Our Evolving Environmental Policy

By Lisa Goulian Twiste, Contributing Writer On Feb 13, 2026

There is an ongoing dialogue between lawmakers, business & industry officials, environmental companies, and citizens around a broad range of environmental issues – some of which will likely be resolved in the coming months.

“When you propose regulations and evaluate their effect on the general public, you need to look at how they will impact general industry trends that are providing jobs and the very important need to serve the communities we have,” says Anthony Castillo, a principal at SESI Consulting Engineers in Parsippany, which has clients in residential, industrial, and manufacturing development.

According to Castillo, one of the most pressing issues on the table is the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s REAL (Resilient Environments and Landscapes) regulatory reform/rules aimed at helping communities, residents, and businesses build resilience to sea-level rise, extreme weather, chronic flooding, and other impacts.

Of particular concern is New Jersey’s coastline, with coastal erosion and sea levels rising.

Under REAL regulatory reform, New Jersey would become the first state to initiate a comprehensive update, which would require buildings and infrastructure to be built four feet higher than under current standards, and residential buildings in flood-prone areas to be constructed in compliance with new standards that minimize future flood risk for occupants.

According to Castillo, the rules will impact the cost of new housing development, which will trickle down to builders and, eventually, home buyers.

“If you have an affordable housing project that has to meet these regulations – and most of them do because of the size of them – this would affect their pro forma significantly because now you have to incorporate these resiliency features,” he says. “Obviously, we want to make sure these developments are resilient and provide safety. The question becomes: Who bears that cost?”

This also applies to warehouses, which the state needs for cold, data, and product storage, especially in high population centers. The cost of resiliency features makes warehouse construction less viable, and not having enough cold storage, for example, would directly impact restaurants and food stores. “Because of the size of these storage facilities, you may find a situation where these projects can’t be built, and now the state of New Jersey is disadvantaged because we can’t serve our public. Unfortunately, it’s a cascading effect,” Castillo says.

Additionally, he says, REAL reform would basically eliminate the word “redevelopment” from the vernacular. According to current rules, a redevelopment project in a greenfield area like Newton requires 80% efficiency in devices to clean stormwater runoff, as opposed to 50% in a brownfield area like Paterson. Moving forward, however, whether you’re in Paterson, Newton, or anywhere else in New Jersey, if you exceed the threshold for major development, you are held to the 80% treatment standard. “That really impacts treatments, prices and pro formas – and will certainly impact our clients,” he adds. “It’s a major concern, and my hope is when these rules are actually released, there is time taken to reconsider keeping redevelopment as a word in the regulation.”

Continued Debate Over PFAS and Other Policies

PFAS – or “forever plastics” – are also a major focus of New Jersey environmental policy, as lawmakers straddle the line between public safety and the health of the state’s business community. In December, the New Jersey Senate Environment and Energy Committee advanced legislation sponsored by vice chair, Senator Linda Greenstein, and chair, Senator Bob Smith, which would ban or require labels regarding the intentional addition of PFAS in cosmetics, carpet and fabric treatments, food packaging, and cookware products.

“PFAS is a broad category that includes hundreds of substances, so we’re trying to make sure the bill includes only the more dangerous ones and is not as sweeping as the one drafted,” says Ray Cantor, deputy chief government affairs officer, New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA), which has been working with the bill’s sponsors and the Chemistry Council of New Jersey on amendments.

“There are certain known, dangerous PFAS compounds that have already been phased out by most major manufacturers, and there are others legitimately used in semiconductors and other products,” Cantor continues. “If you ban them across the board, there could be a disruption in the products we use every day.”

According to Mary Kay Morelli-DeRose, LSRP, a principal at GZA GeoEnvironmental in Wayne, New Jersey already has some of the clearest and most transparent approaches to PFAS regulation of the states GZA works in. This includes a detailed list by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and Standard Industry Classification (SIC) codes of industry sectors that handle PFAS or PFAS-containing products.

“This list is used by environmental professionals to evaluate if a site triggers a requirement to add PFAS testing as part of any site investigation in New Jersey,” she says. “This list, first created in 2019, creates bright-line guidance for us on sites that do and do not currently require PFAS testing, based on current and historical operations at the site.”

In addition, New Jersey lawmakers have been working for more than a year on an EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) bill, which makes manufacturers of packaged products responsible for the ultimate disposal or recycling of packaging materials.

Similar bills have been passed in seven states, though this one – which Cantor says would be the most draconian in the nation – has stalled in the Legislature. “The standards and the timeframe just can’t be met,” he says. “It bans certain necessary chemicals from being used and reduces use of plastic beyond manufacturers’ abilities to meet those standards.”

Anticipated Federal Cuts and New Governor’s Policies

While $24 million in funding for nine environmental grants in New Jersey has been targeted in proposed cuts by the Trump administration, the state hasn’t felt the effects yet, according to Cantor.

“I think the cutbacks to renewables at the federal level at some point may have an impact. It’s hard to predict what future monies that you haven’t had yet will do or not do,” he says. “Obviously, less money in the future probably means fewer solar projects, but not necessarily. If the Bmarket can carry them, they will be built regardless. As of today, no harm, no foul.”

Morelli-DeRose is pleased to see continued federal and state support for redevelopment of brownfields, particularly for what she deems much-needed new housing in New Jersey. As of now, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) Aspire program has approved more than $2 billion in tax credits to support 22 development projects statewide and continues to be “a powerful engine for housing creation in eligible communities,” she says.

Additionally, Morelli-DeRose believes GZA’s clients will benefit from the NJEDA’s proposed Brownfield Redevelopment Incentive Program (BRIP), which would provide tax credits to incentivize environmental remediation of brownfield sites for varied redevelopments, including commercial, retail, and mixed-use projects.

As for Sherrill’s expected impact on New Jersey’s environmental landscape, Cantor says – at press-time – that it’s too early to tell whether she will come through on promises to lower energy costs and make the energy grid cleaner.

“They talk a lot about permit reform – which we support and that the EPA needs – and we’ve heard her focus is on affordability, so we’re encouraged by those words,” he says.

Morelli-DeRose says while it is too early to know exactly how campaign policies will be rolled out, Governor Sherrill’s campaign strongly emphasized support for expediting in-state clean energy developments such as solar and battery energy storage as a means to moderate rising utility costs.

“Additionally,” she says, “if the campaign’s stated goal to streamline permitting from numerous state agencies is achieved, it will allow us as environmental consultants to clean up contaminated sites more quickly and get them back to productive use for their communities.”

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