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Perth Amboy Signs Environmental
Partnership with DEP City Enters Into 5-Year Agreement to
Meet Goals
The City of Perth Amboy and the
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today entered
into a partnership agreement that will accelerate local
environmental improvements and revitalization efforts through
an integrated plan with specific environmental goals and
project timelines.
The five-year agreement signed by DEP Commissioner
Bob Shinn and Mayor Joseph Vas will assist DEP in focusing
its expertise and resources on addressing the environmental
priorities of the city in a holistic manner.
"Given the breadth and scope of our redevelopment
plans, DEP's partnership comes at a crucial time when Perth
Amboy is in the process of remediating many of its ailing
properties in order to create viable and productive uses,
once again. We thank Commissioner Shinn and the DEP for
recognizing the work being done in Perth Amboy and for sharing
our vision for both physical and environmental revitalization,"
stated Mayor Joseph Vas
"We are using new results-based approaches
to environmental management and are working to strengthen
partnerships with local governments to improve the quality
of life for residents. I commend Perth Amboy officials for
their leadership and am excited that this is the first agreement
to include the goal of reducing greenhouse gases," said
Shinn.
The plan, modeled after the New Jersey
Sustainability Greenhouse Gas Action Plan, will identify
strategies to reduce emissions from the combustion of fossil
fuels within the city.
This is the third Performance Partnership
Agreement Commissioner Shinn has signed with a local government,
the first was with Bayonne and the second was with Hudson
County. The agreements are modeled after DEP's Peformance
Partnership Agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency.
"The City of Bayonne's agreement has been
a tremendous success, allowing the City and DEP to work
together on projects as diverse as parklands to brownfields
redevelopment. The agreement takes a lot of work to make
it successful, and with the same commitment and dedication,
the City of Perth Amboy can make it work as well," said
Bayonne Mayor Joseph Doria.
The first step under the agreement will
be the formation of an action plan that outlines the city's
environmental issues and goals. A project schedule will
be developed to help DEP and the city reach their goals
in an expeditious manner.
Some of the initial environmental focus
areas of the agreement are: brownfields redevelopment, containment
of urban sprawl, waterfront re-development, and water quality
improvements.
The environmental management plan will
be coordinated with Perth Amboy's Redevelopment Plan - Focus
2000 - which is focused on attaining many of these goals.
Focus 2000 has identified over 1,000 acres of blighted and
underutilized land in three main areas of the city where
more than $1 billion in redevelopment is scheduled to take
place. The plan includes a shoreline restoration project,
the Arenum by the Bay sports and entertainment complex,
a retail/office center, a business park and a new residential/commercial/cultural
district - the $600 million Landings at Harborside project,
which is believed to be the largest of its type in the country.
The agreement will ensure that the redevelopment
of Perth Amboy will take place in an environmentally sound
manner, protecting the air and water for present and future
generations.
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