Proposed land rules for Atlantic City tourism district

Gibbons attorney Cameron W. Macleod reports:
 

The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (“CRDA”) recently released for public comment its proposed land use regulations for the Tourism District within Atlantic City. CRDA oversees all land use planning within the Tourism District, which spans from the beaches and boardwalk of Atlantic City north to the Convention Center, and stretches from the Absecon Inlet south to Ventnor City.
These rules are proposed to establish new procedural and substantive standards for applications for development being proposed within the Tourism District.
The next public hearing on the proposed regulations is scheduled for October 10, 2017 at the Atlantic City Convention Center at 6:00 PM. Written comments may be submitted by November 17, 2017 to CRDA.
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After 50 years of silence, a monster organ pipes up in A.C.


 
With 33,112 pipes, it may be the largest pipe organ in the world, and with the ability to crank out 135 decibels of sound, it’s loud enough for Beethoven to hear a Bach cantata.


It’s the massive organ built into Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall which fell into disuse years ago and then was boarded up and forgotten for decades.


Now, a dedicated group of music lovers, who started out on the task in 2004, are painstakingly working, pipe by pipe and pedal by pedal to restore the organ’s once grand voice. They expect it to be 50 percent restored by the end of the year.


Lauren Wanko of NJTV News has the sight, sounds and story.


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After years of urging, Christie acts on Barnegat Bay

Environmentalists approve the move, but some feel bay and aquatic life would be in better shape had he acted earlier, when he had the chance

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

christie

Governor Chris Christie
Years after being pressed to do so, Gov. Chris Christie yesterday proposed putting portions of distressed Barnegat Bay on a pollution diet.
The governor, joined by Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin in Toms River, announced a $20 million recovery plan, including establishing a standard to limit pollutants flowing into the northern section of the bay.
The key part of the recovery plan is to create a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) standard to curb how much runoff flush with algae-causing nitrogen and phosphorous ends up in the bay. Christie conditionally vetoed more than six years ago a bill requiring the state to study establishing such a standard.
“Good, but I wish it was done seven years ago,’’ said Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), a sponsor of the bill to curb runoff into the bay. “Hopefully, it helps reduce the nitrogen levels in the bay.’’

Stopping short of a standard

Christie has long advocated steps to reverse the decline in the bay, but stopped short of establishing a pollution standard to curtail nutrients from going into its waters. Numerous studies have found overdevelopment and the resultant pollution are causing a long-term decline in the bay’s ecosystem.
“From the very beginning of my administration I have made it a priority to do what no other administration ever attempted — to implement a cohesive strategy to protect an ecological treasure so important for area residents, visitors, and the state,’’ Christie said.
Since taking office, Christie has engineered an agreement to shut down the Oyster Creek power plant by the end of 2019, signed one of the nation’s toughest laws regulating fertilizer use, and provided funding for tens of millions of dollars to upgrade stormwater systems.

Land-use management

But critics have long argued the administration failed to do enough, particularly dealing with land-use management practices that have only exacerbated problems in the bay.
“You can’t clean up Barnegat Bay without TMDLs,’’ said David Pringle, campaign director of Clean Water Action. “He’s declaring a victory lap, but he’s only run the last 50 yards.’’
“Had he not vetoed the bill, we would be making progress in cleaning up the bay instead of it getting more polluted,’’ agreed Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.
In his latest plan, Christie said the state would work with municipalities and other stakeholders to establish a TMDL standard for nutrients that would be incorporated into stormwater-discharge permits in 18 of the watershed’s 37 municipalities.

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Highlands Council charged with stifling public comment

Council says rules ensure that discussions on updated regional plan take place in public

Jon Hurdle reports for NJ Spotlight:


Environmental groups are challenging proposals to update a blueprint for the state’s management of the Highlands region, saying that even the process by which updates are made doesn’t allow for enough public participation. They argue that the process will allow the state to make decisions “behind closed doors,” something vehemently denied by the Highlands Council itself.

Objections by groups including the New Jersey Highlands Coalition, Raritan Headwaters Association, and New Jersey Sierra Club come as the Highlands Council moves ahead with plans to amend the Regional Master Plan (RMP), a guiding document, for the first time since it was adopted in 2008.
On October 19, the council will consider a raft of proposals for the updated plan that have been produced by staff at the state agency, as well as by the public. And it will look at a proposed framework for the process of amending the RMP, which implements the Highlands Act of 2004.

On the map

The amendment process allows the public to comment on proposed updates for 30 days after the plans are published, and sets five public meetings around the state, plus one in Trenton, to allow public discussion on the plans.
But critics say the process doesn’t give the public enough opportunity to comment on a huge and complicated plan that has profound long-term consequences for environmental quality in the 850,000-acre Highlands region of northwest New Jersey and the many areas downstream that depend on it for drinking water.
According to the critics, the council is split between pro-development interests and those who support greater public input. With one of the council’s 15 seats now vacant, critics hope the remaining members will deadlock on the public participation proposals, leaving the issue to be decided by a new council that will be appointed when a fresh administration takes over in Trenton in early 2018.
The New Jersey Highlands Coalition, a nonprofit that represents local and regional groups that want to protect water quality, is calling for the public-comment period to be reopened for an additional 60 days, and for the council to hold another public meeting for residents of cities that depend on Highlands water.
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New Jersey DEP asks: How should we spend VW windfall?

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

New Jersey is in line to get $72.2 million to help clean up air pollution in the transportation sector


The state is looking for public input on how to spend $72.2 million to clean up air pollution from the transportation sector.


On Monday, a settlement with Volkswagen stemming from its admission it installed software to cheat on emissions from millions of diesel-fueled vehicles was finalized in Washington, D.C., making $2.7 billion available to states to reduce air pollution.

In New Jersey, the Christie administration has designated the state Department of Environmental Protection as the lead agency to supervise how the settlement money will be spent, according to Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the agency.


Curbing pollution

No decisions have been made yet, but the settlement with the auto manufacturer spells out in broad terms that the money should be spent on curbing pollution from the transportation sector, the largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions in New Jersey.

The Legislature already has some ideas. In June, the Senate passed a bill (S-3029) laying out a framework for allocating the funds, with at least 15 percent of the money going to help build charging stations for electric vehicles. The legislation still needs approval from the Assembly.
For the most part, both lawmakers and environmentalists back using the money to ramp up the state’s efforts to electrify its light-duty vehicle fleet. New Jersey is lagging behind neighboring states in installing charging stations where owners of electric cars can repower their vehicles, according to some clean-energy advocates
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Trump may switch on a subsidy for PSEG Nuclear

Letter to FERC says value of baseload plants that produce power all the time is not accurate reflection of their role

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry asked a federal agency Friday to draw up new regulations to compensate so-called baseload generating facilities that are critical to the reliability of the electric grid.The Trump administration is proposing to bolster the fortunes of coal and nuclear power plants, a step aimed at averting early shutdown of units across the nation, including some in New Jersey
The request is significant for New Jersey, because Public Service Enterprise Group has been lobbying policymakers here, the operator of the regional power grid, and Washington officials for lucrative financial incentives for its three nuclear units in South Jersey, which are facing economic challenges due to cheap natural gas.
So far, the Newark company has yet to make much headway, but Perry’s letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could provide the help it has been seeking to prevent it from prematurely shutting its units down. Perry argued in his letter the current energy markets are not accurately pricing the value of baseload plants that produce power all the time and reliably.
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