SUSTAINIBLE NEW JERSEY

At a press conference on February 26th, the Sustainable Jersey program went live. Program coordinators, local officials, and industry representatives attended and gave remarks about the importance of this program for New Jersey municipalities.

Governor Jon S. Corzine spoke about how local, public and private partnerships are necessary in seeing this initiative through. In particular he asked New Jersey communities to consider the legacy we are leaving for the next generations. Educating kids to enter a workforce of green jobs – and providing those opportunities – are a focus of the administration.

Jeanne Fox, President of the NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU) offered potential funding sources for communities to tap into and include Local Government Energy Audit Program, Green NJ Resource Team, and Clean Power Choice. Ms. Fox stated that the Sustainable Jersey program will help municipalities integrate the BPU programs in order to become certified Sustainable Communities. (More information on these resources is listed below).

NJ DEP Commissioner, Mark Mauriello and NJ DCA Commissioner, Joseph Doria spoke about the array of issues related to sustainability, issues that both organizations are working hard to protect and to align with sustainable planning. Commissioner Doria stated that a new State Plan is anticipated to be released next month and that the State’s Uniform Construction Code is being enhanced with a Green Code Manual which will be released soon. In the meantime, municipalities can look to the NJ Green Homes program located within the HMFA.

Randy Solomon, Executive Director of the NJ Sustainable State Institute (NJSSI) and Donna Drewes of the Municipal Land Use Center at the College of NJ (MLUC) gave an overview of the Sustainable Jersey program and how municipalities become certified. Sustainable Jersey will have required and elective “actions” that municipalities can implement to receive the certification. The actions address issues such as global warming, pollution, biodiversity, buying locally, community outreach, green building, and sustainable agriculture. Achieving the certification does not mean a municipality is "sustainable". Rather, it connotes that the municipality has taken the first significant step on a long journey towards sustainability.

A comprehensive package of tools, guidance materials, training, and financial incentives are provided to registered municipalities and Sustainable Jersey will provide direction and resources for municipalities to institute programs that address sustainability and green communities. The process is intended to be a long term effort that builds on past success and becomes a staple among local greening and sustainability efforts in New Jersey.

Once a municipality becomes a certified sustainable community, the certification remains active for three years, upon which time the municipality will have to become recertified. At that point, the bar for achieving certification will be raised.

There are three steps to registration found at www.sustainablejersey.com:

1. Pass a municipal resolution stating your intent to seek Sustainable Jersey Certification and designating an entity to be in charge of the process. Refer to our sample resolution to help you with this process.

2. Fill out the registration fields below by providing municipal and contact information and uploading a copy of your resolution passed in Step 1.

3. When prompted on the next page, indicate what Actions your municipality is thinking of implementing, and what Actions for which you would like training assistance. This does not commit you to these Actions nor does it lock your municipality into a training commitment but helps us plan our program.

Once your registration is submitted and reviewed for completeness, you will be notified by email and provided with a User ID and Password to access your municipal profile on the Sustainable Jersey website. When you Log In, you will be able to begin filling out your application for Certification.

More information will be available at a number of information sessions that are taking place this week and next. Please see the listing below.

While the Sustainable Jersey program puts our state in the lead nationwide for addressing these issues statewide, there are 566 municipalities addressing their own priorities. As David Grant, President and CEO of the Dodge Foundation, said at the press conference, this program is going to be a challenge, but a necessary one. “Our values tend to work against one another” when we are trying to protect the environment while maintaining a healthy economy and managing the day-to-day work of a municipality. However, he said “Systems are needed to see the whole. NJ communities need to ask – What do we value? And what is the purpose of our actions?” Once a municipality answers those questions, the Sustainable Jersey program organizes the work into manageable tasks that are part of the whole.

For more information on this program please attend one of the sessions listed below. In addition, for assistance in implementing action items to become certified, please contact Angela Clerico at 908-782-0835 or angelaclerico@banisch.com.

Information Sessions:

March 3: 7-8:30 pm
Cherry Hill Municipal Library, Camden County
1100 Kings Hwy North
Cherry Hill NJ 08034-1911
Directions: http://www.chplnj.org/rooms/portal/page/21766_Directions_to_the_Library

March 4: 1:30 to 3 p.m.
Ocean City, Cape May County
861 Asbury Ave,
Ocean City, NJ 08226
Directions: CLICK HERE, www.ocnj.us

March 5: 7:00 to 8:30p.m.
Town of Clinton, Hunterdon County
43 Leigh Street
P.O. Box 5194
Clinton, NJ 08809
Directions: http://www.clintonnj.gov/map_directions.html

March 10: 1:30 to 3 pm
Hopatcong Civic Center, Hopatcong Borough NJ
Sussex County
Hopatcong Civic Center
32 Lakeside Blvd
Hopatcong, NJ 07843
Directions: CLICK HERE

March 11: 1:30 to 3 pm
Monmouth County Library
Headquarters Location in Manalapan
125 Symmes Drive
Manalapan, NJ 07726-3249
Directions: http://www.monmouthcountylib.org/location_directions.htm

March 12: 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Township of Maplewood
Essex County
Maplewood Municipal Building
574 Valley Street
Maplewood, NJ 07040
Directions: http://www.twp.maplewood.nj.us/DirectionsToTownHall

Resources mentioned in this memo:
Local Government Energy Audit Program
http://www.njcleanenergy.com/commercial-industrial/programs/local-government-energy-audit/local-government-energy-audit

Green NJ Resource Team http://www.state.nj.us/bpu/newsroom/news/pdf/20081106.pdf

NJ CleanPower Choice http://www.njcleanenergy.com/renewable-energy/programs/cleanpower-choice-program/new-jersey-cleanpower-choice-program

Green Homes program at HMFA http://www.nj.gov/dca/hmfa/biz/devel/gho/index.shtml