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Executive Directors Message
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NJ NEW GRANTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
LOCAL ORDINANCES CONFLICT WITH GOVERNORS ORDER
COMPLIANCE REMINDER ON LOW PERMEATION HOSES AND DRIPLESS NOZZLES
WEBINAR ANNOUNCEMENTS
DECOMMISSIONING YOUR STAGE II SYSTEMS
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE TAX BILL
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ONLINE BANKING MEMBERS
TURKEY DRIVE
GRANTS
Governor Murphy announced that he would be dedicating an additional $60 million to the Phase III grant program from the NJ Economic Development Authority (EDA). The total amount is enough to ensure that every eligible business which applied will be able to receive a grant. If you applied, be sure to keep a close eye on your email since that is the only way they will contact you about receiving the funding. Several members have already begun informing us that they have received notice that their grant has been approved, please continue to reach out to us if you receive your $10,000 grant.
The NJ Redevelopment Authority (NJRA) also opened a new grant program to help businesses pay their rent, although it is only open to businesses in Essex, Passaic, and Ocean Counties. The application process is now open; if you are located in one of those counties and pay rent, look into applying immediately.
The NJEDA also has a program to provide discounts to businesses looking to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE). It provides a blanket 10% discount on PPE purchases (and all from trusted and approved vendors), but has now expanded to allow businesses with fewer than 100 employees to apply for an additional 25% discount on top of the 10%, up to $400 total. These discounts are currently set to expire on November 30th. Remember, you are legally obligated to provide your employees with a face covering, a requirement that will almost certainly stay in effect for months to come. You can find more details and apply here.
LOCAL ORDINANCES
We mentioned last week that Newark announced a city-wide curfew, and issued broad requirements after we sent last week's Road Warrior. Shortly afterwards, the governor issued a new executive order preventing local governments from superseding his executive orders, though he did give local governments the ability to close non-essential businesses after 8 PM. This includes changing what types of businesses are deemed essential, or ordering that some essential businesses can be closed down. Gas stations, convenience stores, and auto repair shops all continue to be classified as essential businesses. If you run into any issues with this, please let me know by contacting me at sal@njgca.org.
COMPLIANCE REMINDER
We recently heard from a member who was cited by DEP for dispenser hose and nozzle violations. After digging into the matter over the last week, the factual circumstances were surprising enough to warrant a note in this week's Road Warrior.
Two years ago, our member undertook the expense of updating his retail location. The old tanks were pulled and new ones installed. The Stage II vacuum assist vapor recovery system was decommissioned. All new EMV-compliant dispensers were put in place, and the very latest tank monitoring system replaced the old one. After sinking so much time and resources into the new installation, he did not believe he would have any environmental-related expenses on the horizon. However, DEP recently cited him for failing to install CARB-certified low permeation hoses and dripless nozzles in accordance with existing DEP regulations.
Ordinarily, something as "simple" as changing out hoses or nozzles wouldn't catch our attention enough to send out a notice. However, the factual circumstances surrounding this install were alarming enough that we felt we needed to warn members. In this instance, it is the timeline that has me concerned. That's because a few years back, the State promulgated regulations which required all non-Stage II vacuum assist vapor recovery stations to use hoses with a permeation rate no higher than 10 (g/m2/day) grams per square meter per day and meet UL 330 requirements. What's more, the use of CARB-certified dripless enhanced conventional dispensing nozzles was also mandated to reduce the release of VOCs at dispensers. In putting these requirements in place, low permeation hoses were commonly used, while dripless nozzles have only more recently become widely available. To account for the latter point, stations that decommissioned their Stage II vacuum assist vapor recovery systems were "grandfathered" to temporarily use non-dripless conventional nozzles until they were replaced (and at which point, would have to be swapped out for new CARB-certified dripless nozzles).
