Bill Text: NJ AR113 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Memorializes Congress and President to enact Senate Bill No. 2122, the "Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2012."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-11-19 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee [AR113 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-AR113-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ALISON LITTELL MCHOSE
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Assemblyman GARY R. CHIUSANO
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
SYNOPSIS
Memorializes Congress and President to enact Senate Bill No. 2122, the "Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2012."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Assembly Resolution memorializing the Congress and President of the United States to enact Senate Bill No. 2122, the "Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2012."
Whereas, The "Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972," Public Law 92-500, commonly referred to as the "Clean Water Act," serves as the primary statutory authority for the federal regulation of wetlands; and
Whereas, The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) are the federal agencies charged with wetlands permitting pursuant to the Clean Water Act; and
Whereas, Under the provisions of the Clean Water Act, Congress has authorized the federal regulatory authority of EPA and the Corps to extend over "navigable waters"; and
Whereas, Historically, the regulations, guidance documents, and enforcement actions of EPA and the Corps have consistently taken an overly expansive interpretation of what type of areas constitute the "navigable waters" intended to be within federal jurisdiction pursuant to the Clean Water Act; and
Whereas, As a result of this overreaching by EPA and the Corps, the private property of a substantial number of American citizens has been declared wetlands within the jurisdictional scope of the Clean Water Act and brought under the regulatory control of these federal agencies; and
Whereas, As a consequence of having their private property deemed wetlands, many law abiding citizens have been subjected to costly and oppressive litigation and deprived of the right to develop their property as they see fit, notwithstanding the absence of any truly "navigable water" on their land, as the term is commonly understood for its plain meaning; and
Whereas, The right to use one's private property without undue governmental interference has for centuries served as one of the most basic pillars of the Anglo-American legal tradition and, as such, was sanctified by our founding fathers in the Bill of Rights through ratification of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and the prohibition on the taking of private property without just compensation contained therein; and
Whereas, The inability of private property owners to develop their lands due to the overreaching of EPA and the Corps, and the loss of property value resulting therefrom, often amounts to a regulatory taking without just compensation in direct contravention of the Constitution of the United States; and
Whereas, Aside from a duty to act within Constitutional constraints, it is also imperative given the current economic crisis that the federal government take all necessary action to foster the productive use of resources - including the development of private property when so dictated by the demands of a free market - and to remove all unnecessary obstacles to economic growth, recovery, and the creation of jobs; and
Whereas, The "Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2012," Senate Bill No. 2122, introduced by Senator Rand Paul and now pending before the United States Senate, would amend the Clean Water Act by expressly defining "navigable waters" to mean only those bodies of water that are either "navigable-in-fact" or both permanent and connected to waters that are "navigable-in-fact"; and
Whereas, Passage of Senate Bill No. 2122 would thus alleviate the current undue regulatory burden on property owners and stimulate economic growth by reining in the continued encroachment of EPA and the Corps on private property rights; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House respectfully memorializes the Congress of the United States to pass, and the President to sign into law, Senate Bill No. 2122, the "Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2012."
2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and attested by the Clerk thereof, shall be transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and every member of Congress elected from this State.
STATEMENT
This resolution would memorialize the Congress of the United States to pass, and the President to sign into law, Senate Bill No. 2122, the "Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2012," which would amend the "Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972," commonly referred to as the "Clean Water Act." Passage of S-2122 would rein in federal regulatory authority over wetlands, which has been over-extended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) through an overly expansive reading of the Clean Water Act. Specifically, EPA and the Corps are authorized by the Clean Water Act to exercise regulatory authority only over "navigable waters." S-2122 would clarify the limits of this regulatory authority by expressly defining "navigable waters" to mean only those bodies of water that are either "navigable-in-fact" or both permanent and connected to waters that are "navigable-in-fact."
