EnviroPolitics Blog

Bill to fund promotion of aquaculture in New Jersey advances

Suspended or floating aquaculture systems utilize hanging bags, cages, and/or floats on or near surface waters. *Photo Credit – Lisa Calvo*

By the New Jersey Senate Democrats

TRENTON – The Senate Budget and Appropriations has advanced legislation sponsored by Senators Bob Smith and Linda-R-Greenstein which would require the promotion and advertisement of aquaculture products that are produced in the state as part of the Jersey Fresh program.

“New Jersey has a vibrant and growing aquaculture industry which deserves just as much support as our other food production industries,” said Senator Smith (D-Middlesex/Somerset), Chair of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee. “This bill will ensure that they are a part of our state’s efforts to promote other locally grown and harvested products and, in doing so, help to ensure the industry can continue to thrive, create jobs, and feed New Jerseyans.”

The bill, S216, would require the Department of Agriculture to develop and implement, as a part of the already existing Jersey Fresh program, a program to advertise and promote aquaculture products produced in the state, such as fish and shellfish.

“Aquaculture is a part of New Jersey’s heritage, and I am glad that over the past two decades the industry has been revitalized and is once again thriving,” said Senator Greenstein (D-Middlesex/Mercer). “By promoting aquaculture as part of our Jersey Fresh program, we can better support the industry’s growth and make sure New Jerseyans are aware of their local foods.”

Additionally, the legislation would provide an annual appropriation of $25,000 to effectuate the advertisement and promotion of New Jersey’s aquaculture projects. This appropriation would be in addition to any other funds appropriated or allocated to the Jersey Fresh program.

MORE: Shellfish Aquaculture in New Jersey

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Tug-of-war continues over proposed New Jersey flood rules

The New Jersey DEP says its proposed NJPACT REAL rules will lessen the dangers of flooding like the Atlantic City street scene above. Shore businesses say it’s overkill.

By Bill Barlow, Atlantic City Press

The public comment period ended last year, but a war of words continues on proposed rules for New Jersey coastal development, designed to respond to a warming planet and rising sea levels.

A coalition of environmental organizations wants to make sure Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy gets the controversial rules in place as proposed by the end of his term and cited the potential for significant cuts to disaster response under President Donald Trump as adding to the urgency.

In a May 29 letter to Murphy, signed by the leadership of 16 New Jersey groups, they cited the work that went into the NJPACT REAL rules, developed by the state Department of Environmental Protection after a 2019 executive order from Murphy.

“These rules have been developed for more than four years with input from a wide range of stakeholders, including municipalities, advocates, scientists, and planners,” the letter reads. “They represent the best available science and standards to help New Jersey prepare for the future that is already upon us — one marked by rising sea levels, worsening storms, and growing threats to our communities.”

Short for NJ Protecting Against Climate Threats Resilient Environments and Landscapes, is different from local construction codes or federal flood zones because the rules look at projected future impacts from climate change.

As proposed, the rules would apply to new construction or substantial improvements, not to exiting structures. Homes, hospitals, businesses and critical infrastructure would need to be built taller, among other changes proposed.

The rules create an inundation risk zone, addressing the risk to homes and infrastructure from more frequent flooding, as well as adjusting coastal flood hazard areas and encouraging nature-based solutions, such as favoring living shoreline projects over extending seawalls.

Read the full story here

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Philly’s Main Line has bet on walkable, transit-oriented development. What happens if the train stops running?

By Denali Sagner, Philadelphia Inquirer

On a recent weekday morning in Narberth, young parents nursed babies outside of coffee shops and local stores swung open their doors for customers. The 4,400-resident borough’s downtown corridor was quiet and charming — a trademark of the Main Line that has drawn suburban dwellers and visitors for decades.

In Narberth and its neighboring Main Line communities, stakeholders in recent years have pushed to embrace transit-oriented development, a model that encourages building retail, restaurants, offices, residential buildings, and parks in a walkable environment, close to public transit. In Narberth and Lower Merion, this has meant proximity to SEPTA’s Paoli/Thorndale Line and the four bus lines — the 44, 52, 103, and 106 — that run through the area.

Such revitalization efforts have helped bring multifamily housing and new businesses to Ardmore. In Narberth, the planning commission last month heard input on various transit-oriented development possibilities. In Malvern, also along the Paoli/Thorndale line, mixed-use development has brought in a “mini renaissance.”

Advocates say transit-oriented development has brought diversity, density, and economic vibrancy to formerly exclusive and sleepy downtown corners.

Yet potential cuts to SEPTA would mean the elimination of the Paoli/Thorndale Line, which has stops in many Main Line towns, and of all four bus routes that service Lower Merion and Narberth. With key train and bus routes on the chopping block, questions loom over the future of development in communities that have bet on building around transit.

