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GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 021231

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Dec 31, 2002, 12:27:18 AM12/31/02

021231

GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{*} NEW MEADOWLANDS MASTER PLAN WOULD PRESERVE UNUSED ACREAGE
{*} MCGREEVEY - COMMITTED TO CLEAN AIR, PURE WATER
{*} CAPE MAY WATERSHED PLANNING SNAFU
{*} GARFIELD RESIDENTS URGE CLEANUP OF CHEMICAL COMPANY SITE
{*} NEW RULES IN WORKS FOR DIESEL EMISSIONS
{*} EPA RELEASES A DRAFT HEALTH EVALUATION ON WTC
{*} MT. LAUREL SAYS YES TO 326 HOUSES
{*} MILLVILLE TO BUY 700 ACRES NEAR AIRPORT
{*} INVERSO BILL WANTS $11.2M FOR FARMS
{*} GRANT WILL BENEFIT THREE SUSSEX TOWNSHIPS
{*} DEP AWARDS GRANT TO EAST WINDSOR

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The Garden State EnviroNet (GSE) gratefully acknowledges volunteers
Gerald Cullins, Bambi Dingman, Jeff Hook and Paul Neuman for their
contributions to today's issue. If interested in helping out, please
send an email message to mai...@gsenet.org.

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NEW MEADOWLANDS MASTER PLAN WOULD PRESERVE UNUSED ACREAGE

Date: 30 Dec 2002
From: Andrew Willner {andy_...@netlabs.net}

By Alex Nussbaum, Record Staff Writer, December 30, 2002

The creeks and marshes of the Meadowlands, for centuries the target
of developers and trash dumpers, will soon have historic new
protections.

Early next year, state officials plan to declare all remaining acres
of the wetlands off limits to development, a reversal of more than 300
years of thinking about the ecologically fragile landscape.

After three centuries of building everything from warehouses and
landfills to the massive sports complex in the Meadowlands, a new
master plan will seek to preserve what's left of the cedar swamps,
marshes, and meadows that once covered much of southern Bergen and
northern Hudson counties.

Economic growth would be confined to already developed areas. The
wetlands, supporters say, would remain to sustain wildlife, prevent
floods, and attract eco-tourists from around the country.

"The master plan is a guarantee that we will protect the natural
resources," said Susan Bass Levin, chairwoman of the state commission
that oversees the Meadowlands. "It will make it very clear that
wetlands will not be used for development."

The change will not affect plans to redevelop the Continental Arena
site at the sports complex, officials said. But it would put one more
obstacle before Meadowlands Mills, the controversial plan to build a
huge mall and office space atop 600 acres of polluted wetlands in
Carlstadt. If the master plan changes, Mills would need a zoning
change that could be hard to get.

"It's monumental," said Bill Sheehan, head of the environmental group
Hackensack Riverkeeper. "It's a complete reversal, a 180-degree change
in the policy of the Meadowlands Commission, the policy of the state
of New Jersey, and the way that these wetlands are looked upon."

The plan would safeguard what biologists consider a vital oasis for
wildlife in the mid-Atlantic region. Though the Meadowlands region is
still tainted by leaking landfills and mercury-tinged streams, it also
hosts 18 endangered or threatened species, including birds like the
osprey and plants like arrowgrass. The marshes are a key rest stop for
tens of thousands of birds on their spring and fall migrations. From
terrapins to striped bass, 265 species call the swamps home.

Still, property owners and local politicians are wary of a plan that
would take some of the largest chunks of developable land in North
Jersey off the table. Owners said they expect to be compensated if
their land is rendered useless. Mayors in the area are worried about
economic growth and how to keep tax revenues flowing without new
development.

"Do I think there has to be a compromise between building and
environmental concerns? Absolutely," said Carlstadt Mayor William
Roseman. "You just cannot starve a community of its ability to grow."

Still, in a sign of how far attitudes have shifted, some of the
area's busiest developers said protecting the remaining wetlands makes
sense.

"I don't think it's something that's going to harm the region's
interests," said Walter Smith, an executive vice president at Hartz
Mountain Industries, one of the companies that developed much of the
Meadowlands and is now seeking the contract to redo the Continental
Arena site.

"I've got to think that being next to a nature preserve, being next
to environmentally sound wetlands is a good thing, not a bad thing,
when it comes to attracting business," he said.

The master plan is the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission's blueprint
for how it wants to see the 14-town Meadowlands District develop. The
plan will lead to a new zoning map, laying out what uses are allowed
on each parcel in the district, which stretches from Teterboro and
Little Ferry south to Jersey City and Kearny.

Of 21,000 acres of meadows, forests, and marshlands that once covered
the region, only about 6,800 acres of wetlands remain undeveloped. An
aide to Bass Levin, who also heads the state Department of Community
Affairs, said all of that open space would be preserved.

Add the 1,600 acres of water in the Meadowlands - the Hackensack
River, creeks, inlets, and bays - and North Jersey could have a vast
nature preserve, 10 times the size of New York's Central Park.
Advocates envision hiking trails, canoe trips, and environmental
education centers for children.

That's far different from the past. In the 300 years since Dutch and
English farmers first moved into the area, its streams and swamps have
been diked, dammed, and drained. First farms, and later homes and
industry came in. The 20th century brought huge landfills, "midnight
dumpers" of toxic waste, and according to legend, a mob victim or
three.

In the late 1960s, an Associated Press article dubbed the area "the
most valuable stretch of real estate in the world." Back then, the
newly formed Meadowlands Commission seemed to have a different agenda.
The article reported it would "make roads where now there are streams,
make houses where now there are marshes, make industry where now there
is only pollution - and most of all, make money."

