House Democrats press the EPA on rule rollbacks

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.). Photo credit: House Energy and Commerce Democrats/Facebook

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.). Energy and Commerce Democrats/Facebook


Niina Heikkinen reports for E&E News
House Democrats are renewing pressure on EPA to explain rollbacks for three major climate rules in the face of experts’ warnings of the urgent need to cut greenhouse gas emissions globally.
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairwoman Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), and Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee Chairman Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler requesting information and documents relating to the rollbacks of the Clean Power Plan, fuel economy standards for vehicles, and a rule on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.
The letter, sent Friday, follows up on a previous request the lawmakers sent Nov. 20. It seeks presentations, briefings, memorandums and other materials from the agency from Jan. 20, 2017, to the present.
They point out that a recent United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report forecasts dangers such as water shortages, dangerous flooding and loss of species as global temperatures rise, without dramatic changes in energy and land use.
“Despite these warnings, the Trump Administration abdicated the United States’ role as a global leader in meaningful climate action by announcing its intention to withdraw the United States from the landmark Paris Climate Accord and disregarding consensus science that humans are a major driver of warming,” the lawmakers wrote.
Lawmakers called out EPA for attempting to renew changes to the New Source Review program as part of its replacement for the Clean Power Plan (Greenwire, Aug. 21, 2018).
They said that proposal, the Affordable Clean Energy rule, would increase emissions from the “oldest and dirtiest” power plants. And they note EPA’s own analysis predicted it would lead to 1,400 more deaths from exposure to fine particle pollution in 2030.

The letter also details the economic repercussions of the rule changes.

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Pa. presses pause on permits for Mariner East 2 pipeline

Pipeline construction has become a flashpoint between state environmentalists and the natural gas industry. (Flickr)

Stephen Caruso reports for Pennsylvania Capital-Star:
  Pennsylvania’s state environmental protection agency is temporarily blocking permits from Energy Transfer Partners in response to numerous complaints about the company’s Mariner East 2 pipeline and an September explosion in Beaver County.
“There has been a failure by Energy Transfer and its subsidiaries to respect our laws and our communities,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement. “This is not how we strive to do business in Pennsylvania, and it will not be tolerated.”
Currently, the state Department of Environmental Protection has at least 27 permits from the Mariner East 2 pipeline under review. Reviews will continue when the state feels Energy Transfer Partners complies with its demands around the newly built Revolution pipeline that exploded in late last year.
In a statement, Energy Transfer Partners said that they “have communicated to the DEP and to the governor’s office that we are committed to bringing this project into full compliance with all environmental permits and applicable regulations. This action does not affect the operation of any of our in-service pipelines or any areas of construction where permits have already been issued. We look forward to continuing to work with the DEP throughout this process.”
The Mariner East 2 pipeline was built to bring western Pennsylvania Marcellus shale gas to Marcus Hook in Delaware County for processing and export. But numerous problems, from sinkholes to water contamination to explosion worries, have turned it into a flash point for environmentalists, residents, and elected officials.
David Hess, DEP secretary under former Gov. Mark Schweiker, said the act of blocking permits for a single company is unprecedented, as far as he can recollect.
“If this doesn’t get the attention of the company that it isn’t handling its business the way it should be, I don’t know what will,” Hess said.

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Beach access bills before NJ Assembly environment panel

  

 By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics editor

 Identical Assembly and Senate bills that would establish the public’s right to access ocean beaches and other tidal waterfront property are scheduled for a hearing before the New Jersey Assembly’s Environment and Solid Waste Committee. 

 The panel will meet at 2 p.m. on Thursday, February 14 in Committee Room 12, 4th Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ.

A4221, sponsored by committee chairwoman Nancy Pinkin, and S1074, sponsored by Senate Environment and Energy Committee chairman Bob Smith, seek to strengthen public access to the waterfront guaranteed in law under the public access doctrine. 

 The sponsors say their bills take into consideration the rights of private property owners and government and business facilities. 

 The legislation provides a statutory foundation for rules and regulations of the Department of Environmental Protection that govern such properties as marinas, existing public access on such properties, and future permit applications for similar facilities. 

 The bills exempt airports, rail yards, and nuclear power facilities. 

[See related stories below]


New Jersey is crossed and surrounded by tidal waters: the Atlantic Ocean, the Delaware, Hudson, Raritan, Passaic and Hackensack Rivers, and the Newark, Raritan and Delaware Bays.

 Beach access has been a controversial issue for decades in New Jersey where some municipalities and beachfront property owners have successfully limited public access.

Surfing and environmental groups have found it difficult to challenge those limitations in court. They believe their chances would improve if state law is tied to the Public Access Doctrine.   

 S-1074 passed the Senate 36-4 on June 21, 2018.

The committee also will consider:

A5034 (Pinkin) – Authorizes sale and conveyance of certain State-owned real property in Stafford Township, Ocean County to US Fish and Wildlife Service. (pending intro and referral)

ACR197 / SCR137 (Pinkin / Vainieri Huttle / Murphy / Smith / Sarlo) – Urges DEP and EDA to establish plastics recycling marketplace.

