NJ moves closer to guaranteed public access to beaches

** UPDATE- The bill number in the story below should be S-2490**

Effort to secure public access to the coastal waterfront moves forward, but many issues remain unresolved

beach access

Tom Johnson reports today in NJ Spotlight:


The state would take a step toward guaranteeing public access to beaches and the shoreline under a new bill drafted by lawmakers, but it leaves many key issues unsettled.
The bill (S-2470), introduced this week, would establish under law the longstanding public trust doctrine allowing the public to enjoy the state’s tidal waters and adjacent shorelines.
Those rights would be ensured by the state Department of Environmental Protection under a range of existing laws governing New Jersey’s coastal areas and wetlands, among others.
At the same time, the bill would exempt certain critical infrastructure, presumably power plants, refineries and ports, from the requirements based on security considerations—a provision strongly pushed for by business interests.
The bill, stemming from recommendations of a specially appointed legislative task force, reflects a consensus among the group. More substantive issues involving beach access are expected to be hashed out in a second, as yet, unwritten bill.
Prospects for reaching a consensus on those issues are iffy given the state’s long-running controversies over waterfront access, ranging from towns restricting easy entry to beaches by high beach fees, limited parking, and too few points of entry.
Still, conservationists are happy to enshrine the public trust doctrine into law and give the DEP the legal clout to ensure it happens. “It’s clear that the beaches belong to the public. This would set the floor,’’ said Debby Mann, NY/NJ Baykeeper, one of four co-chairs of the task force. “The state is responsible for providing access to beaches and waterfront areas.’’
The proposed bill exempts certain infrastructure and facilities from the access requirements in cases where the public should be excluded based on security reasons as designated by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.
“The issue is how do you define that critical infrastructure,’’ said Michael Egenton, executive vice president of the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce and a co-chair of the task force.
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Sarah Bluhm, a vice president of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, another co-chair, said the issue of exemptions was important to the business community, but others remain.

The bill retains the authority of the DEP to require facilities to provide off-site access to the waterfront in cases where the public is excluded because of security concerns. “It is a big issue also,’’ Bluhm noted, questioning how often businesses might have to provide off-site access. “Is it every time your permit comes up for renewal? Is it for a set number of years?’’ she asked.
The bill also would require projects that receive public money to be consistent with the public trust doctrine of providing access, a provision important to environmentalists. “For too long, the towns wanted public money to fix their beaches, but don’t want the public who paid for it to have access,’’ said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This will help address that.”
Still, despite the bill’s being an important step forward, Tittel suggested there is still a lot of work to do to fully ensure public access to waterfront areas. “There are no standards,’’ he said. “What’s the proper access? Is their access to parking? To bathrooms? That’s going to be the real battle.’’
The Senate Environment and Energy Committee is expected to consider the bill at a meeting on Aug. 18.

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N.J. power broker in court on United Airlines shakedown

New Jersey political power broker Jamie Fox appeared before a federal judge today on a charge that he conspired to coerce United Airlines to reinstate a money-losing flight to benefit the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.


Tim Darragh reports for NJ.com:

The brief appearance before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares in Newark marked the first time Fox, 61, of Lambertville, publicly faced the conspiracy charge, which prosecutors filed July 14.
Fox did not speak during the hearing and his attorney, Michael Critchley, also declined to comment.
Critchley waived the formal reading of the complaint against Fox as well as a preliminary hearing. Fox’s bail was set at $100,000 unsecured bond. He also agreed to surrender his passport and any firearms, and to submit to mental health testing if necessary.
Fox, a former Port Authority official and state transportation commissioner who later became a lobbyist for the airline, is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery for allegedly using his influence to help arrange the direct flight from Newark, which shaved hours off former Port Authority Chairman David Samson’s commute to his South Carolina home.
Who is Jamie Fox?
Who is Jamie Fox?
Fox is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery for allegedly using his influence to help arrange a special United Airlines flight for Port Authority Chairman David Samson.

Samson held up approval of a Newark Liberty hangar project that United wanted to build until the airline reinstated the flight to and from Columbia, S.C. and Newark Liberty International Airport. He pleaded guilty to a bribery charge also on July 14.
If convicted, Fox faces up to five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Fox has previously denied using his influence to secure the “chairman’s flight,” which was canceled shortly after Samson stepped down from the Port Authority in March 2014.
Fox has been an adviser and staffer to the state’s top Democratic officials and has twice served as transportation commissioner.
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Here’s the latest on two major issues in Trenton




If you’re wondering what’s going on (or not) in Trenton on two big issues–Transportation Trust Fund and the state worker pension ballot question–you’ll find a good update on both below. It was sent by Tony Russo (CICNJ’s man in Trenton) to members of the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey.
_____________________________________________________

Good morning:

Here is the latest from Trenton…….

