EPA gears up for big PFAS meeting July 25 in Bucks County

[Editor’s Note: Last week we carried a Bucks County Courier Times story announcing that the EPA was planning a day-long community meeting on July 25 regarding chemical compounds that have polluted drinking water supplies near former military bases.  Following is more information on that meeting provided by the EPA]

WASHINGTON (July 20, 2018) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
released the full agenda for the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) community
engagement in Horsham, Pennsylvania at Hatboro-Horsham High School, 899 Horsham
Road, Horsham, Pennsylvania.

Following the historic National Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. in May and the
inaugural Community Engagement event in New Hampshire, this event allows EPA to hear
directly from Pennsylvania communities, Mid-Atlantic states, local, and tribal partners on how
to best help states and communities facing this issue.

“The input that EPA receives on July 25 will help us develop a plan for managing 
PFAS,” said EPA Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “The upcoming community
engagement event will enable us to hear from citizens and communities directly about
their experiences with these chemicals in their community.”

The July 25 Community Engagement event will include a Working Session from 10:00 a.m.
to 2:45 p.m. and a Listening Session from 3:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Both sessions are open to the public and the press. Online registration is now closed.
Those who were unable to register online will be able to register or sign up to speak in person
at the event. Registration is not required to attend or speak.

Additional details will be posted on the PFAS Community Engagement website at:
https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-community-engagement-horsham-pa . Please check back at the
website leading up to the event. Citizens are also encouraged to submit written statements to
the public docket at https://www.regulations.gov/ enter docket number: OW-2018-0270.


Background
PFAS is a group of man-made chemicals that have been widely used in everyday products
since the 1940s. But PFAS compounds also can enter the environment, raising concerns
about the potential environmental and health risks.

Addressing PFAS is a national priority. At the National Leadership Summit in Washington,
D.C. in May, EPA announced a four-step action plan:
1. EPA will initiate steps to evaluate the need for a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for
PFOA and PFOS. We will convene our federal partners and examine everything we know
about PFOA and PFOS in drinking water.
2. EPA is beginning the necessary steps to propose designating PFOA and PFOS as
“hazardous substances” through one of the available statutory mechanisms, including
potentially CERCLA Section 102.
3. EPA is currently developing groundwater cleanup recommendations for PFOA and PFOS
at contaminated sites and will complete this task by fall of this year.
4. EPA is taking action in close collaboration with our federal and state partners to develop
toxicity values for GenX and PFBS by this summer.
EPA conducted a similar engagement with communities impacted by PFAS in New Hampshire
last month, and will be headed to Colorado and North Carolina in the coming weeks. These
community engagement events are critical to understand ways the Agency can best support
the work that’s being done at the state, local, and tribal levels. Using information from the
National Leadership Summit, community engagements, and public input provided by the
docket, EPA plans to develop a PFAS Management Plan for release later this year.

To learn more about PFAS, please visit: www.epa.gov/pfas

 

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Not so fast, Jersey City smokers and midnight tokers



Yesterday, we proclaimed: Light ’em up if you got ’em after Jersey City announced it had decriminalized marijuana.


Whoa, not so fast, the state said today.

In a letter to Municipal Prosecutor Jake Hudnut, Attorney General Giral Grewal said that Hudnut had no right to refuse criminal prosecution on all marijuana-related offenses.


Grewal says that the new policy is “void and has no effect.”

Bummer.


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Not on our New Jersey beaches, Butthead

Butthead, you have been warned: Smoking n New Jersey beaches will result in fines.


On the Long Branch boardwalk today, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill, S2534, that outlaws smoking on public beaches in the state.
The law, that goes into effect on Jan. 1, also extends the smoking ban to any state, county, and municipal parks. A first-time violation results in a $250 fine, followed by $500 for the second offense and $1,000 for any additional offense.
New Jersey already has smoking bans at its state-owned beaches and parks, and a handful of towns have enacted their own laws.
Buttheads, consider yourselves on notice.   

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Court stays EPA from allowing more big, belching trucks

Temporary stay blocks the agency from lifting limits on glider trucks, whose rebuilt engines can spew 40 times more pollution than today’s engines

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:A federal appeals court yesterday ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to continue enforcing rules aimed at limiting pollution from certain diesel trucks.diesel exhaust
A temporary stay was granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a lawsuit brought by environmental groups directing the EPA to enforce so-called glider truck requirements while the case is litigated.
The ruling marked a victory for the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, and Center for Biological Diversity, which brought the suit following a decision by the agency to cease enforcing the rules.
The regulation, dubbed the glider-truck rule, limited how many rebuilt engines could be put in new truck bodies. The older engines produce as much as 40 times the pollution of modern engines, according to environmentalists.

