NJDEP’s waiver rule takes effect; Armageddon at hand?

The day that New Jersey green activists warned about has arrived. Prepare for some sky falling. Or not?

August 1 has come and passed and (at least so far) not a single politically connected law firm has petitioned the Department of Environmental Protection to waive its established environmental safeguards and grant permits to projects that will despoil the environment.

That’s what some green groups promised would happen if the Legislature failed to block the DEP from implementing its so-called ‘waiver rule.’ The Assembly passed a resolution to do just that. The Senate declined and the rule went into effect on Wednesday.

What does the dreaded waiver rule do?
It allows DEP to waive its regulations when:

applicants demonstrate that applicable regulations pose an undue burden
those regulations are in conflict with rules of other agencies, or
when there is a public emergency, or
when the permit would result in a net environmental benefit.

The basic idea is to give the department the flexibility to use common sense in situations where cracking through regulatory logjams would result in a beneficial outcome.

DEP Commissioner Bob Martin promises that the waiver process will be transparent, with all applications and actions posted prominently on the DEP’s web site. The rule will be judiciously applied, he says, and he personally will review each case.

[Use this link to keep track of any waiver petitions]

Baloney, (or some more forceful term) says Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel, who calls it the rule “one of the worst ever adopted in New Jersey and the broadest attack on environmental protections in 40 years.”

The Sierrans and 26 other groups have gone to court to block it via Ed Lloyd and the Columbia Environmental Law Clinic.

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.

DEP spokesman Larry Ragonese says the waiver rule would have been handy back in January 2011 when successive storms left some northern New Jersey streets buried under up to 60 inches of snow. The towns wanted DEP to suspend its rules and allow them to dump the snow in rivers, but it took a frustratingly long time to get the Department’s multiple divisions to approve the request.

Ragonese said the waiver rule would have allowed the department to recognize a public emergency and sanction the river dumping without delay. He said the rule is one of the ways his agency and the Christie administration are reaching out to “the average guy in New Jersey, the people who talk about government not working, or see government as too big, bureaucratic, and unfeeling.”

Does that mean no one will seek a waiver to gain an unjustifiable advantage? Like some “connected” law firm? Or a consultant who goes to all the right fundraisers?

Hey, this is New Jersey. If that isn’t attempted, we’d almost be disappointed. But that’s why each request will be on the public record and Bob Martin himself will serve as judge.

Will the enviros give Martin and his agency the chance to prove that their intentions are honorable?

Don’t count on it. Tittel pledges to oppose every single waiver request.

Hey, this is New Jersey. Don’t expect the green guys to be open minded about anything the Christie administration does. It isn’t just the environment. It’s politics, too.

Related:
Op-Ed: What the Waiver Rule Does — and Doesn’t — Do
Editorial: N.J. DEP ‘waiver rule’ is a dangerous gamble on our environment
Waive Goodbye to Environmental Regulation: DEP Implements Waiver Rule

See our latest posts:
Is NJ’s Christie breaking with GOP’s anti-solar ranks?
Another PSEG solar farm breaks ground; more coming
Court tells PADEP to provide drilling info to newspaper
New findings as Indian Point permit hearings resume
RGGI Redux: Christie’s latest smack-down; Enviros livid

NJDEP’s waiver rule takes effect; Armageddon at hand? Read More »

Is NJ’s Christie breaking with GOP’s anti-solar ranks?

The Sierra Club charged today that the fossil fuel
industry “is not only waging an attack on renewable energy in the political
sphere through immense financial contributions to elected officials, but they
are also funding a concerted, covert misinformation campaign.”

Through faux
“think tanks,” phony intellectuals, and astroturf groups masquerading as
“concerned citizens,” the industry is seeking to shift public opinion and
discredit renewable energy,” the organization said in a new report, Clean Energy Under Siege.

If that’s true, then what message was being sent by New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie, an active campaigner for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, when he signed legislation boosting the state’s solar industry?

Was Christie breaking ranks with those bent on sustaining Big Oil/Coal’s reign?

Likely not, according to those quoted today in an interesting story in Inside Climate News.

“He [understands] the practical benefits of having good policies in the
state,” said Carrie Hitt, vice president for state affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association. “But he’s not going to campaign to promote renewables across the country.”

Andrew Krulewitz, a solar analyst at GTM Research,
said it would have reflected poorly on Christie to “let the bottom fall
out” of the solar market. “He didn’t want to see all these new jobs
leave the state.”

Following the bill signing, Christie said that building the solar
economy is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. “It’s an issue
that the people of our state demand we work on together,” he said.

