NJ Department of Environmental Protection Information

As a highly industrialized and densely populated state, yet gifted with an irreplaceable and precious complement of biodiversity and natural resources, New Jersey has had a long tradition of being a national leader in aggressively identifying and addressing new threats to public health and the environment. DEP’s mission and programs are commensurate with the diversity of urban and natural-resource character of New Jersey in that the agency is charged with ensuring protection of and public access to the State’s precious natural resources, developing and enforcing health- and ecological-based protective standards for environmental regulation, cleaning up contaminated sites and contributing to the overall quality of life for all New Jerseyans.