Oil Spill
Deal tying BP oil spill fines to transportation bill getting close
By Bruce Alpert
Times-Picayune
WASHINGTON -- Senate and House negotiators are nearing agreement on a
two-year transportation bill that includes key components of legislation
that would funnel billions of dollars in fines from the 2010 BP oil spill
to the five Gulf States.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/06/deal_tying_bp_oil_spill_fines.html
State News
City receives $75,000 grant
Hattiesburg American
Hattiesburg residents will continue to have the annual opportunity to
dispose of hazardous household waste, thanks in part to a $75,000 grant the
city recently received from the Mississippi Department of Environmental
Quality.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20120627/NEWS01/206270319/City-receives-75-000-grant
Officials warn of poor air quality Wednesday
WMC
(WMC-TV) ? Forecasters are warning people with asthma or other respiratory
problems to be careful Wednesday.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, in conjunction with
other agencies, has issued a Code Orange ozone advisory.
http://southaven-hornlake.wmctv.com/news/environment/78289-officials-warn-poor-air-quality-wednesday
Supers hope beaches will be ready by July 4
Sea Coast Echo
By JACE PONDER
Jun 26, 2012, 17:33
As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, half of Hancock County's beaches
are closed due to the potential of quicksand and high bacteria levels.
The Mississippi Dept. of Environmental Quality issued beach closures from
Washington Street in Bay St. Louis to Nicholson Avenue in Waveland, and the
Lakeshore beach. The two sections potentially have of high levels of
bacteria from dredged sand and dangerous physical conditions due
unpredictable terrain and quicksand and the presence of heavy equipment.
http://12.68.233.230/40/article_6053.shtml
Graveline Bayou targeted for restoration, improvement
By Harlan Kirgan
Mississippi Press
GAUTIER, Mississippi -- A $250,000 Tidelands grant is sought by the city of
Gautier to begin a process that may cost up to $4 million to restore and
improve the Bayou Graveline watershed.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/06/graveline_bayou_targeted_for_r.html
Company optimistic on area oil
By Matt Williamson
Enterprise-Journal
The president of a major oil company operating in the Tuscaloosa Marine
Shale Formation says initial production signs are promising and likely to
result in ramped-up activity in the months to come.
http://www.enterprise-journal.com/news/article_f067b094-bfb0-11e1-8db8-0019bb2963f4.html
National News
D.C. appeals court upholds EPA regulations to fight global warming
Washington Post
By Darryl Fears, Published: June 26
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the Environmental Protection
Agency's finding that greenhouse gases contribute to global warming and are
a threat to public health, a major victory for the Obama administration and
a setback to states and trade groups that oppose government regulations on
carbon emissions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/dc-appeals-court-upholds-epa-regulations-to-fight-global-warming/2012/06/26/gJQAcZHX5V_story.html
Court Backs EPA on Warming
Decision on Greenhouse-Gas Rules Is Victory for Obama, Blow to Coal
Industry
Wall Street Journal
By BRENT KENDALL
A federal appeals court backed the Obama administration's campaign to
limit greenhouse-gas emissions, in a blow to the coal industry and other
companies that say regulators acted without a scientific basis and are
stifling job creation.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303640804577490572237074442.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Federal court upholds Obama EPA's climate change regulations
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 06/26/12 12:11 PM ET
A federal appeals court has upheld Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
greenhouse gas regulations, a victory for the Obama administration that's
also sure to inflame election-year political battles over the White House
green agenda.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/234779-federal-court-upholds-epas-climate-change-regulations
Could your favorite beach make you sick?
By Laura Bly
USA TODAY
Bacterial contamination from stormwater runoff and sewage helped make 2011
one of the worst years in more than two decades for health-related closings
and warnings at U.S. beaches, a major environmental group says.
http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/dispatches/post/2012/06/survey-clean-beaches-national-resources-defense-council/789540/1
Obama's Interior chief: State regulation of fracking 'not good enough for
me'
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 06/26/12 09:59 AM ET
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is striking back at oil-and-gas companies
that claim state-level regulation of "fracking" is strong enough to render
federal rules that he's crafting a pointless layer of red tape.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/234737-salazar-state-fracking-oversight-is-not-good-enough-for-me
Opinion
GWYNNE DYER: As with genocide, it may take time to make 'ecocide' a crime
There was no law against genocide in the early 1940s; it only became an
internationally recognized crime after the worst genocide of modern history
had actually happened. Similarly, there is no law against "ecocide" now.