Buildings rose and money was made. But scientists now have a
different view of wetlands. Once considered useless, bug-infested
swamps, they're now prized for their wildlife and the ability to
filter pollutants and soak up rain that would otherwise flood
populated areas.

The agency will propose the master plan in January or February,
followed by what's likely to be a year of public debate and fine
tuning before the commission takes a final vote.

The new version expresses Governor McGreevey's "commitment to a re-
greened Meadowlands," Bass Levin said.

"The wetlands are environmentally sensitive treasures," she said. "We
should not be filling or building on them."

Instead, the plan will focus on redeveloping already built-up areas
that could be more productive, officials said. The commission sees
Teterboro as a possible site for new housing or Route 17 in East
Rutherford as home to new offices and retail stores. Plans are already
under way to turn old landfills in North Arlington into a golf resort.

Dozens of brownfields, areas now unused because of chemical
contamination, will be cleaned and returned to use, Bass Levin said.

Wetlands, once touted by the commission as prime real estate, will
serve a different role.

"This is going to affect quality-of-life issues people have been
screaming about: no overdevelopment, clean water, clean air, a place
to recreate," said Robert Ceberio, the Meadowlands Commission
executive director.

To environmentalists, the biggest prize would be the Meadowlands
Mills site in Carlstadt, known as the Empire Tract.

The Virginia-based Mills Corp. has spent six years trying to win
state and federal permission to fill in some of the wetlands there. If
a new master plan changed the property's zoning, Mills could have to
seek an exemption, an uphill battle that could add another year of
fighting, said Riverkeeper's Sheehan.

Mills' attorney, Michael Luchkiw, disagreed, however, arguing the
project would be grandfathered and not subject to the new master plan.
Meadowlands Commission officials declined to comment, given that
Mills' application is still under review.

In any event, Mills has turned its attention in recent months to
winning the contract to redevelop the Continental Arena site, said
spokesman Bob Sommer. If allowed to build there, the company has said,
it would donate the Empire Tract to the state as open space.

But saving other wetlands could mean sticker shock for taxpayers.
Developers have been asking as much as $10,000 per acre for wetlands
in the region. Ceberio said the commission knows it may have to buy up
hundreds of acres under the new master plan to compensate owners.

Supporters are counting on state and federal help, such as the $35
million that Rep. Steve Rothman, a Fair Lawn Democrat, has promised
for Meadowlands conservation in the next federal budget.

Yet developers said a more restrictive master plan might not change
much. Current laws make it hard to fill wetlands anyway, they said.

"There are development opportunities still in existence on hard, dry,
flat ground, non-wetlands areas that can continue to make this region
economically viable," said Smith of Hartz Industries.

Developer Richard Branca, however, said a blanket ban on construction
goes too far. Some marshes are so polluted that they're not worth
saving, he argued.

"I just think there should be a better compromise than just saying
you can't develop at all," the East Rutherford builder said. "There's
some acreage that really doesn't have any value at all as wetlands and
should be developed. It could be a benefit to the business community
and the taxpayers."

Still, Branca, whose company owns about 100 acres in the Meadowlands,
said he could support the plan if he isn't left holding worthless
land.

"I just think they should find a way to properly compensate the
people who bought the land long ago," Branca said. "There's some land
we've had since the Fifties. It's just been sitting there and paying
taxes, and we can't do anything with it."

* * *

# # #

NY/NJ Baykeeper
Building 18 Sandy Hook
Highlands NJ 07732
Tel: 732-291-0176
Tel: 800-822-9577
Fax: 732-291-7727
Email: nyn...@keeper.org
Web: http://www.nynjbaykeeper.org

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MCGREEVEY - COMMITTED TO CLEAN AIR, PURE WATER

Date: 021230
From: http://www.app.com/

By Todd B. Bates, Environmental Writer, Asbury Park Press, 12/28/02

Gov. McGreevey outlined an ambitious environmental agenda as a
candidate last year, vowing to curb sprawling development, set strict
pollution limits, protect drinking water, improve air quality and
increase enforcement of environmental laws.

By many accounts, he's off to a solid start. However, environmental
activists and business leaders say plenty of work remains and they're
not happy with some of his administration's decisions.

"We see a governor, for the first time in many years, (who) doesn't
believe that regulation is a dirty word, that there actually should be
some enforcement," said Jeff Tittel, executive director of the Sierra
Club's New Jersey chapter. "Given New Jersey's environmental problems,
a lot more has to get done."

Environmental activists lauded New Jersey's efforts under Gov.
Christie Whitman, who now heads the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, to preserve open space and farmland. But they criticized her
state Department of Environmental Protection budget cuts, layoffs and
enforcement cutbacks and her "New Jersey is open for business" focus.

But her DEP commissioner, Robert C. Shinn Jr., said last December the
Garden State's air and water are getting cleaner and the state has
made progress in shoring up its coastline.

McGreevey promised to strengthen environmental protection. His and
the DEP's initiatives this year have included:

Creating a Smart Growth Policy Council of state officials to ensure
that state agencies incorporate so-called smart growth principles and
the State Development and Redevelopment Plan into their policies and
rules.

"We must stop subsidizing sprawl, we must focus on redevelopment, and
we must regulate smarter, so we encourage growth where we want it and
discourage it where we don't," according to a speech McGreevey made at
a recent Smart Growth Summit.

More aggressive enforcement of environmental laws, including an
unprecedented weeklong "enforcement strike" in Camden in October. The
DEP, working with county officials, State Police and the EPA, sent
more than 70 inspectors to more than 700 facilities to ensure
compliance with environmental laws. Proposed state rules that would
reduce stormwater pollution and help recharge underground water
supplies, and proposed rules that would increase anti-pollution
protections for 27 reservoirs and other water bodies, including the
Manasquan, Swimming River and Glendola reservoirs in Monmouth County.

DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell said the latter proposal, in
some cases, would bar development of land miles away from reservoirs,
if it could be proved that a feeder stream would be polluted by a
development.

The appointment of former Gov. James J. Florio as chairman of the
state Pinelands Commission and other commission appointments praised
as preservation-oriented.

"I think there has been a dramatic departure from...the preceding
eight years and a substantial start on a very aggressive agenda to
strengthen protection of the environment and natural resources in New
Jersey and to address the most significant threats to clean air and
clean water and (address) poorly managed growth," Campbell said.

DEALING WITH DROUGHT

Shortly after taking office, McGreevey and Campbell, who has drawn
mostly praise for his work so far, faced one of the worst droughts of
the century.

New Jersey, which uses roughly 1 trillion gallons of water a year,
was enduring the driest September-through-February period on record.
Many reservoir, stream and groundwater levels fell to record or near-
record lows.

McGreevey declared a statewide water emergency in March, and Campbell
ordered limits on outdoor uses of water.

Chris James, past president of the New Jersey Landscape Contractors
Association, which has nearly 300 members with landscape, lawn care
and irrigation businesses, criticized Campbell's response to the
drought.

The water-use limits had a "huge impact on us" while leaving other
industries untouched, James said.

But Jim Sinclair, first vice president of the New Jersey Business and
Industry Association, to which more than 18,000 businesses belong,
said Campbell "handled the drought extremely well."

Commented Campbell, "We not only managed successfully the drought
emergency, but have also begun the longer-term steps that are
needed...so that we don't find ourselves in that same unwelcome
situation again."

Steps include drafting on a new water supply master plan, working
with landscapers and others on "what water-use restrictions might be
applicable even during nondrought times," and promoting water reuse
and recycling, he said.

'SMART GROWTH' DEBATE

Meanwhile, Barbara L. Lawrence, executive director of New Jersey
Future, a smart-growth advocacy group, said "the governor has spoken
out more passionately and with more understanding of the sprawl issue
than any other political leader that I've ever seen in New Jersey."

But she added that "in the first year, we didn't see initiatives that
changed people's experience with sprawl. We saw administrative
changes. What we hope to see in the second year is changes that will
actually impact people's lives for the better."

Lawrence called implementation of the state master plan pathetic
since it was adopted in 1992.

The blueprint, updated last year, is aimed at controlling suburban
sprawl, revitalizing urban areas, preserving farms and open space,
reducing pollution and providing affordable housing.

Nancy Wittenberg, director of environmental affairs for the New
Jersey Builders Association, said McGreevey's "done a great deal of
talking about smart growth...and streamlining and getting out of the
way so that growth could go where they want it to go."

But "we just keep seeing new (rules) that are going to make it
impossible to develop anywhere," Wittenberg said.

"It seems to me for New Jersey at this point...smart growth is no
growth," she said. "It's been disappointing."

Campbell said he shares "the builders' view that we need to reform
the regulatory system to make regulatory outcomes more predictable to
make it easier to develop in the right places, even as we're setting
tougher standards to protect against limitless sprawl."

"There's clearly been substantial implementation of Gov. McGreevey's
smart-growth agenda," he added.

Examples include a change in the brownfields policy that will help
accelerate redevelopment of abandoned industrial sites and a sharp
decrease in the proportion of state Department of Transportation
spending on new roads, he said.

Expanded and new highways often pave the way for more sprawling
development, according to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, an
alliance of groups that favors reduced dependence on cars.

EXHAUSTIVE EFFORT

Dena Mottola, acting director of the New Jersey Public Interest
Research Group, a consumer and environmental advocacy group, said
"significant progress has been made on the clean water front, but the
clean air front has yet to be tackled."

The group and others want New Jersey to adopt California's stringent
clean car standards. McGreevey pledged to improve air quality by
requiring new cars sold in New Jersey to be cleaner.

Campbell said "what you've seen is a very decided effort to ensure
that (clean air) standards and protections will be vigorously enforced
and, where appropriate, strengthened."

The McGreevey administration supports California clean car
legislation, but "we need the Legislature to be supportive," Campbell
said.

* * *

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CAPE MAY WATERSHED PLANNING SNAFU

Date: 021230
From: http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/i

A PAUSE?

By Joe Zelnik, Cape May County Herald, December 30, 2002

Analysis

Crest Haven - This county's two-year-old Watershed Management
Planning program isn't dead, as Freeholder-Director Daniel Beyel put
it last month.

It's just "paused."

That's according to Lawrence J. Baier, director of the DEP's Division
of Watershed Management.

This newspaper reported Dec. 11 that, with less than half its
$400,000 grant spent, the county had been told by the DEP not to
proceed.

Specifically, it said "Don't hire any more consultants," said county
Deputy Administrator Steve Hampton.

"I can understand there has been some confusion," Baier told this
newspaper. "The commissioner has asked us to hold these contracts (the
second half of the funding) in abeyance.

"The process was initiated under a former administration," said
Baier, referring to the Whitman administration. "Commissioner
(Bradley) Campbell has convinced the department and Gov. McGreevey and
initiated a smart growth initiative and we've sort of put a pause on
our watershed planning effort to figure out how we integrate it with
the smart growth initiative."

Hampton said Dec. 27 that the county requested a "no-cost," six-month
extension in its contract with the DEP that expired Dec. 31. The DEP
gave it three months, to March 30, but with the proviso that "no
charges be made after Dec. 31."

Hampton said the county's Watershed committees will meet Jan. 23 to
decide how to continue, "whether we will hold to its philosophy of how
they (the DEP) want to do this."

Baier said the DEP is "looking to go away from the traditional
planning module to a more standards-based approach."

Asked for a translation, Baier said "The idea is to look at water
resource in a holistic fashion."

Asked for a further translation, Baier said the DEP "will come up
with a set of standards and say to the Watershed Management Planning
program, "Here are the broad-based statewide standards to implement
locally."

Hampton gave his own translation: "They want us to stop planning and
start doing," he said, "pick a project and clean it up."

This doesn't exactly sound like the announcement early in the process
that the DEP and county would be "partners" in the Watershed
Management Planning effort. Nor does is sound like the program's
description of itself as "a stakeholder-driven process."

"One criticism of the former effort," said Baier, "is that the state
gave away a lot of money in the form of contracts with very little
direction as to what the department expected. Now we are trying to add
a little bit more definition.

How much did the state budget crisis have to do with this?

"Money is a little bit tighter," said Baier. "Tax receipts from the
corporate business tax are reduced from what they were a few years ago
as a result of the state of the economy. We owe it to the citizens of
the state not to waste that money."

The county watershed planning effort had been ready to accept a
$48,000 proposal from a firm which would analyze sources of fecal
coliform and pull together date that would point to the source of
pollution.

Hampton said Dec. 27 that he thought it "unlikely the state would
approve a line item transfer" to award that contract.

It had been expected that the $400,000 from the state for the first
two years of the program would be followed by another $200,000 for
years three and four.

Hampton said the county has received $120,000 and "requested another
$60,000."

Chairpersons of three key advisory committees of the Watershed
Management Area wrote the DEP of their "disappointment, frustration
and dissatisfaction" with the changes from the DEP.

"We certainly hope these watershed management areas and volunteers
remain engaged and we look forward to working with them in the
future," said Baier. "We understand they are a strong advocacy group
and will play a critical role in watershed management and smart
growth."

After the pause, that is.

* * *

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GARFIELD RESIDENTS URGE CLEANUP OF CHEMICAL COMPANY SITE

Date: 021227
From: http://www.northjersey.com/

By Chris Gale, Herald News, December 27, 2002

The site of the former Kalama chemical factory is a cold, spooky 6.1-
acre wasteland. Tufts of high grass push up out of the snow, desolate
brick buildings stand near River Drive, and a pipe at one corner
belches burned-off phenol gas, producing heat waves in the air.

The city's redevelopment commission is trying to choose between two
builders who propose to remake the contaminated plot. The commission's
next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 6.

Most neighbors of the property say they like what they hear of the
developers' proposals. Some say whatever building goes up must include
a thorough cleanup of the chemicals they worry about whenever they
become ill.

"Too many people are dying of cancer," said Dolores Vargas, owner of
Family Deli and Grocery at Palisade Avenue and Commerce Street. Vargas
can list a number of residents in the area who have been diagnosed
with cancer, including her 20-year-old son. She doesn't know if it has
anything to do with the former chemical factory, but she said
customers who come to her 9-year-old convenience store talk about
dangers the polluted factory site might pose.

The Kalama property is now owned by Goodrich Corp., based in
Charlotte, N.C.

Sovereign Consulting of Robbinsville is burning phenol out of the
groundwater and removing smaller levels of trichloroethylene and
tetrachloroethylene for Goodrich.

According to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services,
trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene have caused cancer in
laboratory animals. Phenol is less dangerous, according to the
department.

Goodrich has said it is bringing the site up to nonresidential
standards, a step below a total cleanup.

The redevelopment commission may hand the property over to Arilex
Realty of Edgewater, which would bring the site up to residential
standards and build stores and apartments. Arilex is sweetening their
offer to the city by promising to include a police station at Monroe
Street and River Drive.

The police station is a plus for residents.

"Someone stole my uncle's car," said Jonathan Salazar, gesturing
across Monroe Street where the car had been taken. The house next door
was burglarized recently, he said. A police station would stop the
crime, Salazar said.

Arilex's apartments, however, are proving less popular with some
residents and officials.

"No apartments," said Jackeline Ramo, who lives at Hudson Street and
Bloomingdale Avenue, across from the pipe burning off the phenol.

Ramo said she worries the pollutants at the site may contribute to
ill health in her family. But she also said she doesn't want any new
children in the school system, pushing up taxes and overburdening the
system.

She'd rather have the site cleaned up short of residential standards
if that will keep apartments away.

A second developer, competing with Arilex, is River Drive
Construction Co. of Elmwood Park.

This builder has proposed a plan that would include a small
supermarket, a bank, shops and other commercial property, but no
apartments. They have said they will not clean the site up to
residential standards.

The supermarket is a popular idea for residents around the Kalama
site, most of whom say they trek across the Passaic River when they
need to shop.

"It would be nice to have a supermarket here," said Veronica Suazo,
loaded down with groceries she had just bought at Vargas' store, two
blocks away.

James Demetrakis, a principal for Arilex, attempted to sell his
proposal and its apartments to the commission by saying too much
retail would drive out local businesses like Vargas'.

Vargas disputes that, saying her specialty products from Peru, Puerto
Rico and the Dominican Republic are unique in her part of town. But
the pollutants must go, she said.

* * *

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NEW RULES IN WORKS FOR DIESEL EMISSIONS

Date: 021230
From: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

By Eric Pianin, Washington Post Staff Writer, December 30, 2002

The Bush administration is preparing new restrictions on life-
threatening emissions from off-road diesel-powered vehicles after
decades of government neglect of this major pollution source. In a
turnabout from previous battles over pollution policy,
environmentalists have hailed the move, while some industry groups are
vigorously challenging it.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Management and
Budget are jointly drafting rules to reduce dangerous emissions from
bulldozers, tractors, irrigation machinery and other diesel-powered
equipment. The rules would force engine manufacturers to install
state-of-the-art devices for capturing and treating exhaust gases, and
require oil refineries to produce a low-sulfur diesel fuel required
for anti-pollution devices.

