Rescinds Executive Order #12 Whitman.

WHEREAS, a natural gas transmission pipeline located in the Township of Edison, County of Middlesex, exploded at or about midnight on March 24, 1994; and

WHEREAS, conditions and issues related to the explosion required that I invoke the emergency powers vested in the Governor by the Constitution and Statutes of this State, including, but not limited to, the provisions of the Laws of 1942, Chapter 251 (N.J.S.A. App. A:9-3 et seq.) and the Laws of 1963, Chapter 109 (N.J.S.A. 38A:2-4); and

WHEREAS, I issued Executive Order No. 12 on March 25, 1994, declaring a state of emergency, which Order provided, among other things, that all natural gas suppliers reduce transmission pipeline pressure by five (5) percent of the Maximum Available Operating Pressure; and

WHEREAS, such Order also provided that the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection and Energy and President of the Board of Regulatory Commissioners should meet with representatives of the affected natural gas suppliers and representatives of the gas utilities to obtain their recommendations, which meeting was held on March 29, 1994 and included representatives of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Pipeline Safety; and

WHEREAS, the State of New Jersey and the federal government have agreed to conduct a joint investigation of all interstate natural gas transmission pipelines operating in the State of New Jersey; and

WHEREAS, the parties have agreed to cooperate with future federal and State regulatory inspections, and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Pipeline Safety has ordered a reduction of pipeline pressure in the vicinity of the explosion with respect to the line involved,

NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:

1. The state of emergency that prompted the issuance of Executive Order No. 12 having subsided, Executive Order No. 12 is hereby rescinded.

2. Nevertheless, the Acting Superintendent of the Division of State Police remains authorized and empowered to utilize all facilities owned, rented, operated, and maintained by the State of New Jersey to house and shelter persons who may need shelter as a consequence of the emergency.

3. The Acting Superintendent of the Division of State Police remains authorized to order the evacuation of all persons from any area where their continued presence would present a danger to their health, safety or welfare because of the conditions created by the emergency.

4. The Department heads of the various agencies of State government who are called upon to provide assistance in the aftermath of the Edison explosion shall continue to lend assistance to ensure the protection of the health, safety, and resources of the residents of the Township of Edison and the State of New Jersey.

5. This Order shall take effect immediately.

GIVEN, under my hand and seal
this 29th day of March in the Year
of Our Lord, One Thousand Nine
Hundred and Ninety Four, and of
the Independence of the United
States, the Two Hundred and Eighteenth.

Christine Todd Whitman
GOVERNOR

Attest:

Peter Verniero
Chief Counsel to the Governor