That will only come to pass when the damage to the environment has become
so extreme that large numbers of people are dying from it even in rich and
powerful countries.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/06/26/4031114/gwynne-dyer-as-with-genocide-it.html
Press Releases
EPA Awarding $2.7 Million to Revitalize Urban Waters
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced
it is awarding $2.7 million to 46 organizations in 32 states and Puerto
Rico to help restore urban waters, support community revitalization and
protect Americans' health. Nancy Stoner made the announcement today in
Atlanta and awarded a grant to the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper
organization. The group will use the funds to expand its Water Watch
program to improve water quality and human health in local metro Atlanta
neighborhoods.
EPA's Urban Waters program funding supports communities' efforts to access,
improve and benefit from their urban waters and the surrounding land. Urban
waters include canals, rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers, estuaries, bays
and oceans in urbanized areas. The grants range from $30,000 to $60,000 for
projects across the country, including in a number of underserved
communities. Recipients will promote the restoration of urban waters
through community engagement and outreach, water quality monitoring and
studies, and environmental education and training. To view a list of the
projects that will be funded, visit http://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters/funding
Many urban waterways have been polluted for years by sewage, runoff from
city streets and contamination from abandoned industrial facilities.
Healthy and accessible urban waters can help grow local businesses and
enhance educational, economic, recreational, employment and social
opportunities in nearby communities. By promoting public access to urban
waterways, EPA will help communities become active participants in
restoring urban waters while improving and protecting their neighborhoods.
EPA's Urban Waters program supports the goals and principles of the Urban
Waters Federal Partnership, a partnership of 12 federal agencies working to
reconnect urban communities with their waterways by improving coordination
among federal agencies and collaborating with community‐led revitalization
efforts.
The Urban Waters Federal Partnership closely aligns with and advances the
work of the White House's place‐based efforts, including the Partnership
for Sustainable Communities, to revitalize communities, create jobs and
improve the quality of life in cities and towns across the nation. The
Urban Waters Federal Partnership also advances the work of President
Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative.
Information on EPA's Urban Waters program:
http://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters/index.html
Information on the Urban Waters Federal Partnership:
http://urbanwaters.gov/
EPA Releases Guidance on Fuel Availability Provisions for Ships Operating
Off the Coast of North America
WASHINGTON ? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released interim
guidance for ship owners and operators clarifying how the U.S. government
will implement fuel availability provisions when ships are unable to obtain
fuel that meets standards protecting against sulfur pollution along the
coast. Sulfur pollution has been linked to respiratory illnesses,
particularly in at-risk populations including children, the elderly, and
asthmatics. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has officially
designated waters off of the coast of North America, known as the North
American Emission Control Area (North American ECA), as areas where
stringent international pollution standards apply for ships, including fuel
sulfur limits. The guidance provides background information on the North
American ECA fuel sulfur standards, explains how owners and operators of
vessels can establish compliance with these requirements, and describes how
an owner or operator of a vessel who cannot obtain compliant fuel oil can
make a fuel oil non-availability claim.
The IMO is a United Nations agency that deals with marine safety, security,
and the prevention of marine pollution from ships. The International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) is a treaty
designed to minimize pollution on the seas including dumping waste, oil,
and exhaust pollution. MARPOL Annex VI sets out air emissions standards,
including fuel sulfur limits, for ships. The United States implemented
Annex VI in 2008 when Congress amended the Act to Prevent Pollution from
Ships (APPS).
Annex VI requires ships operating in designated geographical areas, the
ECAs, to meet the most advanced standards for fuel sulfur and other
pollutants. The North American ECA will come into force on August 1, 2012.
At that time, the maximum sulfur content of fuel oil used by ships in the
ECA will be limited to 1.00 percent m/m (10,000 ppm). This standard will
change on January 1, 2015, to 0.10 percent m/m (1,000 ppm).
Compliance with both the Annex VI air emissions standards for ships and the
Clean Air Act standards applicable to U.S. ships are expected to reduce the
annual emissions of sulfur oxides by 1.3 million tons by 2030.
Read the interim guidance:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/caa/caaenfprog.html
