NJ lawmakers counter Trump asbestos leniency with a ban

 


Recognizing that asbestos is a danger that takes the lives of as many as 15,000 Americans every year, the New Jersey Assembly yesterday approved and sent to the governor (A4416) which would ban the sale of any product in the state that contains asbestos. 

 The bill was introduced in response to a recent move made by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics to allow for the manufacture of new products containing asbestos in a case-by-case basis. 

 That move by the Trump administration comes despite overwhelming evidence showing that asbestos exposure increases the risk of developing lung diseases, including lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis.

  “There is absolutely no reason why any New Jerseyans should be at risk of asbestos exposure,” said Assemblywoman Lisa Swain (D-Bergen/Passaic), sponsor of the bill with Assembly collegues Robert Karabinchak (D-Middlesex) and Britnee Timberlake (D-Essex / Passaic).

 “While the current Administration in Washington may be okay with rolling back environmental health standards that protect so many Americans, here in New Jersey we are not, and this bill ensures we will stay proactive in protecting our residents,” Swain said.

 The legislation, which passed the Assembly 77-9 and the Senate 35-0, has been sent to Governor Phil Murphy for his consideration.

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NJ’s tighter auto emissions might be stuck at the curb

Decision by Trump administration to end negotiations over California’s fuel-efficiency standards likely will go to court, delaying New Jersey’s own efforts to curb emissions

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

tailpipe emissions smog

The Trump administration yesterday ended talks with California over the state’s stricter standards for fuel-efficient vehicles, jeopardizing New Jersey’s own efforts to curb climate-changing emissions from cars.
In a joint statement from the White House, Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency, the administration announced it was discontinuing discussions with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on the issue and would move ahead with its own proposal on fuel economy and tailpipe emission standards.
The decision is likely to increase prospects the issue will wind up being decided by the courts where New Jersey and 20 other states already have challenged the administration’s rollback of an Obama-era rule to clamp down on carbon pollution from vehicles.
For New Jersey, that may mean delaying efforts to reduce the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions — the transportation sector. New Jersey and other states have opted to follow California’s more stringent (than federal) fuel efficiency and tailpipe standards, a policy the EPA has threatened to revoke.

Blaming the Californians

In announcing the decision, the Trump administration blamed the California agency for not putting forward a “productive alternative’’ since it proposed its rule last year. The administration contended its proposal would save motorists hundreds of millions of dollars by lowering costs for new cars.
“Accordingly, the administration is moving forward to finalize a rule later this year with the goal of promoting safer, cleaner, and more affordable vehicles,’’ the statement said.
The action drew criticism from NESCAUM, an association of air-quality agencies from eight states in the Northeast, including New Jersey.
“Given the unmistakable evidence that impacts from a changing climate are worsening — from record-breaking heat waves, to mega-forest fires, to extreme hurricanes — walking back from what is effectively the federal government’s biggest climate mitigation program poses a real threat to public health and welfare,’’ said Paul Miller, executive director of NESCAUM.

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Enviros blindsided on the way to greater beach access

By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor

 After many months of negotiations with business organizations resulting in agreed-to changes to state law that would guarantee greater public access to beaches and waterfronts, environmental groups believed that their goal was on track to final success.

But on Thursday, in the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee where they had expected to see the bill released for a final legislative floor vote, a surprise amendment hit like a hammerhead shark.

 Out of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, with the blessing of the bill’s Senate sponsor Bob Smith, came a set of proposed amendments that the green side fear could undo all the progress that they had made.

 They want the bill moved without change
No vote was taken on Thursday but organizations like the NJ Littoral Society, Sierra Club, NY/NJ Baykeeper, Hackensack Riverkeeper, NJ Surfriders Foundation and the NJ League of Conservation Voters were shaken and expressed their disappointment and alarm.

They urged that the bill, S1074, be released without the DEP amendments, in the same form that had cleared the Senate 36-4 last June. The committee allowed testimony on Thursday but held off a vote on the measure for its next meeting.

