/ By
 Photo by Anthony Smedile for the Atlantic City Press

Scores of  energy and environment bills already have been introduced during the first few weeks of the New Jersey Legislature’s new two-year session.

This morning, the Senate Environment and Energy Committee will discuss and possibly vote on six of them, including a controversial measure that would allow tree harvesting in state forests.

The bills are:

S-81  Bateman, C. (R-16)
Prohibits health care institutions from discharging
medications into sewer or septic systems.

S-84  Bateman, C. (R-16); Smith, B. (D-17)
Establishes pilot program in DEP for chemical clean-outs in schools.   

S-826  Smith, B. (D-17); Cardinale, G. (R-39)
Concerns calculation of value for conveyance of certain
State-owned lands. 

S-1084  Smith, B. (D-17)
The “Adopt a Barnegat Bay Stormwater Management
Basin Act.” 

S-1085  Smith, B. (D-17)
Establishes forest harvest program on State-owned
land.  

S-1270  Smith, B. (D-17) Establishes uniform real property taxation for
commercial renewable energy systems and limits municipal construction permit
fees for non-commercial renewable energy systems.

The “forest harvest” bill, sponsored by committee chairman Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) is the most controversial of the half-dozen. The legislation made it through the state Senate at the tail end of the last term but failed to be posted for a final vote at the Assembly’s last voting session.

It was opposed by several major environmental groups, but won the support of other organizations and also was backed by the state Department of Environmental Protection. (See “Related” stories below)

You can listen via the Internet to today’s discussion. It’s scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

Related:
Proposal to harvest New Jersey forests divides environmentalists
Opinion: Good stewards of our forests take cues from Mother Nature
Editorial:  ‘forest harvest’ should be sent to the chopping block
Logging measure stalls in NJ Legislature


Our most recent blog posts:
NJDEP releases revamped guidance on vapor intrusion
If you missed yesterday’s seminar on NJ’s LSRP program

********************************************************************************************************
For
thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and
regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a free, 30-day subscription to our daily
newsletter EnviroPolitics. It tracks all energy and environmental legislation–from introduction to enactment.

Verified by MonsterInsights