TRENTON – To cut down on unnecessary single-use plastics and, in turn, reduce the strain on the environment, the New Jersey Senate approved legislation sponsored by Senator Bob Smith and Senator Raj Mukherji that would require casual food service businesses to provide single-use utensils and condiments to customers upon request only.

The bill, S3195, would also prohibit full-service restaurants from providing on-site diners with single-use utensils.

     “Millions of tons of plastics are disposed of every year in this country, most of which ends up in a landfill at best, and into urban areas or the ocean at worst,” said Senator Smith (D-Middlesex/Somerset). “This bill would make significant strides to decrease the amount of litter that ends up in our communities. Through an educational campaign, we will also work to show our residents and businesses the many benefits of cutting down on single-use plastics.”

     “This bill does not prohibit single-use plastic utensils at your favorite fast-food drive-thru,” said Senator Mukherji (D-Hudson). “It merely reduces the harm from plastic waste by curbing the excessive provision of single-use plastics and condiments when the customer has not requested any. Further, reusable and washable utensils are just as useful while posing significantly less risk to our environment.”

     The bill’s provisions apply to restaurants, cafes, food trucks, vendor stations, cafeterias, or any other facility or premises where meals are prepared and served to customers for immediate consumption, whether on a take-out, eat-in, drive-thru, or delivery basis. Notable exemptions include schools, health care facilities, and correctional facilities. However, the bill specifically differentiates between the requirements for casual dining establishments and full-service restaurants.

     Under the bill, casual food dining establishments, which cover entities such as fast food establishments, food courts, food trucks, and gas stations and convenience stores, would be required to provide single-use utensils and condiments only if requested by a customer.

     Full-service restaurants with seating for 10 or more customers must provide on-site patrons with easy access to reusable, washable utensils for use on the premises. If a full-service restaurant offers takeout or delivery, it may provide single-use utensils and condiments with takeout orders upon customer request.

     Violations of the legislation would incur penalties. Specifically, food service businesses would be subject to a warning upon the first offense, a civil penalty of $100 upon the second offense, and a civil penalty of $250 for the third and each subsequent offense. If a food service business did not commit a violation for at least 12 months from the time a third or subsequent penalty was assessed, the next penalty would be reduced to a second offense.

     No food service business, however, would be subject to a penalty under the bill if it acquires, possesses, or maintains a supply of single-use plastic utensils or condiments to provide to customers upon request.

     Any money collected from penalties imposed under the bill would be deposited into the “Clean Communities Program Fund” to finance litter pickup, removal, education, and enforcement programs at the State and local levels. A municipality or entity certified to enforce the bill may retain 30 percent of any penalty it collects under the law.

     Finally, the bill would require the Department of Environmental Protection to develop a 180-day education campaign to inform New Jersey residents about the financial and environmental benefits of reducing the use of single-use utensils and condiments. It would additionally encourage responsible use by reminding individuals not to take more items than needed from a self-serve condiment station or utensil dispenser.”

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By Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow, Reporting from Washington, Jan. 12, 2026

A federal judge on Monday ruled that construction could resume on a $6.2 billion wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, striking down the Trump administration’s decision last month to halt work on the Revolution Wind project.

Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Interior Department’s suspension order was “arbitrary and capricious” in violation of federal law.

Revolution Wind is one of five offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast that were ordered to stop work last month by the Trump administration, which cited unspecified national security concerns. Several states, as well as developers of four of the projects, have challenged the move in court. The case involving Revolution Wind was the first complaint to be heard.

The decision is a temporary victory for Revolution Wind and the offshore wind industry, which has been roiled by the Trump administration’s efforts to block offshore wind farms that had received permits under the Biden administration. Orsted, the Danish energy giant that is building Revolution Wind, can now continue with construction as litigation it has filed against the Trump administration proceeds.

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TRENTON, N.J. – The New Jersey Legislature on Monday passed a bill that protects privately owned woodlands from creeping overdevelopment.

     The bill (S699/A682), sponsored by Assembly members Sean Kean and Dawn Fantasia and supported by various state environmental groups, establishes a woodlands protection fund to acquire development easements on privately-owned woodlands.

Passed by both the Senate and the Assembly, the measure now awaits Gov. Phil Murphy’s signature or veto.

     That fund, operated by the state Department of Environmental Protection, will use federal money, private donations and appropriations from the state Legislature to purchase easements. To qualify, woodlands must be at least five contiguous acres in size and be managed by the landowner according to state statute. Landowners are not required to open those woodlands to the public.

     “This bill does two things: it protects these natural spaces and respects property owners’ rights,” Kean (R-Monmouth) said. “With owners facing pressure to sell and build, the state needs to proactively preserve these areas to safeguard these ecosystems and protect private owners from those pressures.”

     About 950,000 acres of forest are privately owned, with 40% held by people ages 65 and older. The state, local municipalities, counties, and the federal government own the remaining 1.037 million acres of forested land.

