Green Jersey

A second chance for building projects

Meet the Permit Extension Act: A legislative proposal that would resuscitate building projects left for dead.

The proposal, introduced in the Assembly Monday by Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) and Joseph Cryan (D-Union), “is part of an economic stimulus package,” Greenwald told the Star-Ledger. A stimulus we need because the permitting process is one reason business and builders are leaving the state.

The bill would extend, for six years, the state and local permits and approvals developers have received — even those that have expired. It also lets some projects avoid having to comply with changes in environmental law, public health standards, building codes or local zoning.

“This bill is one of the biggest giveaways to developers in the history of New Jersey,” Jeff Tittel of the Sierra Club said today in a statement. “It would result in more flooding, more people living on toxic sites, more sprawl and more pollution in our environment.”

The Sierra Club also said the arbitrary nature of the proposal would mean extending even EnCap’s approvals another six years instead of letting them expire and requiring an actual cleanup. And, that the bill would help the Bush Administration surpass the New Jersey Legislature as a protector of the environment.