The following bills will be considered by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on Thursday, June 8, 2023, at 10:00 AM in Committee Room 6, 1st Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ.
The committee will meet to hear testimony from invited speakers on steps that the State can take to modernize the electrical grid and prepare for the interconnection of more renewable energy resources.
The following bills will be considered:
S2708 (Zwicker) – Requires DEP to consider potential impacts on natural resources when classifying dams according to hazard potential.
S3255 (Diegnan/Oroho) – Increases the percentage of reclaimed asphalt pavement that can be used for local road projects.
S3914 (Smith) – Requires electric public utilities to submit new tariffs for commercial customers for BPU approval; regulates non-volumetric electricity fees charged to operators of fast-charging electric vehicle chargers.
FOR DISCUSSION ONLY:
S3177 (Greenstein/Smith) – “Protecting Against Forever Chemicals Act”; establishes requirements, prohibitions, and programs for the regulation of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
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A deal to raise the country’s debt limit also includes changes to a bedrock environmental law and approves a controversial natural gas pipeline.
By Jeff Brady, National Public Radio
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
OK. The House is voting today on a deal to raise the country’s debt ceiling. The Senate is expected to vote in the coming days. We are going to focus now on another element of that legislation because the deal also includes changes to a bedrock environmental law and approves a controversial natural gas pipeline. Jeff Brady from our climate desk is here. Hey, Jeff.
JEFF BRADY, BYLINE: Hi there.
KELLY: Hi. So this natural gas pipeline, the Mountain Valley pipeline, how did this end up in debt ceiling legislation?
BRADY: The short answer is compromise. With Republicans holding a narrow majority in the House and Democrats a narrow majority in the Senate, including approval for this Mountain Valley pipeline gives fossil fuel allies something they can claim as a victory. And that increases the number of lawmakers voting for the debt ceiling increase.
BRADY: Yeah. West Virginia’s delegation wanted this, including a key Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin. This pipeline would transport natural gas from West Virginia about 300 miles south to North Carolina. The project has faced opposition from activists because it would be a contributor to climate change. And there have been court challenges from local landowner and environmental groups. Jean Su is with the Center for Biological Diversity, and she still hopes this provision will be removed before a final vote.
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By the end of this year, the EPA will issue a notice of proposed rulemaking for emissions standards related to municipal solid waste incinerators under the terms of a draft consent decree reached with environmental groups. The decree was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on May 23.
Groups, including Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and Ironbound Community Corp., sued the EPA in January 2022 over its alleged failure under the Clean Air Act to revisit the rules every five years. The decree would require EPA to finalize a new rule by November 30, 2024.
Environmental groups hope the draft decree could tighten federal emissions standards for 68 MSW incinerators, leading to tighter regulations for nine pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, dioxins, and nitrous oxides. The suit is part of a broader effort by environmental groups who say the EPA is behind the times in regulating several categories of waste incinerators, including MSW and medical waste.
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A raging wildfire outside Halifax about 600 miles away from North Jersey has burned through 2,000 acres of forest and damaged at least 200 homes and businesses. The fire was expected to spread today due to dry conditions and persistent wind, according to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation.
Smoke arrived in the region Tuesday afternoon propelled by southwesterly winds causing hazy skies across much of the Northeast. The plume was so dense that some residents in New England reported the air smelled like a campfire.
Air quality is expected to take a dive Wednesday in North Jersey and the New York metropolitan region as more smoke from Nova Scotia wildfires is expected to inundate the region.
Small particles from burning wood will cause an orange alert for most of New Jersey, according to a forecast from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Young children, the elderly, and those with lung conditions such as asthma and emphysema are particularly vulnerable in an orange alert. They are advised to stay indoors.
New York Projects Slated to Get Over $6M for Cleanup and Tech Assistance at Polluted Brownfield Sites
The so-called Winkelman property in Syracuse is the most tax-delinquent parcel in the city, with an outstanding bill of $2.6 million.
From the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
NEW YORK (May 25, 2023) – TheU.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that 7 selectees from New York will get $6.4 Millionfrom President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in New York while advancing environmental justice. Thanks to the historic boost from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this is the largest-ever funding awarded in the history of the EPA’s Brownfields MARC Grant programs.
These investments are part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to grow the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure to driving over $470 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
“We’re working across the country to revitalize what were once dangerous and polluted sites in overburdened communities into more sustainable and environmentally just places that serve as community assets. Thanks to President Biden’s historic investments in America, we’re moving further and faster than ever before to clean up contaminated sites, spur economic redevelopment, and deliver relief that so many communities have been waiting for,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “This critical wave of investments is the largest in Brownfields’ history and will accelerate our work to protect the people and the planet by transforming what was once blight into might.”
Thanks to the historic $1.5 billion boost from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA’s Brownfields Program is helping more communities than ever before begin to address the economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfields and stimulate economic opportunity, and environmental revitalization in historically overburdened communities.
State Funding Breakdown:
EPA announced 262 communities that have been selected to receive 267 grants totaling more than $215 million in competitive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Programs. This represents the highest funding level ever announced in the history of the Brownfields Program.
The following organizations in New York have been selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Programs.
Greater Syracuse Land Bank, NY has been selected to receive $1,000,000. Grant funds will be used to update an inventory of brownfield sites and conduct 20 Phase I and 18 Phase II environmental site assessments, and develop eight cleanup plans and four reuse plans. Grant funds also will be used to update an inventory of foreclosable brownfield sites and support community engagement activities. Assessment activities will focus on the South Avenue Corridor, the Near Eastside Neighborhood, the 15th Ward, and the Hawley-Green Neighborhood in the City of Syracuse, all within the city’s urban core. Priority sites include a former dry cleaners and gas station, four vacant and abandoned former automobile repair shops, a vacant commercial building, and an auto garage and junkyard.
