$1Billion pouring into low-interest water projects in New Jersey

From the NJ Department of Environmental Protection

The New Jersey Water Bank, a partnership between the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank that provides low-cost financing for projects to improve local clean- and drinking-water infrastructure, has for the first time surpassed $1 billion in fiscal year project financing, Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette, EPA Regional Administrator Lisa Garcia and Infrastructure Bank officials announced today.

In Fiscal Year 2024, which concluded June 30, the Water Bank provided financing for 116 clean water projects (wastewater and stormwater treatment) totaling $838 million and financing for 31 drinking water projects, totaling $240 million. These projects represent a combined $1.078 billion in infrastructure financing. The previous record was $769.5 million in Fiscal Year 2021. 

“Safe and reliable water infrastructure is critical to the vitality of our communities,” DEP Commissioner LaTourette said. “This record-setting, billion-dollar investment in our water infrastructure throughout the state demonstrates the high level of commitment that our local governments and water systems are making to protect public health and the environment. I

FY 2024 Project Highlights

Examples of projects that received Water Bank financing in state fiscal year 2024 include:

  • The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission received more than $116 million to increase treatment capacity for the purpose of reducing discharges of combined sewer overflows that impact surface water quality in the area. Construction began in March of this year and is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2028.
  • The city of Camden received $55 million for the construction of granular activated carbon to treat PFAS and 1,4-dioxane and to upgrade the Morris-Delair Water Treatment Facility. Construction began in February and is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
  • The Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority received $31 million to construct backup power generation to the sewerage authority and the Monmouth County Bayshore Outfall Authority to safely treat and dispose of wastewater during prolonged power outages.
  • New Jersey American Water received more than $25 million to expand replacements of lead service lines in Irvington. Combined with financing for a 2022 project, the Water Bank has provided more than $48 million in financing for the replacement of more than 5,000 lead and galvanized service lines in Irvington. Work is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
  • The city of Trenton received more than $9 million to replace approximately 1,000 lead and galvanized service lines with copper lines. Construction is expected to begin soon and be completed by July 2026.
  • The Jersey City MUA received $9.8 million to replace additional lead service lines in the city. Combined with financing received in FY 2023, the Water Bank has provided more than $21 million for the replacement of approximately 1,600 lead service lines in Jersey City. Construction began in July 2023 and is expected to be completed by June 2025.

Read the full NJDEP news release here

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PA supreme court hands environmental groups large RGGI victory

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a landmark decision on July 18, 2024, recognizing the right of environmental groups to defend Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and upholding the importance of the state’s Environmental Rights Amendment.

Environmental Groups Gain Right to Defend RGGI

The court overturned a Commonwealth Court decision that had denied PennFuture, Clean Air Council, Sierra Club, and Environmental Defense Fund the right to intervene in a legal challenge to RGGI. These groups argued that participation in RGGI would benefit Pennsylvanians by lowering emissions, improving air quality, creating clean energy jobs, and saving consumers money.

Environmental Rights Amendment Takes Center Stage

This decision recognizes the environmental groups’ argument that they have a right to defend the RGGI regulation because it protects their members’ constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment, as enshrined in Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment. The Supreme Court found that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) had not adequately addressed this amendment in its previous defense of the RGGI regulation.

Quotes from Environmental Leaders

  • Jessica O’Neill, PennFuture’s Managing Attorney for Litigation: “Today’s decision shows that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court not only recognizes Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to clean air and a healthy, stable environment, but respects their right to fight for it. The RGGI Regulation is a critical step for Pennsylvania to protect the air and environment for Pennsylvanians today and for our future generations.”
  • Alex Bomstein, Executive Director of Clean Air Council: “The RGGI Regulation is the most important step Pennsylvania has taken to-date to fight the deepening climate crisis, which makes the Court’s decision to allow public interest voices to defend the Regulation all the more important.” (Similar quotes from the remaining leaders can be added following this format)
  • Tom Schuster, Director of the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter: “We are very pleased with the Court’s decision, which affirms that our members have a keen interest in defending their constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment,” said . “This ruling underscores the importance of our Environmental Rights Amendment, particularly as it relates to protections against climate disruption, the defining environmental issue of our time.”

