Environmental/Political News - May 31 07

New Jersey Politics - AG to be named Supreme Court justice Gov. Jon Corzine has decided to nominate Attorney General Stuart Rabner to the top judicial post. His First Assistant AG Anne Milgram likely will replace him Star-Ledger
New Jersey Environment - Paramus school is shut while DEP removes soil Star-Ledger Farmers survive the lost bee colonies In the self-proclaimed blueberry capital of the world, the mysterious disappearance of the honey bee could have spelled disaster Inquirer
Pennsylvania Environment - Regulators delay PPL rate decision State regulators vote to investigate a PPL's $83.6M rate-hike request Express-Times DEP, railroad agree on creek cleanup Norfolk Southern will complete restoration of a train derailment site where 42,000 gallons of lye damaged a trout stream Centre Daily Times
Pennsylvania Politics - Poll shows voters want legislative term limits Post-Gazette
New York/Nation/World - Study: Wind turbines=dead birds IthicaJournal.com Parkinson's linked to pesticides Forbes Japan pushes for wider whale hunt National Public Radio

Why your car gets lousy gas mileage

The Wall Street Journal reports that, despite huge advances in auto technology, passenger vehicles' fuel efficiency has stagnated since the 1970s because most of the effort in improving engine performance has gone toward increasing horsepower not fuel economy.

NJ-DEP's proposed WQMP rule changes

Matthew J. Schiller of Saul Ewing's environmental law section analyzes the potential impact of proposed amendments to the rules that govern water quality/water resource planning and wastewater management in New Jersey. The deadline for written comment on the proposal is July 20.

Share your views on the NJ-DEP proposal with readers of this blog by clicking on the "comment" line below.

Environmental/Political news - May 29 07

NJ Politics - Primary will help reshape Trenton This is the year the young Turks take over. A dozen senators, many with decades of experience, and a handful of assemblymen have opted not to seek re-electionStar-Ledger NJ Environment - Utility official guilty in latest corruption trial A jury on Friday convicted former Western Monmouth Utilities Authority executive director Frank G. Abate, 60, of receiving thousands of dollars in free architectural services paid for by developers with applications pending before the WMUA AP Press PA Environment - Fearing a flood of toxins At the old Occidental chemical plant in L. Pottsgrove, near the banks of the Schuylkill River, landfills and man-made lagoons hold decades of industrial refuse, including vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, and dioxin, one of the world's most lethal substances Inquirer Interactive map of cleanup efforts New York/Nation/World - Biodiesel makers see opportunity in NY NY Times Lawmakers push big subsidies for coal NY Times Uranium windfall opens choices NYT

PSE&G to Replace 1,300 Vehicles with Hybrids

During the next decade, the utility will invest in hybrid cars and light trucks, hybrid bucket truck prototypes, electric-drives and alternative fuels in an effort to reduce harmful emissions that contribute to global warming. Read more here

More Enviro-Business News

New environmental legislation in Pennsylvania

HB 1293 (McGeehan) Provides for free parking for hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles.
Referred to TRANSPORTATION, May 18, 2007
HB 1296 (Leach) Excludes compact fluorescent bulbs from Sales Tax
Referred to FINANCE, May 18, 2007
HB 1306 (Caltagirone) Provides tax credits to animal waste recycling facilities and exempts the purchase of certain items from Sales Tax.
Referred to FINANCE, May 18, 2007
HB 1315 (DePasquale) Provides a tax credit to any taxpayer using alternative energy sources for at least 50 percent of their property energy supply.
Referred to FINANCE, May 18, 2007
HB 1316 (DePasquale) Provides a Sales Tax exemption for the purchase of solar energy systems.
Referred to FINANCE, May 18, 2007
HB 1317 (DePASQUALE) An Act amending the act of December 3, 1959 (P.L.1688, No.621), known as the Housing Finance Agency Law, establishing an energy-efficient home assistance program.
Referred to ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, May 18, 2007
HB 1318 (DePASQUALE) An Act providing incentives for the use of waste, coal bed methane and coal mine methane for the production of electricity; establishing the Coal Waste Fund; providing for a tax credit; and prohibiting certain surface disposal of coal waste.
Referred to ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, May 18, 2007

Bandannas separate Jersey dogs from coyotes

Dog owners in Middletown Township, NJ are being advised to tie a bright bandanna around their canine companions so the animals aren't mistaken for a coyote. The advisory was made after two coyote attacks in as many months. The attacks have left some residents so wary that they've mistakenly called in coyote sightings that turned out to be dogs. Courier-Post

Biodiesel makers see opportunity in New York

An industrial strip of land along Newtown Creek may soon be home to one of the largest biodiesel fuel manufacturing plants in the country NY Times

NJ utility official guilty in latest corruption trial

A jury on Friday convicted former Western Monmouth Utilities Authority executive director Frank G. Abate, 60, of receiving thousands of dollars in free architectural services paid for by developers with applications pending before the WMUA AP Press

Kiddie Kollege -- Part 2

On Wednesday, we reported that a New Jersey Assembly Environment Committee had released a bill that would provide grants to child care centers to help pay for environmental assessments that now are required when centers apply for state licenses or license renewals.

