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I recall being awestruck standing in the back of the governor's outer office on April 22, 1970. It was my first visit to the State House, and I was there to observe Gov. William T. Cahill approve the bill that would establish the Department of Environmental Protection, fittingly on the nation's observance of the first Earth Day. I felt that I had a personal stake in the proceedings as I had a hand in the drafting process.

At the signing ceremony, Richard J. Sullivan, who had recruited me while I was still in graduate school, was appointed by the governor to be DEP's first commissioner. He had been serving as the director of the Division of Clean Air and Water in the Health Department and had earned a well-deserved national reputation as a leader and visionary in the emerging field. Sullivan was in charge of the new agency for the next four years and established the standard by which his successors' performance would be judged.

During Gov. Cahill's term (1970-73) the initial building blocks to address categorical environmental issues were put in place. Because insufficient consideration was devoted to the implementation costs, a gap and tension arose between the public's expectations and the progress that could be achieved with limited resources. Other milestones during that period included efforts to upgrade and regionalize sewerage facilities and to refund the Green Acres program. Many of these measures were sponsored not incidentally by then assemblyman and future governor, Thomas H. Kean.

Gov. Brendan T. Byrne (1974-81) was committed to improving the quality of the state's environment, but he made a serious misstep at the onset of his tenure. Bowing to pressure from the business and development communities unaccustomed to not getting their way with the state government, the governor did not reappoint Commissioner Sullivan.

But Byrne would go on to take decisive action regarding environmental issues and approve signature legislation. The standouts during his two terms included the Spill Compensation and Control Act (the Spill Act) and the Pinelands Protection Act.

Each of the following governors—with one recent and notable exception whose focus was directed on regulatory reform and reducing DEP's funding—have accorded priority status to environmental stewardship. The result has been the approval of legislation to protect the state's areas of critical environmental concern: the wetlands, coastal area, waterfront, floodplains, pinelands and highlands. Special attention was also devoted to preventing and cleaning up hazardous substance discharges through the enactment of measures including the Spill Act, the Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act, the Industrial Site Recovery Act, and the Site Remediation Reform Act. Those efforts were complimented by the provision of funding for Green Acres, clean water and farmland preservation. Since 1986, most of these initiatives were shepherded through the legislative process by Senator Bob Smith (D-Middlesex). I have had the good fortune and privilege to chronicle those developments in these pages beginning in 1977.

While the state's environmental protection efforts over the past 50 years have been impressive, considerable work remains ahead. This task is further complicated by issues that weren't even on the radar screen in or around 1970. It's daunting to attempt to contemplate how the nation's fifth smallest state will be able to achieve measurable progress regarding the current environmental challenges including climate change, global warming, rising sea levels and the loss of biodiversity. But, if history provides us with any guidance, New Jersey will continue to be at the forefront and serve as a national leader concerning these efforts.

Lewis Goldshore practices in Princeton. His practice is devoted to environmental, land use and municipal law. He is the author of New Jersey Environmental Law (ICLE 2010).