The court’s decision is the latest development in the ongoing legal battle over RGGI in Pennsylvania. The Supreme Court is still expected to issue a final ruling on the merits of the challenge to the RGGI regulation.

Opinions in full:
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-30B&C-2023mo.pdf?cb=1
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-30B&C-2023co.pdf?cb=1
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-30B&C-2023cdo1.pdf?cb=1
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-30B&C-2023cdo.pdf?cb=1

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UPDATED: Joe Biden decides to leave the presidential race

President Biden wrote on social media that he was ending his campaign for re-election after intense pressure from within his own party. He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him atop the Democratic ticket.

Biden’s decision throws the 2024 race into disarray. Here’s the latest.

By Michael D. Shear, New York Times July 21, 2024, 2:43 p.m.

President Biden, 81, abandoned his bid for re-election and threw the 2024 presidential contest into chaos on Sunday, caving to relentless pressure from his closest allies to drop out of the race amid deep concerns that he is too old and frail to defeat former President Donald J. Trump. After calling Vice President Kamala Harris an “extraordinary partner,” he endorsed her to take his place atop the ticket.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” he wrote on social media. “And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus entirely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”

In a subsequent post, Mr. Biden endorsed her: “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”

After three weeks of often angry refusals to step aside, Mr. Biden finally yielded to a torrent of devastating polls, urgent pleas from Democratic lawmakers and clear signs that donors were no longer willing to pay for him to continue.

Mr. Biden’s decision abruptly ends one political crisis that began when the president delivered a calamitous debate performance against Mr. Trump on June 27. But for the Democratic Party, Mr. Biden’s withdrawal triggers a second crisis: who to replace him with, and specifically whether to rally around Ms. Harris or kick off a rapid effort to find someone else to be the party’s nominee.

The announcement by Mr. Biden, who is isolating with Covid, came just three days after Mr. Trump delivered an incendiary, insult-laden speech accepting his party’s nomination for a chance to return to the White House for a second term. Mr. Trump, who has been preparing for a rematch with Mr. Biden for years, will now face a different — and as yet, unknown — Democratic opponent, with only 106 days left until Election Day.

Here’s what else to know:

  • A political first: No sitting American president has dropped out of a race so late in the election cycle. The Democratic National Convention, where Mr. Biden was to have been formally nominated by 3,939 delegates, is scheduled to begin Aug. 19 in Chicago. That leaves less than a month for Democrats to decide who should replace Mr. Biden on the ticket and just under four months for that person to mount a campaign against Mr. Trump.
  • Spotlight on Harris: The president’s decision puts the vice president under renewed scrutiny, with some Democrats arguing that she is the only person who can effectively challenge Mr. Trump this late in the election. And they say the party will fracture if Democratic leaders are seen as passing over the first Black vice president. But others argue that the Democratic Party should avoid a coronation, especially given Ms. Harris’s political weaknesses over the last three-and-a-half years.
  • Age a chief concern: Mr. Biden’s re-election bid was brought down by longstanding concerns about his age and whether he remains physically and mentally capable of performing the job. Even before the debate, polls consistently showed that people thought he was too old, and majorities — even of Democrats — wanted someone younger to be president. Mr. Biden was born during World War II and was first elected to the Senate in 1972, before two-thirds of today’s Americans were even born. Mr. Biden would have been 86 at the end of a second term.
  • The debate moment: The White House and aides closest to Mr. Biden denied for years that his age was having any impact on his ability to do his job. But the debate with Mr. Trump in late June, which was watched by more than 50 million people, put his limitations clearly on display. He appeared frail, hesitant, confused and diminished, and was unable to make the case against Mr. Trump, a convicted felon who tried to overturn the last presidential election.
  • Trump reacts: Mr. Trump seized on the moment to criticize Mr. Biden, saying he was never fit to be president. Mr. Trump is also using the moment to raise money. In a message to would-be small-dollar donors, he said that “The WASHINGTON ESTABLISHMENT, the Hate-America Media, and the corrupt DEEP STATE did everything they could to protect Biden, but he just quit the race in COMPLETE DISGRACE!”