ACR198 / SCR135 (Pinkin / Kennedy / Greenstein / Bateman) – Urges cooperative approach among all levels of government to provide funding and other resources to clean up plastic pollution.

 Related public access stories:
NEW: Group sues New Jersey town over public beach access
New Jersey beach access bill advances; hard decisions remain

Surfrider Foundation’s page on New Jersey beach access

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Most and least popular U.S. states for Hybrids and EVs

Reported in
Clean Technica:
Which US state is greener? Which is not very electric vehicle (EV) friendly? Such were the questions CarMax asked in its recent survey of the top 10 states for sales of these eco-friendly vehicles in 2018.

What’s The Best State In The US For Driving Clean Cars?

It will probably come as little surprise to find that the state of California comes out at the top. It is indeed the friendliest state for EVs, plug-in hybrids, and hybrids in the US.
The next two states for eco-friendly vehicle sales were Oregon and Washington, according to the CarMax findings.
What also caught our attention were the worse places, the places with the lowest sales of hybrids and EVs: Louisiana (1.57%), Mississippi (1.54%), and Delaware (1.44%).
Getting back to the good ones, after the top three mentioned above, the list goes on with Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Virginia rounding out the top 10.

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Federal judge orders $100,000 fine for company that dumped 45,000 gallons of wastewater into Arthur Kill

The Arthur Kill waterway separates New Jersey and Staten Island. (File Photo)
The Arthur Kill waterway separates New Jersey and Staten Island. (File Photo)
Chris Sheldon reports for NJ.com:
An Elizabeth biodiesel fuel company that dumped over 45,000 gallons of wastewater into the Arthur Kill must pay a criminal fine of $100,000 as part of a sentence handed down Thursday by a U.S. District Judge.
Fuel Bio One LLC previously plead guilty to one count of violating the Clean Water Act for dumping the wastewater into a stormwater pit at its plant that discharged it into the narrow waterway that separates New Jersey and Staten Island in 2013, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in a release.
The Clean Water Act is a statute created to prevent, reduce, and eliminate water pollution in the country.
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“Protecting the environment and our natural resources is one of the many ways this office works to keep New Jersey safe for everyone,”Carpenito said in a release. “The sentence imposed today as a result of Fuel Bio One’s previous guilty plea ensures that the company will be punished for its past crimes, and the plea agreement puts in place a plan to ensure they don’t pollute our waterways in the future.”
The wastewater that was dumped by employees on Sept. 6, 2013, and Nov. 9, 2013 contained methanol, biodiesel and “other contaminants” as a byproduct of its biodiesel fuel production, the release stated.
The company was also sentenced to a 5-year probation period where it must allow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency full access to its facilities, provide biannual reports that document its waste generation, handling and disposal practices and train its employees on proper disposal and handling practices.
Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Lofty plan to honor the musical legacy of Camden’s Victor building is scrapped. Recycling firm EMR is moving in.

Lofty plan to honor the musical legacy of Camden’s Victor building is scrapped. A recycling firm is moving in.
TIM TAI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

[The Read the full story link at the bottom has been corrected]

Melanie Burney reports for Philly.com:

A grandiose plan to revive and restore Camden’s great musical history at one of the last remaining RCA Victor buildings has hit a sour note. Instead, the place where Frank Sinatra signed a contract and Fats Waller made phonograph recordings has been sold for $13.5 million to a South Jersey metal recycling firm.

Located at Front and Cooper Streets, the eight-story building has been called the most historic place for recorded music in the world. It is where the Victor Talking Machine Co. built a music dynasty in downtown Camden, churning out records and legendary artists such as Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday recorded for the label.

Last year, a developer announced ambitious plans to transform the site into a commercial office space with a nod to its musical past, including a Victor museum, a recording studio, a rooftop restaurant with a scenic skyline view, and an entertainment venue. The proposal called for bringing back the studio and stage where artists recorded and live orchestra performances were held.

But that lofty vision was scrapped when Millennial Place sold the building to EMR Eastern, marking the second time the property has changed owners in just over a year. Instead, the building will bring more office workers and another business venture to the bustling waterfront.

The Bellmawr-based company plans to relocate its national headquarters and about 120 employees to the 90,000-square-foot building by the summer, said president Joseph Balzano Jr. The total project is expected to cost about $33 million after renovations, he said.

The interior had been gutted by the previous owners and few changes are planned for the outside, except replacing broken windows, Balzano said. The lobby and seventh and eighth floors where phonograph recordings were made by Enrico Caruso and Camden’s Russ Columbo and where Sinatra signed his first contract with Victor Studios will be preserved, he said.

“It’s a beautiful building,” said Balzano. “It’s nice that it has some historic significance.”
The former Camden City School District headquarters, once part of the RCA complex in Camden, has been sold for $13.5 million to a metal recycling firm.
TIM TAI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The former Camden City School District headquarters, once part of the RCA complex in Camden, has been sold for $13.5 million to a metal recycling firm.

The building is part of what little remains of the former 58-acre industrial Victor Talking Machine Co. complex. The company began in a small machine shop on Front Street that produced Victrolas. It grew to a massive operation that covered the equivalent of 10 city blocks, churned out 800,000 records a day and had sales over $400 million.

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