New greenhouse gas rules from the EPA and NY

On March 10, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it was proposing new rules requiring annual reports of of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

The first annual report covering calendar year 2010 would be due by March 31, 2011 except for vehicle and engine manufacturers, who would report beginning with model year 2011.

The proposal will be subject to a 60-day public comment period after it is published in the Federal Register.

In one of Saul Ewing law firm’s series of environmental alerts to clients, aptly labeled What keeps you up at night?, attorney Carl B. Everett explains that the rule is designed to apply to “power plants and other energy intensive sectors like automakers, iron and steel producers, chemical makers, cement producers, petroleum refineries as well as landfills and large manure management systems.” You can read Carl’s report here.

In its e-newsletter, In-Sites, the Gibbons law firm also reports on the EPA proposal, adding that on March 11–just one day after the EPA rule announcement–New York State unveiled a new initiative to include greenhouse gas emissions in the state’s environmental review of large-scale projects.

Gibbons explains that: “Whenever a project is subject to an environmental impact statement (EIS), where the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is the lead agency and there is a requirement for an environmental review of large scale projects under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR), the newly announced policy will be triggered. “

You’ll find a copy of New York’s proposal, which will be subject to a 30-day comment period ending April 10, 2009, at http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/52508.html or http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/52557.html

You can read the full Gibbons alert here

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Skip the herbicides, hire this lawn crew

Does your town, authority or corporation have a large swath of property requiring mowing an weed control? You might want to employ a hard-working (and all natural) lawn crew like this one….

They work sunup to sundown, drop to the ground for their breaks and never sneak away to Starbucks. And some of them even give birth to new workers on the spot.

But a good work ethic is only one of the benefits of the newest additions to San Jose’s Green Vision. Nine hundred sheep and 100 goats have been on the job grazing around the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant since February, avoiding the use of dozens of pounds of herbicides.

“The joke in the office is you know they’re working hard because their heads are
always down,” said Jennifer Garnett, a spokeswoman for the city’s environmental
services.

By having the sheep and goats do what they do naturally, the city also is helping to diminish pollution of waterways because there is no herbicide runoff where the woolly grazers are working. And, they’re able to get the job done without the use of gas-powered mowers, one of the key goals of San Jose’s Green Vision — reducing the use of nonrenewable energy.

The San Jose Mercury has the full story here

Skip the herbicides, hire this lawn crew Read More »

Week’s top environmental & political news in NJ and PA: Mar 16-20 2009

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New Jersey’s budget troubles, overseeing chromium cleanups, sinking scallop boats, homeowners going geothermal, windmills, gas drilling, dead deer, and a former political powerhouse vanquished by a Philadelphia federal jury. Below are just a few of the environmental and political news stories for New Jersey and Pennsylvania that appeared in EnviroPolitics during the week of March 16-20, 2009.
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New Jersey Politics

Corzine offers a concession on N.J. taxes All New Jerseyans earning less than $150,000 will be able to deduct their property taxes on their income-tax bills, Gov. Corzine said yesterday, reversing course on one of the most politically volatile pieces of
his new budget Inquirer Star-Ledger

Corzine’s budget is rife with fee hikes Cuts to property tax rebates are getting most of the attention, but Gov. Jon Corzine’s proposed budget includes other “revenue solutions” that could
have residents and businesses paying more Star-Ledger

Corzine-Katz emails to remain secret A legal effort to force Gov. Jon Corzine to release e-mails with former girlfriend Carla Katz was turned down today by the New Jersey Supreme Court when it denied a petition filed by Tom Wilson, the chairman of New Jersey’s Republican Party Star-Ledger Full text of court order

Jerseyans: Restrict gambling to Atlantic City Poll shows most in NJ think gambling should be allowed only in the 11 Atlantic City casinos—not in other areas of the state AP

New Jersey Environment

Pretrial intervention opposed in medical waste case The Philadelphia Main Line dentist accused of dumping medical waste off the Jersey Shore in August will not be permitted to enter a pretrial intervention program if the state Attorney General’s Office has its way Inquirer