Read Biden’s Letter Withdrawing From the Race

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Feds to examine whether Baltimore’s renewed waste-incinerator contract violates residents’ environmental justice rights

By Jacob Wallace, Waste Dive

The U.S. EPA will investigate a civil rights complaint filed against Baltimore City and its Department of Public Works over their 10-year solid waste management plan. A complaint filed with the federal agency alleged the plan, which anticipated the continued operation of a mass burn combustion facility run by WIN Waste Innovations, disproportionately impacts nearby communities.

The EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights is looking into the case. The office enforces federal civil rights law with entities that receive federal funding, which includes the city and its department.  

The complaint was filed by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Environmental Integrity Project on behalf of the South Baltimore Community Land Trust. The filers allege that the city has abdicated its responsibility to reduce the pollution faced by people in the South Baltimore communities of Cherry Hill, Mt. Winans, Brooklyn, Lakeland, Westport and Curtis Bay, which are predominantly Black and Hispanic.

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Baltimore City leaders supported the development of a zero waste plan that was published in 2020 and included a goal to divert 90% of materials from “burning or burying” by 2040. That plan was supported by Mayor Brandon Scott, but just before he took office, his predecessor closed a deal with WIN Waste to keep the mass burn facility running into 2031.

The contract renewal was the latest in a decades-long debate about whether the city should move away from incineration. Most recently, the city passed a law that would have enacted strict air pollution controls on the facility, only to have it overturned later in court. The resulting settlement agreement led to the upgrades made by WIN.

Environmental justice advocates in Baltimore have long fought the impacts of the WTE facility, commonly known as BRESCO. Their complaint argues the latest improvements made by WIN are insufficient to address the harms experienced by disadvantaged communities.

Read the full story here

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More about the Nantucket turbine blade that flew off the handle

BY BRIAN CONTRERAS, STAFF REPORTER, Inc.  JUL 18, 2024

On Nantucket’s sandy south beaches, misshapen chunks of turquoise foam have been washing ashore–debris from the recently broken blade of an offshore wind turbine.

Vineyard Wind, a green energy firm that’s built 19 wind turbines in the area and has another 43 on the way, says one of its turbine blades was damaged Saturday for reasons that remain unclear. The result, according to local outlet the Nantucket Current: pieces of foam and fiberglass were scattered across the summer colony’s southern coast earlier this week amid the high-traffic tourist season. Area beaches were initially closed to swimmers but reportedly re-opened Wednesday.

Although a Vineyard Wind representative initially told the Current that the blade broke about 20 meters from its base and was still mostly attached to the turbine, the company was reporting by Thursday morning that “a significant part” of what remained had fallen into the sea, too. That means even more debris could be inbound toward Nantucket.

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Hoboken secures $3.1M for park and waterfront improvements

Southwest Resilience Park. Alex Connell photo


By Alex Connell, Tap Into Hoboken, July 19, 2024 at 2:18 PM

HOBOKEN, NJ – The City of Hoboken has secured $3.1 million in state and county grant funding for public open space projects. 

These funds will support upgrades to Church Square Park, including a new toddler playground, the expansion of the Southwest Resiliency Park, and the development of a new and expanded waterfront skate park as part of Maritime Park.

“I am extremely proud that we are moving forward with new parks and improvements to over 10 acres of open space in Hoboken,” said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla.

“This grant funding will provide important resources to help see these projects through to completion, including an expanded Southwest Resiliency Park to help combat rainfall flooding, as well as the buildout of Maritime Park at the former Union Dry Dock site,” Bhalla said. “I greatly appreciate our partners at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, and Hudson County for their support.”  ‍

Doubling the size of the Southwest Resiliency Park and mitigating flooding

The City also received $1.4 million from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for the expansion of the Southwest Resiliency Park, currently under construction at 58 Harrison St.

Once finished, the park will provide recreational amenities, including a basketball court, playground, and pickleball courts. The park will also mitigate rainfall flooding through above and below ground infrastructure which will more than double the existing parks capacity to detain over 460,000 gallons of stormwater.  

Read the full story here

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