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,

Our most recent posts:  
Q. When will NY decide on fracking? A. Uh, uh…
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  

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 »

Hurricane season coming but some still block NJ dunes

Sandy - Tilting house on beach in Mantoloking - April Saul - Inquirer Staff Photographer                                                                 Photo: April Saul/Philadelphia Inquirer

After all of Superstorm Sandy’s devastation and the overwhelming evidence that sturdy dunes prevented even greater destruction, it’s almost inconceivable that some New Jersey shore residents are still refusing to sign easements that will allow dune-building to proceed.

And yet, this is the case.

"Since Sandy, the strong emotional ties residents feel for the Jersey Shore have become a jumbled mess of competing interests that have pitted neighbor against neighbor, politicians against residents and all of them against environmental advocates and coastal scientists," USA TODAY reports. What prompts this? Distrust of government at all levels, from the U.S. Corps of Engineers right down to the local mayor, apparently plays a large role.

View this USA TODAY video for clues as to what is motivating the holdouts.

What do you think?  Let us know in the comment box below

Related environmental news stories:
Recovery from Superstorm Sandy ignites fight over dunes
Differences over Shore Rebuilding 

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Hurricane season coming but some still block NJ dunes Read More »

NJ still missing the boat to offshore wind power

 

NJ Spotlight reports today that:

For the second time in two months, the federal government is auctioning leases to build offshore wind farms along the Eastern Seaboard — once again without including New Jersey.

The latest auction involved 112,800 acres approximately 25 miles off the Virginia coast capable of producing about 2,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power some 700,000 houses.

The auction follows two earlier ones by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that offered leases for offshore wind farms along Massachusetts and Rhode Island in July.

The failure to offer leases on the Jersey coast, where the Christie administration is purportedly trying to develop an offshore wind industry capable of generating 1,100 megawatts by 2020, once again raises questions about how successful the state’s efforts will be. 

Read the full story at: NJ Left Out of Auction for Offshore Wind Farm Leases–Again

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Our daily newsletter also tracks NJ & PA legislation—from introduction to enactment
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Our most recent posts:
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  
Hurricane season coming but some still block NJ dunes  
New rules governing gas drilling under review in Pa  

NJ still missing the boat to offshore wind power Read More »

What a difference a dune makes and how to build one

Temporary dune built in Ortley Beach, NJ after Sandy struck – Reuters photo


When Superstorm Sandy ripped into New Jersey at 89 miles-an-hour last October, it knocked a boardwalk roller coaster into the ocean, pushed homes into Barnegat Bay, destroyed others in place and caused millions of dollars worth of damage and untold heartache for homeowners and businesses.

In tiny Midway Beach, however, a quarter-mile-long community within South Seaside
Park, only one house sustained minor water damage.

What spared the community of mostly post-World War II, one-story bungalows?

The answer is Midway’s 25-foot-high (7.6-meter-high) dunes that the community started passively building 30 years ago.

In the interesting article, How (And Why) to Build a Dune, National Geographic explains
that the project started out as a way to prevent an annual annoyance and ended up being
the town’s best defense.

Wooden fencing layered in a saw tooth pattern catches wind-blown sand

In the same post, Dominick Solazzo, a trustee on the Midway Beach Condominium Association‘s board of directors, also offers a three-step tutorial on how his town built
their dune–and how you can, too.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on dunes or other shore-protection measures. Use the comment box below.
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Our daily newsletter also tracks NJ & PA legislation—from introduction to enactment
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Our most recent posts:  
Work to begin on controversial PA-to-NJ power line 
Court green lights Susquehanna-Roseland power line  
Hurricane season coming but some still block NJ dunes 
New rules governing gas drilling under review in Pa 
Home-elevation expert urges more industry training 

What a difference a dune makes and how to build one Read More »

Work to begin on controversial PA-to-NJ power line


Vegetation clearing and access road construction is set to begin on Tuesday for the Susquehanna-Roseland power project after a federal judge on Friday dismissed objections
from environmentalists who claim that the massive infrastructure upgrade will damage sensitive areas in the Delaware Water Gap.

Other segments of the line already are under construction in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. When completed, the 500,00-volt transmission line, being built by two utility companies, will run from PPL’s service territory in Berwick, Pa to PSE&G’s substation in Roseland, NJ.

PSE&G says it expects the line to be in service by June, 2015.

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Regional grid operator PJM Interconnection has argued that the project is necessary because the existing power line cannot keep up with projected electricity demands in 
heavily urbanized areas of northern New Jersey and New York.

Environmental groups, like the New Jersey Sierra Club, argue that energy use has not been increasing and that PJM cancelled two similar transmission expansion projects–the Mid Atlantic Power Pathway and the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline.

NJ Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel said that his organization will explore possible grounds for an appeal. 

While a handful of local officials in the affected areas objected, there has been no state-level governmental opposition to the upgrade project either in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. And, despite the opposition of environmentalists, the project was fast-tracked in 2010 by the Obama administration. Related environmental news stories:
Controversial PSE&G upgrade: Work starts in Delaware Water Gap area Tuesday 
Court throws out environmental challenge to PPL power line
Power line project cleared in courts 

Our most recent posts: 
Court green lights Susquehanna-Roseland power line 
Hurricane season coming but some still block NJ dunes
New rules governing gas drilling under review in Pa
Home-elevation expert urges more industry training
NJDEP cutting red tape for post-Sandy restorations

Work to begin on controversial PA-to-NJ power line Read More »