ContactsNewark Office Camden Office Washington, DC 
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Protecting Our Environment & Fighting PollutionSenator Lautenberg is a well-known and proven champion for our environment. He has consistently been an effective leader and advocate for our shore and passed vital laws that have made our air, water and land dramatically cleaner, while at the same time fighting dangerous Bush Administration efforts to weaken environmental protections and public right-to-know laws. And he is well-positioned to continue to lead our country into a green future of energy independence as a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works and Appropriations Committees. Below are just some of Senator Lautenberg’s environmental accomplishments for New Jersey: Keeping our Oceans and Waterways Clean Many in New Jersey share Senator Lautenberg’s love for the Jersey shore – and it is critical that we protect our ocean and waterways for both recreation and our economy. That’ s why Senator Lautenberg wrote the BEACH Act, a law to improve water quality monitoring standards and make sure the public is informed about any problems at the beach. He worked to ban ocean dumping of sewage and plastics, and changed federal laws to get companies to use stronger “double-hulled tankers” to prevent oil spills. And he’s leading the fight against dangerous Supreme Court decisions by Bush judicial appointees which could greatly restrict which waterways are protected by the Clean Water Act. Fighting Global Warming In 2008, Senator Lautenberg was one of a select few in the Senate to help shape the leading bipartisan global warming bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This proposal will be the foundation for our critical work in 2009 and 2010. Senator Lautenberg has also been a leading critic of the Bush Administration’s lax attitude toward this environmental emergency, and its efforts to ignore and suppress science. Keeping our Air and Drinking Water Clean Senator Lautenberg wrote the public Toxic Right to Know Law to make sure local communities are given information about harmful toxins chemical facilities are releasing into the air. As the current Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Safe Drinking Water Act, Senator Lautenberg has led efforts to improve oversight and standards for both tap and bottled water, and to keep dangerous toxins out of our groundwater. He has also secured hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money to keep New Jersey’s drinking water safe. Leading a Green Revolution In late 2007, Senator Lautenberg’s legislation to turn our nation’s buildings “green” became law. This law will improve the energy efficiency, indoor air quality and environmental impact of our nation’s federal buildings and provide a blueprint for all non-federal buildings to follow. It also provides grants to schools to improve their air quality and energy efficiency. In addition, Senator Lautenberg is fighting for a comprehensive energy plan that reduces our dependence on oil and dirty coal, and increases tax incentives and benefits for clean renewable fuels such as solar and wind. Combating Toxic Waste and Making Polluters Pay Senator Lautenberg has brought in more than $1 billion in federal clean up aid to New Jersey. He has championed Superfund, a program to clean up toxic sites while making sure polluters pay for it – not taxpayers. Since President Bush would prefer that the public pay for this instead of his corporate friends, Lautenberg has introduced legislation to reinstate the “polluter pays” fee. Senator Lautenberg also wrote the law to fund programs to cleanup and revitalize old industrial facilities and dumpsites into new businesses, parks and open space. Cleaning Up Rail Waste Sites When unregulated rail waste sites began to proliferate in NJ, Senator Lautenberg took action. He first put a temporary one-year fix into law close this loophole and allow states to regulate the health, safety and environmental protection of solid waste handling at these sites. And Congress has now passed his legislation to permanently fix this problem by allowing the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to clean up these sites.
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