“I think it’s important for conservatives to hear the message from a
credible source like Gov. Christie that solar energy is not liberal—in
fact, it’s not conservative either. It just makes sense from an economic
development standpoint,” said Jim DiPeso, policy director for ConservAmerica, a conservative policy group. Last year, approximately 100,300 Americans worked in the U.S. solar industry, says The Solar Foundation, a nonprofit group.

What do YOU think? Is the Republican Party hopelessly committed to a fossil fuel future? Has industry purchased that allegiance through campaign contributions, as the Sierra Club contends? Does Christie see a more nuanced position as beneficial to his national political plans? Should he? Share your thoughts in the opinion box below. If one is not visible, activate it by clicking on the tiny ‘comments’ link.

See our latest posts:
Another PSEG solar farm breaks ground; more coming
Court tells PADEP to provide drilling info to newspaper
New findings as Indian Point permit hearings resume
RGGI Redux: Christie’s latest smack-down; Enviros livid
Pennsylvania not following Jersey’s lead on solar rescue

Is NJ’s Christie breaking with GOP’s anti-solar ranks? Read More »

Another PSEG solar farm breaks ground; more coming

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who last week signed legislation to prop up the state’s solar industry, was spreading a bit more sunshine yesterday.

He gave the state’s largest utility, PSEG, a media boost by attending the groundbreaking ceremony for a 1.06 megawatt solar farm on a brownfield site in Hackensack.

PSEG has been leading all New Jersey utilities in developing solar and yesterday announced plans to widen the gap.

Chairman Ralph Izzo used the event to announce that his company is seeking approval from the state Board of Public Utilities to invest up to $883 million to expand its Solar 4 All loan program and to develop an additional 233
megawatts of solar capacity.

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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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That’s good news for the environment and for alternative energy advocates.

And not bad for PSEG which expects to recoup the growth through higher electric rates.

The latter hasn’t escaped the notice of high-use sectors of the business community who grumble that they’re already paying too much for energy.

“You can bet we’ll be taking a good look at it,” said Stefanie Brand, director of the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel, the state’s consumer advocate.

Related:

Gov touts PSE&G solar field on prior brownfield (Daily Record)
PSE&G seeks to energize its solar-energy program (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Governor Christie Joins PSE&G in Turning Brownfield Green (PSEG release)
Christie signs bill to help solar sector (NJ Spotlight)
NJ Sierra Club thanks (gasp) Christie for solar signing (EP Blog)

Another PSEG solar farm breaks ground; more coming Read More »

Court tells PADEP to provide drilling info to newspaper

An appeals court in Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday that the Department of Environmental Protection must release documents to The (Scranton) Times-Tribune in response to an open records request regardless of whether it is hard for the agency to find the records in its files.

A reporter for the newspaper in September had sought access to any letters sent to public and private water supply owners on whether nearby natural gas drilling operations had polluted or diminished the flow of water to their wells, as well as any enforcement orders stemming from such a determination.

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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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The department had challenged, among other things, whether the request was sufficiently specific, whether the office should have considered the burden on the department of locating and producing the records, and whether it had already made a good-faith search for them.

The Times-Tribune reported today:

“The three-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court agreed with an earlier decision by the state’s Office of Open Records and found that the DEP cannot deny a sufficiently specific request under the state’s Right to Know Law because the documents would be “burdensome” for the agency to find. It also noted that the DEP never physically searched its files to find the documents.

“There is simply nothing in the RTKL that authorizes an agency to refuse to search for and produce documents based on the contention it would be too burdensome to do so,” Judge Anne E. Covey wrote in the opinion, adding that the burden on DEP comes not from the records request, “but from DEP’s method of tracking its records.”

[See the full ruling here]

Newspaper attorney J. Timothy Hinton Jr. called the ruling “a good decision for public access.” A PADEP spokesman said Tuesday that officials had just received and were reviewing the opinion.

See our most recent posts:
New findings as Indian Point permit hearings resume
RGGI Redux: Christie’s latest smackdown; Enviros livid
Pennsylvania not following Jersey’s lead on solar rescue
Will iPhone vs Android determine Obama vs Romney?
Construction begins on Pennsylvania’s largest solar farm
NJ Sierra Club thanks (gasp) Christie for solar signing

Court tells PADEP to provide drilling info to newspaper Read More »

New findings as Indian Point permit hearings resume

Two new findings will be in play tomorrow, as the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) resumes hearings at 9 a.m. in Albany on Entergy‘s contested water-discharge permit for the twin-unit Indian Point nuclear power plant. The facility is on the Hudson River, 38 miles north of New York City.

Environmental writer Roger Witherspoon reports that federal regulators have downgraded,
by a factor of 1,000, the 31-year old data assessing the fish killed annually by facility. In addition, the regulators assert the plants’ thermal plume causes minimal damage to the Hudson River environment and may fit state requirements for a hot water discharge permit.

