Even Paper Bags Will Be Banned From N.J. Supermarkets

The bill, which would make the state the first to ban single-use paper bags at supermarkets, would also ban single-use plastic bags in stores and restaurants.

Environmental advocates say the bill is among the most stringent in the country. Opponents of the bill say it would hurt manufacturers and other businesses based in the state.Credit…Bryan Anselm for The New York Times

By Mihir Zaveri, New York Times

Paper or plastic? In New Jersey, try neither.

The state Legislature on Thursday voted to make New Jersey the first in the country to ban single-use paper bags in supermarkets along with all single-use plastic bags in stores and restaurants.

Eight other states, including California, New York and Vermont, have bans on single-use plastic bags either in effect now or scheduled to go into effect in the coming years.

But by banning both plastic and paper single-use bags, as well as disposable food containers and cups made out of polystyrene foam, environmental advocates said the New Jersey bill is among the most stringent in the United States.

“This bill is probably the strongest, most comprehensive bill in the nation dealing with plastics and packaging,” said Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, which had been helping lead the campaign for the ban. “It will go a long way in our battle with plastic pollution.”

Opponents of the bill had argued that it would hurt businesses and that the ban should be limited to plastic bags, since many view paper bags as an environmentally friendly alternative.

But Mr. Tittel said by banning paper bags, New Jersey would be pushing people to use bags made out of recycled or other sustainable materials.

Heidi Brock, the president and chief executive of the American Forest and Paper Association, which represents companies that are part of the paper industry, said that she hoped the governor would block the ban on paper bags.

“The New Jersey Legislature has undermined an environmentally responsible option for consumers,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “Furthermore, the ban on paper bags sends an alarming message in devaluing family wage jobs, which are often union labor, in addition to the indirect jobs supported by

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By Gibbons attorneys Howard D. Geneslaw and Cameron W. MacLeod

The period within which to register development approvals for tolling or extension under the Permit Extension Act of 2020 (“Act”) concludes on October 8, 2020. Permits and approvals which are not timely registered by that date may expire without receiving the benefit of tolling afforded by the Act.

We have detailed both the Permit Extension Act of 2020 and the recently published notices from various state agencies on our website. While the language of the Act as adopted, and the accompanying notices from the various state agencies, are not fully consistent with respect to what approvals are required to be registered, we wanted to pass along two key suggestions regarding how to best take advantage of the Act:

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Healthy, frolicking baby orca is a boy

Tahlequah’s new baby, right, is confirmed to be a male. The baby was seen playing and frolicking last evening at Point Roberts, Washington. (Sara Shimazu Hysazu / Maya’s Legacy/PWWA)

From today”s Seattle Times

Researchers were hoping for a girl to help boost the population in the future. But the good news is that this fellow looked feisty when he was seen off Point Roberts in Whatcom County, according to the Center for Whale Research. He’s the son of Tahlequah, who raised worldwide concern in 2018 when she carried a dead calf for 17 days and 1,000 miles. (Photo courtesy of Sara Shimazu Hysazu)

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California to stop sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035

Gov. Gavin Newsom signs executive order that will require new cars sold in the state to be electric or otherwise zero-emissions.

By Dino Grandoni, Faiz Siddiqui and Brady Dennis, Washington Post
September 23, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

California, the world’s fifth-largest economy and the state that created U.S. car culture, will stop selling gasoline-powered automobiles within 15 years, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Wednesday.

Facing its record-breaking wildfire season and heat waves, made worse by climate change, California is moving to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, Newsom said.

“For too many decades, we have allowed cars to pollute the air that our children and families breathe,” Newsom said in a statement Wednesday. “You deserve to have a car that doesn’t give your kids asthma. Our cars shouldn’t make wildfires worse — and create more days filled with smoky air.”

The state’s clean air regulator, the California Air Resources Board, will develop regulations that ensure every new passenger car sold in the state is electric or is otherwise zero-emissions by 2035. Automakers would have until 2045 to make sure all medium- and heavy-duty trucks and other vehicles were zero-emissions, as well.

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Trump veto of House clean energy bill likely

Ginsburg replacement fight complicates Senate bill’s path

By Catherine Morehouse, Utility Dive

The White House on Monday said the president’s advisors would recommend he veto a comprehensive House clean energy bill, as progress on the Senate’s Energy Innovation Act may continue to stall following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Members of Congress were hoping to squeeze out their respective chambers’ energy innovation bills by the end of the year, but between the White House’s intent to veto and an expected fierce battle over the now-vacant Supreme Court seat following the death of Ginsburg on Friday, a path forward is less certain.

“With the news of Justice Ginsburg’s passing, I cannot even venture a guess of how the next few weeks and months may play out,” said Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., on Monday during a National Clean Energy Week symposium.

Policy observers say there was likely already too little time left in the year to see the Senate’s Energy Innovation Act hit the floor again, after stalling in March. Meanwhile, the House’s legislative package was scheduled for a vote this week, but the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) indicated the president’s advisors would recommend he veto the legislation if it made it to his desk, citing the bill’s “top-down approach that would undermine the Administration’s deregulatory agenda.

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PA recycling facility gets grant to recycle polystyrene

By Megan Smalley, Recycling Today

Westmoreland Cleanways and Recycling (WCR), a nonprofit environmental organization based in southwestern Pennsylvania, has received a $46,500 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC), Falls Church, Virginia, to add a foam densifier to its drop-off facility that recovers hard-to-recycle materials.

According to a news release from FRC, WCR oversees recycling activity in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, which has 67 municipalities and more than 151,000 households. The organization opened its first drop-off facility in 2014 to manage hard-to-recycle materials not collected in curbside recycling. Materials accepted include electronics, tires, scrap metal, appliances, fluorescent bulbs/fixtures, used motor oil, lead-acid batteries, glass containers and now polystyrene (PS).

FRC says the funding will enable WCR to purchase and install a high-capacity densifier unit to manage its drop-off foam collection at a new and larger facility the organization opened in May. The densifier will allow WCR to collect any type of foam, including foodservice packaging (e.g., cups, plates, bowls, clamshells and cafeteria trays), other foam food packaging (e.g., egg cartons and meat trays) and block protective packaging foam found with electronics or furniture.

“We are focused on recovering more material. Adding the new services for foam recycling is highly anticipated within the county,” says Ellen Keefe, executive director of WCR.

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