NJ Bill to Reduce Plastic Bag Pollution and Support Barnegat Bay Passes Committee

NJ Bill to Reduce Plastic Bag Pollution and Support Barnegat Bay Passes Committee

Photo Credit: http://www.seaturtle.org/imagelib/?photo=4364

(Trenton, New Jersey) – Clean Ocean Action testified before the Senate Environment and Energy Committee  in general support of Senate Bill 812, the “Carryout Bag Reduction and Recycling Act,” a bill that would provide financial incentives to reduce the number of paper and plastic carryout bags distributed by stores.  The bill proposes that the funds generated would be directed to help improve water quality in Barnegat Bay and passed in Committee today.  However, COA urged that in the short term, a substantial portion of the proceeds go toward removing massive debris fields in the marine environment caused by Sandy.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Bob Smith, Chairman of the Committee, would require the operator of every convenience store, drugstore, supermarket or retail establishment that provides carryout bags to its customers to implement a $0.05 fee for every carryout bag distributed beginning January 1, 2014.   Additional incentives encourage customers to bring reusable bags.

Twice each year, Clean Ocean Action holds state-wide Beach Sweeps where volunteers from across New Jersey gather at over 70 locations from Cape May to Essex County, recording and tallying data of the amount of debris collected.  According to Clean Ocean Action’s Beach Sweeps report for 2011, 8,245 plastic shopping bags were collected in just two days (by 7,575 volunteers).

Testifying on behalf of COA, Zach McCue, Citizen Action Coordinator said, “While plastic bags may not be the number one item collected during beach sweeps, they still contribute significantly to the unnecessary amount of waste on our shores.  This bill takes action to reduce needless pollution while starting a much needed dialogue on the public’s usage of single use disposable plastic.”

Reducing the use of single use bags with financial incentives will dramatically reduce the consumption of plastic bags, as well as provide resources for reducing pollution. Many business leaders in NJ are already encouraging people to bring their own bags.  A statewide reduction of plastic bag use is necessary to ensure this law is fair and effective.

“According to Beach Sweep data, we have noticed an apparent decline in smoking related debris with the increase of smoking bans in public places,” stated Tavia Danch, Clean Ocean Action Education Coordinator.  “We are hoping to see a similar result with a plastic bag reduction law.  In addition, the purchase of cigarettes includes fees which help fund programs to improve public health.  Similarly, this Bag Reduction law will direct the funds generated by this environmental threat to help improve water quality,” added Danch. 

Clean Ocean Action supports, S812, in general with initial recommendations and may have further suggestions.  For the first 5 years, allowing a substantial portion of the revenues generated by the bill should be used to help municipalities fund the clean-up of marine debris caused by Hurricane Sandy, including communities of the Barnegat Bay.  Much of the debris, including displaced boats, cars, and refrigerators, are hazardous to habitats and wildlife and contain toxins. The price of cleaning shorelines and waterways may cost millions of dollars and funds from S812 could help defray those costs.

Following the initial 5 years, funds should then be directed solely to the Barnegat Bay to improve water quality.  After 10 years from passage, the bill should require a reassessment of funding structures to consider future needs to improve water quality.  Clean Ocean Action is also concerned with the enforceability of the bill, and asked the Committee to put measures in place to assure that the NJDEP will enforce the provisions and produce the reports that are stipulated in the bill.

“We are encouraged that NJ may join the growing efforts in the US and around the world to reduce this harmful, and avoidable source of pollution, waste, and litter, as well as fund important work to improve water quality,” said Cindy Zipf, Executive Director of COA.

