OCEAN CITY, NJ — City officials are opposing a potential new Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) rule that would allow the state to step in when endangered species are found in beach areas.
“It’s government overreach,” said city Business Administrator George Savastano of the proposed rule. City Council recently unanimously adopted a resolution formally opposing the proposal.
Under the proposed rule, titled “Access Restriction to Tidal Waters and Adjacent Shorelines for Endangered Species Protection,” the DEP would be able to supersede the public trust right to access water if endangered species are documented to use the area. Put more simply, it would give the state power to shut down city beaches.
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City officials agreed that protecting endangered species is highly important. That’s why Ocean City already does that, Savastano said.
“We have a lot of plans, laws, regulations in place that protect our threatened and endangered species,” Savastano said. “We are highly regulated and we have great protections in place.”
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But the DEP rule would simply duplicate what Ocean City already does and potentially further restrict beach access, he said.
Members of City Council agreed with Savastano.
“Any time the government’s able to come in with an unelected bureaucracy and do whatever they want, they’re going to do it,” said Councilman Tom Rotondi. “And I’d rather not put our city in that situation.”
However, resident Donna Moore, a local environmental advocated, pleaded that council reconsider prior to the vote.
She said the resolution was “more contentious against the DEP than it is really something that will benefit us.”
“This is about preservation, protecting wildlife, protecting endangered species, nesting birds along the coasts, wetlands habitats for endangered species,” Moore said of the DEP’s proposal.
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