New Jersey Administrative Code
Title - EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Title 55 - CHRIS CHRISTIE
Section - Executive Order No. 330 (2023)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 6, March 18, 2024

Governor Philip D. Murphy

Executive Order No. 330 (2023)

An Order that Flags Be Flown at Half-Staff in Recognition of and Mourning of Former Assemblyman and Commissioner of Environmental Protection, Robert C. Shinn, Jr.

Issued: May 16, 2023.

Effective: May 16, 2023.

WHEREAS, Robert "Bob" C. Shinn, Jr. served the State of New Jersey as a member of the General Assembly and as the Commissioner of Environmental Protection; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn, a lifelong resident of Hainesport, New Jersey, was born in 1937 in Mount Holly, New Jersey; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School and Drexel Institute of Technology (now Drexel University), and received an honorary doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn served in the United States Army as an aircraft mechanic during the Korean War; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn, a Republican, began his career in public service at age 19, when he became the Hainesport municipal treasurer in 1956, and was first elected to public office in 1959 as a member of the Rancocas Valley Regional School Board; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn was elected to the Hainesport Township Committee in 1967, as Mayor of Hainesport in 1973, and as Burlington County Freeholder in 1977, a position he held until 1985; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn was elected to the General Assembly in a special election in 1984, representing the 8<th> Legislative District, and served in the Legislature for nine years, including as Assistant Minority Leader and Majority Conference Leader; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn carried a passion and vision for environmental matters throughout his career; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn was appointed by the Burlington County Board of Freeholders to oversee the development of the Burlington County Resource Recovery Complex and the County's first regional recycling program; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn also made substantial contributions to the Pinelands region, as he spearheaded bond referendums to preserve farmland and ecologically sensitive areas in the Pinelands National Reserve, served on the New Jersey Pinelands Commission from its creation in 1979 until 1985, and served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pinelands Development Credit Bank; and

WHEREAS, during his time in the Legislature, Commissioner Shinn served as Chair of the Assembly Solid Waste Management Committee and was responsible for legislation protecting critical water supplies, establishing mandatory recycling, and addressing handling and disposal of medical waste; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn was appointed by Governor Christine Whitman as Commissioner of Environmental Protection in February 1994 and served as Commissioner until January 2002, making him the longest-serving Commissioner of Environmental Protection at the time and the second longest-serving Commissioner of Environmental Protection to date; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn's pioneering accomplishments during his tenure at the Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP") include establishing a GIS-based electronic permitting system that is still used today, creating the State's first Greenhouse Gas Sustainability Action Plan, serving as President of the Environmental Council of the States and President of the Environmental Research Institute of the States, and presenting on climate change and sea-level rise to the United Nations at the request of the administration of President Bill Clinton; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn furthered his commitment to improving air quality and combatting climate change on a regional and national level by chairing the Ozone Transport Commission and serving as vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Center for Clean Air Policy, based in Washington D.C.; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn passed away on May 5, 2023 at the age of 85, and is survived by his wife Paula, his daughter, two step-children, and one grandson; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn will be remembered as a devoted public servant, a visionary leader, and a pioneer in environmental matters from land preservation to waste management to protection of air and water resources; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner Shinn will be deeply missed by his family, his friends, his former colleagues in the Legislature, the DEP, the Pinelands Commission, and the other organizations in which he served, and the people of Hainesport, Burlington County, and the State of New Jersey; and

WHEREAS, it is with great sadness that we mourn Commissioner Shinn's passing and extend our heartfelt sympathy to his family and friends; and

WHEREAS, it is appropriate to commemorate Commissioner Shinn's remarkable legacy of public service and environmentalism and mark his passing;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, 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: