Judge upholds EPA’s cleanup rules for Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay Watershed


A federal judge on Friday rejected a bid by farm industry groups to block federal and state pollution limits designed to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay by more tightly regulating wastewater treatment, construction along waterways and agricultural runoff.

The Associated Press reports:

U.S. District Court Judge Sylvia Rambo in Harrisburg ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was within its authority to work with six states and Washington, D.C., to set and enforce standards to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment that drain from rivers into the bay and harm the ecology of the nation’s largest estuary.

In her 99-page decision Friday, Rambo rejected arguments that the EPA overstepped its bounds under the federal Clean Water Act, created an unfair process and used standards that were flawed or unlawfully complicated.
The EPA and the group of Chesapeake Bay states “undertook significant efforts to preserve the framework of cooperative federalism, as envisioned by the (Clean Water Act),” Rambo wrote. The act is “an ‘all-compassing’ and ‘comprehensive’ statute that envisions a strong federal role for ensuring pollution reduction.”
The American Farm Bureau, which originally filed the suit in 2011, was still reviewing the decision Saturday and did not immediately say whether it would appeal.

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State researchers to help NJ prepare for future floods

Faculty members at New Jersey colleges and universities have been awarded a total of $1.3 million to conduct research studies designed to help protect the state against flooding from future superstorms like Hurricane Sandy.

The Department of Environmental Protection yesterday announced it had approved 10 projects to be undertaken at include Rutgers University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Researchers will collaborate on flood mitigation strategies for communities along portions of the Hudson River, Hackensack River, Arthur Kill, Barnegat Bay and Delaware Bay.
“Incorporating perspectives from local communities and stakeholders, the research projects will examine a range of solutions for communities like Hoboken, Little Ferry and Moonachie in northern New Jersey; to Linden and Woodbridge in central New Jersey; from Brick and Toms River at the Jersey Shore; to Lawrence and Downe in the southern part of the state,” the DEP said in a news release.

“It is also anticipated that strategies developed for these regions could be applied to similarly situated communities throughout the State.”

The post-Sandy studies will analyze flood-prone areas that were impacted by unexpected tidal surges during Sandy, resulting in severe damage to homes and businesses, but which are not the focus of current or planned future U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood-impact projects.
The DEP expects the studies to be developed over the next six months. The results will be shared with  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"These (research projects) are the kinds of things some people have been critical of us not doing, and we think using the universities and tapping into their talent will give us quite a leg up on moving forward on this," DEP spokesman Larry Ragonese told the Atlantic City Press.
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Last month, the state launched a $100 million home elevation program in the nine counties hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy, providing eligible applicants up to $30,000 to help finance the elevations of single-family homes under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

In July, Gov. Chris Christie announced the first buyout offers of Sayreville homes, part of the Administration’s plan to acquire 1,000 homes impacted by Superstorm Sandy and another 300 repetitively flood-damaged homes in the Passaic River Basin through the DEP’s Blue Acres program.

Here’s a summary of the research projects:

Stevens University: Flood adaptation strategies for the Hudson River Waterfront in Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken and Bayonne; storm surge reduction alternatives for Barnegat Bay.

Rutgers University: Identification, modeling and green practices for developing flood risk reduction strategies through drainage systems along the Hudson River at Hoboken and Jersey City, the Hackensack River at Moonachie and Little Ferry and along Barnegat Bay; strategies for flood risk reductions on the Arthur Kill at Elizabeth, Linden, Rahway and Woodbridge and the Delaware Bay in Salem and Cumberland counties.

New Jersey Institute of Technology: Modeling potential flood impacts and assess alternatives for hard structures for flood protection on Hackensack River; preparation of ecosystem inventory for natural resources and start of environmental constraints analysis and risk assessment statewide.

Stockton College: Analysis of potential wetlands enhancement in Barnegat Bay estuary, including the use of dredge material to enhance wetlands for surge protection.

Monmouth University: Various assistance on Stevens University and Rutgers University Hudson River projects; development of final report in Stockton’s Barnegat Bay project.

DEP’s Flood Control Section and Office of Engineering and Construction are administering the projects. Funding will come from the DEP’s annual flood control appropriations.

Click here for a detailed description of the flood mitigation research Our most recent posts:
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State researchers to help NJ prepare for future floods Read More »

NJ developers ready to get giddy as incentives bill nears


New Jersey’s development community hasn’t had much reason to buy a round in recent years but the corks may be popping on the bubbly soon.

NJBIZ reports this afternoon that:

"Months of waiting on what would — or would not — become of the Economic Opportunity Act finally seem at an end. ..Gov. Chris Christie conditionally vetoed the legislation Monday, with the Assembly adopting Christie’s changes that same day and the Senate expected to do likewise on Thursday.

"The bill would consolidate five corporate incentive programs into two, expand eligibility for tax credits and place a greater focus on job creation.

