** Updated ** The links to bills are updated and active
The New Jersey Senate Environment and Energy Committee will meet at 11 a.m. January 13, in Committee Room 6. on the first floor of the State House Annex. The following bills will be considered:
S1029 (Greenstein/Smith) – Prohibits sale, distribution, import, export or propagation of certain invasive species without permit from Department of Agriculture; establishes NJ Invasive Species Council.
S1033 (Greenstein) – Requires DEP to study indoor air quality at public schools, develop list of common indoor air contaminants at public schools, and establish guidance regarding potential mitigation measures.
S2840 (Singer) – Directs DEP to lift conservation restrictions imposed as condition of CAFRA permit under certain conditions.
S3287 (Smith/McKeon) – Provides gross income tax deduction for amounts paid to taxpayers for sale of certain real property interests for conservation purposes.
S3737 (Zwicker) – Revises requirements for certain greenhouse gas emissions monitoring and reporting activities.
(The public may address comments and questions to Christina Denney, Eric Hansen, Committee Aides, or make bill status and scheduling inquiries to Stephanie Cenneno, Secretary, at 609-847-3855, fax 609-292-0561, or e-mail: OLSAideSEN@njleg.org. Written and electronic comments, questions and testimony submitted to the committee by the public, as well as recordings and transcripts, if any, of oral testimony, are government records and will be available to the public upon request.)
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The USEPA today finalized a significantly stronger air quality standard to better protect America’s families, workers, and communities from the dangerous and costly health effects of fine particle pollution, also known as soot.
By strengthening the annual health-based national ambient air quality standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from a level of 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9 micrograms per cubic meter, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s updated standard will save lives — preventing up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, yielding up to $46 billion in net health benefits in 2032. For every $1 spent from this action, there could be as much as $77 in human health benefits in 2032.
Recommendations of the independent advisors comprising the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and CASAC PM expert panel were considered when deciding on whether to strengthen the PM standards.
Based on the scientific evidence, technical information, recommendations from CASAC, and public comments on the 2023 proposed standards, EPA has set two primary standards for PM2.5, which work together to protect public health: the annual standard, which EPA has revised, and a 24-hour standard, which the agency retained. EPA also retained the current primary 24-hour standard for PM10, which protects against coarse particles. EPA is also not changing the secondary (welfare-based) standards for fine particles and coarse particles at this time.
A broad and growing body of science links particle pollution to a range of serious and sometimes deadly illnesses. Many studies show that these microscopic fine particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and that long- and short-term exposure can lead to asthma attacks, missed days of school or work, heart attacks, expensive emergency room visits and premature death.
Due to the efforts that states, Tribes, industry, communities, and EPA have already taken to reduce dangerous pollution in communities across the country, 99% of U.S. counties are projected to meet the more protective standard in 2032, likely the earliest year that states would need to meet the revised standard. That’s even before accounting for additional actions on the horizon to implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act investments and to update source-specific emission standards.
EPA is also revising the Air Quality Index to improve public communications about the health risks from PM2.5 exposures.
Some PM is emitted directly from combustion sources, construction sites, industrial processes, and older diesel engines, while other particles are formed in the atmosphere in complex chemical reactions with other pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that are emitted from power plants, gasoline and diesel engines, and certain industrial processes. Particle pollution from industrial processes and other sources is controllable, with readily available and cost-effective technologies to manage emissions, and EPA will build on decades of experience in providing flexible options to states and Tribes across the implementation process.
EPA carefully considered extensive public input as it determined the final standards. The agency held a virtual public hearing and received about 700,000 written comments before finalizing today’s updated air quality standards.
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Steam billows from a paper mill in Rumford, Maine as a worker crosses a pedestrian bridge. (AP)
By Maxine Joselow, Washington Post, January 19, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EST
The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to significantly strengthen limits on fine particle matter, one of the nation’s most widespread deadly air pollutants, even as industry groups warn that the standard could erase manufacturing jobs across the country.
Several major companies, trade associations, and some Democratic lobbyists are trying to preempt the rule by suggesting it could harm President Biden’s reelection chances in key swing states. They say the tougher standard for soot and other pollutants could destroy factory jobs and investments in the Midwest and elsewhere, undermining Biden’s pitch that he has revitalized these areas more than Donald Trump, the GOP presidential front-runner.