The assessments are designed to determine whether the location poses any environmental health risks to children or staff.

We noted that the Legislature would need to fast-track the legislation, since the first batch of license renewals are scheduled to arrive at the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on June 1 and the Legislature will leave for its summer recess at the end of June.

Yesterday, the Senate Environment Committee released a companion bill, which means that the legislation, which provides grants of up to $1500 each, is now in place for floor votes in both chambers.

The Legislature appears to be on track to do its part. How long it will take the short-handed DEP to handle its reviews is a separate question.

Berkeley Weighs Steep Pollution Cuts

New York City might be getting hybrid taxis, but that is just a lettuce leaf on the compost heap compared with a plan by Berkeley, California, to cut emissions by 80%, reports the Wall Street Journal

Environmental/Political news - May 24 07

New Jersey Politics -- GOP presses for Corzine-Katz e-mail The state Republican chairman says he will go to court to force Gov. Jon Corzine to make public Corzine's e-mail exchanges with union leader Carla Katz, his former girlfriend, during negotiations over a state workers contract. Tom Wilson accuses the governor of putting himself above the law Star-Ledger New Jersey Environment -- Global warming may kill state flower NJ's state flower could disappear by the end of the century, a victim of global warming, the National Wildlife Federation warns Herald News Pennsylvania Environment -- Appeal for new nuclear plants The U.S. power industry needs to build 20 to 30 new nuclear plants by 2030 to meet the nation's demand for electricity, according to Exelon Corp’s CEO John Rowe Inquirer Pennsylvania Politics --Rendell expects hold on health care plan Governor acknowledges that his proposal to expand state-subsidized health coverage to roughly 800,000 uninsured adults probably won't be put to a vote in General Assembly before fall Daily Times New York/Nation/World -- Bloomberg poll show support for gubernatorial bid Mayor would have more support from New York City voters in a bid to become governor than to become president NY Sun Indian Point pays fine, pledges new sirens Journal News
New advisory on fish caught in NY waters Journal News

More of today's news available on our website.

In New Jersey, the fishermen are biting

The weather's warming up and so are the tempers of the state's recreational fishermen. They claim that the state's commercial fishermen are stringing so many pots (fish traps) around the state's artificial reefs that the recreational fishermen can't gain access to these fish-rich areas.

The DEP and Marine Fisheries Council are trying to negotiate a settlement but the issue has Monmouth County's hook-and-line fishermen so upset that they convinced Assemblyman Sean Kean to introduce a bill, A-3986, which would prohibit the use of fishing pots around the man-made reefs.

Both sides argued it out on Monday before the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and it quickly became a watery "turf" battle. The recreational side said they had spent many years and money to support the creation of the artificial turf and now were effectively being excluded from using them. They claimed that there are many thousands of New Jersey recreational fishermen but only 40 commercial vessels.

The commercial side, in response, said they had been fishing the contested areas for years before the artificial reefs were created and, although their numbers might be small, their efforts benefit restaurant patrons and other fish eaters across the country. The NJ Restaurant Association and Garden State Seafood Association joined them in opposing the bill.

At the end of the meeting, the bill was released for a floor vote but obviously the fight is far from over.

In the aftermath of the Kiddie Kollege fiasco...

There were plenty of red faces at both the state and local level last August when elevated levels of mercury were found at Kiddie Kollege, a child care center in Gloucester County, NJ that had been allowed to be built on the site of a polluted former thermometer factory.

The discovery led to the closing of the facility and testing of children and staff. Legislation was enacted to prevent a repeat of such an oversight and the DEP double-checked its records of environmentally troubled properties to make sure no other child care centers were sitting on equally dangerous properties.

As an additional precaution, all of the state's 4,000 child-care centers are now required to obtain DEP approval as a condition of license renewal. The Department faces some 100 applications a month and facility operators say they expect to pay between $1200 and $4,000 each for engineering certifications that DEP will accept. The deadline for the first batch of license renewal applications to hit the Department is June 1.

Yesterday, the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee took quick action on a brand new bill, A-4285, sponsored by committee chairman John McKeon (D-Esssex). It would provide grants to facility operators funded by the state's Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund.

With the Legislature scheduled to recess for the summer by July 4, the bill will need to move with unusual speed to provide help in time for many facing license renewals in upcoming months.