Two bills collectively known as the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act have advanced in their respective legislative bodies. SB 54 passed in the Senate on May 29 and AB 1080 passed in the Assembly on May 30. Each bill will now head to the opposite legislative body for multiple rounds of committee votes — and possible amendments — before potentially coming up for a final concurrence vote that could send the legislation to Gov. Gavin Newsom by this fall.
Dive Brief:
California legislators recently introduced a pair of bills (AB 1080 and SB 54) known as the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act that would establish a comprehensive plan to “reduce and recycle” 75% of single-use plastics by 2030.
This bill takes a phased approach, calling for manufacturers of single-use plastic packaging or products distributed and sold in California to show a recycling rate of at least 20% by Jan. 1, 2022, and at least 40% by 2026. By 2030, all products would have to be “recyclable or compostable.”
In preparation, the legislation would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to create and approve a scoping plan about how to measure and achieve those targets by Jan. 1, 2021. It also calls for CalRecycle to develop criteria – based on requested data from the public and private sector – to determine which types of single-use packaging or products are reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
TOM JOHNSON reports for NJ Spotlight | MAY 31, 2019
Advocacy group maintains building new pipelines and other gas infrastructure means carbon emissions will be around for decades
A new study aims to dispel the notion that natural gas could be a bridge to a clean-energy future, suggesting it will instead undermine the Murphy administration’s goal to sharply curb climate-warming carbon emissions.
The report by Oil Change International, an advocacy group promoting renewable energy, recommends phasing out gas and other fossil fuels immediately if New Jersey wants to comply with state laws requiring 100-percent clean energy by 2050 and an 80-percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.
The report aims to bolster the case for blocking the expansion of natural-gas infrastructure in the state, a scenario occurring at the same time that a wide range of clean-energy projects — including offshore wind, energy efficiency and electrifying the transportation system — are under review by the administration.
“New Jersey is now a poster child for proposed fossil-fuel infrastructure that is not needed,’’ said Barb Blumenthal, research director for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, referring to proposals to build new natural-gas pipelines and gas-fired power plants across the state.
It points to the dilemma facing policymakers on how to juggle competing priorities to supplying the public with clean but affordable energy. On the one hand, the administration and clean-energy advocates want to shift away from climate-changing fossil fuels but officials fear the loss of a cheap source of energy that has lowered heating and electric bills and helped revive a manufacturing economy still recovering from a decade-old recession.
Rhode Island regulators approved a 20-year power-purchase agreement with DWW Rev I, LLC – a joint venture of Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource – for the offshore wind energy that the Revolution Wind project will deliver to the state.
The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission has unanimously approved Ørsted and Eversource’s long-term power contract with National Grid for 400 MW of clean energy from Revolution Wind.
Revolution Wind, Rhode Island’s second offshore wind farm, will generate enough clean energy to power more than 270,000 average Ocean State homes each year, about a quarter of the total electricity used by Rhode Islanders annually.
The project will save Rhode Island electricity customers millions of dollars in energy costs over the life of the project.
Revolution Wind, located in federal waters roughly halfway between Montauk, N.Y., and Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., is designed to serve as a regional energy center. Connecticut separately selected 300 MW from Revolution Wind to power that state.
The state Senate approved a measure in a 33-4 vote that would dramatically expand New Jersey’s medical marijuana program after the Assembly approved the measure by a wide margin last week.
The legislation that was passed Thursday in the Senate was amended to include a requirement that dispensaries, known as alternative treatment centers, hire union workers and demonstrate that they have a labor agreement in place.
The bill would give priority to applicants who already have an agreement with an labor organization, according to the amendments.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-3rd District, said the Assembly would vote on June 10 to approve the bill with the new amendments, after which it would head to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk. The state Senate is also expected to vote on the expungement bill that same day, which Sweeney said was pulled from Thursday’s session because of “drafting errors.”
That measure would set up New Jersey to be a “national model for treating patients,” said one of the bill’s main sponsors, Sen. Joe Vitale, D-19th District, who also chairs the Senate health committee.
Tax talk
Assembly Bill 10 would legalize edible forms of medical marijuana, allow medicinal patients to purchase up to three ounces of cannabis a month, eliminate the sales tax in 2025, and allow towns where ATCs are based to levy a 2 percent transfer tax.
Senator Scutari
Vitale and Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-21st District – the other major backer of both the medical and recreational cannabis bills – largely defended the intention to keep the tax rate intact. Whereas, prior versions of the legislation would have gradually phased out the tax rate over several years.
Scutari said the state would need to handle several regulations for medical marijuana that would typically be handled by the Food and Drug Administration for any medication, but would not be because cannabis is still illegal under federal law. Those state-level regulations, Scutari said, carry a price tag.
Vitale said towns would simply have the option to levy up to a 2 percent tax, which would be permissive and not mandatory, and allow municipalities money to handle local regulations and enforcement.
Vitale pinned the blame for the large costs of medicinal cannabis on the fact that health insurance companies cannot, under federal law, cover medical marijuana.
