EnviroPolitics Blog

NYDEC releases draft regs for freshwater wetlands

Proposal Would Protect an Estimated One Million Additional Acres of Wetland Habitat and Address Changes to Freshwater Wetlands Act

Comments Accepted through Sept. 19; Hearings Scheduled Sept. 10 and 12

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar today announced the release of proposed regulations to protect freshwater wetlands across New York State. The draft regulations are now available for public comment until Sept. 19, and would safeguard an estimated one million additional acres of unprotected wetland habitat by expanding the number of wetlands regulated by DEC.

“Wetlands provide economic and ecological benefits to all of New York’s communities by improving natural resiliency, helping protect communities from flooding, particularly in response to climate change, while providing essential habitat for fish and wildlife,” Interim DEC Commissioner Mahar said. “I encourage New Yorkers to review this proposal and provide input as we fulfill Governor Hochul’s commitment to modernize wetlands protections and work to ensure the long-term health of these vital ecosystems.”

Freshwater wetlands are lands and submerged lands—commonly called marshes, swamps, sloughs, and bogs—that support aquatic or semi-aquatic vegetation. New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act was enacted in 1975 and modernized as part of the 2022-2023 Enacted State Budget. The proposed rule would take effect in January 2025 and clarify jurisdictional status of smaller wetlands of “unusual importance” that meet one of 11 specific criteria contained in the newly amended Freshwater Wetlands Act. In addition, the draft regulations provide a revised wetlands classification system and a process for the public to request and appeal jurisdictional determinations.

The proposed regulations continue DEC’s ongoing efforts to involve interested stakeholders in regulation development and, along with public feedback, build upon an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making DEC released in January 2024.

The proposed rule and supporting documents can be viewed and downloaded on DEC’s website.

DEC encourages the public to comment on the proposed regulations. Comments will be accepted through Sept. 19, 2024, and can be submitted via e-mail to WetlandRegulatoryComments@dec.ny.gov (subject: “Wetlands Part 664 Comments”) or via mail to NYSDEC, Attn: Roy Jacobson, Jr., 5^th Floor, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4756.

The public can also provide comments during virtual and in-person public hearings. The virtual public hearings are scheduled Sept. 10, at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. An in-person public hearing is scheduled Sept. 12, at 1 p.m. at the DEC office at 625 Broadway, Albany, NY. Registration for the public hearings can be found on DEC’s website.

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NJ Gov. Murphy signs environmental appropriations bills

TRENTON – Today, Governor Murphy signed the following bills into law:

S2792/A3697 (Cruz-Perez, Turner/Spearman, Park, Simmons) – Appropriates $500,000 from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues and “2009 Farmland Preservation Fund” to State Agriculture Development Committee for municipal planning incentive grants for farmland preservation purposes

S 2793/A3698 (Cruz-Perez, Turner/Reynolds-Jackson, Fantasia, Stanley) – Appropriates $1.723 million from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues and “2009 Farmland Preservation Fund” to State Agriculture Development Committee for grants to certain nonprofit organizations for farmland preservation purposes

S3384/A4426 (Burzichelli, Schepisi/Katz, Atkins, Drulis) – Appropriates funds to DEP for environmental infrastructure projects for FY2025

S 3474/A4570 (Greenstein/Carter, Speight, Wimberly) – Appropriates $10,067,905 to DEP from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues for grants to certain nonprofit entities to acquire or develop lands for recreation and conservation purposes, and for certain administrative expenses

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A 1677/S3263 (Lampitt, Bagolie, Stanley/Diegnan, Turner) – Authorizes extended terms for lease and purchase contracts for electric school buses; permits New Jersey School Boards Association to serve as government aggregator to obtain energy services for local units

A 4425/S3383 (Ramirez, Spearman, Atkins/Gopal, Mukherji) – Authorizes NJ Infrastructure Bank to expend certain sums to make loans for environmental infrastructure projects for FY2025

A4572/S3473 (Donlon, Sumter, Drulis/McKeon, Space) – Appropriates $101,696,535 from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues to DEP for local government open space acquisition and park development projects, and for certain administrative expenses

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EPA Issues Compliance Guide for Methylene Chloride Risk

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a compliance guide for the 2024 methylene chloride risk management rule issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The compliance guide will help industry, workers and other interested stakeholders understand and comply with the new regulations to prevent injuries, long-term illnesses and deaths.

