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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Canada’s high Arctic glaciers at risk of totally disappearing

Satellite imagery shows hundreds of glaciers shrinking as the average annual temperature rises 3.6C in 70 yearsCanada's high arctic glacier

Ashifa Kassam reports for The Guardian:
Hundreds of glaciers in Canada’s high Arctic are shrinking and many are at risk of disappearing completely, an unprecedented inventory of glaciers in the country’s northernmost island has revealed.
Using satellite imagery, researchers cataloged more than 1,700 glaciers in northern Ellesmere Island and traced how they had changed between 1999 and 2015.
The results offered a glimpse into how warming temperatures may be affecting ice in the region, from glaciers that sprawl across the land to the 200-meter thick ice shelves, said Adrienne White, a glaciologist at the University of Ottawa.
“It’s an area that’s very difficult to study,” said White. “Logistically it’s very hard to get to and even with satellite imagery – for the longest time Google Earth didn’t even have complete imagery – it was kind of the forgotten place.”
White’s study, published last month in the Journal of Glaciology, found that the glaciers had shrunk by more than 1,700 sq km of over a 16-year period, representing a loss of about 6%.
A previous study of glaciers in the region – which used air photos and did not include ice shelves – showed a loss of 927 sq km between 1959 and 2000, hinting that the pace of loss may be increasing.

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EPA to hold full-day meeting on PFAS in Bucks County


The agency will spend nearly 12
hours presenting information and listening to residents.

Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Bucks County Courier Times:

The Environmental Protection Agency released an agenda Thursday for its July 25 “community engagement” session in Horsham.
The agency announced the event last month, in which it will hear community concerns regarding local drinking water contaminated with perfluorinated chemicals, also known as PFAS. The agenda details a nearly 12-hour schedule for the event.
According to the EPA, the event will run as follows:

  • 9:30 a.m.: Registration


  • 10 a.m.: Welcome and PFAS National Leadership Summit Recap


  • 10:30 a.m.: EPA PFAS Research and Federal Panel on PFAS Activity in Pennsylvania


  • 11:30 a.m.: Lunch (not provided)


  • 12:15 p.m.: State panel on PFAS activity in the Mid-Atlantic


  • 1 p.m.: Local panel on PFAS activity in Pennsylvania


  • 2 p.m.: Community presentation


  • 2:30 p.m.: Wrap up of the working session


  • 2:45 p.m.: Break


  • 3:30-9 p.m.: Listening session

Read the full story

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Reporter compares NJ, D.C. approaches to plastic-bag fees

Michael Sol Warren reports for NJ.com


All eyes are on Gov. Phil Murphy.

Sitting on the Governor’s desk is a bill that would impose a statewide five-cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags.

Supporters of the bill say that the fee will encourage consumers to use reusable bags and cut back on litter.

Opponents, however, believe that a fee will do little to stop the trashing of New Jersey, instead only serving as the latest environmental fund for legislators to raid in their yearly quest to balance the budget.


New Jersey would be the first state to have a statewide fee on single-use bags, but there is a precedent. Washington, D.C. has had a district-wide fee in place since 2010. Here’s what the Garden State can learn from the nation’s capital.


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