NJ energy and environment bills in committee – 2/11/13


The New Jersey Assembly’s Environment and Solid Waste Committee meets today at 2 p.m.
to consider the following bills:

A-567  Wagner, C. (D-38); Gusciora, R. (D-15);
Vainieri Huttle, V. (D-37)  
Prohibits drilling technique of hydraulic fracturing.
Related Bill: S-246
      
A-922  Riley, C.M. (D-3); Moriarty, P.D. (D-4)
Requires certain notifications upon sale of property
where private well is treated by point of entry system.
     
A-936  Riley, C.M. (D-3)
Requires certain notifications, and provides for
guaranteed NJ Spill Compensation Fund coverage, upon sale of property where
private well is treated by point of entry water treatment system.
Related Bill: S-576
   
A-1312  Greenwald, L.D. (D-6); Lampitt, P.R. (D-6)
Requires report and public hearing prior to DEP
recommendation of site for inclusion on Superfund list.
    
A-1447  Gusciora, R. (D-15); Wagner, C. (D-38)
The “Pesticide Use Reduction Recognition
Act.”
      
ACR-173  Tucker, C.G. (D-28)
Urges carbon monoxide detector installation in all
buildings.
AR-126  Spencer, L.G. (D-29); Oliver, S.Y. (D-34);
Bramnick, J.M. (R-21)
Urges DEP to study and measure methane emissions, and
address prevention, reduction, and beneficial use thereof, especially for
energy.

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For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment
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Our most recent posts:
Repackaging solid waste industry news as entertainment
As blizzard approaches, NJDEP issues wastewater alert 
EPA extends comment date on Gowanus Canal cleanup
How to pay to preserve what open space New Jersey has left
Jersey oysters rebound–all plump, sweet and briny good
     

NJ energy and environment bills in committee – 2/11/13 Read More »

Repackaging solid waste industry news as entertainment

Can a traditional print publisher covering the waste management industry present stories in a way that the general public might find interesting, maybe even entertaining?

Waste & Recycling News may have discovered the key to reaching its trade audience and the general public. It’s a clever new weekly video called Curbside Live.

This week’s edition covers three stories in less than four minutes.

It wisely leads and ends with stories of general appeal–a potential ban on Styrofoam food containers in New York City and Levi Strauss‘ new Waste Less jeans that use denim made from recycled plastic bottles.

In between, it sandwiches an industry story about Waste Management‘s major expansion via the acquisition of the nation’s largest private recycler, Greenstar Recycling.

The visual report moves so sprightly that the average person won’t even notice that they’re consuming industry news.

In an era of information overload and limited attention spans, video is the way to go.
This trade publisher appears to have cracked the communication code.

We like it. What do you think?  Let us know in the opinion box below. If one is not visible, activate it by clicking on the tiny ‘comments’ link.

Our most recent posts:
As blizzard approaches, NJDEP issues wastewater alert 
EPA extends comment date on Gowanus Canal cleanup
How to pay to preserve what open space New Jersey has left
Jersey oysters rebound–all plump, sweet and briny good
Planning your week ahead? Use Enviro-Events Calendar

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For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment
************************************************************************************************************

Repackaging solid waste industry news as entertainment Read More »

As blizzard approaches, NJDEP issues wastewater alert

With a major snow storm threatening northern New Jersey, where some wastewater treatment plants are still recovering from damage incurred during superstorm Sandy,
the NJ Environmental Protection Department today issued an Enforcement Alert.

The alert advises all New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) permittees to take the following  precautions.

  1. Update your emergency contact list for internal and external communications 
  2. Test your remote access and communication systems and ensure they are in good  working order 
  3. Place operating/emergency response personnel on call and review emergency procedures 
  4. Provide the NJ State Police with 24 hour contact information for your organization  (operation center) in the event a travel restriction is imposed 
  5. Provide a list of emergency response personnel on 24-hour call to the  licensed operator on duty at the water or wastewater facility 
  6. Ensure that all supplies, including water treatment chemicals and fuels, are fully stocked and secured to the maximum extent possible 
  7. Test auxiliary power sources and generators to ensure they are in good working order 
  8. If applicable, arrange for portable generators for key pumping stations 
  9. Inspect infrastructure and back-ups to ensure they are functioning properly 
  10. Inspect Combined Sewer Systems and ensure that the regulators, screening facilities,  netting and tide gates are functioning properly 
  11. Clear all road storm drains and storm inlets prior to the storm event 
  12. Inspect/assess critical infrastructure for damage after the storm, when you can do so safely 
  13. Carry a fully charged cell phone and be sure everyone on the emergency list has the number, in case the land line is unavailable.  

Read the full alert here.

As blizzard approaches, NJDEP issues wastewater alert Read More »

EPA extends comment date on Gowanus Canal cleanup

    The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it is extending–from March 28 to April 27–the deadline for public comment on its proposed cleanup plan for the Gowanus Canal in New York City.

