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Tremendous Opposition Turnout for 4th and Final Public (No) Access Rules Hearing 
Tim Dillingham, Executive Director of the American Littoral Society, testified in opposition to the proposed rules at the final hearing on June 2 in Long Beach Township on LIB. We thank all of you who demanded this 4th hearing outside of business hours so working people could attend and all who turned out to oppose these ill-conceived rules. The opposition turnout was tremendous--200 people packed the room. We submitted our written comments on the proposed rules to the NJDEP on June 3 with sign-on by 15 additional groups. We also made these comments available to other groups to use as the basis for their own comments. You can download our final comments and check out the press coverage below. Download comments on the proposed public access rules. Press Coverage: Asbury Park Press Press of Atlantic City ABC Action News NJ.com
Proposed Rules will Roll Back Years of Progress on Public Access to the Shore In April, the Christie Administration announced new rules that would dramatically reduce New Jerseyan’s rights to view, use and enjoy the state’s rivers, bays and coast for fishing, swimming, surfing, kayaking, or simply enjoying a walk in the surf or along an urban waterfront. If implemented, these rules will roll back years of hard-won progress by the American Littoral Society and other coastal advocates by placing much of the control and authority over public access squarely in the hands of local towns—a practice that has proved disastrous for decades, as our more than forty years of litigation in local beach access issues demonstrates. Add to this the fact that what little protection these rules provide is totally unenforceable and negotiable, renders what the NJDEP has termed a “common sense” solution a “non-sense” solution. The American Littoral Society strongly opposes the proposed rules and urges anyone who wants to protect their right to enjoy New Jersey’s coastal waterways (including Delaware Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, Barnegat Bay , and the Hudson/Raritan estuary) to get the facts and make your voice heard at the final public hearing. Fact Sheets on the Proposed (NO) PUBLIC ACCESS RULE The following 6 fact sheets cover aspects of the proposed rule that will impact New Jerseyans the most. Feel free to cut and paste content in your letters to the editor, to the NJDEP, and/or the Governor. #1 - Overview Download #2 - Municipal Public Access Plans Download #3 - Renourished Beaches Download #4 - Urban Waterfront Download #5 - For Fishermen Download #6 - What You Can Do to Help Download RESOURCES: Official DEP Announcement of Rule, and link to rule text: http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/notices/040411a.html LINKS TO NEWS ABOUT THE PROPOSED RULES: Urban Access Issues Asbury Park Press Editorial Calls Rules a Setback NJN News Covers the Proposed Rules Coverage on Patch.com In the blogosphere
PUBLIC ACCESS ARCHIVES - info on the rules threatened by the Christie Administration’s proposed rules and important beach access litigation In-force NJ Beach Access Rules - Frequently Asked Questions download pdf Impact of NJ Beach Access Rules Adopted 12/07 FACT SHEET download pdf American Littoral Society Comments on Proposed Access Rules (12/07) download pdf Proposed Beach Access Rules (12/07) FACT SHEET download pdf Raleigh Avenue Beach Assn. vs. Atlantis Beach Club FACT SHEET (2006) download pdf Raleigh Avenue Beach Assn. vs. Atlantis Beach Club, Text of NJ Supreme Court Decision (2006) download pdf
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