New Amendments Gut Overall Purpose of Beach Public Access Bill

Yesterday the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee held bill A4221 (Pinkin). The original bill provided protection of public’s rights under public trust doctrine. There were very late amendments added to the bill by the Murphy Administration that actually weakened the legislation. The amendments narrowed the DEP’s authority and restored discretion where the original legislation tried to bind the Department to taking action.

“We had a bill that everyone agreed on the that put the trust back into public trust. This bill was a consensus bill to improve public access to waterfront and beaches. It was going to pass but DEP put in amendments that gutted the bill, so we had to oppose it. The amendments undercut beach access and the whole purpose of the bill, making it harder for people like in Bayonne to get waterfront access. The new bill now makes it easier for developers to block public access. We see this amended bill as a step backwards,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “DEP sided with the people who want our money to protect our beaches but won’t let the public use them. These changes in the beach access bill not only go against that consensus but actually weaken the access for the people of New Jersey,”

The original bill provided for protection of public’s rights under public trust doctrine. This bill would confirm in the statutes the public rights under the public trust doctrine to use and enjoy the State’s tidal waters and adjacent shorelines. The new amendments changed bill language from shall require access to may require public access. The amendments also state flexibility in the change of use when there is development.

“We have been fighting for public beach access long enough to know that every time we put a may have public access in a bill or in a rule, it may never happen. Whether it’s some of the wealthy home owners in Edgewater who we have been battling for years for public access on the Hudson or down in Long Beach Township. If it the law becomes a may, they are not going to do it,” said Tittel. “When legislation states that your flexible in the change of use for the sites in NJ, it puts too much discretion into agencies and to people who have historically been a part of the problem and that is what its about. If a place down the shore had blocked access, gets destroyed by a storm and has to get rebuilt, we should be putting access back in.”

In New Jersey, under the Public Trust Doctrine, the people have a right to access our state and coastal waters, including our bays, rivers, and oceans. The problem is getting the public access with these rules. In 2011, we opposed the new beach access rules that rolled back the original rules from 2007. These rules were challenged in court and struck down in Court. The Superior Court decided the DEP did not have the legislative authority to do so, but since the legislature changed the law.

“In 2007, New Jersey had a rule that we liked and supported that really helped to open up our waterfronts and get access for the people of New Jersey that they pay for. Unfortunately, when the Christie Administration came in, they struck down those rules and replaced them with a very weak rule. Christie defaulted to the weaker federal standard to get beach replenishment money as only one access point for every ½ mile. In some of those towns down the shore that are only a mile long, you may only have one or two public access points for the entire town,” said Tittel. “The rules that were put in place under the Christie Administration, which had tremendous opposition were struck down by the court. Now we are coming back and the purpose of this bill was to take the public trust doctrine which has been something defined in court.”

The Sierra Club and bunch of other environmental groups won a Supreme Court Case on the Hudson River Walkway back in the 1980s declaring that public trust nature of these lands, anyone should be allowed to walk uninhibited within this area and free of charge.

“Over 20 years ago we came together and won public access on the Hudson River Walkway. There was a broad community to support and fight public beach access then and there still is one now. Everyone wants to be sure that when we redevelop our cities that the waterfront areas that have been blocked because of chemical plants or highways and those areas get redeveloped, we create access because all this does is help our people live better quality of life, it helps our economy, it helps our tourism industry, and it helps redevelop our cities and our waterfronts,” said Tittel.

The Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee held a discussion only hearing for the beach access bill A4221 (Pinkin). The Senate version of the bill without amendments has already passed a full Senate vote.

“There are too many places in our state where private beachfront homeowners want the public money, but they don’t want the public to be there. The amended beach access legislation is a step backwards towards preventing that. In order to make sure that New Jersey taxpayers have access to the beaches they are paying of millions of dollars to restore, the legislature must go back to the original bill. We should also be working on another broader bill to deal with some of the other access issues of privatizing our public beaches, parks, and more,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.