Supporting the DEP amendments
Not everyone who testified was opposed to the DEP amendments. Former NJDEP official Ray Cantor, recently appointed as Government Affairs VP for the NJ Business and Industry Association, said that, without the amendments, small-scale projects like private bulkhead repairs would require full public-access permit reviews. He said that the bill’s one-size-fits-all approach is not practical. Attorney Paul Schneider, testifying for the NJ Builders Association, agreed, as did the NJ League of Municipalities. The latter group would like the state to give more weight on public water access to local governments.

Big business not unified on public access
Not joining their fellow big business friends in advocating for the DEP amendments were the State Chamber of Commerce, Chemistry Council of NJ, NJ Petroleum Council, and the state’s maritime and utility associations. Speaking for that bloc, the Chamber’s Michael Egenton said they all had signed on to the original bill in appreciation for an exemption granted by sponsor Senator Smith to facilities with national security concerns, like refineries and nuclear power stations.
   
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For more, read Tom Johnson’s NJ Spotlight post:
Amendments to beach-access bill run afoul of conservationist

Related news:
Beach access bills before NJ Assembly environment panel
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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Danish wind company wants closed N.J. power plants

B.L. England generating station


By The Associated Press

There may be new life yet for two New Jersey power plants set to be decommissioned.
The Press of Atlantic City reports offshore wind company Orsted is eying B.L. England and the Oyster Creek Generating Station as part of a plan to connect its turbines to the energy grid.
Orsted says the project could produce up to 1,100 megawatts of energy and bring 100 permanent jobs during the wind farm’s expected 25-year life cycle. An Orsted vessel will study the coast to see if interconnection is possible.
The Oyster Creek nuclear plant shut down in September, and the coal-fired B.L. England is set to close in May.
B.L. England is also part of a proposed natural gas pipeline. Environmental groups say they hope the wind project prevails over the pipeline.
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Hunt is on for the source of rotten egg smell in Kearny, NJ

Kearny Mayor Al Santos says the Keegan Landfill has kept the town’s new air quality meter busy since it was installed last week.
The device measures how much hydrogen sulfide, a colorless gas that reeks of rotten eggs, is in the air. Santos contends the 100-acre landfill off Bergen Avenue is the source the stinky fumes that have resulted in more than 200 complaints logged by residents.
Since the air meter was installed at the town’s nearby Department of Public Works facility on Feb. 13, Santos says “crazy bad” levels of hydrogen sulfide have been detected several times. The device registered levels of more than 30 parts per billion for about two hours on both Feb. 14 and Feb. 18, the mayor said.
“Exposure to concentrations of 30 parts per billion (ppb) may cause eye, nose or throat irritation, headaches and nausea, and difficulty breathing for individuals with respiratory problems,” Santos wrote on Facebook Tuesday afternoon.
But the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which owns the landfill, asserts that the facility isn’t the source of the stench. The agency said Monday the site has been inspected more than 30 times since June and no violations have been issued for the odor.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Hajna said Tuesday the DEP and the Hudson Regional Health Commission have been taking air readings at the landfill “nearly every day.”
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NJ Assembly voting session on Monday, Feb. 25, 2019

Among the 47 bills scheduled for votes on Monday, Feb. 25 in the New Jersey General Assembly, are the following pieces of energy and environment legislation: 

A436 (Schaer / Jimenez / Wimberly) – Requires electric public utilities to provide priority power restoration to certain medical facilities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes.

A1052 (Houghtaling / Taliaferro / Andrzejczak) – Creates alternate voting members on county agriculture development boards.

S542 / A3166 (Oroho / Singleton / Tucker / Wirths / Space) – Designates High Point State Park as High Point State Park and New Jersey Veterans Memorial.

S601 / A4011 (Smith / Greenstein / Pinkin) – Requires end-of-life recycling of solar and photovoltaic energy generation facilities and structures.

S604 / A4010 (Smith / Pinkin) – Provides that electric power supplier license issued by BPU may be renewed without expiring if certain conditions are met.

S606 / A1371 (Smith / Greenstein / Kennedy / Johnson / Eustace) – Encourages local units to plan for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

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