NEW JERSEY FLOATS DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES ON CLEAN WATER FUNDS

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) ^ | January 30, 2007 | Carol Goldberg

[Calpernia]

NEW JERSEY FLOATS DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES ON CLEAN WATER FUNDS — Golf Courses, Transit Villages and Transferable Building Rights Are Eligible Projects

Trenton —The State of New Jersey is using its Clean Water State Revolving Fund to subsidize an array of developer schemes, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) which is asking the federal government to intervene. At the same time, the state claims it has lacked the resources to enforce toxic landfill standards that would force cleanup of the most dangerous sites, according to correspondence released today by PEER.

Although New Jersey faces more than $12 billion in unfunded capital needs to meet minimum federal Clean Water Act standards, the Corzine administration has adopted new policies to divert scarce clean water financing to support a myriad of seemingly unrelated projects – most prominently a controversial luxury golf course resort slated for toxic marshes in the Meadowlands. Other eligible projects include –

* “Transit Villages”; * “Brownfields Development Areas”; and * “Transfer of Development Rights (TDR)” programs.

“What do luxury golf course condos, transit villages or a new market for trading development rights have to do with clean water?” asked New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, who has sent a request to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking for a review to see if the state plan violates federal Clean Water Act rules. “If anything, subsidizing more sprawling development is precisely the opposite of what New Jersey needs to reverse its steadily declining water quality.”

These projects are outlined in the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) “Clean Water Financing: Proposed Federal Fiscal Year 2007 Priority System, Intended Use Plan, and Project Priority List.” While the document acknowledges that threats posed by landfills are a “major concern” it then proposes to use up to $25 million per project for “conduit financings” of developers to build “Solid Waste/Brownfield Remediation Projects.” By pursuing these high ticket items, the Division of Water Quality anticipates that as early as 2010, the Clean Water Revolving Fund will have insufficient funds remaining to fund the entire pool of projects that it has traditionally funded.

“These limited state funds should be targeted to give us the biggest bang for the buck in terms of reducing water pollution—not more bangs for those with the biggest bucks,” Wolfe added, noting that the state DEP has deflected PEER’s call to enforce its own landfill closure and cleanup laws which require no subsidies, citing lack of staff. “This is New Jersey’s field of schemes, where instead of Florida swampland we are peddling toxic brownfields.”

By law, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must approve the New Jersey revolving fund spending plan to ensure that the monies are used consistent with the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act.

[Calpernia]

ping

[Calpernia]

ping

[Calpernia]

New Jersey Superfund Sites

[Cagey]

This is the first time I've heard of a "Transit Village" so I did a search on it and now I see why it's included in this story. It's all about money, as usual.

http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/community/village/

[Calpernia]

I think this was originally part of 'MOM'. Monmouth Ocean Middlesex. That was introduced back in 2000.

[Coleus]

thanks, keep up the good work.

[Calpernia]

Looks like they are going to be jumping on the 'carbon credit' thing:

Transit Village Criteria

Excerpt:

A good candidate should strive to minimize automobile use by maximizing the appeal of transit. One example of this is the

[Calpernia]

Check out the transit village 'criteria' link.

[Calpernia]

The Halper Farm was taken under the Clean Water Raritan River Estuary terms. They will never see a dime from it. And look at how these monies are being squandered. That property is going to be encompassed to the New Brunswick Transformation plans.

[Calpernia]

“Transit Villages”

Designated Transit Villages:

There are currently 17 designated Transit Villages. They are Pleasantville (1999), Morristown (1999), Rutherford (1999), South Amboy (1999), South Orange (1999), Riverside (2001), Rahway (2002), Metuchen (2003), Belmar (2003), Bloomfield (2003), Bound Brook (2003), Collingswood (2003), Cranford (2003) Matawan (2003), New Brunswick (2005), Journal Square/Jersey City (2005) and Netcong (2005).


State agencies that make up the Transit Village Task Force:

Along with NJDOT and NJ TRANSIT, there are nine other state agencies partners that make up the Transit Village Task Force. They are the Commerce and Economic Growth Commission, the Council on the Arts, the Department of Community Affairs, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Economic Development Authority, the Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, the Office of Smart Growth, Main Street New Jersey and the Redevelopment Authority.

The Transit Village Task Force meets quarterly. The Task Force members work together to direct state funding into the designated Transit Villages to help achieve the redevelopment goals of the municipality.


NJDOT's Transit Village funding:

Up to $1 million grants annually

[LonePalm]

OK, Everybody out'a da cesspool.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Calpernia]

Transit Villages

New Urban Livable Communities

TRANSIT VILLAGES are dense urban communities well served by transit and high quality train systems. They make it easy to live without a car - by riding transit and walking through pleasant urban environments. Transit Villages have active, vibrant, and strong neighborhood centers focused around transit.

(snip)

Transit Villages are the coming trend in community planning, and are welcomed by everyone as offering a higher quality of life for all.

(snip)

TRANSIT VILLAGES are a major solution to the serious and growing problems of peak oil and global warming by creating dense, walkable communities connected to a train line that greatly reduces the need for driving and the burning of fossil fuels.

(snip)(snip)

The transit village is a compact, mixed-use, walkable community, centered around the transit station that, by design, invites residents, workers, visitors, and shoppers to drive their cars less and ride mass transit more. Bernick and Cervero set forth certain criteria that should be followed when planning a transit village:

• The transit village extends roughly a quarter mile from a transit station, a distance that can be covered in about 5 minutes by foot.
• The centerpiece of the transit village is the transit station itself and the civic and public spaces that surround it.
• The transit station is what connects village residents and workers to the rest of the region, providing convenient and ready access to downtown, major activity centers like a sports stadium, and other popular destinations.
• The surrounding public spaces or open grounds serve the important function of being a community gathering spot, a site for special events, and a place for celebrations.

This is New Urbanism on a train line.

(snip)

[Calpernia]

ping and groan to 13.

[Calpernia]

Come by and see post 13. Check to see if this is in your state. BTW, they are grant funded by the UN Human Settlement Program which will also subject us to International Zoning laws. :(

http://www.google.com/custom?q=transit-oriented+development&btnG=Search&hl=en&cof=AH%3Aleft%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.unhabitat.org%2F%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.unhabitat.org%2Fimages%2Fun_habitat_header.gif%3BLH%3A71%3BLW%3A350%3B&domains=www.unhabitat.org&sitesearch=www.unhabitat.org

[Calpernia]

It Takes a Transit Village
How Better Planning Can Save the Bay Area Billions of Dollars and Ease the Housing Shortage

Excerpt:

A coalition of environmental, transit, and housing groups launched a new effort on November 12, 2004 to condition over $12 billion of new transit investments on cities approving significant housing and designing walkable communities around existing and future transit stations. Cities that want to continue putting big-box retail and regional malls in these “Transit Opportunity Zones” would no longer be eligible to receive regional funding for transit expansions, if the Metropolitan Transportation Commission agrees to the policy.

[Cagey]

You've uncovered something I had no idea was going on. It's bigger than I could have imagined too.


http://policy.rutgers.edu/vtc/tvs/index.htm

It has it's own subculture!

[Calpernia]

You peaking at my monitor Cagey????

I've had that doc on my screen most of the afternoon. I keep meaning to read it; but I've not been at my desk long enough to make my way through it.

[Calpernia]

I can't believe how little views this thread has gotten. You would think every freeper in NJ would be on here.

[Calpernia]

Thanks for the link:

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/dot5706.htm
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta Launches New National Initiative to Tackle Highway, Freight and Aviation Congestion