Transportation
Trust Fund (TTF) (i.e., gasoline tax)
·       The stalemate continues over a proposed increase in the
gasoline tax.  Last week, the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee
cleared legislation which would do the following:
  
1.     Raise the gasoline tax an additional
23 cents per gallon bringing the total per gallon to 37.5
cents (diesel tax would also increase)
2.   
Phase out the estate tax over a four year period.  Taxable
threshold in 2017 would be raised to $2 million (from $675,000)
3.   
Raise the earned income tax credit to 40% of federal benefit
4.   
Allows veterans to exempt $3,000 of personal income from
state income tax
5.   
Allows for a $250 income tax credit for those earning less
    than $100,000…called the personal motor fuel tax deduction
6.   
Increases the pension & retirement income exclusion from state income
taxes to $100,000
·       The Senate version does not include the 1% sales tax cut supported by
the Governor and Assembly in June…..Meaning the Assembly would need to
vote again on the measure and as of today no Assembly session has been
scheduled and
·      The Governor is already on record saying the measure is
“dead on arrival”.  He wants more “tax fairness” in
the bill
·       So the issue becomes whether the Senate and Assembly
have the votes to override a veto by the Governor.  The magic numbers are
27/40 votes in Senate and 54/80 votes in Assembly.  Not sure the votes are
there to override a veto
To view the Senate version of the
measure see here
Pension
Question Amendment
·        If the Senate does not act by August 8th on a resolution to add a question to November’s
ballot about mandating pension payments, the measure will be delayed for
another year
·        If the measure makes the ballot, voters will be
asked to amend our state constitution to require quarterly pension
payments
·     While CIANJ supports funding our state pension system, we do
not support amending our State Constitution to accomplish the goal. 
CIANJ believes doing so will lead to higher taxes and cuts in
services
Miscellaneous
·        The Senate cleared legislation allowing for
unemployment compensation during labor disputes. The measure now heads to
the Assembly for consideration.  CIANJ opposed the measure.  To view
the bill see here
·        On August
8, Senate Committees will focus on
higher education, the environment and hand guns.  The focus on higher ed
will be college loans while the Senate Environment & Energy Committee will
focus on regulating recycling industries.  A public hearing will be held dealing
with the issue of carrying hand guns in New Jersey.
As always, I am
available to discuss any of these matters in more detail.  Enjoy your
summer and thanks for your membership.

Anthony
Russo
Executive Vice President- Government Affairs & Communications
Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey
61 South Paramus Road
Paramus, New Jersey 07652
Phone # 201-368-2100
Fax # 201-368-3438
Cell # 908-415-4597
arusso@cianj.org www.cianj.org 



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Learning how to prevent those fracking earthquakes


Using a growing body of research –– and trial and error ––
scientists and state regulators are gradually getting closer to pinpointing the
cause of the startling increase in earthquakes near fracking operations
in the Central and Eastern U.S., and how to prevent them.
In Stateline.org, Jen
Fifield writes:
After restricting oil and natural gas operations in certain
hotspots, Oklahoma is feeling an average of about two earthquakes a day, down
from about six last summer, and Kansas is feeling about a quarter of the
tremors it once did.
The general cause,
scientists have found, is not drilling, but what happens after, when operators
dispose of wastewater that comes up naturally during oil and gas extraction.
The operators inject the wastewater into disposal wells that go thousands of
feet underground, which can increase fluid pressures and sometimes cause faults
underneath or nearby to move.
Since March 2015, Kansas
and Oklahoma have limited how much wastewater each operator in certain areas
can dispose of at a given time.
To gather more data,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas are expanding their seismic monitoring systems
this year, placing permanent stations across the states and moving temporary
stations to new hotspots. And Oklahoma and Texas hired more staff or are
contracting with scientists to study the geology of areas where earthquakes are
occurring, the details of the quakes that happen, and the oil and gas activity
that may be associated with them.
About 7 million people in
the Central and Eastern U.S. are at risk of man-made earthquakes powerful
enough to crack walls, according to a one-year United States Geological Survey
forecast released in March. The report outlined the risk from man-made
earthquakes for the first time, listing the states with the highest risk in
order as Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Arkansas.
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New EPA rules to protect farm worker pesticide exposure



Brenda Flanagan has the story for NJTV News in the video above,


The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday announced the first update in 24 years of rules to protect farm workers from pesticide exposure.

The announcement was made at a media event held at the Atlantic Blueberry Company in Hammonton, NJ.      


Regional EPA Administrator Judith Enck says the goal of the rules is to achieve both prosperous farms and healthy farm workers. 


The updated regulations will increase costs for farmers but larger operations like Atlantic Blueberry say they already are meeting most of what is called for in the new rules.


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Below are two videos produced by the EPA on the updated Worker Protection Standards.

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