NJ Gov. Christie vetoes bill to limit forest fire impacts

Forests-Prescribed Burns

Legislation designed to lessen the size of forest fires through controlled burns of underbrush on forest floors has been pocket vetoed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.


A-329 was one of some 100 bills signed or pocket vetoed by the governor on Jan. 21.
The Governor’s Office provide no explanation for the veto.

Lawmakers passed a bill last week that promotes more prescribed burning in the state. That technique, largely carried out by the state, intentionally sets small areas of forest floor ablaze to burn the dead leaves, branches, grass, and pine cones that could fuel a major forest fire if one broke out.
"The risk we face in terms of catastrophic wildfires in New Jersey is in large part due to the fact that we have long suppressed fire," said Kelly Mooij, an official with the New Jersey Audubon Society. "Fire is a normal and necessary process in our forests, particularly in the Pinelands."
She said that being too restrictive of fire prevents important ecological functions on which some plants and wildlife, such as those that dominate the Pinelands, depend. Fire stimulates new growth, coaxing some pine cones to release their seeds. It opens up gaps in forest canopies to help species on the ground and clears sandy areas that provide a home to the pine snake.

Jaclyn Rhoads, assistant executive director of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, said the state does not carry out enough prescribed burns, due to staffing, funding, and other concerns.
"The restrictive approach to prescribed fires in New Jersey means very little forest gets burned, which does not provide sufficient protection for nearby residents, and the way it gets burned does not serve the ecological functions needed to reproduce the effects of wildfires," she said. "Furthermore, private landowners are hesitant to contract prescribed burns on their properties due to insurance requirements. This piece of legislation helps to address these issues and gets us closer to where we need to be."

Related environmental news stories:
Prescribed burning bill clears NJ Assembly committee (Story and video)
Fort Benning conducting controlled burning Jan. 22
Santa Fe NF Prescribed Burn Update for 1/21/2014
  




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NY Gov. Cuomo's brownfields plan targets upstate sites

  Gov. Andrew Cuomo presents his 2014-15 executive budget
proposal in Albany on Jan. 21, 2014 (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

New York’s Brownfields Cleanup Program would be extended by another decade, with an emphasis on redeveloping upstate sites, that will also include “important reforms to protect taxpayers,” according to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s 2014-15 state Executive Budget.
T. J. Pignataro  reported yesterday in The Buffalo News:

The Brownfields program – designed to “enhance private-sector cleanups” of industrial sites where potential contaminants, like hazardous wastes or petroleum, are impediments to redevelopment – provides tax credits associated with cleaning up and redeveloping such sites.

Brownfields dot the Western New York landscape once home to much heavy industry. Buffalo’s waterfront now attractive for development has numerous contaminated sites that require some level of remediation before they can be built upon.

Cuomo’s tax reforms include allowing remediation tax credits only for “actual cleanup costs” with redevelopment credits being “rationalized to only cover sites that have been vacant for over a decade, worth less than the cleanup costs, or are priority economic development projects,” according to the budget statement.

NY Gov. Cuomo's brownfields plan targets upstate sites Read More »

Pa sets more hearings on proposed drilling rules


The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) announced today that the public comment period and series of public hearings on the proposed oil and gas surface activities regulation will be extended.


“One of the clear messages we’ve been getting through this hearing and comment process, from both industry and environmental groups, is that we should hold additional hearings and extend the comment period,” DEP Secretary Chris Abruzzo said. “Public participation is a key component when crafting these regulations, and we are happy to accommodate this extended period.”

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The public comment period, originally scheduled to end on Feb. 12 is extended for 30 days to March 14.


Two additional public hearings will also be held, both beginning at 6 p.m. Dates and locations for the additional hearings are:
• Feb. 10: Troy High School, 150 High St., Troy, PA 16947
• Feb. 12: Warren County Courthouse, 204 4th Ave., Warren, PA 16365

The hearings are being held by the EQB to receive comments on a proposed regulation for environmental protection performance standards associated with oil and gas activities.

The EQB is a 20-member independent board that adopts all DEP regulations and considers petitions to change regulations.


Members of the public wishing to present verbal testimony are requested to contact the EQB to reserve time by either calling 717-787-4526. Those who are not able to sign-up in advance of the hearing will be given the opportunity to sign-up at the hearing and will be called upon to speak after those who pre-registered. All relevant written and oral comments that are received at a public hearing will be considered when finalizing the regulation.

See entire PADEP news release here


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Pa sets more hearings on proposed drilling rules Read More »

Pa Gov. Tom Corbett touts his Energy=Jobs plan

Gov. Tom Corbett on Tuesday went to the heart of Marcellus shale drilling to quietly announce details of a state energy plan, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Corbett’s  “Energy = Jobs” plan, which his office outlined in a 72-page report and at a website connected to the governor’s homepage, looks to market the state’s energy sectors to investors and business people.