    The plan includes removing some of the contaminated sediment and capping dredged areas. It also includes controls to prevent raw sewage overflows and other land-based sources of contamination from compromising the cleanup.  EPA estimates the cost of the cleanup to be between $467 and $504 million.

    Upcoming meeting dates on the cleanup plan

    On February 11, the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group will meet with the EPA regarding the proposed plan from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm at the P.S. 58 Auditorium, 330 Smith Street, Brooklyn. The public is welcome.
    On February 13, the EPA will be in the Red Hook community to discuss in more detail the specifics of the proposed plan. That meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM at P.S. 15, located at 71 Sullivan Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The public is welcome.
    Read the EPA’s full news release on the Gowanus cleanup here.
    See the full proposed cleanup plan here  

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    For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment
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    Related environmental news stories:

EPA extends comment date on Gowanus Canal cleanup Read More »

How to pay to preserve what open space land NJ has left

New Jerseyans love their open space, farmland and parks and it’s no wonder. The Garden State is the nation’s most densely populated and is expected to become the first state to reach “buildout,” the point at which no available open space is left.   

Voters have supported every statewide bond issue ever proposed to fund the preservation of disappearing farms and forests but all the money borrowed over five decades has been spent and now it’s not clear what the next source of funding will be.  


Additional borrowing by a state that’s running a big budget defect is politically unpopular, and no lawmaker (not even most Democrats) wants to be caught uttering the profane “T” word  (Shhh. It’s ‘taxes’ but keep it on the down-low)   


Can the state continue to fund preservation or does it throw in the towel and resign itself to devolving into the land of wall-to-wall highways, condos, Walmarts and Chuck E Cheese’s?


The Senate Environment and Energy yesterday took up the issue by exploring three options:
1  A fee on water use (notice we didn’t use the T word)
2. Another bond issue, or
3. A dedicated portion of the state sales tax.


New Jersey Spotlight covered the hearing and concluded that “a consensus appears to be emerging to dedicate $200 million a year in state sales tax revenue to preserve open space and farmland.”

Whether that idea flies with the Christie administration and Democratic-controlled Legislature remains to be seen, but the proposal was by far the most heavily endorsed of three options floated yesterday at a Senate Environment and Energy Committee hearing on how to finance an essentially broke open-space and farmland preservation program.

 “It’s our job to put this issue on the table,’’ said Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), the chairman of the committee and sponsor of three different bills to continue open-space and farmland preservation efforts. None of the three bills on the committee’s agenda were acted on, but Smith said he hopes the issue comes front and center in this fall’s gubernatorial election.

While NJ Keep It Green, a 175-member coalition of environmental and other organizations, testified in favor of the sales tax dedication, two green organizations–NJ Environmental Federation and the Sierra Club– demurred.


Check out the links below for full coverage of the meeting.


After the hearing, EnviroPolitics caught up with Kelly Mooij, spokesperson for Keep It Green.Click the arrow in the photo at the top of this post to hear a portion of what she had to say on the issue. NOTE: The full interview will be part of our next EnviroPolitics Podcast later this week. We’ll notify you here when the episode is available. You also can subscribe to our podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.   


Here are three news stories on the committee hearing:

Scheme to dedicate sales tax revenue to preserve open land seems to be early favorite

Most environmental groups prefer sales tax to fund open space preservation

Open space may be put to New.Jersey voters 

How to pay to preserve what open space land NJ has left Read More »

Jersey oysters rebound–all plump, sweet and briny good


                                                                                                            Emile Wamsteker for The Wall Street Journal 
Despite disease, overaggressive fishing and other factors that crippled New Jersey’s once thriving oyster industry in the 1950s and again in the 1990s, fishermen who stuck to their
nets are experiencing a significant rebound, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Combining to foster healthy harvests in recent years are “advances in growing techniques, increased demand and a new push from the state to drive economic activity in some of its poorest counties,” the paper reports

“After harvesting an annual average of 36,600 bushels in the 1990s, fishermen had a banner year in 2011, when 95,000 bushels were landed, though that number dipped last year to 78,000.

 “The industry is concentrated in the Delaware Bay, northwest of Cape May. The shallow bay’s nutrients and water flow help make the oysters plump, sweet and briny, restaurateurs and oyster harvesters say.”

Some New York dining establishments are taking note.

“Cape May Salts, a brand sold by large New Jersey producer Atlantic Capes Fisheries, are served in New York restaurants such as Maison Premiere and Telepan on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. “These are perfectly balanced,” said Bill Telepan, the restaurant’s owner. “Customers will call me out and say these oysters were terrific.”


Read the full story here.

Check out this WSJ video about a management consultant turned oyster farmer

Related environmental news stories: 

N.J. oyster colony to be expanded   
Oysters Eyed as Help for New York Harbor 
Groups extend Delaware Bay oysters a warmer welcome


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Podcast – Episode #2 (Interviews with Tom Johnson, Senator Bob Smith)

 

Jersey oysters rebound–all plump, sweet and briny good Read More »