Environmental bills on the move in New Jersey Legislature



Bills subject of action in the NJ State Legislture today:


A1033 – Makes Palisades Interstate Park Commission eligible for certain open space and historic preservation funding.
06/25/2018 Substituted for S-1760
06/25/2018 Passed in Senate and sent to Governor 37-0

A1053 – Substituted for S-2140 – Revises and expands laws on trespass and vandalism on agricultural and horticultural lands.
06/25/2018 Substituted for S-1429
06/25/2018 Passed in Senate and sent to Governor 39-0


A1675 – Authorizes prescribed burning in certain circumstances.

06/25/2018 Passed in Senate and sent to Governor 38-0

A4243 – Establishes Mercer Regional Water Services Commission as oversight body over certain Trenton Water Works operations.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee 

A4246 – Requires State parks, forests, State-owned beaches, and MVC offices to remain open to public if emergency is declared due to failure to enact general appropriation law as prescribed by NJ Constitution.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee 

ACR144 – Condemns EPA decision to withdraw from “once-in-always-in” policy under the Clean Air Act.
06/25/2018 Substituted for SCR-121
06/25/2018 Ps File  26-12

AJR144 – Designates May of each year as “Monarch Butterfly Month.”
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee 

AR178 – Urges U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list monarch butterfly as threatened species.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee 

S1429 – Revises and expands laws on trespass and vandalism on agricultural and horticultural lands.
06/25/2018 Substituted by A-1053

S1760 – Makes Palisades Interstate Park Commission eligible for certain open space and historic preservation funding.
06/25/2018 Substituted by A-1033

S2140 – Authorizes prescribed burning in certain circumstances.
06/25/2018 Substituted by A-1675 (1R)

S2329 – Re-establishes former NJ Commission on Science and Technology as NJ Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology.
06/25/2018 Substituted by A-3652 (1R)

S2776 – Prohibits use of plastic carryout bags, expanded polystyrene, and single-use plastic straws.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee 

S2778 – Concerns disclosure by homeowner of lead plumbing prior to home sale.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee 

S2781 – Requires State parks, forests, State-owned beaches, and MVC offices to remain open to public if emergency is declared due to failure to enact general appropriation law as prescribed by NJ Constitution.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee 

S2782 – Authorizes issuance of multi-species depredation permit for wildlife control on farmland.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee 

SCR121 – Condemns EPA decision to withdraw from “once-in-always-in” policy under the Clean Air Act.
06/25/2018 Substituted by ACR-144

SCR128 – Urges DEP to replace current lethal population control methods for foxes on Brigantine Island with non-lethal deterrence methods.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee


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Group that sued Flint over lead water now suing Newark

Image result for lead faucets images
Karen Yi reports for NJ.com:
Citing “dangerous” levels of lead in Newark’s drinking water, an environmental nonprofit that sued Flint, Michigan over lead contamination is now threatening to sue New Jersey’s largest city.
The group says about 20 percent of water samples taken from across Newark last year exceeded acceptable federal lead levels, raising serious health concerns over safe drinking water.
City officials have staunchly denied the claims, insisting that lead issues are limited to buildings with aging infrastructure.
“These lead levels are shockingly high,” said Sara Imperiale, an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue to the city and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday.
The Newark Education Workers Caucus, a group of Newark educators, also plans to join the suit.
“Access to safe drinking water is maybe even more important in low-income communities of color where residents often face multiple sources of exposure and cumulative environmental burdens that can harm their health,” she said.
But Andrea Adebowale, Newark’s director of water and sewer utilities, which is in charge of lead testing, said it was “absolutely and outrageously false” that residents were being exposed to dangerous levels of lead.

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New Jersey BPU short-circuits proposed power line


State agency agrees with activists, administrative law court, and rate counsel — sees no need for proposed $111 million power conduit that would run close to schools and homes

Tom Johnson reports
for NJ Spotlight:


In an unusual defeat for an energy projemonopoly transmissionct, the state Board of Public Utilities blocked a $111 million, 10-mile high-voltage power line proposed by Jersey Central Power & Light through Monmouth County.
In largely adopting a decision by an administrative law court judge, the five commissioners sided with a broad coalition of officials and residents who had argued the company had failed to prove the new line is needed and ignored other construction options.
The decision appears to end a case that stirred a huge fight for the past two years in the communities along the route, which largely would have followed a North Jersey Coast rail line. The project called for 210-foot monopoles to be built along the route close to homes, schools, and parks.


RAGE wins the day

“I’m very relieved. I feel very vindicated,’’ said Rachel Kanapka, co-president of Residents Against Giant Electric (RAGE), a group that battled the project. “This project never should have seen the light of day.’’
In ruling against the power line between Aberdeen and Red Bank, the board cited flawed, seven-year-old data about energy need that the project was largely based on.
“What was troubling to me, I have always questioned what the real need for it,’’ said BPU Commissioner Mary Holden. “There’s nothing in the record to support it.’’

