New Jersey Bill Seeks to Curb Regulation

New Jersey State Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) has written a bill prohibiting state agencies from unilaterally enacting regulations exceeding federal standards. The bill would allow the state to enact stricter regulations than the federal government, but such regulations would have to be first authorized by the state legislature.

“There obviously are times when we should exceed the federal standard,” Burzichelli explained. “The academic question is: Who makes the call? Is it a bureaucrat, a commissioner, the Legislature?”

Environment New Jersey Executive Director Dena Mottola Jaborska told the March 5 Philadelphia Inquirer roughly two-thirds of New Jersey environmental regulations adopted over the last decade exceed federal standards. As a result, the state is being “strangled to death by regulations,” Hal Bozarth, executive director of the Chemistry Council of New Jersey, told the Inquirer.

Burzichelli’s proposed bill would supplement an executive order signed by newly elected governor Chris Christie (R) on his first day of office. The executive order requires state agencies to “detail and justify every instance where a proposed rule exceeds the requirements of federal law or regulation.”