In April 2024, EPA finalized a ban on most uses of methylene chloride, a dangerous chemical known to cause liver cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, brain cancer, cancer of the blood, and cancer of the central nervous system, as well as neurotoxicity, liver harm and even death. This regulation will protect people from health risks while allowing key uses to continue safely with a robust Workplace Chemical Protection Program (WCPP). The regulation went into effect on July 8, 2024.

The compliance guide helps entities understand the rule’s requirements and their responsibilities under the rule. For example, the guide provides detailed information on prohibitions in the rule and associated compliance timeframes, as well as information on the WCPP, recordkeeping requirements, downstream notifications, and other requirements applicable to those few entities that may continue use of methylene chloride with strict workplace controls.

The compliance guide is useful for entities that manufacture (including import), process, distribute in commerce, use, or dispose of methylene chloride or products containing methylene chloride. This includes the use of methylene chloride in laboratory settings. The compliance guide includes special attention to the interests and needs of small businesses.

Potentially exposed persons, such as workers and others in the workplace, may also want to refer to the compliance guide to understand the risks from methylene chloride exposure and protections that are required in the workplace. The guide will also be beneficial to consumers, community members, or anyone else that may be affected by exposure to methylene chloride.

Additionally, in June 2024, EPA released a fact sheet on the rule containing information on who is subject to the rule along with a summary of compliance timelines.

Learn more about the regulation of methylene chloride under TSCA.

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Enviro-Events Calendar – ANJEC 2024 Environmental Congress

2024 Environmental Congress
Friday, September 27th
9am-4pm
Rowan University
Burlington Campus, Votta Hall
Mt. Laurel NJ

Visit our 2024 Environmental Congress website.

Want to learn the latest environmental/strategies/techniques?

Workshop topics include: Zoning, Wildlife Management, Invasive Plants, Stormwater Management, Waste Reduction, Offshore Wind, Environmental Legislation, Greenways, Municipal Ordinances, Energy Master Plan, and more.

Come join Featured Speaker NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette and Keynote Speaker NJ State Climatologist David Robinson and learn how New Jersey is positioning itself to weather climate change.

Join us at ANJEC’s 51st Environmental Congress!

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Appeals court blocks attempt to block methane pollution rules

From the Clean Air Council (Philadelphia)

PENNSYLVANIA (July 9, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit blocked the attempt by several states, along with oil and gas trade associations, to stay, or block, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) methane standards for the oil and gas industry.

Methane, more than 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over the short term, is a critical target for climate pollution emissions reduction efforts. Human-caused methane emissions currently account for about 30 percent of global warming, with the oil and gas industry being one of the largest sources of methane emissions.

The EPA standards would prevent millions of tons of climate warming methane from being emitted. In Pennsylvania, nearly 2 million residents live in proximity to oil and gas operations.

Matt Walker, Clean Air Council Advocacy Director, issued the following statement:

“The court’s decision ensures that EPA’s much-needed methane standards can continue to move forward, better protecting the health of Pennsylvania residents living close to oil and gas operations, and cutting methane at a time when our country is experiencing the dire effects of climate change.”

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In Louisiana, a natural gas fortress rises on sinking land

An aerial view of the ongoing construction at the Plaquemines LNG export facility in Port Sulphur, La.

By Steven Mufson, The Washington Post

PLAQUEMINES PARISH, La. — The marshes that blanket this pancake-flat parish south of New Orleans stretch for miles, strewn with small streams that flow into the Gulf of Mexico. A lone four-lane road goes south past a Navy air base, an idle industrial site, a coal export terminal and a handful of small storm-battered communities.

Then, suddenly, a gigantic facility rises from the wetlands. Cranes dot the skyline. They hover over crews that are installing a jumble of pipes, pumps, storage tanks and two 720-megawatt power plants — equipment needed to freeze natural gas into a liquid form so it can be shipped around the world.

It might seem like a risky location for a $21 billion liquefied natural gas plant, given this region’s ferocious hurricanes and sea levels that are rising faster than almost anywhere else on the planet. But the company building this plant, Arlington, Va.-based Venture Global, says it has an answer to these threats: a 26-foot-high steel sea wall that surrounds the 632-acre site, twice the size of Washington’s National Mall.

An $80 million reconstruction project of the Shell Island barrier island, pictured, at the southern end of Barataria Bay has added several hundred acres of new land off the coast of Plaquemines Parish. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The fortress highlights a crucial tension for this region of the country. The sea is rising here and the land is rapidly sinking, in large part driven by decades of oil and gas drilling and the planet-warming emissions that come from the burning of those fossil fuels. That is accelerating the destruction of wetlands, which serve as a critical barrier, and speeding up flooding across the coast, often with less advantaged communities most vulnerable.

Read the full story here

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