Read the full story here

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Iconic NJ Fishing Pier Reopens After $3M Makeover

By Cecilia Levine, Daily Voice

Cape May County’s iconic Grassy Sound Fishing Pier is back and better than ever — just in time for the summer season.

County Director Len Desiderio and the Board of County Commissioners will cut the ribbon on the newly rebuilt pier at 10 a.m. Friday, June 13. The ceremony will take place at 13 Old North Wildwood Blvd. East, next to the Grassy Sound Marina in Middle Township.

The beloved fishing and crabbing spot had been closed for nearly three years due to safety concerns. In 2024, county commissioners approved a rehabilitation project not to exceed $2.98 million.

The new pier features a rebuilt bulkhead, lighting upgrades, better parking, new signage, and improved ADA access — while keeping the tradition of free public fishing and crabbing alive.

Built on the remains of the original Grassy Sound Bridge, the pier has served as a community hub for local anglers and families for generations.

Middle Township, which has leased and managed the site since 2007, will continue to provide maintenance under a Shared Services Agreement with the county.

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NJ Democrats to siphon off state funds for electric rate hike relief

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Ratepayers would get $100 minimum — though details remain murky

On June 5, 2025, Gov. Phil Murphy was joined by other state officials – including Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, Senate President Nick Scutari, and New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Christine Guhl-Sadovy – to announce energy bill relief at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s headquarters in Newark. – PROVIDED BY RICH HUNDLEY III/NJ GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

By Nikita Biryukov, NJ Monitor

New Jersey will send ratepayers at least $100 to defray the impact of a steep rise in electricity prices that took effect this month, top Democrats announced Thursday.

The $430 million program, which is not yet approved by state energy regulators, would provide each of the state’s 3.9 million ratepayers with $100, with an additional $150 for low- and moderate-income residents.

“We’re taking this step today because the fact is the people of New Jersey are being battered by the rising cost of energy, and by the way, this is not unique to New Jersey,” Gov. Phil Murphy said at a press conference in Newark. “You can look all around the country right now, and certainly all around this region to see that we are not alone. Wholesale electricity prices are up multiples of what they were even a year ago today.”

Christine Guhl Sadovy, president of the state Board of Public Utilities, suggested residents enrolled in the state’s winter termination program would be eligible for the $150 payment. That program bars utility shutoffs between Nov. 15 and March 15.

Officials were deliberating a second $100 payment but had not reached a decision as of Thursday afternoon, Murphy said.

It was not immediately clear when or how the benefits would be paid. Murphy suggested they could come in September or October but cautioned that the timeline is hazy as the aid still needs approval from the Board of Public Utilities, whose next meeting is set for June 18.

Lawmakers’ announcement comes just days after electricity prices rose by roughly 20% at the start of June, pushed upward by the results of price-setting auctions held in July and February, and as hot weather pushed temperatures to roughly 90 degrees in much of the state Thursday.

It also comes as all 80 seats in the state Assembly — which Democrats control by a 52-28 majority — are on the ballot in the fall (the primaries are on Tuesday).

Funding for the payments would come from the state’s Clean Energy Fund, the state’s share of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative money, and the Solar Alternative Compliance Payment, which is paid by electricity suppliers that are unable to meet the state’s renewables standard.

Read the full story here

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South Jersey confronts deep dig for gas storage along the Delaware

By Right: How the existing cavern in Gibbstown looked in 1967 when it was used by its previous owner, DuPont, to store ammonia. If two new caverns are approved by state officials, the three will form the largest underground fuel-storage complex in New Jersey. Left: Workers descending to the cavern in 1967 Credit: (NJDEP)

By Jon Hurdle, Inside Climate News

A controversial plan to build two giant caverns to store propane and butane beneath the community of Gibbstown on the Delaware River is going through its final public scrutiny. And it is hearing plenty from those hoping to stop it.

The state Department of Environmental Protection issued a draft permit for the Gloucester County project in April, and is now seeking public comment until June 16 before issuing a final decision on what would be New Jersey’s biggest complex of caverns for storing petroleum products.

But since first proposed three years ago, the project has faced opposition from environmental groups that say it would expose local people to explosive and toxic materials and should never be built in a densely populated area. They have said it would also only worsen the climate crisis by stimulating the production of fossil fuels.

“This is the wrong project in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Tracy Carluccio, deputy director of Delaware Riverkeeper Network, at a public hearing held by the DEP in mid-May.

The new caverns would hold 26.8 million gallons of liquefied petroleum gases (LPG), about five times as much as an existing cavern on the site that was used by its former owner, the chemical giant DuPont, to store ammonia. That cavern is now used by the developer, Delaware River Partners, to store butane. In future, the complex could be even larger if the company goes ahead with possible plans to build another two caverns.

Read the full story here

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