Public health advocates strongly disagree with the industry’s assertions. They say strengthening the soot standard would yield significant medical and economic benefits by preventing thousands of hospitalizations, lost workdays, and lost lives, particularly in communities of color that are disproportionately exposed to unhealthy air.
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The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has issued an air quality alert set to be in effect until 11 p.m. Friday. NJDEP says certain parts of the region – across Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Union and eastern Passaic counties – may approach unhealthy standards. A number of factors could contribute to this.
Officials say air pollution concentrations could become unhealthy for sensitive groups such as children, people suffering from asthma heart disease or other lung diseases, and older senior citizens.
A wildfire continues to burn at Bass River State Forest in southern New Jersey. People have reported seeing and smelling smoke as it’s reached at least 5,000 acres. This may also cause some air quality issues.
By the end of this year, the EPA will issue a notice of proposed rulemaking for emissions standards related to municipal solid waste incinerators under the terms of a draft consent decree reached with environmental groups. The decree was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on May 23.
Groups, including Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and Ironbound Community Corp., sued the EPA in January 2022 over its alleged failure under the Clean Air Act to revisit the rules every five years. The decree would require EPA to finalize a new rule by November 30, 2024.
Environmental groups hope the draft decree could tighten federal emissions standards for 68 MSW incinerators, leading to tighter regulations for nine pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, dioxins, and nitrous oxides. The suit is part of a broader effort by environmental groups who say the EPA is behind the times in regulating several categories of waste incinerators, including MSW and medical waste.
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PHILADELPHIA (May 17, 2022) – The U.S. Steel Corporation will pay a $1.5 million penalty and make extensive improvements at its steel production facility in Braddock, Pennsylvania, as part of a settlement announced today with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) for longstanding air pollution violations.
The consent decree addresses numerous Clean Air Act violations dating back to 2016 at the steelmaking facility known as Edgar Thomson Works, which occupies about 250 acres and employs about 900 workers. The one-mile radius around the facility is an area of potential environmental justice concern, exceeding the state average for the percentage of low-income populations and for minority populations.
“EPA is committed to protecting air quality in communities by ensuring companies follow the rules to protect public health,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “Too often we find that residents in closest proximity to contaminated lands are impacted by environmental injustice, suffering cumulative health impacts and economic distress. Settlements like this serve notice to companies that they must follow the law to keep workers and neighbors healthy and safe.”
“Everyone has the right to clean air and the Allegheny County Health Department continues to work to ensure that right for all residents,” said ACHD Director Dr. Debra Bogen, Director of the Allegheny County Health Department. “This settlement is another step toward that goal in Braddock and surrounding communities, many of which are designated environmental justice communities. We are pleased that a large portion of the Health Department’s share of the civil penalty will directly benefit Braddock and other Mon Valley communities that experience a disproportionate share of the environmental impact of the pollution this consent decree concerns.”
Under the settlement, U.S. Steel is required to make numerous improvements in training, monitoring, and work practices to increase compliance and timely response to air pollution. Additionally, the company is tasked with conducting studies on potential improvements to its pollution control systems.
The primary pollutant of concern is particulate matter, including PM 2.5. Particulate matter contains microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so small that they can be inhaled and cause serious health problems. Some particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter can get deep into your lungs and some may even get into your bloodstream. Particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5) pose the greatest risk to health, including susceptibility to respiratory diseases, including acute respiratory distress, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer.
Although the Pittsburgh area – which includes Braddock – continues to be plagued by air quality issues that face many metropolitan areas, the ACHD announced in April that for the second year in a row, Allegheny County has met federal air quality standards for PM2.5 at the eight air quality monitors that it monitors around the city.
The settlement announced today also includes a supplemental environmental project solely credited against ACHD’s share of the penalty in which U.S. Steel would provide funding to the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development for a specific environmental project. Specifically, U.S. Steel will provide $750,000 in funding to the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development in support of the creation of a multimodal connection trail for hikers and bicyclists that links the Great Allegheny Passage in Rankin Borough to the Westmoreland Heritage Trail in Trafford Borough through the Turtle Creek Valley. The project will create another multimodal connection to communities near U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Work, including Rankin, Braddock, North Braddock, East Pittsburgh, Turtle Creek, Wilmerding, Monroeville, Pitcairn, and Trafford, North Versailles, East McKeesport and Wall.
ACHD, the co-plaintiff with EPA, is the local governmental entity charged with enforcement of Allegheny County’s air pollution control regulations. ACHD has participated fully in the collection of evidence, and the negotiation of the consent decree.
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