Beaches Marred By Garbage Wash-up

On Saturday, June 16, beaches from Barnegat Light all the way to Ship Bottom, including Long Beach Island, were closed after a large amount of debris washed up along the shore.  About 50 syringes were found in the wash-up of trash and marine grass on Long Beach Island alone.  The trash came from combined sewage overflows (CSOs) in the New York Harbor area.  When heavy rain events occur, antiquated sewage pipes cannot handle the combination of sewage and rainfall, causing CSOs.  What is flushed down the toilet then ends up in our waterways and ultimately our ocean.  The waste was cleaned up and beaches were reopened on Sunday, June 17.  Here are links to a few of the news stories featuring the wash up:

• Beach needles not a harbinger of a polluted summer, officials say
•  Long Beach Island Beaches Reopened
• About 50 Syringes Wash Up on LBI
• LBI beaches reopen after syringes, debris cleared

Clean Ocean Action would like to thank Congressman Runyan for sending a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Wednesday, June 20, concerning the syringes found on LBI.  Congressman Runyan cited New Jersey’s reliance on coastal tourism, stating in his letter that:

“New Jersey’s coastal communities and economies rely upon a strong tourism industry in order to thrive.  During the summer months this becomes even more prevalent, as even a day of closed beaches has a ripple effect that impacts the entire coastal economy.” 

To read the rest of Congressman Runyan’s letter, click here.  At COA, we applaud Congressman Runyan for speaking out for the ocean, our economy and our communities.

To highlight the state of public health protections at Jersey shore’s beaches, in response to recent events, Clean Ocean Action will hold a press event next Wednesday, June 27, location to be determined.  The event will focus on issues with tracking pollution sources at the state and federal level, as well as what citizens can (and have been) doing to keep beaches safe and swimmable.

Be sure to check Clean Ocean Action’s new blog tab “Beach Closing Updates” for the latest closure information throughout the summer.

Want to get involved?  Here are a few things you can do:

• Write a letter to your representatives explaining your concern for public health protections at New Jersey beaches.
• Call elected officials and ask them to support A2852 (in the Assembly) or S831 (in the Senate), a bill which would establish notification requirements for combined sewer overflows.
• New York State has already passed CSO Right to Know laws that are waiting for a signature from the Governor (see here and here). 
• Call COA if  you have any further questions.
• Ask congress to continue to support beach water testing programs through the US BEACH Act!

This Thanksgiving Spread the Word, Not the Fertilizer

With so much to give thanks for this November 24th, Clean Ocean Action is making sure to highlight one of this year's  great victories.  We are "Spreading the Word, Not the Fertilizer!"  Here's a note from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection:

The NJ Department of Environmental Protection reminds everyone that as of November 15, residents cannot apply fertilizer to their lawns until next spring. 

Likewise, commercial applicators of fertilizer have until December 1 to complete their customer service cycle of late Fall fertilization.

Fertilizer cannot be applied onto lawns again until March 1st.

New Jersey's Fertilizer Law is a statewide initiative that was established as part of the Governor's 10-point action plan to protect and restore Barnegat Bay. It is  one of the most stringent fertilizer laws in the country and is designed to reduce the nitrogen and phosphorus loadings that can drain into New Jersey's surface and groundwater resources.

For more information about the new law and what you can do to help, go to www.nj.gov/dep/healthylawnshealthywater.

To learn more about the Governor's 10-point action plan to protect and restore Barnegat Bay, go to www.barnegatbay.nj.gov.

New Jersey's fertilizer law is just one of many things we have to be thankful for this year, not least of which is the  deep blue sea we all enjoy so much.  Wishing you and all of your friends and family a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Got notice?

NJ Department of Environmental Protection launches a new email-alert system to get notified of any newly proposed rules, in real time!

If you’re like us here at Clean Ocean Action, you have more emails in your inbox every morning than grains of sand on a COA Beach Sweeps-cleaned beach (October 22nd, stay tuned!).

If you’d like to get a few more, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has a new feature that provides the internet-savvy public with extra-immediate access to newly proposed rules.  We’ve signed up here at COA and we promise that there are only a few actions on this list per week, so you don’t need to worry about being overloaded…

According to a NJDEP email blast about the new program:

“NJDEP publishes between 15 and 25 proposals of rulemaking each year, but now you don't need to wait for the New Jersey Register, search through the newspaper Legal Notices, or go to the NJDEP website to look for them.  Instead, you can receive notice by email!”