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Where to go camping in Pennsylvania this summer


Worthington State Forest Campground

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MÓNICA MARIE ZORRILLA REPORTS FOR BILLYpENN

The shore is one way to escape the city for a summer break, but it’s not the only one.
With its incredibly varied topography, Pennsylvania boasts some of the most scenic camping grounds the region has to offer.
Recreational camping first became a “thing” in the early 1900s, but it has definitely evolved since then. These days, many campsites offer amenities that survivalists scoff at — and the rest of us are thankful for. At some, you can even rent the basic essentials (a sleeping bag, a tent, pots and pans, etc.). You can also snag gear online via various retailers.
Where to go? We sifted through reviews and ratings to zero in on 15 top sites that welcome campers in Pa.’s grandiose public parks.
Check out details below, then lace up your hiking boots, douse yourself in mosquito spray and head to the great outdoors.
Camping_sites_in_Pa

Beaver Valley Family Campground

80 Clay Ridge Rd., Ottsville
Known for: Nice hilly campground with loads of family-friendly activities. Ideal spot for travelers with youngsters in tow who might not be ready for a strenuous hike, but can manage brisk walks on hiking trails (or a dip in the kiddie pool).
Pet-friendly: Yes
Amenities: Wooded or open RV sites, tent sites, 30 amp electric service, water hookups, picnic tables, fire rings, Cable TV hookups, dump station, bathhouses with showers, WiFi, rec hall, game room, swimming pools, playground, basketball, volleyball and shuffleboard courts, softball field, trails, wagon rides, laundry facilities, pavilion, seasonal sites, cabin rentals.
Summer Rates: Tents: $42, Trailers/Pop-ups: $44, Cabins: 2 night minimum, $70.
Summer Hours: Check-in: 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.; check-out: 2 p.m.
         Brian Doto on Instagram

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Did use of illegal pesticide kill 13 bald eagles In Maryland?

A bald eagle flies over its nest in Middle River, Md., in 2009. Rob Carr/AP

Vanessa Romo reports for National Public Radio:
Robert Edgell has grown accustomed to seeing bald eagles soar over the family farm in Federalsburg, Md., so, when he discovered the carcasses of more than a dozen dead raptors on the property two years ago, he “was dumbfounded,” he told The Washington Post.
“Usually you see one or two soaring over the place, but to see 13 in that area and all deceased. … In all my years, I’d not seen anything like this,” Edgell said.
What could have caused the destruction of so many of the birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, he wondered?
The question was taken up by U.S. Fish and Wildlife authorities, who collected six of the 13 dead eagles. Almost immediately, they suspected poisoning as the cause of death.
They were right.
A 2016 necropsy report only recently obtained by radio station WNAV confirmed all six died after ingesting carbofuran, a pesticide banned by the Environmental Protection Agency beginning in the 1990s.
“Carbofuran was detected in the stomach and/or crop contents of all birds,” the report reads, adding that the pesticide also was found in the partial carcass of a raccoon and fur recovered from the site. Researchers found that five of the six eagles had consumed a recent meal that included raccoon. Other species ingested included marsh rice rat, domestic chicken and deer.
Eagles Adopt Baby Red-Tailed Hawk, Putting Aside Violent Species Rivalry

THE TWO-WAY

Eagles Adopt Baby Red-Tailed Hawk, Putting Aside Violent Species Rivalry

At the time the report was issued, authorities announced they were “intending to close the case in the near future due to a lack of evidence linking anyone to the crime.” No arrests have been made. Killing a bald eagle a felony crime punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
The granular form of carbofuran was banned 1991 partly due the the devastation it wreaked on avian wildlife. Officials estimated it was responsible for killing more than a million birds that mistook the toxic insecticide for grain seeds or consumed small animals that had eaten carbouran pellets. The liquid form was banned by the EPA in 2009.
“Carbofuran is so acutely toxic that animals have succumbed to it with just food in the mouth,” Mourad Gabriel, co-director of the Integral Ecology Research Center, told NPR. “Sometimes we find animals where the food material is undigested — mid-esophagus.”
Gabriel said illegal use of the pesticide by farmers and landowners “creates a vicious cycle of death from even just one poisoning.”
In California, illegal marijuana growers trying to protect their crops from animals are known to set “bait piles” laced with the liquid chemical, Gabriel said. Grey foxes, bears and turkeys there often are the first victims.
In Captivating Video, A Bald Eagle Attacks An Osprey Nest

THE TWO-WAY

In Captivating Video, A Bald Eagle Attacks An Osprey Nest

“Next come the vultures and other birds who consume the carrion, which later fly away and die some short distance away. Flies then lay eggs in those carcasses, which become poisoned food for other avian birds to feed on.”
John LaCorte, a special agent for the Fish and Wildlife Service told The Washington Post there is an “epidemic on the Eastern Shore” of wildlife-poisoning crimes because people find it “cheaper and easier” than trapping a nuisance animal or predator or building a fence.
La Corte, who spent six months interviewing more than a dozen people in connection to the dead eagles, said the cases are hard to solve because there rarely any witnesses, if any.
“If anyone wants to see things get done about this, they need to be courageous and come forward,” he said.

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Environmental funding bills on NJ governor’s desk

Camping at High Point State Park in NJTwo bills that would appropriate constitutionally dedicated funding to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the acquisition of lands for recreational and conservation purposes, including for Blue Acres projects, and provide funding for capital projects and park development, were approved by both houses of the state legislature on Thursday.

The first bill, S2728/A4210,appropriates $12.3 million to the state Department of Environmental Protection to fund the acquisition of lands in the following Green Acre project areas:

     * Barnegat Bay Watershed Greenway
     * Cape May Peninsula
     * Crossroads of American Revolution
     * Delaware Watershed Greenway
     * Highlands Greenway
     * Historic Resources
     * Natural areas
     * Pinelands
     * Ridge and Valley Greenway

An additional $3 million would be appropriated for recreation and conservation purposes of lands that have been damaged by or may be prone to incurring damage from storms or storm-related flooding, or that may buffer other lands from such damage.

The second bill, S2729/A4211, appropriates roughly $9.7 million to the DEP for funding capital projects and park development. Projects receiving funding would include:

     * Boating and Fishing Access
     * Camping Development
     * Habitat Enhancement and Access
     * Infrastructure (Including bridge repairs, building repairs and renovations, recreational development, road repairs and historic structure stabilization and repairs

Both bills are now in place for signing by Gov. Phil Murphy
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