Archive

Archive for February, 2019

Toxic Alternatives To Chemical PFAS Illustrates Failure Of TSCA “Reforms”

February 5th, 2019 No comments

NJ’s US Senator Booker declared victory 

Now that he’s running for President, will he be held accountable for failure?

Bill Wolfe, director of the New Jersey office of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said not having Lautenberg in the Senate is a “huge loss.” He would “step on toes to get things done,” whereas Wolfe said Booker is “the antitheses of that.” He called the former mayor a “calibrated corporate Democrat who worries about alienating Wall Street and corporate America.” ~~~ E&E News (10/31/13)

[Update below]

Scientists at the NJ Department of Environmental Protection are criticizing the US EPA for failure to consider the toxicity of alternatives to the controversial group of toxic chemicals know as PFAS.

NJ Spotlight reported:

New Jersey scientists are accusing the federal government of failing to consider many health risks posed by a group of chemicals that are designed to substitute for some of the controversial PFAS substances which are now being strictly regulated by the state. Regulation of PFAS has been deemed necessary because of growing evidence that they are a danger to public health.

[Update: For context,  according to US EPA:

Another tool in the TSCA enforcement toolkit is TSCA Section 7 Imminent and Substantial Engagement (ISE) authority. This infrequently used provision provides EPA authority for preventing a release or continued release of a substance meeting the definition of a ”imminently hazardous chemical substance or mixture” in TSCA7(f).

That DEP criticism directly contradicts claims by NJ US Senator Cory Booker, who declared victory on this set of issues:

“Congressional approval of this bipartisan chemical safety law is a major victory for our state and for the legacy of Sen. Frank Lautenberg who championed this fight.  I am proud of the long-overdue improvements I fought to include in this bill, including provisions that strengthen EPA’s ability to regulate toxic chemicals, provide EPA with dedicated funding, give more scrutiny to new chemicals before they come on the market, allow states to continue to co-enforce with EPA, and minimize animal testing when scientifically reliable alternatives exist.

As we recently wrote (scroll down to second point)

II)  GO ASK BOOKER

Second, while exposing the failure to screen the toxicity of substitute chemicals, NJ Spotlight failed to note the key reason for that failure:

New Jersey’s nation-leading efforts to protect the public from a class of toxic chemicals in drinking water are being threatened by the emergence of substitutes that may be just as hazardous to human health, experts argue.

That failure is due to a federal law known as the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is a law, passed by Congress in 1976 and administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, that regulates the introduction of new or already existing chemicals.

TSCA was just overhauled in 2016 by legislation negotiated by NJ Senator Cory Booker

Here’s Booker’s self congratulatory press release:

“Congressional approval of this bipartisan chemical safety law is a major victory for our state and for the legacy of Sen. Frank Lautenberg who championed this fight.  I am proud of the long-overdue improvements I fought to include in this bill, including provisions that strengthen EPA’s ability to regulate toxic chemicals,provide EPA with dedicated funding, give more scrutiny to new chemicals before they come on the market, allow states to continue to co-enforce with EPA, and minimize animal testing when scientifically reliable alternatives exist. Despite long odds and difficult challenges, common sense and finding common ground won the day. I want to thank all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that came together to make this bill possible. I look forward to celebrating when President Obama signs this important chemical safety reform legislation into law, helping to keep American families and children safe from toxic chemicals.”

In May, Sen. Booker spoke on the Senate floor urging swift passage of the bipartisan, bicameral agreement on the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which makes badly needed reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.  His remarks can be viewed here.

To read the act, see:  

Someone needs to go ask Booker about all that.

Is EPA stronger and subject to stricter legal standards? Is so, how could they do what DEP claims?

Is NJ DEP authorized to enforce those stricter standards? If so, why are they blasting EPA?

Are children safe from toxic chemicals, as Booker claimed?

And we predicted this Booker sell out:

Bill Wolfe, director of the New Jersey office of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said not having Lautenberg in the Senate is a “huge loss.” He would “step on toes to get things done,” whereas Wolfe said Booker is “the antitheses of that.” He called the former mayor a “calibrated corporate Democrat who worries about alienating Wall Street and corporate America.”

Categories: Family & kids, Policy watch, Politics Tags:

NJ Stormwater Utility Bill Includes Stealth Privatization Provisions

February 3rd, 2019 No comments

Will Gov. Murphy Follow Christie & Sign Another Major Infrastructure Privatization Bill?

Over a decade ago, NJ Democratic legislators privatized the DEP toxic site cleanup program, a radical reality just dawning on many NJ residents with toxic sites in their communities, see:

More recently, the NJ Democratic legislature passed – and Republican Governor Christie signed into law – controversial bills that authorized the privatization of public water supply and wastewater treatment systems.

They’ve done that again this week, passing legislation (S1073) which would authorize the creation of local and county stormwater utilities.The bill is now on Gov. Murphy’s desk.

For the dominant narrative on the bill, read the NJ Spotlight story, which plays up the Republican “rain tax” slogan, but ignores the privatization issue:  SPLIT LEGISLATURE GIVES THUMBS-UP TO STORMWATER RUNOFF CONTROLS

(NJ Spotlight repeatedly has turned a blind eye on the privatization controversy, possibly due to potential conflicts of interest).

This expansion in privatization comes at a time when the NJ Courts have recognized the implications of privatization of essential governmental regulatory functions, see:

If it’s bad public policy for DEP to outsource and privatize their regulatory responsibilities, it may be legal but it is equally bad policy for the NJ Legislature to do so.

And once again, the “elite charade” “green” organizations that backed the bill – many aligned with the “Keep It Green” Foundation funded faction  either overtly support privatization of public infrastructure, or they got duped again, because there has been no mention of this massive expansion of privatization of public infrastructure and core governmental functions.

(An astute reader just reminded me that ALS supported the bill and was involved in drafting it. The bill would codify a scheme ALS was involved in. Specifically, ALS benefited financially via a huge Christie DEP Grant to retrofit stormwater impounments in Barnegat Bay (a voluntary private scheme to avoid compliance with the the federal Clean Water Act “TMDL” regulatory cleanup program). ALS basically skimmed off a chunk and funneled the DEP grant money to a private contractor, so they fully support these privatization schemes.

Similarly, Dodge Foundation funded corporate NJ Future and NJLCV both supported the bill. Those groups essentially front for private water corporations like Suez, under the fake astroturf group, NJ Water Works.)

Here is the privatization provision, from Section 6:

or may enter into a contract with a private firm for the operation or improvement of works for the collection, storage, treatment or disposal of stormwater, and the cost and expense of such collection, storage, treatment and disposal.

That provision would allow not only local and county governments, but also local sewer authorities – who already operate with little transparency or public oversight – to enter into multimillion dollar taxpayer and/or ratepayer backed contracts with engineering firms or private water corporations – (fueling their “mission creep” into stormwater management).

The potential for graft and abuse is virtually unlimited.

If the bill is signed into law as passed by the legislature, expect your local taxes to pad the profits of the big engineering firms and water companies that contribute to the Democratic lawmakers who supported the bill.

The management of stormwater involves protection of public safety (from flooding) and public health (from water pollution and impacts on drinking water).

Protection of public safety and public health are essential government functions that should not be privatized, outsourced, and influenced by the profit motives or priorities of private corporations.

People should call on Gov. Murphy and demand that he conditionally veto the bill to eliminate the privatization of critical public infrastructure.

Categories: Uncategorized Tags: