 The department was created on April 22, 1970, America's first official Earth Day, making it the third state in the country to combine its environmental activities into a single, unified agency, with about 1,400 employees in five divisions, charged with responsibility for environmental protection and conservation efforts.Governor William T. Cahill appointed Richard J. Sullivan as the first commissioner.In December 2017, Catherine McCabe was nominated by New Jersey governor-elect Phil Murphy to serve as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.