Gibbons Law Alert
More than 500 business owners, senior executives and industry representatives throughout the state attended a conference on August 19, sponsored by Gibbons P.C. and EisnerAmper LLP – Solar Energy for New Jersey Businesses, Developing & Financing Your Own On-Site Solar Facility – at the Woodbridge Hilton in Iselin, NJ.
On August 19, 2010, just over two months after identical bills were introduced in the NJ Assembly and Senate, Governor Chris Christie signed the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act into law. By creating offshore wind renewable energy credits and financial assistance to qualified projects, it is hoped that the new law will spur economic development and job growth in the state.
A recently enacted New Jersey law encourages the use of solar energy by allowing solar panels to be excluded from the computation of impervious coverage when determining whether a development project complies with impervious coverage limitations. The new law, P.L.2010, c.4 , amends the Pinelands Protection Act, Coastal Area Facility Review Act, Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, County Planning Act, Waterfront Development Law, and Municipal Land Use Law, as well as laws pertaining to the conversion of age-restricted community developments.
Solar and Wind Energy Generation facilities may soon join the category of uses designated as permitted of right by New Jersey statute rather than by individual municipal ordinance, thus preempting municipal zoning powers granted under the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. (MLUL). Identical Bills, Senate S2126 and Assembly A3139 are pending before their respective house of the New Jersey’s legislature and would amend the MLUL to provide that Solar and or Wind Energy Generation Facilities, when installed on the sites of former landfills, quarries and other extractive industries, are permitted uses. This status would be equally applicable to both public and private sites where landfills, quarries or other extractive industries are closed or closing.
On June 9, 2010, USEPA announced that data centers will be eligible to earn the Energy Star label. The data center must be in the top 25% of its peers in energy efficiency as measured by EPA’s energy performance scale, the Power Usage Effectiveness metric. Unlike the Energy Star program for consumer appliances which relies on self-reporting, the Energy Star program for data centers requires a licensed professional to independently verify the energy performance of the building and sign and seal the application document that is sent to EPA for review and approval. Such data centers, which account for approximately 1.5% of electricity consumption, will be able to save money and energy and fight climate change. Moreover, with the increase in demand for “green” vendors by federal, state and local governmental agencies and corporations, a data center with an Energy Star label would have a competitive advantage in seeking such customers.
In less than a month, the New Jersey legislature introduced and passed S-2036, the “Offshore Wind Economic Development Act.” Both the NJ Senate and the Assembly passed the Senate version on June 28, 2010. This swift action quickly followed NJ’s joining a 10-state Atlantic OffShore Wind Consortium. The bill establishes an offshore wind renewable energy certificate program that will require a percentage of electricity sold in NJ to be from offshore wind energy. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities will be authorized to accept and approve applications for qualified offshore wind projects. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority will have the authority to provide financial assistance to qualified offshore wind projects and associated equipment manufacturers and assembly facilities in the state.
On June 8, 2010, Governor Chris Christie joined nine East Coast state governors in signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of the Interior, which creates the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium. The consortium is intended to foster federal-state cooperation for commercial wind development on the Outer Continental Shelf off the Atlantic coast.
On February 16, 2010, U.S. EPA launched a new State and Local Climate and Energy website which provides technical assistance, analytical tools, and outreach support to state, local, and tribal governments.
The United States officially notified the UN that it will abide by the emission reduction goal of the Copenhagen Accords. U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern submitted America’s target to the U.N. Framework Convention on climate change as part of a January 31 deadline negotiated in Copenhagen last year. Thus the U.S. promised that it will reduce global warming pollution about 17% below 2005 levels in the next decade. In doing so, Stern made a point of noting that the final figure could change depending on the outcome of U.S. legislation.