Governor Sherrill’s permitting dashboard: A dash for development and a roadmap to environmental disaster

Operation FAST is fast-tracking New Jersey toward more sprawl, more flooding, more traffic, and more environmental damage.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s new Permitting Dashboard is being sold as a tool for efficiency, transparency, and economic growth. The administration says it will reduce delays, lower costs, and move development projects through the permitting process more quickly.

That may sound reasonable until you look under the hood.

This dashboard is not a GPS guiding New Jersey toward a better future. It is a speedometer encouraging developers to drive faster while ignoring every warning light on New Jersey’s environmental dashboard. It is an accident waiting to happen.

The governor talks about cutting red tape, streamlining government, and accelerating permits. Those concepts come from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, the Koch brothers, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and the Trump administration. In New Jersey, those phrases have long been code words for weakening environmental protections, limiting public participation, and reducing scrutiny of projects that will permanently change our communities and natural resources.

The facts tell a different story from the governor’s narrative.

The Department of Environmental Protection already approves approximately 97% of permit applications. Studies show that nearly 70% of permitting delays occur because applications are incomplete, inaccurate, or fail to meet legal requirements. Many of the remaining delays occur because projects raise legitimate concerns about flooding, contamination, stormwater management, endangered species, or violations of environmental standards.

The problem is not that the Department of Environmental Protection says “no” too often. The problem is that too many applications are not ready, or should never be approved in the first place.

Operation FAST is not about transparency. It is about getting to “yes” faster.

The projects selected for the governor’s first Permitting Dashboard expose the real agenda. Instead of highlighting smart redevelopment or environmentally responsible projects, the administration chose developments with long histories of environmental controversy, flooding concerns, traffic impacts, infrastructure problems, and land-use conflicts.

These are not projects that deserve less review. They are projects that deserve far more.

New Jersey is already the nation’s most densely populated state. We continue to lose forests, farms, and open space. Flooding is becoming more severe. Traffic grows worse every year. Drinking water supplies are under increasing stress, while climate change brings stronger storms, heavier rainfall, rising seas and longer droughts.

At the very moment New Jersey needs stronger environmental review, better planning and smarter growth, Gov. Sherrill is moving in the opposite direction.

Operation FAST revives the same philosophy developers have pushed for decades, only now it comes wrapped in buzzwords like innovation, modernization, artificial intelligence, and government efficiency. Instead of strengthening the Department of Environmental Protection, the administration is moving toward AI-generated permit reviews, greater reliance on private consultants and the privatization of environmental oversight.

This is not innovation. It is an old development agenda with a new computer program.

Operation FAST: Fast Track repackaged

Many of us have seen this movie before. In the early 2000s, New Jersey adopted the controversial Fast Track permitting law, promoted by powerful development interests and political insiders. The goal was simple: speed permits through the Department of Environmental Protection and automatically approve them if deadlines expired.

Environmental groups warned that the law would pressure Department of Environmental Protection staff to rush complex scientific reviews instead of protecting the environment. They were right.

Fast Track established rigid permit deadlines, accelerated reviews, and included a dangerous “deemer clause” allowing permits to be automatically approved if the Department of Environmental Protection failed to act within 90 days. The purpose was clear: transform the Department of Environmental Protection from an environmental watchdog into a permit-processing agency.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency became so concerned that it questioned whether New Jersey could continue administering portions of its federally delegated Clean Water Act permitting program. The state ultimately backed away before the law was fully implemented. That should have been the end of Fast Track. Instead, Gov. Mikie Sherrill has brought it back under a different name.

Operation FAST creates permit “shot clocks” that pressure Department of Environmental Protection scientists and engineers to make decisions within arbitrary deadlines. It limits agency review, compresses public participation, creates cross-agency teams whose mission is to move projects through the system more quickly, establishes a permit czar to push applications through the system, and measures success by how quickly permits are issued rather than by how well the environment is protected.

When permit approvals are measured by speed rather than scientific rigor, environmental protections are at risk.

Privatizing the public interest

Operation FAST goes beyond speeding permits.

It changes who controls the process.

Under the banner of modernization, the Department of Environmental Protection is moving toward greater use of artificial intelligence, outside consultants, and privatized permit review. Consultants hired by developers could increasingly help prepare, review, and process permits.

That is not reform. It is letting the fox design the henhouse, build the henhouse, inspect the henhouse, and then have artificial intelligence certify that everything is perfectly safe.

Environmental decisions belong in the hands of independent scientists and public servants, not consultants paid by the industries seeking permits.

The public interest should never be outsourced.

Heritage Minerals: The “Dracula” of housing developments returns

Nothing better illustrates the dangers of Operation FAST than the Heritage Minerals project in Manchester Township.

This proposal has been one of the longest-running environmental battles in New Jersey history. The site encompasses approximately 7,000 acres along Route 70 in the Pinelands. It was originally operated by ASARCO as a major sand-mining and processing facility.

