70 



the control of the estuarine was immediately transferred out of the Department 

 of Conservation and Economic Development into the Department of Community 

 affairs. 



Needless to say, the function, purpose and mission of these two Departments 

 are extremely different. What was once an area rich in marine resources and 

 in need of the true balance between the interest of conservation and economic 

 development, was carved out and deicated to a new department, which depart- 

 ment does not contain as its basic mission the technical, scientific and economic 

 acts of the estuarine, but rather the mission of the creation of new cities. 

 A dedication by this local and special legislation immediately relieved any 

 political affairs in the other 330,000 acres and areas of marshland. Tbe politicians 

 had done their piece. The other areas could now remain tmdisturbed. In the 

 meantime a mounting dispute remained unsolved with regard to the title aspects 

 and ownership in the same Hackensack Valley River area. Different title 

 standards are being used for different areas of the State. For example, in the 

 early part of 1969 the Governor declared a moratorium with respect to any 

 further riparian rights ; however, it was recently discovered that this alleged 

 moratorium was meant to specifically and merely apply to the area that had 

 been sacrificed, namely, the 18,000 acres and not the balance of the state. In 

 the meantime the Commissioner of Conservation and Economic Development 

 declared his own little moratorium which was recently discovered to have been 

 meant only to apply to the southern portion of the State, concerning himself 

 primarily with the conservation aspects and interest in the same. In the mean- 

 time while the Governor's moratorium affecting the Hackensack Valley was in 

 effect and while the Commissioner's moratorium respecting the southern estu- 

 arine was in effect, a flagrant violation of equal protection of the laws and due 

 process fermented and exploded. In the middle, powerful political area of the 

 State, a certain alleged riparian grant or quitclaim of marshlands are dis- 

 covered to have been conveyed to a company for the sum of $16,000, recon- 

 veyed by that same company on the exact same day for the sum of approximately 

 $710,000.00. This typifies, to a great extent disjointed, uncoordinated, politically 

 influenced state approach and is reflected in the other parts of the country 

 also. Ineffectual piecemeal attempts, ignoring the continuous nature of the 

 estuarine area, ignoring the interdependency of the same and the likeness of 

 its various problems, such as pollution, balancing of planning, development and 

 conservation. Also ignoring the pleas of illegality of such special and local legisla- 

 tion and the violation of the concepts of equal protection of the laws and due 

 process in the United States Constitution. 



On the other hand, the financial inability of the states to manage the needed 

 statewide program is clear. Ironically, the outward justification which was 

 used for public relations purposes in the New Jersey situation was that of a 

 mysterious, presently unavailable. Federal grant. An illusory federal grant was 

 put forth as the full and complete justification for the piecemeal special legisla- 

 tion that attempted to carve out 18,000 acres of the New Jersey estuarine 

 system — truly a sacrilege to the national interest approach. 



V. A NEW JUKISPEUDENCE 



A dissent is registered with regard to the Commission's approach and the 

 approach of the proposal before this subcommittee today which has as its basis 

 the mistaken attitude that the federal government should not and cannot delve 

 more strongly across the sacred state jurisdictional boundaries. The program 

 insofar as the organizational aspect is much too strongly state oriented and 

 noticeably lacks federal effectivenss. 



It is time to recognize that a new jurisprudence has been borne, quite un- 

 intentionally to some extent, yet it is here. A new philosophy of law, a new 

 philosophy of political structure, a new philosophy of organizational mechanism, 

 and a new philosophy of coordinating the whole "system" has in fact emerged 

 through court decisions and legislation. As pointed out by Dr. David Adams, 

 the language to be utilized should be "a system of management" and it should be 

 recognized that "the jurisdiction of the coastal zone does not coincide with 

 boundaries." The true evaluation of the system requires us to scrap to a great 

 extent the old cliches that are now being abused and merely used to impair 

 a truely progressive and effective program. The concept of "State's Rights" 

 is a sacred one indeed, yet to allow it to be utilized to allow a more active federal 

 role in an area that undisputably requires it, is disgraceful. The trap of being 

 bounded by existing structures and existing concepts is dangerous when consid- 