The proposed rules - to be formally announced next spring - would
slash off-road diesel emissions by as much as 95 percent and bring
them in line with newly adopted standards for heavy-duty diesel trucks
and buses that traverse the nation's highways. Off-road diesel engines
have been held to a much weaker standard than on-road vehicles since
1977.

After power plants, off-road diesel engines are among the largest
sources of pollutants that scientists have linked to premature deaths,
lung cancer, asthma and other serious upper respiratory illnesses,
according to the EPA.

The drive to enact the new regulations is unusual because it pits the
administration and its frequent critics from the environmental
community against industry leaders over an issue with significant
economic ramifications. The proposed rules would save an estimated
8,300 lives a year and tens of billions of dollars annually in medical
costs and lost workdays, according to government and private studies.
But they also would add billions of dollars to the operating costs of
diesel engine manufacturers and others who buy off-road equipment.

"This is going to impose some cost on industry and consumers," EPA
Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said recently, "but these
regulations are going to give us enormous health benefits that will
far outweigh those costs."

Environmental and public health groups, including the Natural
Resources Defense Council, the American Lung Association, the Clean
Air Trust and an association of state and territorial air pollution
program administrators, have generally praised the administration's
efforts.

"The Bush administration had ample opportunity to dismantle the
program, and elected instead to sustain it under some serious
political opposition," John Walke, an NRDC air quality expert, said
recently. "The fact is, we're facing a major health problem and they
did the right thing."

Earlier this month, however, the unusual alliance threatened to come
apart, after several environmental groups accused the EPA and OMB of
bowing to industry pressure to delay the planned implementation of the
new standards by two years, until 2010, and to create an emissions
credit trading program that might weaken tough new standards for both
on-road and off-road diesel emissions. Environmental leaders became
alarmed after learning that American Petroleum Institute officials
emerged from a Nov. 19 meeting with OMB and EPA officials convinced
that the EPA now favored extending the deadline.

But with both the administration and environmental leaders eager to
show that they occasionally can work together on important policy
issues, the EPA offered reassurances that it would stick to a tough
regulation, and environmentalists released a letter outlining their
concerns but pledging to continue to cooperate.

The diesel fuel used in off-road equipment has a high sulfur
concentration of 3,000 parts per million that clogs anti-pollution
devices and contributes to harmful pollution particles. Under the
original EPA proposal, refineries would be required to cut the sulfur
content of their fuel to 15 parts per million by 2008, while engine
manufacturers would have to install pollution control equipment
between 2009 and 2012, according to EPA officials.

But EPA officials say they are leaning toward an alternative approach
strongly favored by industry that would require a modest interim
reduction in the sulfur content by 2007 and put off the new standard
until 2010. Diesel engine manufacturers would be given an additional
two years to meet the requirements for installing new anti-pollution
devices.

"If we end up going with the two-step approach, it would be
structured in a way to get the same environmental benefit," said
Jeffrey R. Holmstead, the EPA's assistant administrator for air
quality policy. "Things are not slipping. We are still on track."

Environmentalists and public health groups have criticized President
Bush for repeatedly siding with industry in disputes over clean air
standards, especially those involving older, coal-fired power plants
and refineries that generate extensive air pollution. Yet the
administration has consistently and aggressively advocated tougher
diesel emission standards - well beyond those imposed in Europe. It
has also rejected previous pleas of industry and lawmakers for more
lenient regulations. Shortly after Bush took office in January 2001,
the EPA approved a Clinton administration rule requiring swift and
sharp reductions of as much as 95 percent in emissions of particulate
matter and nitrogen oxides from large diesel-powered trucks and buses.
That rule - later affirmed by the courts - begins to take effect in
2007.

Administration officials say their current effort to slash off-road
emissions was prompted by the Supreme Court's unanimous decision last
year upholding the EPA's new particulate matter and ozone standards,
plus a growing body of scientific evidence on the adverse health
effects of fine particles of airborne soot produced by diesel engines.
Officials including John D. Graham, chief of OMB's Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, were particularly impressed by
cost-benefit analyses showing that the potential costs to industry
were overshadowed by long-term economic and public health benefits.

But industry groups including diesel fuel refiners, engine makers,
general contractors and agricultural interests were troubled by the
administration's aggressive approach and vigorously lobbied to try to
weaken the proposal or delay its effective dates.

Some say the proposed rules would harm engine manufacturers, create
diesel fuel shortages by driving some refineries out of business and
impose huge new costs on consumers of diesel equipment and vehicles.

"What we've seen preliminarily is that there will be a whole lot of
costs for us and very uncertain benefits in terms of improving air
quality," said Rebeckah Freeman of the American Farm Bureau
Federation. Leah Wood, environmental counsel for Associated General
Contractors of America, said, "It is very hard to be supportive of
things when the broad-based economic effects are not taken into
consideration."

"We're supportive [of new rules] and we recognize we can't sell
diesel fuel if it's perceived as dirty and contributing to pollution,"
said Ed Murphy, a senior official at the American Petroleum Institute.
"But we have done studies showing it could reduce the supply of diesel
to the markets. The economics make it difficult for refiners to
justify the investments you have to make."

