Getting the job done
In a May 23, 2007, editorial, the News Transcript made the following statement: "Is it reasonable to assume that legislation proposed by Democrats from New Jersey will ever find the support it needs to make it through Congress and gain the signature of a Republican president of the United States? Perhaps not."

It turns out it was reasonable to assume that legislation proposed by New Jersey Democrats could work its way through Congress and gain the president's signature.

And that is exactly what happened last week.

A press release issued by U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) on Dec. 27 reports that legislation sponsored by the senator now gives states like New Jersey the ability to regulate solid waste processing facilities along rail lines.

The legislation was part of the fiscal year 2008 omnibus appropriations bill that passed the House and Senate this month and was signed into law by President George W. Bush last week.

The new law, which is in effect for one year while Lautenberg works to make it permanent, will require the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) to effectively get permission from New Jersey before approving any new facility or declaring any existing rail waste facility lawful to operate in the state.

Earlier this year it appeared that a solid waste transfer station could be built near an existing rail line on Route 33 in Freehold Township. A loophole in federal law precluded the state Department of Environmental Protection or any local or county agency from regulating the site.

Public protest to the plan eventually led the STB to deny the Freehold Township facility a permit due to a technicality in its permit application.

The Lautenberg provision will prevent the STB from approving a resubmitted proposal without New Jersey's permission.

If Lautenberg says that in 2008 he will work to make this temporary regulatory oversight permanent, this time we will take him at his word and wait to see the results.