New Jersey to Become First State to Make Builders Consider Climate Change. The move is part of an effort by states to counteract the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations.

New York Times ^ | January 27, 2020 | Tracey Tully

[karpov]

New Jersey will become the first state to require that builders take into account the impact of climate change, including rising sea levels, in order to win government approval for projects, Gov. Philip D. Murphy plans to announce on Monday.

The move by Mr. Murphy, a Democrat, is part of a widening effort by states to use regulations to address worsening climate conditions and to aggressively counteract the Trump administration’s push to roll back environmental regulations.

“This is not abstract for us,” Mr. Murphy said in an interview. “This is real. The dangers are there.”

New Jersey’s initiative is believed to be the broadest, and most specific, attempt to leverage land-use rules to control where and what developers can build, and to limit the volume of emissions that are spewed into the air.

“It gives us the ability to say no, or to say, ‘You have to do it differently,’” said Kathleen Frangione, the governor’s chief policy adviser.

Mr. Murphy, through executive order, will require the state Department of Environmental Protection to begin the process of drafting new regulations to be adopted by January 2022. The changes do not require legislative approval, but could face legal and political challenges.

Prominent Republicans quickly expressed their opposition.

“Phil Murphy might be forgetting that we still make the laws,” said Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, the Republican minority leader, adding that the proposal was certain to have a chilling effect on business growth. “If he’s going to roll out something that’s going to stop development in New Jersey, that calls for serious legislative hearings.”

Business and environmental leaders will be invited to participate in the rule-writing process, part of an effort to gain as much widespread support as possible.

[cyclotic]

It certainly does.

[kearnyirish2]

That is a real problem here, and probably what the governor is addressing with his BS rant. There are many unwanted detached single-family homes here (often old, with high taxes), and it seems any new construction is multi-family hives for childless adults. Some of the single-family homes that are sold are demolished and replaced with two-family McMansions, which really impact the quality of life - you end up with NYC-like parking problems, and even higher taxes as more children end up in the public schools.

[kearnyirish2]

Yes; within a few years we lost the army/navy stores in Hackensack (S-4) and Robbinsville (Harry’s) as well.

Brick & mortar businesses are getting crushed here, and regulations like gun restrictions only make it worse.