NJBPU debuts solar transition plan to ease costs for utility customers

New incentive program reduces the subsidies given to developers and owners of solar arrays in New Jersey

The solar industry employs about 7,000 people in New Jersey.

TOM JOHNSON reports for NJ Spotlight

The state has adopted a much-debated plan to help the solar sector transition to a new way of financing solar projects, an overhaul the Murphy administration hopes will rein in costs to utility customers who pay for the program.

The plan, the first step to scrapping a decade-old system of subsidizing solar projects, has met a mixed reception from solar developers who have helped build a robust solar industry in New Jersey. The industry employs about 7,000 people, and homes and businesses have installed a total of 117,893 solar arrays.

But the state Board of Public Utilities’ vote to approve the new program will allow the agency and solar advocates to focus on designing a more permanent program in which the sector can continue to thrive using a less expensive system. Ratepayers have been hit with $2.6 billion in subsidies since the program began about a decade ago.

The new incentive program reduces the subsidies given to developers and owners of solar arrays, as was sought by a law enacted in 2018. It sets up a tiered level of incentives depending on what solar projects are installed — those built on homes; on corporate campuses and businesses; on landfills and brownfield; grid supply projects and community solar facilities.

“Our mission is to achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2050, and we won’t get there without solar power, a critical industry for our state,’’ said BPU President Joseph Fiordaliso. “Ultimately, our aim is to balance ratepayer impacts with ensuring a thriving and stable solar industry.’’

Skepticism among solar advocates

Whether that is achieved provokes skepticism among some solar advocates. Modeling for a new energy master plan for the state projects solar energy will provide up to 34% of the state’s electricity by 2050.

“Our members are in a panic right now,’’ said Lyle Rawlings, founder of Advanced Solar Products in Flemington, referring to the Mid-Atlantic Solar and Storage Industries Association. “They don’t see how they can stay in business.’’

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‘Dirty dirt’ soil broker licensing advances in NJ

By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor

Separate New Jersey Senate and Assembly bills requiring the licensing of persons involved in the sale and transport of soils for fill were merged yesterday and are now in place for final passage in both houses.

A-4267 (McKeon) and S1683 (Smith) would expand the requirements for background checks and so-called ‘901’ solid waste licensing to companies and persons involved in the “collection, transportation, processing, brokering, storage, purchase, sale, or disposition of soil and fill recyclable material.”

The legislation comes in response to a 2011 report by the State Committee of Investigations that found organized crime members posing as legitimate recyclers but supplying construction projects with contaminated soils.  

The legislation referred to during the legislative process as the ‘dirty dirt’ bill, is now in place for an Assembly floor vote.

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$188M in green preservation bills clear NJ Senate committee

Preserved Farmland sign in New Jersey

By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor

For decades, public opinion polls have shown steadfast support by New Jersey residents for open-space, farmland and historic site acquisition and preservation. Until a few years ago, funding to keep the programs alive depended on voter approval of ballot questions every two years at election time. But when the economy started to sour, some feared that future ballot votes might not prove as automatic as in the past, so preservationists convinced the legislature to pass a big one — a change to the state constitution establishing a stable funding source for the programs. It comes from a four-percent slice of New Jersey’s annual Corporate Business Tax (which has grown to a six-percent today).

The funding history might have looked easy today when the Senate Environment and Energy Committee prepared to pass, without opposition, a total of eight farmland and open space appropriation bills. So Chairman Bob Smith appropriately took a few minutes to remind the audience of what a long, hard road it had been, including last year’s negotiations among farmland, open space, urban space and historic site representatives over how to apportion the annual funding. “Like herding cats,” Smith quipped. The eight bills approved today will distribute a total of $188 million if approved, as expected, in the Senate and Assembly.

Here’s the breakdown (click individual bill numbers for details):

S4276Corrado, Kristin M.Agriculture Development Committee-farmland preservation purposes;$31.153M
 
S4277Greenstein, Linda R.CBT revenues to St. Agric Devel Committee-mun planning incentive farmland grants
 
S4278Greenstein, Linda R.CBT revenues to St. Agric Devel Committee-co. planning incentive farmland grants
 
S4279Smith, BobCBT rev. to State Agric Devel Committee-non-profit organizations farmland grants
 
S4310Codey, Richard J.Nonprofit entities develop lands for recreation & conservation purposes;$8.872M
 
S4311Greenstein, Linda R.Open space acquisition and park development projects;$77.450M
 
S4312Smith, BobState capital and park development projects;$36.143M
 
S4313Corrado, Kristin M.Recreation and conservation purposes including Blue Acres projects;$33.915M

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NJ state court hands local governments a club to force polluters to clean up spills

Municipalities can hit companies with fines of up to $50,000 a day if they balk at decontaminating toxic waste, says the appellate court

TOM JOHNSON reports for NJ Spotlight

In a case that may boost the ability of the state to force polluters to clean up spills, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled local governments can impose significant penalties against companies responsible for unauthorized discharges of hazardous substances. In a case that may boost the ability of the state to force polluters to clean up spills, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled local governments can impose significant penalties against companies responsible for unauthorized discharges of hazardous substances. In a case that may boost the ability of the state to force polluters to clean up spills, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled local governments can impose significant penalties against companies responsible for unauthorized discharges of hazardous substances.

The ruling by the appellate division last month is viewed by environmentalists as affording the state and municipalities a critical tool to force cleanups by levying penalties of up to $50,000 a day for violations involving the New Jersey Spill and Compensation Act.

