Better Than We Found It : A Record of Accomplishments, 2018-2026

Abstract

New Jersey has made great strides in improving and protecting public health and the environment we all share. This Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) retrospective reflects on the important work of DEP professionals to advance sound science, thoughtful policy and wise investments that have and will continue to improve quality of life for millions of New Jerseyans. The critical work accomplished between 2018 and 2026 has enabled people across New Jersey to drink safer water, breathe healthier air, enjoy cleaner lands and experience plentiful green, open and recreational spaces. During this time, DEP markedly increased investments in the environmental infrastructure critical to our health, safety and economy; steadily restored degraded natural resources; furthered the promise of environmental justice; advanced efforts to stabilize our changing climate; and enabled New Jersey communities to recover from and become more resilient to the impacts of flooding, drought, wildfire and extreme weather.

In exploring this retrospective, you will see up close the exceptional work of more than 3,000 devoted public servants and their partners across sectors — in business, industry, academia, advocacy and government — who have dedicated themselves to safeguarding the public health and our environment. Most importantly, you will see our resolve to leave New Jersey and its environment better than we found it. That is the DEP legacy.