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"This legislation is really transformative, and is really going to make New Jersey one of the most business-friendly states in the country," said Clark Machemer, vice president of public affairs for the New Jersey chapter of industry group NAIOP, and vice president and regional director of development for The Rockefeller Group.

"Ted Zangari, a real estate attorney with Newark-based Sills, Cummis & Gross who also serves as chair for the firm’s redevelopment law practice group, called the bill "a free market-style program" that doesn’t punish companies unwilling to leave the suburbs. The massive Urban Transit Hub tax credit program was signed to offer tax breaks to spur development, but was originally limited to nine cities.
You can read the full story here

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Enviros concede legal battle against PA-to-NJ power line

susquehanna-roseland-powerlinejpg- jERRY mCcREA - Star-ledger 
                                                                                                                                  Star-Ledger photo

A five-year battle that pit a group of environmental organizations against the two largest public utilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania is over and the utilities have won.

The New Jersey Herald‘s Bruce A. Scruton reports today:

"A consortium of environmental groups has decided not to appeal a federal judge’s decision to let stand federal permits to allow construction of the half-million-watt Susquehanna-Roseland electric transmission lines across the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

“We’ve decided not to appeal,” said Hannah Chang, lead attorney on the case for Earth Justice, the group of lawyers hired to have the National Park Service permits overturned.
"Chang said that after a thorough review of the decision, “We’ve concluded that it’s highly unlikely we will get a three-judge panel of the Appellate Court to reverse in a case where the standard of review is extremely deferential to the agency.”
Federal court judge Richard Roberts effectively ended the fight on August 30 when he dismissed a challenge brought by the nine environmental groups who had argued that the park service did not follow its own environmental study in making the final decision to allow the work to go on.
Roberts said the law gives agencies great latitude in making their decisions and said the fact that the Interior Department through then-Secretary Kenneth Salazar, demanded a set amount (more than $60 million) for a mitigation funds did not require a thorough accounting of what mitigation work would be done or require more public comment
Environmental groups that filed the lawsuit included the Appalachian Mountain Club, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, New Jersey Highlands Coalition, New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, Rock the Earth, Sierra Club and Stop the Lines.
The 145-mile-long Susquehanna-Roseland line is being built by PPL in Pennsylvania and Public Service Electric & Gas in New Jersey to deliver electricity produced by PPL plants to the PSE&G service area.
You can read the entire story here

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EPA’s new web tool helps you track proposed projects


Getting information on major projects proposed on federal lands and other proposed
federal actions is now a lot easier thanks to EIS Mapper, the EPA’s new interactive
web-based mapping tool.


Users can click on any state for a list of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS)
and  find information about their potential environmental, social, and economic impacts.


Federal agencies are required by law (National Environmental Policy Act ) to consider
the impacts of proposed actions, as well as any reasonable alternatives  as part of their decision-making process.

For proposed projects with potentially significant impacts, federal agencies prepare
a detailed EIS, which is filed with EPA and made available for public comment.
EPA is required to review and comment on EISs prepared by other federal agencies.


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EIS Mapper lets you click on a state in the map and is see comment letters submitted
by the  EPA on EISs within the last 60 days. The tool also helps you to identify projects
with open comment periods, and provides information on how to submit comments.
 
Clicking on our favorite states, we accessed information on 84 EISs filed in
New York since 2004, 56 in Pennsylvania, 19 in New Jersey and 4 in Delaware.

Have you tried EIS Mapper?  What do you think?  Let us know in the comment box below,

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EPA’s new web tool helps you track proposed projects Read More »

Q. When will NY decide on fracking? A. Uh, uh…

When will New York Governor Andrew Cuomo decide to allow or prohibit the use
of fracking by natural gas drilling companies in the Empire State?

The latest answer from a member of the Administration is: "there is no timetable."

At a hearing on Friday, Anne Reynolds, who is deputy commissioner for administration for the Department of Environmental Conservation, told the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee that her agency continues to review comments it received on a 2011 draft review of fracking, a 1,500-page document known as the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, or SGEIS.

“There isn’t a timeframe at this point,” Reynolds said. “As you know, you’ve heard before that we’ve received over 100,000 comments from the public. The department is still reviewing those comments, developing responses and developing any changes to the SGEIS in response.”

Gannett’s Democrat and Chronicle covered the hearing and posted this story.

Related environmental news stories:
Many New York shale gas leases expire as fracking moratorium remains
Chesapeake nearing agreement to drop New York leases
Pennsylvania candidate pushing 5 percent tax on shale drilling
Confirmed: Fracking practices to blame for Ohio earthquakes

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Our most recent posts: 
Hurricane season coming but some still block NJ dunes
NJ still missing the boat to offshore wind power
What a difference a dune makes and how to build one 
Work to begin on controversial PA-to-NJ power line 
Court green lights Susquehanna-Roseland power line 

Q. When will NY decide on fracking? A. Uh, uh… Read More »