Overseer for chromium cleanup raises controversy Jersey City is asking a former deputy administrator for the U.S. EPA to oversee the cleanup of a chromium site. But while community and enviro groups praise his experience, they criticize the cleanup plan he would manage Jersey Journal

Homeowners going geothermal
Mitsu Yasukawa photo

When the air plunged to a bone-chilling 12 degrees earlier this month, the temperature a few hundred feet below ground remained a relatively balmy 54. It’s a Natural fact that should help keep the Mandel family of Teaneck, NJ comfortable in all types of weather in any season The Star-Ledger

Scallop boat sinks offshore but crew is saved “Mayday” is the one radio call a fishing boat captain never wants to receive, but when Walt Hill Sr. heard it early Tuesday morning, he knew just what to do. Aboard the 87-foot Port of Cape May scalloper Amy Marie, Hill arrived just in time to rescue the three-man crew off a North Carolina scalloper that caught fire and sank some 30 miles offshore AC Press story and Coast Guard video

Senate approves second term for BPU’s Jeanne Fox The State Senate yesterday, on a 23-13 vote, approved Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox for a second six-year term as leader of New Jersey’s chief regulatory authority S-Ledger

State poised to privatize toxic cleanups Private contractors will have more authority to oversee and perform toxic waste cleanups, part of a broad overhaul of state environmental policies approved yesterday by the Legislature Star-Ledger

Editorial: On windmills and wildlife A 312-page , study by the state DEP on the potential environmental impact of 300 windmills off of the coast of NJ is s stirring some controversy and producing (pardon the expression) some spin by two enviro groups- one in favor of the project and one opposed AC Press

Pennsylvania Environment

Editorial: DEP’s leader says agency can balance drilling and environment The agency’s critics say DEP cuts business off at the knee. That may be DEP’s history, but its Acting Secretary says that’s not the DEP of today Williamsport Sun-Gazette

Penn State Names New Ag Dean Bruce A. McPheron, associate dean for research and graduate education at Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and director of the PA Agricultural Experiment Station, has been appointed dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences Lancaster Farming

PA panel OKs use of gas-drilling funds Marcellus Shale revenues would be used to help plug the state budget deficit under legislation approved overwhelmingly by a Senate committee
Times-Tribune

PA deer harvest up 4 percent over previous year Hunters bagged about 336,000 deer last season in PA Inquirer

Stadium springs to life on Chester waterfront For the die-hard soccer fans who have been pilgrimaging to the site of the planned Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium in Chester on weekends to watch construction get under way, a big milestone came last week when contractors drove the first large, weight-bearing wood piles into the ground Delaware County Times

Consequences of gas drilling still unknown Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. caused natural gas to infiltrate into at least nine homes in Susquehanna County, according a letter of violation from the state DEP, but it remains unclear whether Cabot knowingly violated any regulations Times Leader

Pennsylvania Politics

Philadelphia Mayor introduces $3.84 billion budget
Daily News

Pension proposal a big test Of Philadelphia’s many fiscal challenges, none is larger – or more complicated – than the woeful state of the city’s pension fund Inquirer

Specter hints at showing his ‘independent’ side GOP senator says party switch would be a ‘last resort’ for the 2010 Pennsylvania race Morning Call

U.S. moves to seize Fumo’s properties Now that former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo is facing the prospect of a long prison term, federal prosecutors are moving quickly to go after his money Inquirer

Fumo jurors struck by ‘overwhelming evidence’ For 13 minutes, the word guilty rang out over and over in the hushed courtroom. In the end, the verdict against Vincent J. Fumo was a resounding affirmation of the federal case against the once-powerful lawmaker Inquirer

Ex-PA Senator Vincenet Fumo guilty on all 137 counts

Former PA State Senator Vincent Fumo leaves federal courthouse in Philadelphia today with girlfriend Carolyn Zinni after being found guilty on 137 counts in his federal political corruption trial Inquirer*************************************************************
Subscribe to EnviroPolitics and get access to full versions of all the top environmental and political news stories in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York every business day. PLUS: Receive alerts to environmental regulations proposed in Trenton and Harrisburg. PLUS: Track all environmental legislation in both states–from introduction to enactment!
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Week’s top environmental & political news in NJ and PA: Mar 16-20 2009 Read More »

NJ Gov. gets Licensed Site Professional bill

Both houses of the New Jersey Legislature yesterday passed legislation authorizing the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to license environmental engineers to oversee
the cleanup of contaminated sites.