Mining operations left behind disturbed land, artificial lakes, industrial remnants, and environmental concerns. Over time, however, much of the surrounding landscape recovered. Forests regenerated, wildlife returned, and large portions of the property became increasingly important habitat within the Pinelands ecosystem.

The Pinelands is one of the nation’s most environmentally significant regions. It contains globally unique ecosystems, critical aquifers, habitat for rare species, and some of New Jersey’s cleanest water resources. Yet for decades, developers have sought to transform this landscape into one of the largest housing developments in state history.

The first major proposal came from H. Hovnanian. In the 1990s, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Shinn rejected a proposal for approximately 838 housing units because of the site’s environmental sensitivity. That should have ended the discussion. Instead, the proposals kept growing.

Developers pursued projects involving thousands of housing units. At various times, proposals called for approximately 2,450 units, 4,000 units, and even concepts approaching 6,500 units. The Sierra Club identified the project as one of the worst sprawl developments in New Jersey and among the most environmentally destructive proposals in the nation.

Former Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Brad Campbell later attempted to broker a compromise, allowing approximately 2,450 units to be built. That proposal generated intense opposition from environmental organizations, local officials, residents, and elected leaders, including Sen. Len Connors, R-Ocean, who argued it posed unacceptable environmental risks.

Campbell ultimately withdrew the compromise and opposed the large-scale project.

I called Heritage Minerals the “Dracula of housing developments” because every time New Jersey thought it was dead, it rose from the grave again. I also described it as a dagger aimed directly at the heart of the Pinelands.

Developers later returned with proposals approaching 4,000 housing units. Environmental groups, local residents, and conservation advocates fought the project because it would have effectively created a new city in the middle of one of New Jersey’s most environmentally sensitive regions.

The project threatened groundwater resources, wildlife habitat, water quality, and the ecological integrity of the Pinelands. Traffic impacts would have been enormous. The project also would have created millions of square feet of impervious surface, increasing stormwater runoff and threatening nearby waterways.

The Department of Environmental Protection denied key permits in 2018, and environmental advocates celebrated a major victory. The permit denial was a victory for the environment, the Pinelands, and future generations.

Now the project has returned once again. This time, the proposal calls for approximately 3,000 housing units. That is essentially a new city of nearly 8,000 people in the middle of the Pinelands.

The new developer is D.R. Horton. Its lobbying firm is Archer & Greiner, where members of the project team include former Lambertville Mayor Julia Fahl and Guiliet Hirsch, former legal counsel for H. Hovnanian.

What is most remarkable is that this new proposal appears to have emerged without a comprehensive carrying-capacity analysis, regional planning review, or environmental justification explaining why a project that made no sense at 838 units somehow makes sense at 3,000.

Yet one of the most controversial development proposals in New Jersey history has become a showcase project for Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s Permitting Dashboard.

If Heritage Minerals is considered worthy of accelerated treatment, then Operation FAST is not about smart planning. It is about moving controversial projects through the system faster.

K. Hovnanian and Middletown: Why history matters

Another project highlighted by the administration is the Enclave at Middletown redevelopment involving K. Hovnanian.

The administration presents it as a housing project. The public deserves to know the broader history.

K. Hovnanian has repeatedly faced environmental controversies, construction-defect litigation, and regulatory enforcement actions. One of the most troubling cases involved the Hickory Manor development.

The State of New Jersey sued a K. Hovnanian subsidiary over allegations involving trichloroethylene contamination at a former industrial site. According to the state’s allegations, residential buildings were constructed before contamination concerns had been properly addressed. Public funds were ultimately required to help install systems designed to prevent toxic vapors from entering homes.

That case demonstrates exactly why environmental review matters.

There have been additional controversies involving developments in Jersey City, Newark, Weehawken, and other locations where contamination concerns became major public issues. Today, K. Hovnanian is pursuing a 200-unit development in Lambertville on property associated with a former landfill and electronics manufacturing facility where perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS, have been documented in nearby wells. More than 90 nearby wells have shown elevated levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

The site has become the focus of Department of Environmental Protection investigations seeking to determine the source of the contamination. K. Hovnanian and the property owner allegedly have not allowed the Department of Environmental Protection access to the site to investigate the source of the contamination.

Building housing near contamination without fully understanding the risks is not smart planning. It is gambling with public health.

Nationally, K. Hovnanian entered into a major federal Clean Water Act settlement involving 564 construction sites, including 54 in New Jersey. Federal regulators cited failures involving stormwater controls, erosion protections and permit compliance. The company paid penalties and agreed to implement companywide compliance measures.

The lesson from this history is simple. The answer to environmental concerns is better oversight.

The McDowell Sand Mine project: Overdevelopment on steroids

Another dashboard project involves the proposed redevelopment of the former McDowell Sand Mine property in Wall Township.

Residents have spent years raising concerns about this proposal. The project would bring approximately 856 housing units to a site with significant environmental and infrastructure challenges. The property has a history of erosion problems and environmental concerns. It has also been associated with disputes involving sewer infrastructure and potential impacts on the Shark River watershed, a Category One protected waterway that ultimately feeds drinking water resources.