To sign up for this email list, head to: www.nj.gov/dep/rules/subscribe.html and enter your email address. 

While COA is happy that the NJDEP set up an innovative feature for disseminating information, COA and other environmental groups are working to ensure that email communication doesn’t become the sole media through which the DEP communicates issues to the interested public. 

Exciting News on Stormwater Management (no, that’s not a contradiction)!

Monday, in a marathon New Jersey Senate Session, the much-postponed final vote to pass S1856 - authorizing the Ocean County Planning Board and municipal planning boards in Ocean County to create stormwater runoff and nonpoint source pollution control agencies for the Barnegat Bay watershed – happened.

Read the Bill Here

The bill, sponsored by environmental leaders Senator Bob Smith and Assemblymen John McKeon and Peter Barnes, III, does not create a stormwater and nonpoint source pollution agency or plan, it simply allows Ocean County governments to create them if they so choose.   If the Ocean County Planning Board (with the help and input of relevant municipalities) chooses to make a plan to address these pollution problems, the plan must…

• 
  be designed to reduce siltation and stormwater runoff into Barnegat Bay,
• identify cost-effective measures for controlling pollution sources,
•  have as a stated goal the improvement of the quality of runoff water into the Barnegat Bay, 
•  identify all runoff structures (from culverts to stormwater basins) and assess the structures to see whether they are still functional or are in need of repair, 
•  determine if any new runoff structures are needed, and
• develop a fee-based system for new developments and an incentive system for existing developments to promote and encourage positive stormwater management planning.

Municipalities within Ocean County can also, under this law, make their own local stormwater/runoff/nonpoint source pollution plans that follow the same guidelines as those listed above.

This bill was one of the original “Four for the Shore” that Clean Ocean Action championed last year, and it was first talked about in public at the August, 2010 Joint Hearing of the Senate and Assembly environment, energy, and solid waste committees. 

NJ DEP Transformations

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has been undertaking a “transformation” recently…

According to the vision statement on the transformation website, (http://www.state.nj.us/dep/transformation) “the DEP needs to have a new and very clear direction based on a set of realistic priorities that are known to all and managed by strong leadership from the top of the organization.”  Among the core steps to be taken by the environmental agency over the next few years are:

-          Eliminating duplicative and unnecessary programs by dedicating resources to the department’s priorities,

-          Focusing on the communities most in need of pollution reductions,

-          Changing the NJDEP’s interactions with the public to be more customer friendly,

-          Incorporate the views and insights of the NJDEP’s 3,000 professionals in all transformation activities,

-          Encourage stakeholder input,

-          Maximize technology use in leadership, management, and regulation,

-          Simplify business practices, and

-          Review regulations that may be holding the department back from greater environmental protection.

Specifically, over the past few months the NJDEP has been holding a series of program-specific stakeholder meetings designed to be the forum in which the interested and affected members of the community can voice their opinions as to the NJDEP’s direction and have a chance to collaborate on the department’s future.  To the New Jersey environmental community, this process has led to mixed results.  Several dozen stakeholder meetings have been held on a wide range of topics, and the department has yet to iron out the kinks.  The environmental community is looking to gain more thorough access to information before meetings occur (for all stakeholders) so that these meetings can be efficient and productive.  At the least, the environmental community is pushing for a top-down mandate that any “transformations” that occur do not lead to an erosion of our environmental protections.

Some of the active stakeholder meetings that COA has been involved in include:

-          meetings on the state’s environmental enforcement and compliance priorities,

-          meetings on the development of new stormwater rules,

-          meetings on the scientific bases for Category-1 waters, and

-          meetings on NJPDES permits, land use plans, watershed management plans, coastal zone rules, and the Barnegat Bay.