As numerous Democrats clamor to take on Corbett in the November election, the Republican governor’s plan touts the state’s place as a big producer of natural gas, coal, nuclear power and renewable energy, and expresses support for all of those sectors.

“Whether from the well pad to the corner grocery store, the expansion of our energy sector has made Pennsylvanians better off and made our commonwealth really the vanguard of American energy independence,” he told a small audience at Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Earth Science Center in Lycoming County. The county was among the leaders in new unconventional drilling permits last year, his report said. Shale drilling over the past decade made Pennsylvania the country’s second-largest producer of natural gas.

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The report says his “all-of-the-above” policy is guided by embracing free markets to allow customers to choose their energy sources, promoting the state’s diverse energy portfolio, pushing industries to use cheap energy produced here and protecting the environment. It calls for supporting new technology that reduces emissions from coal-fired plants, making natural-gas vehicles more commonplace and backing the redevelopment of refineries for the natural gas industry.


A critic said the policy misses a chance to seize on the high-growth natural gas industry that took hold in shale-rich areas from the southwestern to northeastern corners of the state.

“A policy that embraces the status quo doesn’t get us there,” said John Quigley, a former state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources secretary. He said a good policy would promote building an infrastructure around renewable energy sources — wind, solar and water — backed by natural gas-fired power plants that can back up the grid with fewer emissions than coal.

Click here to read the full Tribune-Review story  


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NJ Gov. signs bill extending LSRP cleanup deadlines



New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie yesterday signed A-4543/S-3075, legislation that, under certain circumstances, grants Licensed Site Remediation Professionals until May 7, 2016 
to complete the remedial investigation of contaminated sites.

The legislation requires that applications for an extension be submitted to the Department
of Environmental Protection by March 7, 2014

For more on the legislation see: LSRP site-cleanup extension bill awaits Christie’s review.

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Related environmental news stories:
Scott Drew elected New Jersey LSRP Association trustee
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NJ Gov. signs bill extending LSRP cleanup deadlines Read More »

LSRP site-cleanup extension bill awaits Christie’s review

Legislation that would grant additional time for Licensed Site Remediation Professionals to complete the remediations of some contaminated sites in New Jersey has been delivered to the desk of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

A-4543 passed the state Assembly in the final hours of the Legislature’s 215th Session on January 13, 2014. The state’s Department of Environmental Protection participated in crafting final amendments to the bill–a sign that Governor Christie likely will sign it into law.

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Environmental attorney Susan C. Karp has this to say about the legislation in Cole Schotz law firm’s Environmental and Energy Law Monitor.

One of the most draconian aspects of NJ’s 2009 Site Remediation Reform Act is the authority of NJDEP to take direct oversight of older cleanups, stripping responsible parties of cleanup decision-making and requiring a trust fund in the amount of the cleanup to be established.  That trust fund makes NJDEP the named beneficiary in the event of default.  One path to direct oversight under the law: the failure of a party remediating a site since May 1999 or before to complete the remedial investigation phase of the cleanup by May 7, 2014.

Assembly bill 4543, which was passed by the Assembly and the Senate on January 13, 2014, offers a two-year extension, allowing subject parties to apply for an extension of time to complete the remedial investigation until May 7, 2016.  The legislation is the result of industry groups in the state pressing the legislature for relief, and by most accounts, NJDEP itself will be relieved when the bill is signed since taking direct oversight would mean dedicating state resources that are already spread thin.

The downside to the extension:  the applicant must establish a trust fund in the amount projected to complete the remedial investigation.  While the amount of this fund is far less than the requirement under direct oversight (the amount of the entire cleanup), it still may be more than a company or individual has available at any one time.  Careful review of NJDEP’s recent guidance on what aspects of the remedial investigation must be completed, and certain flexibility offered to do so, is imperative and can impact the amount of the trust fund.

The extension is not automatic. The applicant must establish compliance with certain key aspects of the act, including having retained a Licensed Site Remediation Professional for the project, having satisfied technical requirements on certain key filings and met mandatory timeframes, and being current on the payment of NJDEP fees.  Application for the extension must be made by March 7, 2014 or 30 days from passage of the bill, whichever later.

Related environmental news stories:
Site remediation extension bill is back on track in NJ
Committee holds LSRP bill when NJDEP fails to testify 
Scott Drew elected New Jersey LSRP Association trustee  

LSRP site-cleanup extension bill awaits Christie’s review Read More »