Breaking: New York bans fracking over health risks

The New York Times reports that the administration of  Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has decided to ban
hydraulic fracturing in New York State because of concerns over health risks,
ending years of uncertainty over the controversial method of natural gas extraction.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo listened to a presentation on fracking
at a cabinet meeting in Albany on Wednesday. (AP Photo)
“State officials concluded that fracking, as
the method is known, could contaminate the air and water and pose inestimable
dangers to public health,” Thomas Kaplan and Jesse McKinley reported.  
                        “That conclusion was
delivered during a year-end cabinet meeting convened by Mr. Cuomo in Albany. It
came amid increased calls by environmentalists to ban fracking, which uses
water and chemicals to release natural gas trapped in deeply buried shale
deposits.”
                The Times called the question of whether to allow
fracking “one of the most divisive public policy debates in New York in
years, pitting environmentalists against others who saw it as a critical way to
bring jobs to economically stagnant portions of upstate.”

“Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat who has prided himself on taking swift and decisive action on other contentious issues like gun control, took the opposite approach on fracking,” the paper said. “He repeatedly put off making a decision on how to proceed, most recently citing an ongoing — and seemingly never-ending — study by state health officials.”

                On Wednesday, six weeks after Mr. Cuomo won re-election to a second term, the long-awaited health study finally materialized.   

Read the full story here. 

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NJ Legislature finishing up 2014 with dual sessions

The New Jersey Legislature will wrap up the first year of its two-year 216th Session
on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, with voting sessions in the Senate and Assembly.

Below is a list of environmental bills up for votes in both houses. You’ll also find the
Senate’s schedule for 2015. We’ll post the Assembly schedule when it becomes available.

ASSEMBLY VOTING SESSION
12/18/14  1 PM
 
A-3452  Mazzeo, V. (D-2)
Regulates planting and sale of running bamboo.
     
AR-191  Stender, L. (D-22); McKeon, J.F. (D-27); Jasey, M.M. (D-27)
Opposes Pilgrim Pipeline project in NJ.
Related Bill: SR-106
    
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SENATE VOTING SESSION
12/18/14  2 PM
 
A-965  Singleton, T. (D-7); Sumter, S.E. (D-35); Simon, D.M. (R-16); Lagana, J.A. (D-38); Schaer, G.S. (D-36); Watson Coleman, B. (D-15); Garcia, C.G. (D-33)
Makes construction work on public utilities subject to "The Public Works Contractor Registration Act."   Related Bill: S-1945
    
 S-2412  Sarlo, P.A. (D-36); Kyrillos, J.M. (R-13)
"Water Infrastructure Protection Act."
Related Bill: A-3628
      
S-2420  Smith, B. (D-17); Bateman, C. (R-16)
Increases electric power net metering capacity threshold to 4 percent of total annual kilowatt-hours sold in the State.
      
S-2551  Sarlo, P.A. (D-36); Kyrillos, J.M. (R-13)
Extends for two years expiration date of certain permits pursuant to "Permit Extension Act of 2008."
Related Bill: A-3815
   
S-2647  Sarlo, P.A. (D-36)
"Hackensack Meadowlands Agency Consolidation Act"; "Hackensack Meadowlands Transportation Planning District Act of 2014"; "New Jersey Meadowlands Tax Relief Act."
Related Bill: A-3969
 
    
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Senate Schedule:  January – March, 2015
 
 Monday, January 12, 2015:
 10:00 a.m.       Group 1 Committees
12:00 Noon      Quorum Call
1:00 p.m.        Group 2 Committees
 
 Tuesday, January 13, 2015:
State of the State Address (General Assembly Chamber)    
           
Thursday, January 15, 2015:
10:00 a.m.       Group 3 Committees
12:00 Noon      Quorum Call
  1:00 p.m.        Group 4 Committees
 
 Monday, January 26, 2015:
 10:00 a.m.       Group 1 Committees
12:00 Noon      Quorum Call
1:00 p.m.        Group 2 Committees
 
