ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 101

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED JUNE 3, 1996

By Assemblymen CORODEMUS and ASSELTA

An Assembly Resolution urging the Congress and the President of the United States to reauthorize the Coastal Zone Management Act.

Whereas, In 1972, the United States Congress enacted the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), which encourages coastal states to develop coastal management programs; and

Whereas, New Jersey was federally approved in 1980 to participate in all aspects of this program, which annually provides approximately $2.5 million in federal funds to support various coastal programs, which in the last year included $1.8 million for the administration of coastal permitting and permit enforcement programs, $250,000 for coastal water sampling to monitor nonpoint source pollution, and $230,000 for Rutgers University to update the New Jersey Shore Protection Master Plan; and

Whereas, The coastal economy generates over $10 billion in tourism spending annually, is dependent on the maintenance of a healthy coastal environment, and has benefited greatly from the implementation of this federal program in New Jersey; and

Whereas, The CZMA allows states to actively participate in the regulation of offshore waters, even those under federal jurisdiction, and as such has permitted New Jersey to challenge a proposed hazardous waste incineration facility off Cape May, offshore oil drilling and the shipment of radioactive materials off the coast; and

Whereas, The CZMA was last reauthorized in 1990 and requires reauthorization every five years, and failure to reauthorize the CZMA would result in a loss of federal funding for such important upcoming State initiatives as coastal erosion studies along the entire shore, the Barnegat Bay Estuary Program and the Mullica River National Estuarine Research Reserve Program, as well as the ongoing activities noted above; now, therefore,

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

    1. The General Assembly of the State of New Jersey hereby urges

the Congress and the President of the United States to reauthorize the Coastal Zone Management Act.

    2. A duly authorized copy of this resolution, signed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and attested by the Clerk thereof, shall be transmitted to the Governor of the State of New Jersey.

STATEMENT

    This resolution urges the Congress and the President of the United States to reauthorize the Coastal Zone Management Act. This federal act annually provides approximately $2.5 million to support various State administered coastal programs, including the coastal permitting and permit enforcement programs, nonpoint source pollution and the update of the New Jersey Shore Protection Master Plan.

Urges Congress and President to reauthorize Coastal Zone Management Act.