The direct impact of the change by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Entergy Nuclear, owners of the plants, over the continuing use of Hudson River water to cool its massive equipment. The state has been insisting that Indian Point construct a closed cycle cooling system–sort of an industrial radiator recycling water–rather than suck in enormous amounts of river water, pass it through a heat exchanger, and dump the heated water back into the river.

A closed system would use 95 percent to 9 percent less water than the current once-through system, and would end the dumping of hot water into the river. Entergy is the largest water use of 40 power plants around the state which the DEC is targeting for cooling system changes in an effort to bring them into compliance with the Clean Water Act and end the annual destruction of billions of river fish. If the twin nuclear plants do not obtain a discharge from DEC, it will not be able to operate even if the NRC grants its request to extend its 40-year operating license another 20 years.

The DEC hearings on Indian Point’s water discharge permit have been ongoing. The last was held in January, 2012.

A similar controversy over a state-mandated installation of a water-cooling system at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey was settled a year ago when state environmental officials reached a deal with Exelon Corp. to shut down the nation’s oldest nuclear power plant 10 years earlier than expected. In return, the plant was allowed to continue operating without building costly cooling towers.

Here’s Roger’s piece: Dropping by the Millions: NRC Downgrades Indian Point Fish Kills

Related stories:

Cuomo Wants Indian Point Power Plant Closed After Earthquake Report
Relicensing hearings on Indian Point request set

See our most recent posts:
RGGI Redux: Christie’s latest smackdown; Enviros livid

Pennsylvania not following Jersey’s lead on solar rescue

Will iPhone vs Android determine Obama vs Romney?
Construction begins on Pennsylvania’s largest solar farm
NJ Sierra Club thanks (gasp) Christie for solar signing

New findings as Indian Point permit hearings resume Read More »

RGGI Redux: Christie’s latest smackdown; Enviros livid

Graphic credit: Grist

For the second straight year, Gov. Chris Christie has rejected an attempt by Democrats in the state Legislature to return New Jersey to RGGI (“Reggie”).

Christie yesterday vetoed S-1322 which would have overturned his May 2011 decision to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a 10-state cooperative that channels the receipts of a carbon tax on power plants into energy-efficiency and energy-saving projects. RGGI advocates say the program not only benefits the environment and creates green jobs.

The legislation was virtually identical to a bill that Christie vetoed last August. The Democrats did not have the votes to override that veto, so they passed the new bill which he, predictably, has again spiked.

Although expected, environmental organizations reacted to the environmental news with fresh outrage.

“We’re extremely
disappointed that, despite unprecedented public support from average New Jerseyans
who care about clean air, Gov. Christie chose to side with a small, extreme
wing of the Tea Party that is funded by out of state fossil fuel interests,said Environment New Jersey‘s Matt Elliott.

“Numerous independent studies have shown that RGGI delivers
benefits to the economy and the environment, creating a win-win for every
resident of our state. The governor’s veto today moves us backward on
economic growth and environmental protection with one swoop of his pen.”

A NJ Sierra Club statement also picked up the catering-to-the-right-wing theme.

“The Governor’s veto
today shows his continued commitment to the Koch Brothers, big coal, and his
national Republican agenda rather than his commitment to the people of New
Jersey, our environment, and green jobs. Now we need the New Jersey Legislature
to stand up to the Governor by overriding this veto protecting our environment
and economy,” said Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel.

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In his veto message, the governor said:

“RGGI has failed to create economic incentives for fossil fuel-fired electric generators to limit greenhouse gases. Energy producers, accordingly, were not incentivized to use lower carbon-based fuels, improve emission controls, or increase efficiencies in production, Indeed, RGGI did nothing more than impose a tax on electricity to be borne by New Jersey’s overburdened taxpayers and ratepayers who already pay some of the highest energy costs in the country. Instead of increasing costs on New Jersey’s ratepayers unnecessarily, real change must be addressed on a national and international scale.”

“My veto of this bill was never in doubt. Rather than devote time to working with me in a bipartisan fashion of the still unresolved critical issues that affect News Jersey’s taxpayers, the Legislature instead chose to present me with a replica bill advancing a futile policy.”

See our most recent posts:

Pennsylvania not following Jersey’s lead on solar rescue

Will iPhone vs Android determine Obama vs Romney?
Construction begins on Pennsylvania’s largest solar farm
NJ Sierra Club thanks (gasp) Christie for solar signing

Hearing set for third phase of NJ Superfund site cleanup

RGGI Redux: Christie’s latest smackdown; Enviros livid Read More »