Our member updated his location just as these new mandates were going into effect in New Jersey --- but had already been in place throughout much of the country. That's because, unlike many other states, New Jersey was late in mandating the decommissioning of Stage II vacuum assist vapor recovery systems. What's upsetting in this situation was the number of "hands" involved in the upgrades that these requirements slipped past. The member turned to a very well known national brand supplier to procure the dispensers (with hoses and nozzles intact). The dispensers were then installed by a local New Jersey-based contractor who knew the specs. Lastly, this was all repeatedly missed by his in-state compliance company, who regularly comes to inspect his facility. That's a lot of "in the know" outfits that this completely slipped past. When one is spending considerable time and money upgrading a facility, shouldn't any one of these actors have warned him that he had the wrong hardware on hand?
Our member was ultimately cited for improper hoses and nozzles. Despite his truthful and sincere explanations, he was compelled to pay a fine. The lesson here is that, even with so many "experts" and "knowledgeable" people on hand, such requirements can slip past us. With the December 23rd Stage II vacuum assist vapor recovery decommissioning deadline on the horizon, some of you may be learning of these requirements for the first time. Others have had your system decommissioned for years, but may not know of the hose and nozzle mandate. Regardless, I encourage you to learn from our member's situation. Check your hoses and nozzles to make sure you're in compliance and avoid a costly fine from DEP.
WEBINAR ANNOUNCEMENTS
First, thank you to our newest MBP Sound Payments for hosting our webinar last week on upgrading pumps to support EMV. You can click HERE to review the slides and HERE to listen to the webinar if you missed it last week.
The next webinar we will be hosting will be a two-part series on electric vehicle charging. The first webinar will cover EV technology and the potential for profitability at your business, and the second will cover profitability more in depth, diving into utility costs, construction variables, and the different business models you can adopt in order to break into the EV market. This could not come at a better time with the recent news of Tesla, Uber, and other southern California tech companies lobbying for electric models to account for 100% of new U.S. vehicle sales by 2030. Together, they have the kind of money that could push the government in this direction even quicker than we thought. You can register for the first webinar on December 2nd at 2 PM HERE, registration for part two will be announced shortly.
DECOMMISSIONING YOUR STAGE II SYSTEMS
Some of you may have received an email from us regarding decommissioning your Stage II Vacuum Assist Vapor Recovery Systems. We were given a list of people from NJDEP that had not yet complied. If you received this email, this means that you are on the list of sites with the State that have not yet been decommissioned. Time is running out to get this done, please contact us ASAP if you have not yet done this and are in need of assistance. If you are on the list in error because you have complied since we received that list, please ignore this notification.
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE TAX BILL
Some rare good news to come out of Trenton this week: both houses of the Legislature unanimously passed legislation to delay what would otherwise be a huge hike in employer Unemployment Insurance taxes next year. Before the pandemic, New Jersey's UI Trust Fund was one of the healthiest in the nation, allowing the State to lower the employer contribution tax over the last few years. Because of the huge drawdown in reserves caused by the unemployment spike over the last few months, employers would be facing a huge mandated spike in unemployment taxes next July, all the way to the highest bracket in the law. While an increase in employer contributions of some kind is mandated, this legislation will phase in the increase over three years, rather than hitting everyone with a big spike immediately. The bill also ensures that any layoffs an employer performed in response to the pandemic would not count against the employer's UI rating. It now awaits Governor Murphy's signature.
ONLINE BANKING MEMBERS
REMINDER: An important notice for our members that use on-line banking to pay your association dues. Please change our address to the following:
NJGCA
4900 Rt. 35 W.
Suite 100
Neptune, NJ 07753
This is because the online banking 3rd party vendor automatically changes the zip code to 07727. If you do not change the city to Neptune your check will never get delivered. Again, this is only for online banking. Members who do not use online banking to pay their association dues may disregard this message.
TURKEY DRIVE
We are one week away from Thanksgiving! Please consider donating to the NJGCA Young Professionals group's effort to make sure everyone in New Jersey has a turkey this Thanksgiving. They will be continuing their annual turkey drive this year and collecting donations entirely virtually in order to slow the spread of the virus. This year, donations will be sent to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, which serves the entire state. Please CLICK HERE to visit our team page and contribute, we are only a few hundred dollars away from meeting our goal donation! If you have any questions regarding the turkey drive or are interested in learning more about the Young Professionals group, please contact michelle@njgca.org.
