NJ Gov. Phil Murphy Signs Offshore Drilling Ban Bill Into Law

Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Friday that bans offshore oil and gas exploration and its production in New Jersey’s ocean waters – a direct rebuke to the Trump administration that has called for a sweeping offshore drilling plan.

The bill, A-839, also prohibits the Department of Environmental Protection from issuing any permits and approvals for the development of any facility or infrastructure related to offshore drilling within or outside of New Jersey waters.

The legislation received a 37-0 vote in the Senate and a 72-1 vote in the Assembly. Assemblyman Parker Space, a Republican from Sussex County, was the lone vote in opposition.

“Offshore drilling would be a disaster for our environment, our economy, and our coastal communities,” said Murphy, who signed the legislation at Jenkinson's on the Boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach.

“The bipartisan legislation I am signing into law, on the eighth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon Spill, will block oil companies from drilling in state waters. We simply cannot allow the danger of drilling off our coast. The societal, economic and environmental costs would be detrimental to the overall quality of life for our residents.”

Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Smith appeared, too, offering strong support for the bill and saying he is pushing the Trump administration to change its mind.

Smith said the legislation will effectively block the Trump administration from pursuing its plans for sweeping offshore drilling because it will deprive the federal government the infrastructure it needs to successfully drill off the coast.

"This is a game changer," Smith said.

In addition, the bill requires DEP to review any proposed oil or natural gas development in the Atlantic region of the U.S. exclusive economic zone to determine if the proposal can reasonably be expected to affect New Jersey waters.

Whether the bill can supercede what the federal government plans to do, however, is still a good question. It's been long debated as to who has ultimate control over New Jersey coast.

Last year, President Trump signed Executive Order 13795 to encourage oil and natural gas production off the Atlantic coast. It would be the largest planned expansion of offshore drilling in decades in the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico, including in areas previously blocked off the Jersey Shore and throughout the Atlantic from Florida to Maine.

Opening the Atlantic Ocean for offshore drilling would cause catastrophic and lasting economic harm to the state’s 130-mile shoreline, which supports a tourism industry worth $44 billion annually and attracts millions of visitors each year, Murphy said.

It also would put New Jersey’s beaches, fisheries, and marine life along the coast at great environmental risk, he said. Murphy noted the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil spill in 2010 in Louisiana, which damaged the marine ecosystem, killed off endangered and threatened species of fish and wildlife, and poisoned the many types of fish and shellfish.

Such a spill could impact New Jersey’s billion-dollar commercial and recreational fishing industry, supporter of the legislation said.

“The Jersey Shore tourism industry is a $44 billion economic engine and supports more than 838,000 jobs. We cannot allow President Trump’s anti-environmental and pro-polluter agenda to hijack our economy or our environment,” said Ed Potosnak, Executive Director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. “We commend Governor Murphy for signing this important legislation into law to protect our environment, critical coastal economy, and shore communities from dangerous offshore fossil fuel extraction.”

New Jersey’s fishing industry supports approximately 50,000 jobs while our Jersey shore tourism industry is worth $44 billion annually, Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo, D-Atlantic, said.

“Offshore drilling would unquestionably hurt the New Jersey shore economy as it relates to both the fishing and tourism industries," he said. "I’m grateful to Governor Murphy, Speaker Coughlin, and Senate President Sweeney for moving quickly to protect our shore.”

“Offshore drilling would have a damaging impact to the Jersey Shore, its multi-billion-dollar tourism industry and daily life for shore residents,” said Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak, D-Cape May. "We should prohibit offshore drilling for oil and natural gas."

Bill sponsors include: Senators Jeff Van Drew and Troy Singleton as well as Assembly Members R. Bruce Land, Bob Andrzejczak, Vincent Mazzeo and, Nicholas Chiaravalloti.

“I laud Governor Murphy on his decision to sign into law the bill that I and Senator Singleton sponsored that will ban offshore drilling off the coast of New Jersey," Van Drew said. "This bill is important for the continued protection of the Jersey Shore.

Murphy YouTube video/photo