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“Andrew Wheeler’s tenure as EPA chief is picking up where Scott Pruitt’s left off,’’ said Joanne Spalding, chief counsel for the Sierra Club. “Wheeler and Pruitt flagrantly disregarded the established laws and rulemaking processes when EPA promised the manufacturers of these super-polluting trucks that it would not enforce its standards to limit air pollution.’’

The move to ease enforcement of the rule occurred on Pruitt’s final day in office, before he was forced to resign in the wake of numerous ethics scandals.
The rule, put in place by the Obama administration, imposes an annual cap on glider trucks of 300 per manufacturer. If not enforced, as many as 10,000 such trucks could have been put on the road each year, critics say.
“Today is a victory in our battle for clean air and against Trump’s environmental rollbacks,’’ said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Trucks are one of the biggest sources of air pollution in our state.’’
The move to relax the rule was opposed by two earlier EPA administrators, Carol Browner, and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, who said it could have profound negative health impacts on people in a letter to the agency.
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Light ’em up if you got ’em (in Jersey City at least)

This may be the first place in New Jersey where you can light up – and get away with it. Six other towns also allow it for medical use.


1st NJ Town Where You Can Use Pot – And Likely Get Away With It

Tom Davis reports for the Patch National Service

New Jersey now has its first community that’s decriminalizing marijuana, and it appears to be taking effect on Thursday.

Jersey City is establishing a decriminalization policy, as outlined in a memo dated Thursday, July 19, that will downgrade and even dismiss charges against many – but not all – pot offenders.

The policy makes Jersey City the first New Jersey community to actually decriminalize marijuana. Asbury Park has called for legalization, while 6 towns – Egg Harbor Township, Montclair, Woodbridge, Cranbury, Secaucus, and Bellmawr – have medical marijuana dispensaries (see fuller list below).

The memo, titled New Marijuana Decriminalization Policy, was written by Chief Prosecutor Jacob V, Hudnut and notes that New Jersey is spending $1 billion each decade to handle more than 25,000 arrests each year for marijuana possession.

“Much of these costs fall on municipalities, like Jersey City, for which resources are scarce to begin with,” he said. “Marijuana possession is non-violent in nature, and focusing law enforcement resources on violent offenses does far more to promote safe communities.”Subscribe

Under the new policy, possession of marijuana or hashish; being under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance; use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia, etc.; and loitering to obtain or distribute a controlled dangerous substance shall be non-criminal dispositions.

The recommended sentence for a conviction of these offenses would likely be a fine no greater than $50 or five hours of community service.

Hudnut said the collateral consequences of marijuana possession prosecution are “considerable.”

“They include driver’s license suspensions, criminal records, loss of student financial aid, bans from public housing, adverse effects on employment opportunities, and loss of immigration status,” he said. “What’s even more alarming is that New Jerseyans of color are three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana and suffer these consequences than white New Jerseyans, despite similar cross-racial usage rates.”

“This disparity should give us pause.”




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If you live in NJ, you someday could be taxed drip by drip

Matt Arco reports for NJ.com

Critics of New Jersey’s high taxes say residents have to pony up for everything but the kitchen sink.

Well, the kitchen sink could soon be added to that.
A state lawmaker is proposing a tax on tap water to revamp New Jersey’s aging pipelines.
State Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex, says water pipelines across the state are old, they’re decaying, they pose a serious health risk and the issue is getting worse.
“There is a big problem and it is a problem that affects your health, your kid’s health and your grandchildren’s health,” Smith said. lei
He introduced legislation that would impose a 10-cent tax on every 1,000 gallons consumed, which Smith estimates would cost the average New Jersey household about $32 a year and would net the state about $150 million annually.
The money would be used to repair and replace aging infrastructure.
“Flint Michigan is an example of what happens when you allow your water (system) to deteriorate,” Smith said, referring to the city’s lead poisoning crisis.
“I think we can begin that public discussion and hopefully get a consensus that the public thinks it is the right thing to do,” he said. “You can pay me now or you can pay me a lot more later.”

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