Highland Park council adds support for New Jersey "Climate Superfund" bill; residents voice backing

The Highland Park Borough Council adopted a resolution March 18, 2025, expressing municipal support for Assembly Bill 4696 and its Senate counterpart S-3545, commonly described in the meeting as the New Jersey Climate Superfund Act.

Council Member Matthew Hirsch, chair of the Public Works and Public Utilities Committee, explained the resolution came with the committee’s recommendation and noted the measure is modeled after similar state laws in New York and Vermont. Hirsch told the council the bill would empower the state to pursue damages from large fossil fuel corporations for climate-related harms and said the resolution was supported by Sustainable Highland Park.

“W e no longer have to envision what a world affected by climate change looks like or feels like,” Council Member Matthew Hirsch said during his remarks. “We see the impact of the most severe storms and flooding. We see the sun peeking through an opaque sky, clouded by distant and not so distant wildfires.”

Members of the public offered comments in support. Rosella Sabatini, who identified herself as a Highland Park resident and an activist with Food & Water Action of Central New Jersey, said she attended a state-level rally and urged the council to back the bill. “I just want to voice strong support for the Climate Superfund Act,” Sabatini said. Chen Yan, a resident who spoke from the meeting, also told the council she supported local approval and hoped it would help momentum in Trenton.

Hirsch cited that the senate version had cleared an environmental committee and that, by the council’s count, a number of municipalities had already passed similar resolutions statewide; the council’s adoption would add Highland Park to that list. The resolution was included on the consent agenda and was adopted with the other consent items at the meeting.

The council record notes the measure is an advisory municipal resolution of support for a state bill; it does not change local law or impose regulatory obligations. Council members and the committee recommended the resolution to signal municipal backing to the legislature and to align with local environmental-justice and public-health concerns raised during the discussion and by speakers.

The council adopted the resolution as part of the consent agenda; public comments supporting the resolution were recorded during the meeting’s public-participation period.