Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 1/19/12

Business, government and environmental leaders who subscribe
to EnviroPolitics accessed full versions of the environmental news
stories below in today’s edition

and dozens more!

In Pennsylvania 

Gov.
Tom Corbett will sign drilling emergency-response bill
The legislation is
designed to provide an emergency response plan and accurate GPS coordinates for
each Marcellus Shale well site in Pennsylvania Inquirer 

Corbett
administration slashes wildlife research funding
The administration
of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has cut funding for a wildlife research
program by nearly 70 percent, eliminating state money for projects meant to
examine the impact of natural gas drilling and climate change, according to a
report AP


In New Jersey


Logging
bill lands in limbo
Environmentalists concurred that the State
Legislature’s decision to put on hold a controversial logging bill, which would
have opened up state lands to the logging industry, would be an opportunity for
lawmakers to tweak the legislation
The
Record


State Agency to investigate improper billing at
PSE&G
Whistleblowers’ allegations, if true, could
lead to criminal charges against New Jersey’s largest utility
NJ Spotlight

Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 1/19/12 Read More »

If you missed yesterday’s seminar on NJ’s LSRP program

Yeah, we know. When you read yesterday’s post (Interest high as new NJDEP site-cleanup program nears) you nearly wept, knowing you had missed a terrific opportunity to learn all about the upcoming changes to New Jersey’s contaminated site remediation program.

Well, cheer up, fortunate person. The law firm of Riker Danzig is offering you a chance to save your bacon.

Attorneys in the firm’s Environmental Practice Group will touch all the bases of the state’s new Licensed Site Remediation Professionals (LSRP) program in a complimentary breakfast seminar on January 26 in Morristown, NJ.

They will be joined by experts from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and the LSRP Licensing Board.

If you missed yesterday’s seminar, it’s probably because you have not signed up for free email updates on our Enviro-Events Calendar.  

Our calendar also is where you’ll find all the details on the Riker Danzig seminar.

So get your butt over there and check it out.  And be sure to use the form on top of the right column to get on our email update list.

Will the NJ Senate override Christie’s fracking ban veto?

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Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 1/18/12

Business, government and environmental leaders who subscribe
to EnviroPolitics accessed full versions of the environmental news
stories below in today’s edition

and dozens more!

In Pennsylvania 


Shale boon
could stunt alternatives

Natural
gas derricks
like this one  in Morgantown, West Virginia have become an
increasingly common sight in the United States. A new economic study raises
concern that the abundant new resource could delay development of renewable
energy and carbon capture technologies.
National
Geographic
 

Protestors
outside Capitol say gas drilling erode local control
About 150 members of environmentalist groups and local citizen activists
staged a raucous rally in the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday that targeted two
competing bills to regulate the fast-growing shale drilling industry
Associated
Press


In New Jersey


Law delays antipollution efforts in New Jersey Gov. Christie signed a bill Tuesday that aids land
developers in the state by delaying antipollution efforts, a move
environmentalists said would mean further deterioration of New Jersey’s water
quality
Statehouse
Bureau
 NJ Spotlight  AP
Press



Superfund designation sought for Pompton Lakes sites U.S.
Senator Bob Menendez says he believes the areas of the borough contaminated by
a former DuPont munitions factory should be designated Superfund sites, and is
pushing the federal government to explain why it hasn’t done so
The
Record

Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 1/18/12 Read More »

Interest high as new NJDEP site-cleanup program nears

In May, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) will turn over authority and responsibility for the remediation of contaminated sites to independent engineering practitioners called Licensed Site Remediation Professionals
(LSRPs).

It marks a major change in regulatory direction for New Jersey which formerly attempted to manage the program exclusively within the NJDEP. That led to years of processing delays and an eventual backlog of more than 20,000 sites.

In May of 2009, the state Legislature stepped in and created the LSRP program, modeled on a cleanup-program in Massachusetts. 

Interest in the rules and procedures that will govern the new program was evident this morning as more than 200 people turned out to hear DEP officials conduct an overview session in Edison sponsored by the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey.

NJBIZ today carried a report on the day-long program that included 14 speakers on topics such as the status
of the new LSRP licensing exam, implementation of the new program, the
future of training for the site remediation program and specific looks
at the documents being furnished by the DEP.

Related:
Overview of the Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) Program
Slides for the Overview of the Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) ProgramQuick Reference Guide: Major differences between old SRP process and the new LSRP program
New Jersey Licensed Site Remediation Professionals Association (LSRPA) Website

What is an LSRP? Fox, watchdog, rat or scapegoat?

What do you want from NJ’s LSRP program?


Recent posts:

Combined NJ agriculture shows opening in Atlantic City

Recycling company mines NJDEP for management talent
PA’s top court takes a pass on local control of gas drilling

Will the NJ Senate override Christie’s fracking ban veto?
Natural gas fracking has new PR problem – Earthquakes



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EnviroPolitics

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Interest high as new NJDEP site-cleanup program nears Read More »

Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 1/17/12

Business, government and environmental leaders who subscribe
to EnviroPolitics accessed full versions of the environmental news
stories below in today’s edition

and dozens more!

In Pennsylvania  


Firing
of Pa. conservation panel official criticized
The longtime citizens advisory committee on Pennsylvania’s parks and
forests has been fired, an action that fellow members and environmentalists say
could reduce public oversight over gas drilling in state forests Times
Leader


A standalone Marcellus bill is moving  Shale
well operators would be required to provide sophisticated siting information
and develop an emergency response plan under legislation moving closer to
passage
Times-Tribune  
Post-Gazette




In New Jersey


Christie signs
bill allowing wineries to sell to customers
Wineries
from New Jersey to California can now sell their vintages directly to consumers
and retailers under a bill pushed by Democrats in the Legislature and signed
today SHB AC
Press


NJ may call on electric utilities to revive solar sector Office of Clean Energy mulls two
options to halt slide in prices of solar certificates NJ Spotlight 



Top 2 environmental news stories for PA & NJ – 1/17/12 Read More »

Combined NJ agriculture shows opening in Atlantic City

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture reminds us that two of the state’s most influential
annual gatherings of growers are joining forces for the first time this week to showcase the Garden State’s agrarian advances.

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture and the Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey have merged
their respective annual meetings into one combined convention/trade show.

The combined State Agricultural
Convention
will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, January 18 and 19,
at Trump Taj Mahal
Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.

Following a season marked by extreme
weather that caused crop damage and farm property loss, the event will feature an interactive listening session January 19 on Crop
Insurance and Risk Management, led by United State Department of Agriculture
Under Secretary Michael Scuse.

Other sessions during the two-day
convention include: succession planning, marketing with social media and
Farmland Protection/Right to Farm. These open public forums will give
those in the agriculture industry the opportunity to share their experiences on
the ground, make suggestions, and gain valuable new information. 

Delegates also will discuss
issues affecting the industry, help set agricultural policy for the coming year
and determine the new members of the State Board of Agriculture.
 
You’ll find the complete convention agenda here
Don’t miss out on upcoming environmental seminars, forums, webinars, conventions and networking opportunities. Get free email updates of our Enviro-Events Calendar.

Recent posts:
Recycling company mines NJDEP for management talent

PA’s top court takes a pass on local control of gas drilling

Will the NJ Senate override Christie’s fracking ban veto?
Natural gas fracking has new PR problem – Earthquakes


Federal court freezes EPA cross-state air pollution rules


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EnviroPolitics

Try it free for 30 days!
  No obligation. Cancel anytime with one click
  

Combined NJ agriculture shows opening in Atlantic City Read More »