NEWARK, N.J., Dec. 3, 2002 -- James Connaughton, White House chief environmental policy adviser, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials, and environmental commissioners from New Jersey and New York joined Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG) and Lawler, Matusky and Skelly Engineers Tuesday for the kick off of a public-private partnership in New Jersey, New York and the Mid-Atlantic region designed to protect, enhance, and restore vital coastal habitats.
Connaughton, who chairs the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Jane Kenny, U.S. EPA Region II administrator, Commissioner Erin Crotty, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and Bradley M. Campbell, commissioner, NJ Department of Environmental Protection met with approximately 60 corporate leaders at PSEG corporate headquarters to encourage participation in the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership (CWRP) which promotes private funding of coastal habitat restoration projects. Private funding provided under CWRP is matched on a three-to-one basis by the federal government.
Frank Cassidy, president and chief operating officer, PSEG Power, and Stanley LaBruna, PSEG vice president-environmental health and safety also participated in the CWRP kick off event. PSEG will take the lead in creating a New Jersey chapter of CWRP and will help form state chapters in the mid-Atlantic region. LMS Engineers Inc. has agreed to lead the effort in New York.
The CWRP was founded in Massachusetts by the Gillette Company, the Massachusetts Office of Environmental Affairs, and U.S. EPA. Coastal America, an inter-agency consortium of all federal agencies with responsibilities for managing America's coastal resources, assisted in getting the partnership under way. CWRP chapters are already functioning in other regions of the U.S.
Projects eligible for leveraged funding under CWRP include restoration of wetlands and aquatic habitats as well as other projects such as removal of impediments to fish migration, watershed planning, and environmental education. In addition, CWRP resources also can be applied to portions of a project not receiving federal funds such as environmental education associated with a federal project or funding necessary to complete work already in progress. The definition of private funding includes funds provided by state agencies.
PSEG and LMS will be responsible for the next steps to create CWRP chapters in New Jersey and New York -- following up and providing additional information to interested corporations and businesses and scheduling organizational meetings. PSEG also will work with Coastal America to promote interest and awareness about CWRP and help create functioning chapters in other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region, including eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
PSEG (NYSE: PEG - News), a diversified energy holding company with more than $25 billion in assets has its headquarters in Newark, NJ. PSEG's primary subsidiaries are Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), New Jersey's largest electric and gas distribution utility; PSEG Power, one of the nation's leading independent energy producers; and PSEG Energy Holdings which operates PSEG's other non-regulated businesses.
Source: Public Service Enterprise Group