 Thursday, January 29, 2015:
 10:00 a.m.       Group 3 Committees
12:00 Noon      Quorum Call
1:00 p.m.        Group 4 Committees
 
  Monday, February 2, 2015:
  2:00 p.m.         Voting Session
 
  Thursday, February 5, 2015:
10:00 a.m.    Group 1 Committees
  12:00 Noon      Quorum Call
  1:00 p.m.        Group 2 Committees
 
 Thursday, February 12, 2015:
 10:00 a.m.       Group 3 Committees
12:00 Noon      Quorum Call
1:00 p.m.        Group 4 Committees
 
 Tuesday, February 24, 2015: (Tentative)
  Governor’s Budget Message (time to be announced)
 
 Thursday, March 5, 2015:
 2:00 p.m.         Voting Session

Monday, March 9, 2015:
10:00 a.m.    Group 1 Committees
12:00 Noon      Quorum Call
1:00 p.m.        Group 2 Committees
 
 Thursday, March 12, 2015:
 10:00 a.m.    Group 3 Committees
12:00 Noon      Quorum Call
1:00 p.m.        Group 4 Committees
 
 Monday, March 16, 2015:
 2:00 p.m.        Voting Session

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Pennsylvania House Schedule Jan 6- Jun 30, 2015

The Pennsylvania House has released its meeting schedule for January through June, 2015

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Pennsylvania House Schedule Jan 6- Jun 30, 2015 Read More »

Among other Superstorm woes, a jump in heart attacks

"Superstorm Sandy ripped houses from their foundations, reshaped the Jersey Shore and shuttered countless businesses in October 2012, but now researchers at Rutgers University tell of another devastating consequence: It increased the rate of heart attacks and stroke among people grappling with the disaster, leading to many additional deaths."
Lindy Washburn writes in The Record:

"In one of the first studies of its kind to look at the health effects of an extreme weather event, a team at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School compared heart attacks and strokes and the deaths they caused in the two weeks following the unprecedented storm with the same two-week period in five previous years.

 
"In the most dramatic finding, researchers found a 22 percent increase in heart attacks — and a 31 percent higher death rate for those patients within a month of being stricken.
“Overall, Sandy likely added 125 cases of MI [myocardial infarctions, or heart attacks] and nearly 70 additional deaths,” the study concluded. “It also likely contributed 36 additional strokes in the most severely hit areas.”
 

 

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Price for building on preserved land going up in NJ?

The New Jersey Legislature is moving to require companies that want to put projects on land acquired for open-space preservation to pay more to the state than they have in the past, Tom Johnson reports today in NJ Spotlight
“In a unanimous vote this past Monday, the Senate Environment and Energy Committee urged approval of a bill (S-570) that would require an assessment of how much revenue a project would generate, a process that would deliver more value to taxpayers who paid for the preservation in the first place, according to proponents.
“The bill was spurred by revelations about how little the state was receiving for various projects that crisscross protected land, such as natural-gas pipelines and transmission lines. Some of the projects traverse the New Jersey Highlands; another has been proposed for the heart of the Pinelands.
“It appeared to be from an economic perspective, the state was getting the short end of the stick, to put it mildly,’’ said Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen), a cosponsor of the bill.”

Price for building on preserved land going up in NJ? Read More »

Who gets what: Jostling starts for NJ open-space funds

[LAST UPDATE: Dec 10 at 1:20 a.m. – six additional audio clips and one news story]
 
Environmental, farming, open space and historic preservation groups locked arms in a unified and successful campaign to convince voters in November to approve the dedication of a portion of New Jersey’s corporate business tax to land preservation, stewardship, recreation and flood property buyouts.

 
Now the same groups are politely elbowing each other for favored position as the Legislature begins to deliberate how to distribute the $71 million that will start in 2016 and grow to $117 million in 2016.
 
In the first round of what will be a year-long negotiation, the Senate Environment and Energy Committee yesterday heard from a number of the organizations.
 
Listen below to portions of the the testimony from nine of them.
You can follow the entire committee hearing online here.

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