The Licensed Site Professional legislation, expected to be signed into law by Governor Jon Corzine, is the work of the Legislature’s top two environmental leaders, Senator Bob Smith and Assemblyman John McKeon.

Both lawmakers have been working on the legislation for several years, overseeing numerous versions, amendments, and public hearings with parties both supporting and opposing the legislation.

Smith and McKeon introduced their bills after declaring the state’s present site remediation program–which has a backlog of more than 20,000 sites–to be broken beyond repair.

Once enacted, the legislation, S1897 /A2962 is expected to help the DEP cut into backlog, create employment opportunities in the consulting and construction fields and return so-called brownfield properties to the tax rolls and productive uses.

The legislation has been opposed by the state’s primary environmental organizations. It has been supported by the Corzine Administration, the DEP, and most segments of the business community, including environmental engineering firms.

Arguments pro and con are available in our previous posts
(see below) and in reader comments.

State poised to privatize toxic cleanups
Contractors to oversee waste cleanups
NJ Licensed Site Professional bills advance
NJ Licensed Site Professional bill’s encore
Will New Jersey see Licensed Site Professionals?
Op-Ed: LSP stands for ‘Lets Stay Polluted’
Op-Ed: New Jersey needs licensed site professionals
Editorial: An imperfect but needed solution
N.J. looks to outsource waste site cleanup
Bills aim to speed enviro-cleanups in New Jersey
Hiring a Licensed Site Professional in Massachusetts
Licensed Site Professional Association (Web Site)

NJ Gov. gets Licensed Site Professional bill Read More »

Ex-PA Senator Fumo guilty on all charges

Former Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Fumo leaves federal courthouse in Philadelphia today with girlfriend Carolyn Zinni after being found guilty on 137 counts.

In as stunning decision today, a federal jury in Philadelphia found former Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Fumo guilty on all 137 counts following a high-profile political corruption trial that lasted for weeks.

The 12-member jury, after five days of deliberation, also found co-defendant Ruth Arnao guilty of all 45 counts against her.

Prosecutors are expected to seek a prison term of more than 10 years for Fumo, a Philadelphia resident who had been one of the most powerful politicians in the state prior to his indictment.

Fumo was charged with conspiring to defraud the state Senate Senate by using employees for personal and political-campaign work on state time. He also was charged with defrauding the South Philadelphia nonprofit, Citizens’ Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, by getting it to pay for thousands of tools, consumer goods and other items.

The verdicts were announced after the judge ruled that a juror who posted oblique remarks regarding the case on Twitter.com and Facebook.com could remain on the jury.
See: Twittering juror jeopardizes Fumo trial Defense attorneys are likely to use the incident in their expected appeal.
Coverage:
Fumo guilty on all counts (Philadelphia Inquirer)

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Twittering juror jeopardizes Fumo trial

The high-profile, political corruption trial of former Pennsylvania state Senator Vincent Fumo, which took years for federal prosecutors to prepare and weeks to present, may be in jeopardy due to one juror’s decision to send posts on the progress of the jury’s deliberations to the Internet’s social-networking sites Facebook and Twitter.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported today that:

“Defense lawyers for former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo moved late yesterday for an immediate halt in jury deliberations and the removal of one juror, contending that the juror posted oblique remarks on Facebook.com and Twitter.com – including one declaring, “Stay tuned for a big announcement on Monday everyone!”

A hearing is expected this morning on the petition of defense attorneys who are arguing that “…one or more jurors ought to be removed and possibly replaced . . . or that a mistrial will be required.”

Just last week, a building-materials company in Arkansas and its owner appealed a $12.6 million verdict against them, alleging that during the trial a juror had posted messages on Twitter that showed he was biased against them.

You’ll find the full story here

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