Local advocates have raised concerns about groundwater conditions, flooding risks, traffic congestion, and water quality impacts. The project would generate thousands of additional vehicle trips. Traffic impacts would spread throughout local road networks, including heavily traveled corridors that are already congested. The proposal would replace large areas of permeable land with roads, buildings, rooftops, parking lots, and other impervious surfaces. That means more runoff. More runoff means more flooding. More flooding means more taxpayer costs.

The dashboard treats the project as an economic opportunity, while many residents see it as an environmental catastrophe.

Hoboken telecommunications infrastructure: Opening the door to data centers

One of the more overlooked dashboard projects is the Echo Check Equities HRC-Telco telecommunications infrastructure project in Hoboken.

Supporters present it as a network-capacity upgrade. In reality, projects like this increasingly serve as the backbone for large-scale data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Across New Jersey, communities are beginning to grapple with the impacts of data centers. These facilities consume enormous amounts of electricity. They require extensive utility infrastructure. They often require transmission upgrades and backup power systems. Many consume substantial water resources for cooling. Despite their enormous footprint, they frequently create relatively few long-term jobs.

Data centers are becoming the warehouses of the digital economy. Just as New Jersey became overwhelmed with warehouse sprawl over the past decade, we now risk creating a new generation of digital sprawl and overdevelopment.

The permit czar, shot clocks, and a dashboard that measures the wrong things

Operation FAST assumes New Jersey has a permitting problem. It doesn’t.

The Department of Environmental Protection already approves approximately 97% of permit applications. Studies show that most delays occur because applications are incomplete, contain inaccurate information, or raise serious environmental concerns.

The problem is not permitting. The problem is bad projects.

Instead of giving the Department of Environmental Protection more scientists, engineers, inspectors and enforcement staff, the governor wants a permit czar whose job is to move permits through the system more quickly. That is like responding to a house fire by hiring someone whose job is to hand out more matches. The permit czar is essentially a taxpayer-funded advocate for moving permits through government rather than protecting the public.

Operation FAST also imposes permit “shot clocks” that pressure Department of Environmental Protection professionals to make decisions within arbitrary deadlines.

Many environmental permits require engineering studies, groundwater analysis, stormwater modeling, ecological reviews, and legal evaluations. Those reviews take time because mistakes last for generations.
Projects are often delayed because they threaten floodplains, wetlands, drinking water, endangered species or public health — not because the Department of Environmental Protection is inefficient.
Sometimes a permit delay is the environmental equivalent of a doctor ordering more tests before surgery. Something needs another look.

Operation FAST treats those safeguards as obstacles. That turns environmental protection upside down.

Flooding, climate change, and the wrong priorities

Operation FAST arrives at the worst possible time. New Jersey is already paying the price for decades of poor planning and overdevelopment.

Flooding is becoming more frequent. Storms are becoming more intense. Insurance premiums continue to climb. Roads that never flooded are now regularly underwater. Communities are still recovering from Hurricane Ida and other devastating storms.

The lesson should have been obvious. Protect more open space. Strengthen flood protections. Preserve wetlands. Require better stormwater management. Improve environmental review.
Instead, the administration wants to speed permits through the system.

The dashboard measures how quickly permits are issued. It does not measure how much flooding a project creates. It does not measure forests destroyed. It does not measure wetlands filled. It does not measure traffic congestion. It does not measure polluted groundwater. Those are the numbers that matter.

Conclusion: A dashboard to disaster

Gov. Mikie Sherrill says this dashboard is about transparency. The projects selected tell a very different story: Heritage Minerals, K. Hovnanian, the McDowell Sand Mine. Infrastructure that paves the way for major data center expansion.

These are not projects that deserve less scrutiny. They deserve more scrutiny.

The governor keeps talking about cutting red tape. Clean water is not red tape. Flood protection is not red tape. Wetlands are not red tape. The Pinelands are not red tape. Public participation is not red tape. Environmental review is not red tape.

The only red tape developers want to eliminate is anything that slows them down.

If Gov. Sherrill truly wants the Department of Environmental Protection to work better, the answer is not weakening environmental protections. The answer is hiring more staff, improving technology, strengthening enforcement, modernizing management and giving the Department of Environmental Protection the resources to make better decisions — not faster ones.

The governor’s dashboard measures permit speed. It does not measure wetlands destroyed. Forests cleared. Traffic created. Flooding worsened. Drinking water at risk. Communities left paying the bill.

Operation FAST is not a roadmap to good government. It is a roadmap to more sprawl, more flooding, more traffic, and more environmental damage.

If this policy continues, the Department of Environmental Protection will become exactly what developers have always wanted. Not the Department of Environmental Protection. Not even the Department of Expedited Permits. But the Department of Excessive Development, and ultimately, the Department of Environmental Destruction.