Finally, I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. I know this year I have a lot to be thankful for and I know many of you feel the same. I hope you all have a nice socially distanced and/or small holiday so that next year we may be able to gather and celebrate en masse! We will not be sending a Road Warrior next week for the holiday, but if anything important happens we will be sure to let you all know.
Be Well -
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director
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Training Class Schedule
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All classes held at NJGCA HQ -- 4900 Route 33 West, Wall Township, NJ 07753
Two-Day Emissions Inspector Training Class
December 16th & 17th, 2020
If you, a colleague, or an employee technician wishes to become a NJ Emissions Inspector, now is your chance! NJGCA will offer two upcoming two-day classes with all the information and training you need to become a NJ Emissions Inspector.
On day one you will receive in-class instruction from NJGCA's instructor. We will break for lunch (provided), and the State will administer the written test in the afternoon.
On day two will go over the hands-on test at an emission inspection location to fully prepare you for the hands-on test.
We are offering the class:
Wednesday December 16th, 7:00am to 4:00pm & Thursday, December 17th, 12:30
Click HERE for the December registration form.
Contact Nick De Palma at Nick@njgca.org to inquire on additional class dates |
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News Around The State
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11/19/20
4 NJ Mayors Eye 1 to 3-Day Shutdowns if Latest Measures to Curb COVID Spread Fail
The mayors of four New Jersey cities in the state's hardest-hit Essex County have agreed to impose a 24-hour curfew on all nonessential business if COVID cases continue to rise. If that measure and other recent mitigation efforts fail, they are prepared to impose a three-day shutdown order, one of the officials tells News 4. The cities involved are Newark, Orange, East Orange and Irvington, all of which have seen COVID positivity rates skyrocket well above the already surging statewide average in recent weeks. Essex County has more confirmed COVID cases (30,780) than any other county in New Jersey and has been adding hundreds more each day, most recently 355 on Tuesday, state data shows.
11/17/20
N.J. Small Businesses Struggled To Pay November Rent, Study Says
Small businesses in New Jersey struggled to pay their November rent at a higher rate than businesses across the country, according to a new study. And it's even worse for minority-owned businesses. Sixty-seven percent of minority-owned businesses surveyed in the state couldn't afford to pay their full November rent. That compares to 44% of minority-owned businesses nationwide, said the November Rent Poll by Alignable, an online network of small business owners with more than 5 million members.
11/17/20
Corporate Heavyweights Ramp Up Electric Vehicle Lobbying Push
A new coalition is launching - with Tesla, Uber, power giants like Southern Company, and others - that will push for electric models to account for 100% of new U.S. vehicle sales by 2030. While electric vehicles are a growing technology, new corporate lobbying efforts - especially by powerful companies - could help spur faster growth in what remains a largely niche market. Driving the news: The Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA) unveiled today brings together over 25 corporate members representing several industries. . . The group will push for "national policies that will enable 100% electric vehicle sales throughout the light-, medium-, and heavy-duty sectors by 2030."
11/17/20
Consumers Now Feel More at Ease in Stores
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, consumer safety perceptions are slowly improving worldwide, but the economy continues to worry many U.S. consumers, according to Deloitte research. The "Deloitte's Global State of the Consumer Tracker" surveyed at least 1,000 consumers in 18 countries, and the responses indicate how consumers across the globe are weathering the crisis. Consumer safety perceptions are slowly improving, with 61% of adults saying they "feel safe" going to the store, up from a low of 30% in April. But in the U.S. where the last round of economic relief has expired, financial stress remains area of concern for many.
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Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices
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Each week, the Energy Information Administration publishes a list of average gasoline prices for the previous three weeks. NJGCA will begin including this list with the Weekly Road Warrior. Remember, these prices are reflective of self-serve everywhere except NJ.
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Classifieds: For Sale and Help Wanted Ads
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Parts For Sale: Incon TS-1000 tank monitor works well just taken out of service. Printer is aprox 2 months old. Also, Incon 8, tank probes. System replaced because on an Exxon upgrade. Call John Twin Towers Exxon (201) 224-8444
 
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