Administration officials are exploring ways to mitigate the rules'
impact on industry. For example, they are considering an approach that
would allow the use of market-based averaging and emissions credit
trading between off-road and highway engines. But Whitman said nothing
will be done to diminish the impact of the new emission rules for
heavy-duty trucks and buses. "We're not backing away from that at
all," she said.

* * *

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EPA RELEASES A DRAFT HEALTH EVALUATION ON WTC

Date: 27 Dec 2002
From:

EPA RELEASES A DRAFT HEALTH EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS FROM THE
DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER

December 27, 2002

EPA today released for public review and comment a draft evaluation
on the effects of exposure to airborne pollution from the destruction
of the World Trade Center. The draft evaluation concludes that with
the exception of those exposed immediately following the collapse and
perhaps during the next few days, people in the surrounding community
are not likely to suffer from serious long or short term health
effects from the attack on the World Trade Center. EPA researchers
evaluated the measured outdoor levels of various air pollutants to
which the public had been potentially exposed as a result of the
collapse of the World Trade Center. These data were evaluated in terms
of available health benchmarks and typical background concentrations
for New York City or other urban areas.

A Federal Register notice, published December 27, 2002, announced the
public availability of the external review draft and the start of a
60-day comment period. Concurrently, the draft report will begin the
process of peer review by a panel of independent scientific experts.
EPA will address the peer panel's comments and the public comments in
revising the draft document. The draft document is available on the
Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ncea/wtc.htm .

One of the studies supporting the draft human health evaluation is
also being released today. In this study, EPA scientists exposed mice
to particulate matter samples collected at the World Trade Center
site. The researchers found that the particulate matter samples were
mostly dominated by calcium-containing compounds derived from WTC
building materials and that a high dose of WTC fine PM could cause
mild lung inflammation and air flow obstruction in mice. These
findings suggest that a similarly high dose in people could cause
short-term respiratory effects such as inflammation and cough. A final
report on the respiratory toxicology studies is available on the
Internet at http://www.epa.gov/nheerl.

* * *

EPA Press Office, 202-564-4355

United States Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Public Affairs (1703A)
Washington, D.C. 20460
http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/

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MT. LAUREL SAYS YES TO 326 HOUSES

Date: 021228
From: http://www.philly.com/

SOME OF THE LAST OPEN LAND WILL BE DEVELOPED.

By Cynthia Burton, Inquirer Staff Writer, Dec. 28, 2002

A lot has changed in Mount Laurel, which once embraced hundreds of
new housing units a year and recently switched to trying to preserve
what little unused land is left.

And last night, the Planning Board unanimously approved a new
development - one to which it gave preliminary approval 13 years ago.
Back then, this site of 86 acres, designated for 326 homes, wasn't one
of the last patches of woods here. The decision means that J.S.
Hovnanian & Sons Inc. has permission to build 245 townhouses and 81
single-family houses on the south bank of the Rancocas Creek.

The development has nearby residents worried that the peaceful life
along the worn and narrow Centerton Road and the creek will change
forever.

A few hundred feet up the road from the proposed development, Marie
Powell, a resident of 20 years, talked about seeing hawks, deer,
turkey, otters and even an eagle from her backyard on the creek.

"Three hundred houses is a lot. It's quiet here. I'm afraid it will
change the creek," she said. "It's so beautiful when you're out on the
creek. There's nothing like this in New Jersey."

The Elbertson triplets, who have lived all 58 years of their lives
near the creek, don't even like the name of the new development:
Rancocas Pointe.

"I hate to see us lose our identity. This is Centerton. If they call
it Rancocas Pointe, it's not Centerton," Margaret Elbertson said.
"It's crazy. We don't want to see our peaceful neighborhood change."

But it will.

Peter Hovnanian, the company's vice president and the incoming
president of the New Jersey Builders Association, said he could have
homes built and occupied in a year.

The project has endured these 13 years because it includes 52 units
for low- and moderate-income families, units set aside because of
Mount Laurel's own, painful past.

The NAACP sued Mount Laurel Township and won landmark state Supreme
Court decisions in 1975 and 1983, known as Mount Laurel I and II,
which state that towns cannot use zoning to keep out low- and
moderate-income housing.

Though challenged over the years, the decisions have held.

A Superior Court judge early last year ruled against a township suit
and ordered that the project be allowed to proceed. Hovnanian
submitted final plans Nov. 14, and under the state land-use law, the
township Planning Board had 45 days - until Sunday - to grant or deny
approval.

All along, the township has argued that Hovnanian has dawdled on
Rancocas Pointe and instead put its money into other housing projects,
two of which are in Mount Laurel, Planning Board lawyer Chris Norman
said.

Those projects did not include affordable housing and under state law
had to be constructed within five years of Planning Board approval.
But an affordable-housing project such as Rancocas Pointe has a
virtually unlimited shelf life.

The Planning Board contends that Hovnanian "landbanked" the project,
referring to the practice of sitting on an investment until it was
most profitable.

At the same time, Hovnanian lawyer Ron Morgan argued that the
township has been changing the rules, bogging the builder down with
previously resolved questions and stalling sewer extensions.

In 1999, the township failed to get state approval to give $1.3
million to other towns so that those towns would develop these 52
Hovnanian affordable-housing units in their communities, relieving
Mount Laurel of its obligation on this tract.

Residents in Mount Laurel have increasingly shown that they are sick
of the continued growth of suburban sprawl. By 1997, the township was
openly battling development, when it bought a 150-acre tract that had
approvals for 120 homes.

Voters overwhelmingly approved three open-space referendums in 1998
and 2001 and 2002, and resisted expanding overcrowded schools in the
late 1990s, until they were embarrassed by tales of students taking
classes in storage rooms and janitors' closets.

The township's population has almost quadrupled, from 11,500 in 1970
when it still held its identity as a rural farming community to 40,220
in 2000.

