Menendez, Gottheimer push for closer look at Congestion Tax’s environmental impact

Two influential Democrats from the New Jersey Congressional delegation are telling Pete Buttigieg that the U.S. Department of Transportation needs to investigate whether New York’s Congestion Tax plan will increase air pollution in New Jersey.

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) want a full Environmental Impact Statement before Buttigieg stands by a report suggesting the Congestion Tax has no significant impact on the environment.

They cited the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s own 2022 report finding that the Congestion Tax “will result in an increase of pollutants and toxins — including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, and even formaldehyde, a carcinogen — in New Jersey communities and the surrounding New York outer boroughs.”

“This would be the direct result of the increased traffic diverted from Manhattan to New Jersey into towns in our state, including an estimation of nearly a thousand additional trucks into Fort Lee, New Jersey,” Menendez and Gottheimer said.

The two lawmakers claim federal transportation agencies “fails to fully appreciate and mitigate the expected environmental harm to New Jersey.”

“A program of this magnitude and large-scale environmental impact should require more than the sole judgment of the agency seeking to implement it,” stated Menendez and Gottheimer.

The Congestion Tax plan includes $100 million to mitigate negative impacts on some parts of North Jersey, but Menendez and Gottheimer want Buttigieg to reconsider approval of his support of New York.