The case involved an oil spill from three electrical transformers in Milltown that flowed into a local brook when they were improperly demolished on property belonging to the Alsol Corp. As a result, an employee of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection filed a complaint in municipal court alleging the company had failed to remediate the property.

Polluter challenges local jurisdiction

When the complaint came before a municipal judge, Alsol moved to dismiss it saying local courts do not have the authority to adjudicate enforcement actions brought by the DEP involving the Spill Act, a 1976 law designed to speed up cleanups of contaminated sites.

The municipal judge agreed with Alsol, dismissing the case and saying the jurisdiction of local courts is limited to enforcing a penalty entered either by an administrative law court judge or the Superior Court. The DEP appealed the case to the Law Division, which ultimately found municipal courts have jurisdiction to enforce civil penalties in an enforcement action brought by DEP pursuant to the Spill Act.

In a 20-page ruling, the appeals court affirmed. The decision was hailed as an important victory, reinforcing the powers the state has over polluters to force cleanups, according to Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

“Municipal court makes it quicker for the state to enforce violations against polluters and make them clean up their toxic mess,’’ Tittel said. The ruling also may help towns seeking to force cleanups where illegal dumping has taken place, a recurring problem in New Jersey, he said.

Earlier this year, officials in Vernon Township were frustrated by efforts to take legal action against a Sussex County resident who they claimed was operating an illegal solid-waste dump on his property.

The state also has experienced problems with so-called dirt brokers who bring contaminated fill into New Jersey under the guise of recycling. Legislation to address that problem is expected to be taken up by the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee on Monday.

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Trenton becomes latest NJ city to ban single-use plastic bags

TRT-L-StateOfCity-Rodriguez-102518.jpg
Trenton Councilman Santiago Rodriguez – John Berry – The Trentonian

Isaac Avilucea reports for the Trentonian

TRENTON — The capital city joined a growing number of municipalities in New Jersey to crack down on the use of plastic shopping bags, the same day state lawmakers advanced legislation that would ban single-use plastic bags across the Garden State.

The council voted 7-0 Thursday night to approve a ban on single-use plastic bags in Trenton “for the preservation of the public health, safety and welfare” of residents and the environment.

The prohibition, spearheaded by at-large councilman Santiago Rodriguez, was initially set to take effect June 2020. But the legislative body agreed to amend the ordinance to push back the implementation date until Dec. 31, 2020 after looking to allay concerns raised by the Latino Merchant Association.

The organization was not opposed to the ban, which will impact businesses throughout the city, but asked the council to relax the date the ordinance would go into effect to give businesses more time to prepare for the change.

Under the adopted city law, first-time offenders face fines of $100, issued only after a written warning. Fines increase to $200 for second offenses and $500 for each subsequent offense. Retails must also provide customers with “compliant bags” for 10 cents apiece.

Rodriguez refused to speak to The Trentonian about one of his few victorious initiatives after Thursday night’s meeting.

“I have no comments,” he said.

At-large councilman Jerell Blakeley acknowledged the single-use plastic bag ban may become “superfluous” soon enough as state lawmakers advanced a more-stringent law that would ban not only single carryout plastic bags but also paper bags and Styrofoam containers.

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EPA faces legal pressure on deadline to set standards for solid-waste incineration

EPA headquarters in Washington, D. C. Credit: Wikimedia

E.A. Crunden reports for WasteDive

The U.S. EPA is facing pressure over a federal emissions plan for several categories of solid waste incinerators. E&E News reported oral arguments in an ongoing legal challenge by the Sierra Club on Dec. 3 could see the agency pushed on adhering to a five-year timeline laid out by Congress. The agency has sought to delay finalizing its plan, arguing “the statute does not impose any deadline​.”

While Judge Robert Wilkins of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit appeared to disagree with Sierra Club’s argument that EPA is required to “develop, implement and enforce” a federal plan within a two-year time frame, he expressed skepticism over the agency’s slow pace. The Clean Air Act requires an EPA plan for incinerators to be adopted by states whose individual plans do not meet federal emissions standards. States must submit plans within a year of the EPA finalizing guidelines, with the agency allotted 180 days to respond to those submissions. 

Wilkins indicated that Congress had been clear in its expected deadline and signaled environmental groups could likely sue over EPA’s delay of the plan. It is unclear if they will seek to do so, but Sierra Club has taken a hard line with the agency. “At stake are the lives and health of people who live near the scores of incinerators across the country that…are still operating with outdated control requirements or with no control requirements at all,” the organization argued in a filing. 

Dive Insight:

The fight over EPA’s incinerator standards is somewhat similar to a more widely covered dispute over landfill emissions. Eight state attorneys general have been so far successful in challenging EPA in an effort to force that federal plan, although the legal battle remains ongoing. In November, a federal judge dismissed the agency’s latest effort to shift its timeline for implementing that rule.  

Like the landfill issue, the incinerator case stems from the Clean Air Act’s mandate to address pollution. In 2011, the Obama administration promulgated the standards with revisions two years later and again in 2016. The standards are aimed specifically at commercial and solid waste incineration units (CSWI) and other solid waste incinerators (OSWI), which have their own category under Section 129 of the Clean Air Act. That section directs EPA to limit air pollutants including lead, mercury, and dioxins, all of which can be detrimental to human health.

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