[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 120

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

214th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED NOVEMBER 8, 2010

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  JOHN F. MCKEON

District 27 (Essex)

 

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen P. Barnes, III and Conaway

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Requests EPA to assist DEP in developing total maximum daily loads for Barnegat Bay.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee on December 9, 2010, with amendments.

  

An Assembly Resolution requesting the United States Environmental Protection Agency to assist the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in the development of total maximum daily loads for Barnegat Bay.

 

Whereas, New Jersey's Barnegat Bay Estuary watershed is one of the State's most precious natural resources and this ¹[backbay] back bay¹ system is now significantly affected by an array of human impacts that potentially threaten its ecological integrity; and

Whereas, The Barnegat Bay Estuary watershed encompasses most of the 33 municipalities in Ocean County and four municipalities in Monmouth County, supports a population of over 500,000 people that more than doubles during the summer season, and also provides economic, ecological, aesthetic, and recreational benefits; and

Whereas, Eutrophication exists in the Barnegat Bay, caused in part by nutrient loadings from nonpoint sources and evidenced by the decline of seagrass and hard clams and the increase of harmful algae, drift algae, and other noxious species; and

Whereas, Studies show that increased development has caused pollutant loadings from nitrogen and phosphorus to grow; and

Whereas, A total maximum daily load (TMDL) represents the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water may receive and still meet its water quality standards, ¹[with a margin of safety,]¹ and a pollutant is anything that prevents a waterbody from attaining the national goal of being "fishable and swimmable"; and

Whereas, A TMDL is composed of wasteload allocations for "point sources" like sewage treatment plants, urban stormwater systems and large animal feeding operations, ¹and of¹ load allocations for nonpoint sources such as polluted rainfall runoff from agricultural lands and impervious surfaces ¹[, and a margin of safety]¹ ; and

Whereas, Recently, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a draft Chesapeake Bay TMDL, prompted by insufficient restoration progress over the last several decades in the Chesapeake Bay and the commitment of a federal strategy to meet ¹[President Obama's]¹ Executive Order ¹13508, signed by President Obama,¹ to restore and protect the bay, and the final TMDL will be established by December 31, 2010; and

Whereas, The Chesapeake Bay TMDL includes reductions in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment sufficient to achieve clean water standards for dissolved oxygen, water clarity, and chlorophyll a, a measure of algae; and

Whereas, The draft Chesapeake Bay TMDL - the largest ever developed by EPA - includes pollution limits to meet water quality standards in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal rivers and is designed to ensure that all pollution control measures to fully restore the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal rivers are in place by 2025, with 60 percent of the actions completed by 2017; and

Whereas, The Chesapeake Bay TMDL will be a "pollution diet" that will compel sweeping actions to restore the bay and its network of streams, creeks and rivers, as well as local rivers that support fishing and swimming and serve as a source of local drinking water; and

Whereas, If the EPA can develop the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, and work with the impacted states, ¹[New Jersey would] it can¹ also work with ¹[the EPA] New Jersey¹ to develop TMDLs for Barnegat Bay; and

Whereas, Developing TMDLs for the Barnegat Bay would protect the 75-square mile environmentally sensitive estuarine system, which consists of aquatic vegetation, shellfish beds, finfish habitats, waterfowl nesting grounds, and spectacular vistas, and would further ensure that the Barnegat Bay watershed area remains a viable and healthy multi-use ecosystem; and

Whereas, In order to preserve the Barnegat Bay watershed, help is urgently needed to protect the bay from pollution; and

Whereas, It is altogether fitting and proper and in the interest of the State to request the EPA to assist the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in the development of TMDLs for Barnegat Bay, and provide funding towards their implementation; now, therefore,

 

     Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    This House requests that the United States Environmental Protection Agency assist the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in the development of total maximum daily loads for Barnegat Bay, and provide funding towards their implementation.

 

     2.    Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and attested by the Secretary thereof, shall be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Region 2 Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Governor of New Jersey and the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and each member of Congress elected from this State.