News & Events
EAC Group’s Jeanne Herb featured in The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Coastal Habitat Learning Series
Jeanne Herb of the Bloustein School's EAC Group will be a speaker on the upcoming Pew Charitable Trusts' Coastal Habitat Learning Series. Ms. Herb will be joined by Lisa Auermueller of the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve to present their work on the state's "A Seat at the Table" initiative to develop guidance, training, tools, and...
Tax relief on home renovations in Belleville? It could be happening
Marc Pfeiffer, the assistant director of the Bloustein Local Government Research Center at Rutgers University, said the increase in taxes would go up about 20 percent a year. Township attorney Steven Martino, who helped draft the resolution, said a resident would not see a tax increase in the first year following the improvement. After that, residents will...
New Risk Analysis virtual issue on Environmental Justice
This virtual issue provides a compendium of papers from the 1980's through the present that examine some of the risks and disadvantages that people and communities experience as a result of environmental injustices. Environmental injustice is one form of social injustice that refers to the disproportionate exposure of some individuals and groups to...
Op-Ed: COVID-19, Racial Injustice and Climate Change Require a Bold Approach, Not Incrementalism
With a nation rattled by a public health emergency, a deep recession that has left thousands jobless, and growing signs of climate change, it may be time for bold new ideas to address those crises. Read this NJSpotlight opinion piece co-authored by EAC Executive Director Jeanne Herb that summarizes discussions at a recent virtual...
Small NJ city at center of corruption probe as ex-lawmaker charged
“Elected officials should really watch who are they are appointing to positions, where they can appoint political patronage jobs. They really need to know who they are appointing because when it goes bad it brings down a lot of people,” said Marc Pfeiffer, assistant director at the Bloustein Local Government Research Center at Rutgers University. “It...
A Watershed-Based Approach to Flood Hazard Mitigation in the Raritan Region
This project examined the flood mitigation plans of the seven counties in the Raritan River watershed to better understand local government flood mitigation planning in the region. The study examines how county agencies analyze flood risks and mitigation strategies at the watershed level, the challenges that hazard mitigation planners face when thinking...
Local governments face financial crunch from coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic has wrecked state finances – ballooning its spending, decimating its tax collections, requiring a federal rescue to keep it afloat. Similar stresses, though not as severe, are faced by local governments. “What they have in common primarily is uncertainty,” said Marc Pfeiffer, assistant director of the Bloustein Local Government...
Many public employees cannot work from home. Towns are searching for new options.
Marc Pfeiffer, assistant director of the Local Government Research Center at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, said municipal officials need to update their understanding of computer systems as well as their software. “It’s not whether a system is ‘closed’ or not,” Pfeiffer said in an email. “A network that is connected...
Aquatic Connectivity Through Climate-Ready Culverts
Aquatic connectivity is a key restoration goal for the New York – New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program (HEP) and its partners. The creation of connectivity assessment protocols, training methods and data sharing developed by the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC) streamlined the effort to prioritize barrier removal to improve...
Near-real-time Water Quality Monitoring in the Raritan River Using Hybrid Vehicular-static Stations
Near-real-time water-quality monitoring of different variables in the Raritan River is critical to protect the aquatic life and to prevent propagation of the potential pollution in the water. Using only static sensors attached to fixed monitoring stations with predefined configurations is not a real-time and efficient solution for data collection as the...
Recent Products
Communicating about Contaminated Site Cleanup using Coordinated and Consistent Metrics
Over $500 billion has gone toward cleanup of large contaminated sites owned and/or operated by the U.S. Federal Government over the past 30 years. Nevertheless, some stakeholders worry about the risks associated with what they perceive as a slow process of cleanup, as...
A Climate Change Risk and Resilience Assessment of New Jersey’s National Guard Facilities
The effects of a changing climate are currently and will continue to be a national security issue, impacting military installations, operational plans, and overall missions. Recognizing these threats, the New Jersey Department of Military Affairs and Veteran Affairs...
Evaluation of two low-cost PM monitors under different laboratory and indoor conditions
Innovation and technological development have led to a proliferation of various low-cost air quality monitors, most of which use light scattering techniques to detect airborne particles. As these monitors are used in various environments, their testing should also be...
An integrated model of real estate market responses to coastal flooding
Understanding and improving how humans adapt to climate change are priorities in our research community, and coastal settlements are good places to study adaptation. Severe storm events and sea-level rise are threatening coastal communities with increasing levels of...