Environmentalists and community activists tend to have a different view. In many instances they remain unconvinced that the process is sufficiently protective of environmental and public health concerns.

These competing views were presented to the Senate's Environment Committee in late 2006.

On October 23, 2006, DEP Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson outlined her assessment of the needed legislative revisions, including several that would strengthen the current enforcement process. These would authorize DEP to recover all of its direct and indirect costs, including legal fees, from responsible parties; increase penalties for Industrial Site Recovery Act violations; enable the imposition of civil administrative penalties for site remediation violations; sanction first priority liens whenever the department expended any public funds for remediation; and clarify the authority to remove Spill Act responsible parties from the voluntary cleanup program.