Syracuse Industrial Development Agency, NY has been selected to receive $800,000. Grant funds will be used to conduct one Phase I and three Phase II environmental site assessments of sites in the target area and to clean up the 341 Peat Street site. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community engagement activities. The target area for this project is the Near Eastside neighborhood in the City of Syracuse, which is just 1.4 miles east of downtown Syracuse with dilapidated buildings, piles of illegally dumped trash and debris, and associated blight that is highly visible from Highway 690 as people travel into the city. Priority sites include the 341 Peat Street site, which was first developed in the 1890s and historically operated as a structural steel works facility, a forge and a foundry for an iron and steel company, a machine shop, an equipment repair facility, and a varnish supplier. Other priority sites are located on Greenway Avenue and include the 79,600-square-foot Winkelman property, a 0.93-acre former industrial site, and a 0.29-acre site consisting of an abandoned roadway.
Wayne Country Regional Land Bank Corporation, NY has been selected to receive $800,000. Grant funds will be used to conduct six Phase I and four Phase II environmental site assessments, prepare two cleanup plans and one site reuse plan, update the county’s site inventory, and conduct community engagement activities. Grant funds also will be used to clean up four sites on Canal Street. The target area for this project is the Canal/Geneva Street Corridor in the City of Lyons’ historic downtown district, which sits along the Erie Canal. Priority sites include five properties on Canal Street, a property at 30 Geneva Street, and one property at 1 Clyde Road. These properties include former mixed commercial row-style buildings, a former gas station, a former fueling station and convenience store, and a former restaurant and bar.
Wayne County, NY has been selected to receive $1,000,000. Grant funds will be used to conduct 15 Phase I and 14 Phase II environmental site assessments and develop eight cleanup plans, two site reuse plans, and one area-wide plan. Grant funds also will be used to update a brownfield inventory and support community outreach activities. Assessment activities will focus on the Village of Newark and the Towns of Lyons, Sodus, and Wolcott. Priority sites include an underutilized industrial property, a 13,000-square-foot abandoned former two-story medical office, and a formerly occupied photo etching company in the City of Newark; a former coal-fired electric generation plant located on the Erie Canal and a 21-acre former warehouse and shipping facility in the Town of Lyons; a 3.5-acre former malt house for the Genesee Brewing Company and a 4.25-acre water treatment plant in Wayne County; and the 200-acre Former Butler State Prison in the Town of Wolcott. Non-lead coalition members include the Town of Lyons, the Village of Newark, and the Greater Rochester Enterprise.
Mohawk Valley Economic Development District Inc., NY has been selected to receive $1,000,000. The grant will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which the Mohawk Valley Economic Development District, Inc. will provide loans and subgrants to support cleanup activities. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community engagement activities and market the fund. RLF activities will focus on the Utica Industrial Central Corridor Brownfield Opportunity Zone (BOA), the Gloversville BOA/Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) area, and the Ilion LWRP area.
Sullivan County, NY has been selected to receive $800,000. The grant will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which Sullivan County will provide ten loans and ten subgrants to support cleanup activities. Grant funds also will be used to market the RLF program. RLF activities will target the entire county with a focus on housing projects and the multi-owner Turick site. Priority sites include vacant homes in the Towns of Bethel, Liberty, Thompson, and the Village of Monticello.
Syracuse Economic Development Corporation, NY has been selected to receive $1,000,000. The grant will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which the Syracuse Economic Development Corporation will provide loans and subgrants to support cleanup activities. Grant funds also will be used to conduct cleanup planning and community engagement activities and market the fund. RLF activities will focus on the East Adams and Hawley-Green neighborhoods, which are in some of the City of Syracuse’s densest urban areas.
You can read more about this year’s MARC selectees, here
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Independent studies by Princeton researchers Cuihong Song and Daniel P. Moore concur that methane emissions from municipal wastewater in the U.S. are actually closer to double than formerly calculated. (Photos by Bumper DeJesus)
By Colton Poore, Princeton University’s Adlinger Center
Municipal wastewater treatment plants emit nearly double the amount of methane into the atmosphere than scientists previously believed, according to new research from Princeton University. And since methane warms the planet over 80 times more powerfully than carbon dioxide over 20 years, that could be a big problem.
“The waste sector is one of the largest anthropogenic sources of methane in the world,” said Mark Zondlo, professor of civil and environmental engineering and associated faculty at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. “As cities continue to urbanize and develop net-zero plans, they can’t ignore the liquid wastewater treatment sector.”
Mark Zondlo and Z. Jason Ren
Zondlo led one of two new studies on the subject, both reported in papers published in Environmental Science & Technology. One study performed on-the-ground methane emissions measurements at 63 wastewater treatment plants in the United States; the other used machine learning methods to analyze published literature data from methane monitoring studies of various wastewater collection and treatment processes around the globe.
“Not many people have studied the methane emissions associated with wastewater infrastructure, even though we know that it’s a hotspot for methane production,” said Z. Jason Ren, who led the second study. Ren is a professor of civil and environmental engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has established guidelines that allow researchers and institutions like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to estimate methane emissions from wastewater treatment plants based on their specific treatment processes. However, those guidelines were developed from limited measurements at a relatively small number of wastewater treatment plants.
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