     Preserving forested land helps protect native species, air quality, and vital watersheds and other waterways. Economically, woodlands generate billions annually through tourism and forestry.

     “Northwest New Jersey is defined by its privately owned woodlands, and once those acres are fragmented and developed, they’re gone for good. This bill creates a voluntary path for landowners to conserve working forests, protecting habitat and water resources while respecting private property rights,” Fantasia (R-Sussex) said.

By Jim Friedlich, CEO, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism

This article originally appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Pennsylvania’s two largest cities have more in common politically, demographically, and economically with one another than with the rest of the commonwealth. For decades, they also had in common the presence of great American newspapers serving their diverse and dynamic communities: The Inquirer and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Sadly, that may no longer be the case. Last Tuesday, Block Communications, the owners of the Post-Gazette, announced that on May 3, it will shutter the newspaper, the roots of which date back 240 years. The loss of a once great newspaper in a major American city is itself a civic tragedy. The fact that this loss was entirely preventable is even more unfortunate. It is no secret that the traditional print newspaper business is in sharp decline. Self-inflicted wounds — including a long history of labor strife, family disunity, and financial losses — have compounded these headwinds at the Post-Gazette. The Block family’s announcement cited cumulative losses of over $350 million over a 20-year period. Disclosure of a decision to close the paper came the same day the U.S. Supreme Court denied the company’s appeal of a decision that required it to honor the terms of an earlier union contract, and after the resolution of a bitter three-year labor strike. Striking workers agreed to return to work on Nov. 24 and were told this week they would be severed. The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, of which I am CEO, is in the business of helping sustain and support local news. I heard this week from more than half a dozen news industry colleagues about the potential to “save the Post-Gazette.” As a Philly-based journalism executive, I was unsure what was really left of the Post-Gazette to save. So I reached out to Pittsburgh newsroom sources, readers, and local foundations. While the Post-Gazette has suffered multiple layoffs and a reduction in its print schedule to two days a week, there is unquestionably still a there, there. The current newsroom numbers 110 employees. And its journalists still produce great public service journalism, covering politics to sports. More importantly, with or without the Post-Gazette, there remains a need and an appetite among readers for independent local news in Pittsburgh. As of the end of 2025, more than 60,000 pay for the P-G in digital form, and 27,000 in print. To save, reinvent, or perhaps replace the Post-Gazette, it is instructive to look at recent local news investment in Philadelphia and Baltimore: Ten years ago this month, the late H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, a philanthropist and cable television entrepreneur, donated his ownership of The Philadelphia Inquirer to the nonprofit Lenfest Institute for Journalism, allowing The Inquirer to invest long term in the transformation of its news and business operations. The Inquirer’s 200-person newsroom is supported in large part by the loyalty of readers, the growth of its digital revenues, and supplemented by donations from readers, foundations, and The Lenfest Institute. The Inquirer, which remains a for-profit enterprise, is well-managed, both editorially and as a business. It has more than 120,000 paying digital subscribers, and philanthropy — a finite resource — accounts for a single-digit percentage of total revenue, though it is mission-critical. Emulating The Lenfest Institute model, Stewart W. Bainum Jr., a Maryland-based hotel and healthcare executive, sought to acquire the Baltimore Sun from its parent company and to convert it to nonprofit ownership. Unable to come to terms with a difficult seller, Bainum chose instead to launch the Baltimore Banner from scratch in 2022, an impressive, all-digital nonprofit news enterprise that won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting last year for coverage of its city’s opioid crisis. Pittsburgh’s journalistic, business, and philanthropic interests have several paths open to them: long-term. The Post-Gazette could be acquired by a nonprofit organization similar to The Lenfest Institute. However, local leaders with whom I have spoken seem loath to take on its obligations and liabilities. The Post-Gazette is by no means the sole source of independent journalism serving Southwest Pennsylvania. The region is covered by long-term. TheNPR station WESA, by Pittsburgh’s Public Source, a small but effective nonprofit, and by Harrisburg-based Spotlight PA, of which The Lenfest Institute was a founder. Each of these entities could help form the foundation of expanded Pittsburgh news. Or the community could build from scratch, mirroring the Baltimore Banner’s approach. Each path has its complications, but they all have one thing in common: the need for determined, deep-pocketed, and strategically aligned funders to create sustainable local news at scale for the city of Pittsburgh. Maxwell E.P. King, a former editor of The Inquirer and past president of two of Pittsburgh’s leading philanthropies — Heinz Endowments and the Pittsburgh Foundation — has sounded the alarm. “I am heartbroken, both as a reader and a contributor” to the Post-Gazette, King told me. “But the community, particularly the foundation community, must rally to this moment. Nonprofit journalism is succeeding around the country, most notably in Philadelphia with The Inquirer. We have to find a viable nonprofit way to continue daily journalism here. It is crucial for the region.” Let’s hope Pittsburgh finds the resolve to serve its residents with the local news they need and deserve. Certainly, we at The Lenfest Institute are here to help.

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