In what could be its final meeting prior to the summer recess, the Senate Environment and Energy Committee will meet at 10 a.m. on June 6 to consider the following bills:
S2288 (Smith) Directs DEP to classify neonicotinoid pesticides as restricted use pesticides. Neonicotinoid pesticides are suspected of having adverse effects on pollinating insects and may contribute to the disappearance of bee populations, commonly referred to as “colony collapse disorder.” As a restricted use pesticide, neonicotinoids could only be purchased and used by certified and licensed pesticide applicators, or persons working under the direct supervision of a certified and licensed pesticide applicator.
S3670 (Smith) Requires land use plan element of a municipal master plan to include climate change-related hazard vulnerability assessment. This assessment would consider the environmental effects associated with climate change and extreme weather-related events including, but not limited to, temperature, drought, and sea-level rise, and contain measures to mitigate reasonably anticipated natural hazards, including, but not limited to, coastal storms, shoreline erosion, flooding, storm surge, and wind, following best management practices recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
S3682 (Smith) Makes various changes to laws governing remediation of contaminated sites. The bill makes numerous modifications and should be read by parties to all site cleanups, including LSRPs, county and municipal attorneys, developers, banks and property owners with environmental issues,
S3819 Authorizes NJ Infrastructure Bank to expend certain sums to make loans for environmental infrastructure projects for FY2020. A copy of the bill is not currently available
S3820 Appropriates funds to DEP for environmental infrastructure projects for FY2020. A copy of the bill is not currently available
Editor’s Note: On my first trip to Bethlehem, Pa. a few weeks ago, I drove along the Lehigh River at night, past the rusting hulks of what once was the nation’s second-largest steel producer, Bethlehem Steel. Out of the eerie gloom of the enormous, industrial revolution property, the bright lights of the Sands Casino unexpectedly emerged. Too focused, perhaps, on Atlantic City, I had been unaware that there was a casino outside of the Poconos and Philadelphia. Today I learned that Sands has been operating there for more than 10 years and is about to turn over ownership to a native American tribe from Alabama. If you are equally out of touch, Jon Harris’s detailed story below will catch you up. —FB
By JON HARRIS| THE MORNING CALL |MAY 30, 2019 | 10:19 AM
An artist’s rendering of the $90 million hotel and meeting space expansion Wind Creek is planning near the existing hotel. (WIND CREEK / CONTRIBUTED)
It’s been just over 10 years since Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem opened May 22, 2009, a day when patrons arrived in the early morning hours to be among the first to try their luck at the $743 million gambling hall.
Now, what has become a roughly $1 billion complex is on the cusp of its first ownership change, after the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday gave Wind Creek Hospitality the green light to close on its acquisition of the property.
In what ended up as a 2½-hour meeting, some interesting pieces of information were shared. Here, in Sands Bethlehem’s 10-year anniversary month, are 10 tidbits from the meeting:
Adventure is just beginning: Wind Creek has a $250 million plan to turn the No. 2 Machine Shop at the former Bethlehem Steel site into a 300,000-square-foot adventure and water park that also will include a roughly 400-room hotel. But the funding isn’t all there yet for this project. Wind Creek’s acquisition funding includes $100 million for the Machine Shop redevelopment, and the company is hoping to attract development partners to help secure the remaining $150 million. If Wind Creek can’t find partners, it could delay the project or lead to a change in plans for the site, said Arthur Mothershed, Wind Creek’s vice president of business development. But Wind Creek, he said, is committed to making use of the site. “If we can’t get the additional partners, we’re not just going to say, ‘It’s dead,’ ” Mothershed told The Morning Call. “We’ll continue to try to find alternative ways to make it happen because we think it’s an important piece of the property.”
Ready for another hotel: While the No. 2 Machine Shop project isn’t set in stone, Wind Creek’s hotel expansion plan might as well be. Wind Creek plans to spend $90 million, which is included in its acquisition funding, to build a 276-room hotel along with another 42,000 square feet of meeting space. That project, which would take about two years to complete, would complement the Bethlehem site’s 282-room casino hotel and about 27,000 square feet of meeting space. The existing hotel is about 93% occupied, meaning Sands Bethlehem has to turn away people a few nights a week. In addition, the facility’s insufficient meeting space capacity forced it to decline $7 million in convention bids last year, Wind Creek noted in the presentation to the board.
A screenshot from Wind Creek’s presentation to the state, which shows where the company is planning the hotel expansion and the Machine Shop redevelopment.
No time like the present: Get ready for Wind Creek Bethlehem, because it’s coming fast. With state approval in hand, Wind Creek President and CEO Jay Dorris said the transaction could close as soon as Friday. Further, Wind Creek said it has $15 million designated for rebranding expenditures, which should be complete within 90 days.
A look at how the Wind Creek name will be displayed on the old ore crane above the casino’s signature entrance. (WIND CREEK / CONTRIBUTED)