The number of residential building permits that were granted each
year peaked in 1986 at 967. Between 1985 and 1989, more than 800 homes
a year were going up. Development tapered off in the 1990s to about
300 a year at the end of the decade.

In the intervening years, many towns have rebelled against rapid
growth and sprawl has became a major political issue.

State Senate Co-President Richard Cody, a Democrat, has been pushing
a bill that highlights the growing competition for open space and
would shift some farmland-preservation funds into mature suburbs.

"We need open space and to preserve what we have in terms of parks
and recreation," said Cody.

"The world has changed in 13 years, especially in what we understand
about the environment and sprawl, and that in itself says this project
should be stopped," said Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New
Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club.

"The Rancocas is one of the last clean streams in New Jersey.
Thirteen years ago, nobody thought that a development would put
hundreds of pounds of pollutants into that water."

Morgan, the developer's representative, said that he has gotten all
the necessary waterfront development permits.

Legal or not, Tittel said that "having woods nearby, places to hike
or play - visually, you feel more at ease. So, when you pave over the
last pieces of open space, it does cause a feeling like you lost
something, you lost the tranquillity of the woods, which is important
for a lot of people."

* * *

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MILLVILLE TO BUY 700 ACRES NEAR AIRPORT

Date: 021228
From: http://www.thedailyjournal.com/

DEAL WITH U.S. SILICA INVOLVES 'SPEEDWAY' TRACT

By Joseph P. Smith, Staff Writer, jsm...@thedailyjournal.com

December 28, 2002

Millville - Millville is poised to become ground zero for two massive
and historic real estate transactions in 2003.

A spokesman for U.S. Silica disclosed late Friday that the sand
mining conglomerate has separate "verbal agreements" - one with the
city and the other with the state - to sell, exchange or lease about
7,000 acres.

"We're very close to having an agreement signed with the State of New
Jersey Green Acres Program and the city of Millville," said Jeff Jahn,
director of mine planning and development at U.S. Silica.

The agreement with the city calls for the West Virginia-based company
to sell it more than 700 acres of woodlands. That land runs west of
Dividing Creek Road to the Municipal Airport and had been considered
for development into an auto racetrack.

"We verbally have an agreement," Jahn said. "They're in the process
of getting approval. I think all the discussions are behind us."

A second and far more complicated agreement is with the Green Acres
Program of the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. That deal
involves the sale, exchange and lease of about 6,000 acres.

Part of the Green Acres agreement calls for land along the west bank
of the Maurice River in Millville - a section known as "the Bluffs" -
to enter the Green Acres program, Jahn said. Much of the eastern bank
of that section already is protected by The Natural Lands Trust

"And that's just one small piece of the Green Acres agreement," Jahn
said. "This is a more complicated agreement that involves property all
over South Jersey."

The sale of woodlands often angers either environmental or
development interests, but this may be the exception to that rule.

"The Natural Lands Trust supports the deal," said Steve Eisenhauer,
regional manager for The Natural Lands Trust.

The nonprofit organization's Peek Preserve holds about 250 acres.

"It appears to be a complex exchange, but from what we've seen, the
positives seem to far outweigh the negatives," Eisenhauer said.

Preserving the Maurice River in Millville has been a priority and a
worry for years, Eisenhauer said. The area has a variety of wildlife,
including osprey and bald eagles.

"It's critical," Eisenhauer said. "It's right in the middle of the
(federal) Wild and Scenic River corridor. There are only two rivers in
South Jersey that have that designation. You can stand on the Bluffs,
look up and down, and not see any development. It's a beautiful tract
of land."

Mayor James Quinn could not be reached Friday. Several other city
officials chose not to comment.

Commissioners held a number of closed-door meetings for unspecified
development agreements and negotiations.

Elaine Makatura, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental
Protection, said negotiations are continuing with U.S. Silica. No
details are being released until those are concluded, she said.

A review by The Daily Journal of property records shows U.S. Silica
holding 761 acres along Dividing Creek Road. The company also owns 436
acres off of Buckshutem Road and 862 acres off Silver Run Road. All
that land is within Millville's borders.

The value of the holdings on today's market is not determined, since
most of the land is assessed at a special farmland rate.

* * *

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INVERSO BILL WANTS $11.2M FOR FARMS

Date: 021226
From: http://ebs.gmnews.com/

By Charles W. Kim, Sentinel Staff Writer, December 26, 2002

State Sen. Peter Inverso (R-14) wants some $11.2 million in farmland
preservation money to help towns purchase 800 acres in his district.

The state's Senate Economic Growth and Budget and Appropriations
committees both approved legislation, sponsored by Inverso, to take
almost $29 million from the Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to help
purchase parcels throughout the state.

"Farms were so commonplace throughout most of New Jersey," Inverso
said in a press release on Dec. 12.

About 800 acres are being considered for preservation in the district
that includes Monroe, Hamilton, South Brunswick and West Windsor
townships.

Three parcels totaling 135 acres are being looked at in South
Brunswick. Their preservation would cost $3.4 million.

Two properties totaling 73 acres are being considered for
preservation in Monroe Township which would cost $1.175 million,
according to the Senate Bill No. S-2117.

The bill will provide funds to make up 80 percent of the cost of
purchasing the development rights to those parcels. The towns would
only have to provide 20 percent of the price in order to obtain the
land as open space.

The bill was introduced on Nov. 25 and passed a Senate vote 39-0 on
Dec. 16.

"It is imperative that we continue our efforts to preserve our
farmland and keep this precious open space as part of our landscape,"
Inverso said in the release.

South Brunswick voters approved a 1.5-cent increase in the township's
2-cent open space tax last month.

