Spring Issue, May 2024

Spring greetings! The NEWMOA team has been steadily working on a variety of activities related to our current projects and core programming, including the highly successful Science of PFAS Conference in April that brought over 600 people together in Marlborough, MA to engage for 3 full days of learning and networking. Despite a rather large early April storm that kept some participants there an extra night (mostly the Mainers!), we had excellent attendance all three days. I’d like to thank everyone who attended and contributed questions and engaged with the vendors and poster presenters. I’d also like to thank the NEWMOA team for their long hours of work at the event to make this event a success, with extra thanks to Jennifer Griffith, Shaina Cohen and Lois Makina for all that they did to assist participants with all aspects of the event, specifically all of the before and after work. We’ll be hosting our next large event, the 350+ attendee Brownfields Summit, next week in Portland Maine. There is a limited number of seats still available if you’d like to attend, and to accommodate late registrants we are keeping the registration open through the event dates (more info below).

NEWMOA project managers have also been hard at work on spring presentations and webinars on best practices in Anaerobic Digestion and its intersection with Environmental Justice. They’ve also been engaging directly with our EPA colleagues on multiple fronts, including the areas of mercury in products reporting, TSCA activities and for planning upcoming in-person hazardous waste inspector trainings in NYC and Worcester at EPA offices.

Brownfields Summit 2024

The Revitalizing New England: Brownfields Summit 2024 will be held on May 29 & 30, 2024 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland, Maine

Summit Website & Registration on Whova

Agenda as of May 20, 2024 [PDF]

NEWMOA has partnered with the brownfield programs in the New England states and tribes and the University of Connecticut Technical Assistance to Brownfields (UConn TAB) program to organize a two-day Summit to advance understanding of state and federal brownfield programs and opportunities. The goals of the Summit are to:

• Share information about the financial incentives, liability protections, technical and other assistance available for brownfields development from federal and state governments
• Promote best practice and lessons learned across states and tribes
• Provide an opportunity to increase networking and information-sharing among key stakeholders

The two-day Summit will include plenary and break-out sessions and an exhibit area. There will be ample time during the breaks for networking and viewing the exhibits. There will also be a reception in the evening of the first day.

Over 300 people are registered to attend, including representatives from:

• State, tribal, and federal government brownfields and waste site cleanup programs
• Local, regional, and state economic development agencies
• Real estate developers, financial institutions, and law firms
• Planning and economic development consulting firms
• Local governments
• Interested citizens & groups
• Job training grantees
• Environmental professionals

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Platinum Plus

Platinum

Gold

Silver

PFAS Conference

NEWMOA partnered with the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC), the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM), the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC), and others to organize The Northeast Conference on the Science of PFAS: Human Health & The Environment held April 2-4, 2024 in Marlborough, MA.

The Conference was a success with over 600 people attending over the three-day event. The Conference included an opening plenary and then 37 breakout sessions for a total of over 120 presentations. There were also 28 sponsor exhibits and 48 scientific posters. Feedback was uniformly positive. 

Sponsor Exhibit Information [PDF]

Poster Exhibit Information [PDF]

Final Conference Agenda [PDF]

PFAS Model Legislation Finalization

April 3, 2024. NEWMOA Executive Director, Melissa Lavoie, presents the new model legislation at NEWMOA’s The Science of PFAS Conference, session on Policy & Legislation – Part 1.

In March 2024, NEWMOA’s Board of Directors approved model legislation for advancing reduction of the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly called PFAS.  



The NEWMOA Board of Directors believes that restricting the use of PFAS in consumer products will be a necessary action for reducing the impact of PFAS on human health and the environment. The major components of this legislation are registration and labelling of PFAS added products, and a three phased product ban, including 11 specific PFAS added product categories and purchasing preferences for products that do not contain PFAS. 

The Model Legislation does not necessarily represent the views of individual board members, Workgroup members or the Agencies they represent. 

For more on this work, including a link to a PDF version of the model, visit the PFAS Model Legislation page on NEWMOA’s website HERE.

Anaerobic Digestion (AD) Project

NEWMOA collaborated with NERC on a NEWMOA-led project to advance food waste diversion from landfilling and promoting Anaerobic Digestion (AD) in the Northeast States of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Recent expansion in AD food waste processing capacity is in part due to efforts by state environmental agencies to support renewable energy development and promote increased diversion of food waste by large generators.

