EnviroPolitics Blog

Northeast alpine stewardship groups win funding

Camel’s Hump; photo credit: Matt Heller

EAST CORINTH, VT — The Waterman Fund grants program has awarded 5 grants totaling $33,014 for 2022. These grants have supported trail work, stewardship, education, and research across the alpine of Northeastern North America. The program has distributed a total of $313,021 since its inception in 2002.

Two grants went to educational infrastructure this year. The Maine Appalachian Trail Club received partial funding ($5,000) for the construction of the Maine Trail Center, the organization’s first permanent home and base-of-operations for its Trail Crew, Ridgerunner, and volunteer programs. The second grant went to the Mohonk Preserve ($2,600) for educational and wayfinding signage to promote Leave No Trace messaging on low impact climbing to protect fragile cliff-side vegetation.

The Waterman Fund is pleased to provide support for a variety of projects across the region we serve,” said Lars Botzojorns, president of the Fund’s board of directors. “In addition, we hope each project will contribute ideas and data that can be applied to alpine stewardship efforts more broadly.”

One of the grants went to supporting and sustaining alpine stewardship programs. The Green Mountain Club received $11,214 for programmatic support of their Backcountry Caretaker Program on Mount Mansfield and Camel’s Hump.

The last two grants went to research to better understand fragile alpine ecosystems, sustain long-term monitoring, and study climate change and its impacts. $7,000 went to the Appalachian Mountain Club to fund climate data analysis from the Mount Washington Observatory weather station. The second research grant went to Heather Siart of the University of Massachusetts ($7,200). The focus of the research is the White Mountain Fritillary, a butterfly endemic to the Presidential Range and an indicator species for studying the effects of climate change in alpine habitats.

Don’t miss environmental news like this Click for free updates

Northeast alpine stewardship groups win funding Read More »

EPA’s latest Update to the TSCA Inventory

From the Environmental Protection Agency

The latest TSCA Inventory is now available on EPA’s website. The TSCA Inventory is a list of all existing chemical substances manufactured, processed, or imported in the U.S.

This biannual update to the public TSCA Inventory is part of EPA’s regular posting of non-confidential TSCA Inventory data. The next regular update of the Inventory is planned for summer 2022.

The Inventory contains 86,631 chemicals of which 42,039 are active in U.S commerce. Other updates to the TSCA Inventory include new chemical substance additions, commercial activity data and regulatory flags, such as polymer exemptions, TSCA section 4 test orders, and TSCA section 5 significant new use rules (SNURs).

On October 15, 2021, EPA announced a list of 377 specific chemical identities that were expected to lose their confidential status and move to the public portion of the Inventory. These 377 are listed in this public Inventory posting by their specific chemical identities.

For more information on the TSCA Inventory, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/tsca-inventory.

If you liked this post you’ll love our daily newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Don’t take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.

EPA’s latest Update to the TSCA Inventory Read More »

Proposed Ocean City transmission link to Orsted offshore wind farm is subject of March 7 online meeting

Orsted proposes to build a wind farm 15 miles off the South Jersey coast. This photo shows the turbines for an Orsted project overseas. (Photo credit Orsted)

By MADDY VITALE Downbeach

The public will hear from Orsted and PSEG representatives in a live-streamed meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, March 7, when officials will explain the project and their intention to utilize an area of Ocean City for an underground transmission line.

Each of the 99 wind turbines proposed in the project, called Ocean Wind, are roughly 900 feet tall and would stretch down the coast from Atlantic City to Stone Harbor about 15 miles offshore, passing by Ocean City in the process.

The company filed a petition on Feb. 2 with the state Board of Public Utilities to utilize an area of Ocean City to install a transmission line.

Don’t miss environmental news like this Click for free updates

Cape May County and Ocean City officials told OCNJDaily.com on Feb. 3 that they are reviewing the petition.

The project is in the planning and permitting phase and is slated for completion by 2024.

On Monday, Cape May County Administrator Kevin Lare said, “The county will have representation on the hearing March 7.”

Lare noted that the county is “continuing internal, deliberative discussions among the Board of County Commissioners.”

Over the last couple of years since Orsted approached Ocean City about the transmission line, and hosted forums about the project in the resort, there have been opponents to the plan as well as proponents.

An audience listens to Orsted representatives during the last forum in Ocean City in November.

There have been concerns over what the project could mean for marine life, the fishing industry, and if there will be bird strikes due to the turbines. Additionally, there are concerns that the wind farms will negatively affect real estate values, seasonal rentals, the tourist industry, drive up taxes, and increase the region’s energy bills.

Read the full story here

Proposed Ocean City transmission link to Orsted offshore wind farm is subject of March 7 online meeting Read More »

NJ communities awarded $16 million for recycling

From the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

The Murphy Administration is awarding nearly $16.2 million in grants to communities across the state to help them enhance waste reduction and recycling programs, a slight increase over the previous year’s total, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette has announced.

The annual awards are based on 2019 recycling performance, the most recent year for which data is available. Municipalities must use their funds for various recycling initiatives. These may include sponsoring household hazardous waste collection events, providing recycling receptacles in public places, or maintaining leaf composting operations.

“Our state recycling grants support local waste reduction initiatives, helping to reduce local property tax burdens for New Jersey residents while improving the cleanliness of our communities,” Commissioner LaTourette said. “This vital state support for our local governments helps to strengthen municipal commitments to recycling and improves the quality of life for countless New Jerseyans.”

The grants are awarded through the state’s Recycling Enhancement Act and are funded through a $3 per-ton surcharge on trash disposed statewide at solid waste facilities. The DEP returns that money to municipalities based upon how much recycling each community reports accomplishing during the calendar year.

For the calendar year 2019, New Jersey generated 21.8 million tons of solid waste. Municipalities, and in limited instances counties, reported 12.1 million tons as recycled and 9.6 million tons of solid waste disposed of, for an overall recycling rate of 56 percent. This represents a slight decrease from the 2018 rate of 59 percent. Solid waste includes municipal waste plus construction debris and other types of non-municipal waste.

Likewise, New Jersey generated 9.7 million tons of municipal solid waste. Municipalities, and in limited instances counties, reported recycling 3.6 million tons of municipal solid waste and disposing of 6 million tons of it. Higher disposal versus recycling of the municipal solid waste in 2019 compared with 2018 caused the municipal solid waste recycling rate to dip one percentage point to 38 percent.

New Jersey’s municipal solid waste recycling rate exceeds the national recycling rate average of 32 percent but is below the state’s municipal solid waste recycling goal of 50 percent.

“The annual distribution of recycling tonnage grants helps fund recycling initiatives that will educate the public about the importance of keeping New Jersey’s environment clean,” said Mark Pedersen, Assistant Commissioner for Site Remediation and Waste Management. “New Jersey remains a national leader in recycling, and these awards demonstrate our commitment to continually enhancing our recycling program.”

NJ communities awarded $16 million for recycling Read More »

How Zurich Blazed a Trail for Recycled Concrete

The Swiss city requires recycled concrete to be used in the construction of public buildings. Now other cities are following its lead

*The David Chipperfield-designed extension to Kunsthaus Zurich, the main art gallery in Zurich, is built with a share of 98% recycled concrete. Source: David Chipperfield Architects*

By Corinne Gretler Bloomberg CityLab
September 27, 2021, 1:00 AM EDT

As more and more new buildings are erected around the world, one city in Europe is trying to make the concrete jungle a bit greener.

Zurich has quietly become a frontrunner in advancing environmentally friendly construction, adopting green measures long before most companies started publicly emphasizing their sustainability.

Inspired by a public debate about two decades ago on how to reduce the amount of gravel that’s extracted and used in construction, Switzerland’s largest city has become a trailblazer for more sustainable construction. It built its first building with recycled concrete — a school building where 80% of concrete used had come through the recycling process — as far back as 2002. Three years later, it introduced a requirement that all publicly-owned buildings have to be made using recycled concrete. In 2013, the city went a step further to mandate the use of Co2-reduced cement. Now other cities are starting to take note, adopting practices that have been standard in Zurich for more than a decade.

Read the full story here

How Zurich Blazed a Trail for Recycled Concrete Read More »

Most enviro advocates cheer latest offshore wind leases but Clean Ocean Action has reservations

Environmental advocates are applauding plans to develop offshore wind off the coast of NJ in a part of the ocean known as the New York Bight. Last week, six companies were awarded lease areas after completing a competitive bidding process worth more than $4 billion. The projects developed on the lease sites could provide enough electricity to power 2 million homes.

Clean Ocean Action, an organization credited with stopping ocean dumping and praised for its annual ‘beach sweeps,’ says it supports offshore energy but fears its large-scale implementation is being rushed without adequate consideration of the impact on ocean animals and sea life.

Don’t miss environmental news like this Click for free updates

Most enviro advocates cheer latest offshore wind leases but Clean Ocean Action has reservations Read More »