A second question, giving 0.5 cents of the tax to develop open space
purchases, narrowly passed after all the votes were counted.

The township has purchased some 619 acres of open space in recent
years, and is looking to increase that cache by another 600 acres in
the next few years.

Former Township Manager Matt Watkins advised the council to increase
the open space tax before leaving his post in June.

According to Watkins, the current tax would not be enough to continue
the town's aggressive purchasing strategy.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

GRANT WILL BENEFIT THREE SUSSEX TOWNSHIPS

Date: 021230
From: http://www.njherald.com/

By Mary Paolucci, Herald Staff Writer, December 30, 2002

Three townships in the county are getting some extra help to
implement their open space plans.

Byram, Hampton and Vernon are among 18 communities in New Jersey
which will benefit from a grant given to the Morris Land Conservancy
of Boonton, an organization dedicated to conserving open space.

Morris Land Conservancy has received a $50,000 grant from the
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. The grant will support and expand the
conservancy's Partners for Greener Communities program that offers
technical assistance in open space planning and land acquisitions to
municipalities in northern New Jersey.

Acting as open space advisors, the conservancy is assisting the
following 18 communities in five counties: Boonton Township, Byram,
Chatham Borough, East Hanover, Florham Park, Green, Greenwich
Township, Hampton, Hanover, Livingston, Mine Hill, Montville, Mount
Olive, Morris, Parsippany, Peapack-Gladstone, Roxbury and Vernon.

According to Eileen Klose, a member of Hampton's open space
committee, Hamton adopted an open space plan in 2000. Currently, the
committee, with the help of the conservancy's open space advisors, has
been negotiating with over 10 township property owners to acquire
their land. The properties have not been disclosed yet because they
are still in negotiations.

Margaret McGarrity, a member of the open space committee and
environmental committee of Byram, said the advisors have and will
participate as partners in their upcoming open space deals. They have
participated in the High Lakes greenway plan, which is a proposed
regional effort that Byram is now part of, McGarrity said. As Byram's
open space advisors, they will probably help us negotiate preservation
deals and sometimes when more money is needed, they will partner in
acquiring those deals.

"It all helps open space," McGarrity said of the grant. "And it is a
way to control the township's quality of life and control property
taxes."

Vernon is trying to get the township's plan documented, according to
Don Teolis, assistant township planner. "As part of that plan, we will
be identifying which portions of property we should acquire at this
point."

The township is contemplating acquiring more open space and farmland,
but is also focusing on acquiring a greenway, a band of land through

Vernon that starts in McAfee and ends at the New York border, if it
successfully acquires the land needed, he said.

"This funding will allow us to continue to increase our capacity as
an open space facilitator, preserving the special places in our
communities," said David Epstein, executive director of the Morris
Land Conservancy.

According to Roberta Dyrsten, development director of the
conservancy, the program is unique because it allows the conservancy
to work directly with each community to implement their open space
plans using the conservancy's resources and technological items, such
as GIS Mapping - geographical information systems mapping.

GIS Mapping is a computerized mapping program that allows the
township to identify the topography of the land, including water
sources, agricultural land, recreational areas, developed areas, as
well as other natural resources, according to Dyrsten. "It enables
people in town to visualize what the town needs and helps them
prioritize where they should put their money." It also helps to
identify population centers and where things like sewers are located.

"The conservancy works with the leaders of each town or township to
empower them to create plans that work for them," Dyrsten said.

"The municipalities we work with do incur some expenses, but the
grant helps to keep costs down."

The conservancy also helps the municipalities apply for state grants.
"We've helped towns get over $20 million in grant money," she said.
"The grants help them leverage their dollars and makes the most
effective use of the money they have."

Once the municipality has a plan in effect, the conservancy helps
them implement that plan and sometimes will negotiate with landowners
for them and close deals.

Dyrsten said this helps empower the town and it also helps them to
understand what they face in the future. It gives them the tools and
information they need to make informed decisions about what their
future will be, he said.

"This grant signals that our trustees believe that what you are doing
is making a difference, and is, in fact, contributing to the
livability and sustainability of our society," said Dodge Foundation
Executive Director David Grant in a letter to the conservancy about
the award.

* * *

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DEP AWARDS GRANT TO EAST WINDSOR

Date: 021227
From: http://www.zwire.com/

By Scott Morgan, Staff Writer, Windsor-Hights Herald, 12/27/2002

The township last week received a pair of grants from the state
Department of Environmental Protection to preserve open space near One
Mile Road.

At last week's meeting, the East Windsor Township Council approved an
agreement with the Green Acres division of the DEP that awards the
township $1 million through two grants. According to Mayor Janice
Mironov, both the township and East Windsor Green Space, a nonprofit
environmental advisory group, each received $500,000 toward the
preservation of 122 acres of open space.

The land to be preserved, the mayor said, is part of the township's
Millstone Road/Rocky Brook Road/One Mile Road project, which seeks to
protect sensitive environmental land in that area.

Mayor Mironov said the land, which sits on One Mile Road just north
of Route 33, is comprised of approximately 30 acres of unconstrained
open space and the remainder of stream corridor land.

"We're very excited about this," Mayor Mironov said in a Tuesday
interview. "It gives us more open space in a part of town that is in
particular need of more open space."

The mayor added that this acquisition is "an especially important
project for the town," given the large-scale interest in preserving "a
healthy balance" between development and natural preserves.

Mayor Mironov said the township hopes to close the land deal very
shortly.

* * *

(c)Packet Online 2002

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Phil Reynolds - Associate Editor - reyn...@gsenet.org

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Back issues of the Garden State EnviroNews are available at
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/11gsn.php

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