By Rebecca Hilbert, Policy Manager, New Jersey League of Conservation Voters
Photo: The Coalition met with Sean Sepsey (Assemblywoman McCarthy-Patrick's office). Attendees: Richard Lawton (NJ Sustainable Business Council), High Garst (Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed), Nikki Ghorpade (Ducks Unlimited), Amy Hanson (New Jersey Conservation Foundation)
With the legislative session in New Jersey starting to heat up again, NJ members of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed moved their Statehouse Education Week from the traditional December timeframe to mid-October in order to better shepherd priority bills through the legislature.
The Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, and other partners spent a week in October virtually meeting with and educating New Jersey legislators on Coalition priorities that protect clean water and healthy communities in the state. These meetings are an opportunity to bring attention to funding and programs that support conservation and clean water in New Jersey.
Moving to a virtual platform has allowed the Coalition to both expand member participation in the event and meet with multiple legislators and their staff each day throughout the week. In fact, this year's Statehouse Education Week had fantastic attendance with advocates from 13 organizations that took part in 16 meetings with over 17 legislators or their staff, reaching almost every legislator in the watershed in some capacity. Additionally, Statehouse Education Week helped strengthen the relationships between conservation organizations and laid a foundation to grow relationships with legislators on both sides of the aisle.
Photo: Meeting with Sen. Stanfield and Assemblyman Umba with their staffer Will Roddy. Attendees: Richard Lawson (NJ Sustainable Business Council), High Garst (Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed), Elliott Ruga (NJHC), Rebecca Hilbert (New Jersey LCV), Jaclyn Rhoads (Pinelands Preservation Alliance)
NJ Members discussed three priority issues with state legislators:
Flooding: Supporting S3110/A4783 which creates flood disclosure requirements in New Jersey, providing crucial consumer protections and transparency about climate risks to ensure homeowners and renters are able to make the most informed decisions about purchasing or renting property.
PFAS: Supporting S3177/A4758 which would begin the prohibition of the manufacture and sale of many products containing intentionally added PFAS, including cosmetics, carpet or fabric, food packaging, and any other project that is not registered with the DEP. The bill would also require greater transparency in labeling products that contain PFAS, and require that all manufacturers creating products containing intentionally added PFAS be registered with the DEP.
Plastics: Exploring Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) options in New Jersey which would encourage industries that make single-use products to take responsibility for the entirety of the life cycle of their products, taking the burden of plastic reduction off of consumers in part by creating or investing in a program that would support the recycling of the products they distribute in order to reduce the amount of waste entering landfills and streams. This would also incentivize the development of more sustainable packaging solutions.
Participating organizations included the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, New Jersey LCV, Pineland Preservation Alliance, NJ Highlands Coalition, Lake Hopatcong Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, NJ Conservation Foundation, NJ Audubon, ANJEC, Trout Unlimited, Musconetcong Watershed Association, New Jersey Future, The Watershed Institute and Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space.
The Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed and New Jersey League of Conservation Voters are grateful to the legislators and organizations who participated in New Jersey Statehouse Education Week and make this important work possible.