NEWMOA and NERC sought guidance from Clean+Healthy New York, and the Connecticut Coalition for Economic and Environmental Justice to develop environmental justice (EJ) recommendations and considerations into the AD permitting process. The team produced three written materials and held a four-part webinar series which provide a baseline understanding for AD developers looking to site and permit new construction AD facilities based on air, water, and waste regulations, and support the equitable expansion of AD in communities by reducing regulatory barriers while addressing EJ considerations and regulatory requirements. 

April 30, 2024. NEWMOA Project Manager John Fay presents the project during a session entitled Highlighting Actions for Sustainable Food Management at Building Dynamic Solutions, NERC’s 2024 spring conference in King of Prussia, PA.

Project materials including the guidance documents and recordings of the webinars are available on the NEWMOA and NERC websites. On April 23, an article appeared in BioCycle magazine summarizing the project deliverables.

View our guides and additional written materials here: 

• Regulatory Guide 
• Community Engagement Guide 
• “What’s AD and How Can I Get Involved?” Roadmap in English and Spanish 

View our webinars here: 

•  Anaerobic Digestion and Other Solutions for Wasted Food 
• Siting Considerations for Anaerobic Digesters 
• Anaerobic Digestion Facilities: Operators’ Perspectives on Siting and More
• Siting Facilities in Environmental Justice Communities 

NEWMOA’s FY 2024 Officers:

• Susanne Miller, ME DEP, Chair
• Bill Ottaway, NYSDEC, Vice Chair
• Matt Chapman, VT DEC, Treasurer

NEWMOA’s FY 2024 Finance Committee:

• Matt Chapman, VT DEC, Chair
• Greg Cooper, Mass DEP
• Mike Wimsatt, NH DES

Additional FY 2024 Board members:

• Jennifer Perry, CT DEEP
• Graham Stevens, CT DEEP
• Diane Baxter, Mass DEP
• Tiffany Skogstrom, Mass OTA
• Mike Wimsatt, NH DES
• Kathy Black, NH DES
• Mike Hastry, NJ DEP
• Janine MacGregor, NJ DEP
• John Vana, NYSDEC
• Ron Gagnon, RI DEM
• Leo Hellested, RI DEM
• Matt Chapman, VT DEC

FY 2024 Program Chairs:

• Heather Rochford, MassDEP - Hazardous Waste
• Justin Waltz, Oregon Health Authority - Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse (IC2)
• Brenna Giannetti, CT DEEP - Interstate Mercury Education & Reduction Clearinghouse (IMERC)
• Chris Nelson, CT DEEP - Solid Waste & Sustainable Materials Management
• Tom Metzner, CT DEEP - Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse
• Diane Baxter, MassDEP - Waste Site Cleanup



news@NEWMOA

news@NEWMOA is designed to help our members and colleagues keep informed about the Association's projects and activities. You are receiving this e-newsletter because you are a member of a NEWMOA working group, committee, or program; invitee to NEWMOA events; a colleague at EPA or a related organization; connected to the Association in some other way; or have expressed interest in our work. news@NEWMOA contributors include Mikalah Bailey, Shaina Cohen, John Fay, Stephanie Frisch, Jennifer Griffith, Karen Knaebel, Melissa Lavoie, and Lois Makina.

If you have questions about the delivery of this e-newsletter, contact Lois Makina, lmakina@newmoa.org.

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NEWMOA is a non-profit, non-partisan, interstate association whose membership is composed of the state environment agency programs that address pollution prevention, toxics use reduction, sustainability, materials management, hazardous waste, solid waste, emergency response, waste site cleanup, underground storage tanks, and related environmental challenges in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. NEWMOA also works collaboratively with non-member states on issues and programs of national importance.  

NEWMOA provides a strategic forum for effectively identifying, developing, and implementing solutions to environmental problems through collaborative initiatives that advance pollution prevention and sustainability, promote safer alternatives to toxic materials in products, identify and assess emerging contaminants, facilitate adaption to climate change, mitigate greenhouse gas sources, promote reuse and recycling of wastes and diversion of organics; support proper management of hazardous and solid wastes, and facilitate clean-up of contaminant releases to the environment.