7/16/2013
Oil Spill
D'Iberville proposing waterfront improvement projects for oil spill money
WLOX
The City of D'Iberville wants public input on some proposed waterfront
improvement projects.
http://www.wlox.com/story/22845043/diberville-may-use-oil-spill-funds-for-waterfront-improvements
BP looks to shave more money off Gulf oil spill fines tab
Houston Chronicle
BP is asserting that roughly 10 percent of the crude that entered the water
during the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill should not be counted in the civil
fines it faces because the oil dissolved before reaching the surface, the
U.S. government said in court papers Monday objecting to the argument.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/07/15/bp-looks-to-shave-more-money-off-gulf-oil-spill-fines-tab/
Anadarko to Face Investor Suit Over BP Spill, Judge Says
Bloomberg
By Margaret Cronin Fisk and Laurel Brubaker Calkins - Jul 16, 2013
Anadarko Petroleum Corp., a partner in the BP (BP/) Plc well that blew up
in 2010 and triggered the largest U.S. offshore oil spill, must face a
lawsuit claiming it misled investors, a judge said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-15/anadarko-to-face-investor-suit-over-bp-spill-judge-says.html
Gov. Bentley: Extend Beach Express to I-65
Press Register
George Talbot
July 15, 2013 at 6:30 PM
GULF SHORES – Gov. Robert Bentley said he wants to use a portion of the
state's proceeds under the federal Restore Act to extend the Foley Beach
Express north to Interstate 65.
http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/07/gov_bentley_extend_beach_expre.html
BP sets up anti-fraud hotline for spill claims
AP
NEW ORLEANS — BP has set up a hotline for people to report alleged fraud
involving claims arising from the company's massive 2010 oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.clarionledger.com/viewart/20130716/NEWS01/307150031/BP-sets-up-anti-fraud-hotline-spill-claims
State News
West Point begins work on $6 million water system retrofit
Commercial Dispatch
July 15, 2013 9:48:11 AM
Carl Smith - csmith@cdispatch.com
West Point officials said improvements to the city's waste water system
will put its processing operations on par with Starkville and Columbus.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=25581
Southern Miss research vessel runs on waste vegetable oil
Hattiesburg American
OCEAN SPRINGS - The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory vessel Miss Peetsy B,
recently converted to allow the use of waste vegetable oil as fuel, will
make its maiden voyage under the new engine system Wednesday in Ocean
Springs.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20130715/NEWS01/130715016/Southern-Miss-research-vessel-runs-waste-vegetable-oil
Mississippi DMR receives 20 bids on boats in Biloxi
Sun Herald
By PAUL HAMPTON — jphampton@sunherald.com
The Department of Marine Resources received 20 bids for two recreational
fishing boats it wants to sell, spokesman Melissa Scallan said Monday.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/15/4798144/mississippi-dmr-receives-20-bids.html
Ocean Expo's delay means taxpayers may pay first bond note
Sun Herald
By MARY PEREZ — meperez@sunherald.com
D'IBERVILLE -- City officials expected Ocean Expo Aquarium to be built and
open by now and ticket prices to cover the cost of repaying the bond to
purchase the land.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/15/4798172/ocean-expos-delay-means-taxpayers.html
Incentives promised by D'Iberville to Ocean Expo:
Sun Herald
Incentives promised to Ocean Expo
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/15/4798174/incentives-promised-by-diberville.html
Public Service Commission's review of Kemper power plant spending likely to
take months
The Associated Press
July 15, 2013 at 8:19 PM
JACKSON, Mississippi — The next battle over a Kemper County power plant
will hinge on whether Mississippi Power Co.'s spending on the project was
prudent — and that decision may come months later than a July 24 date that
state regulators had agreed to earlier this year.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-business/2013/07/public_service_commissions_rev.html#incart_river
National News
Conservative group sues for phone records of Obama EPA nominee
The Hill
By Zack Colman - 07/15/13 01:04 PM ET
A conservative group is suing the Environmental Protection Agency for
access to Gina McCarthy's text message and training records.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/311039-conservative-group-sues-for-epa-nominee-phone-training-records
Change in social cost of carbon under scrutiny
Politico
By: Erica Martinson
July 16, 2013 04:59 AM EDT
Critics in Congress are turning up the heat on the Obama administration's
decision to quietly push through a regulatory change that makes it easier
to justify the costs of new greenhouse gas rules.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/change-in-social-cost-of-carbon-under-scrutiny-94234.html?hp=l11
Analysis: Fracking water's dirty little secret - recycling
Reuters
Mon, Jul 15 2013
By Nichola Groom
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The oil and gas industry is finding that less is
more in the push to recycle water used in hydraulic fracturing. Slightly
dirty water, it seems, does just as good a job as crystal clear when it
comes to making an oil or gas well work.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/15/us-fracking-water-analysis-idUSBRE96E0ML20130715
Opinion
Ensuring there's water for all
Politico
By: Muhtar Kent and Carter Roberts
July 15, 2013 09:53 PM EDT
All businesses rely on healthy, sustainable communities. Sustainable
communities require sufficient water. So even if your business isn't
water-intensive, its long-term viability rises or falls with the amount of
clean, fresh water available to everyone.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/ensuring-thereswater-for-all-94228.html?hp=l14
Press Releases
EPA Announces $15 Million in Supplemental Funds to Clean up and Redevelop
Contaminated Brownfields Sites Across the Country
WASHINGTON – Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced
approximately $15 million in supplemental funding to help clean up
contaminated Brownfields properties. The Revolving Loan Funding (RLF) will
help 41 communities carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects. These
projects will help communities create jobs while protecting people's health
and the environment.
"These funds – granted to communities who have already achieved success in
their work to clean up and redevelop brownfields – will help boost local
economies, create local jobs and protect people from harmful pollution by
expediting Brownfield projects," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant
administrator for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "The
RLF supplemental recipients are some of the nation's top performers.
Collectively, these communities have already leveraged more than $2.5
billion in clean up and redevelopment investment – the RLF funding
announced today will help sustain that incredible progress."
Revolving loan funds specifically supply funding for grant recipients to
provide loans and sub-grants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield
sites. When these loans are repaid, the loan amount is then returned to the
fund and subgranted or re-loaned to other borrowers, providing an ongoing
source of capital within a community for additional cleanup of brownfield
sites. The supplemental grants range in funding from about $200,000 to
$400,000 with an average grant award of $300,000.
This year's supplemental funds will support an array of cleanup and
redevelopment projects across the country. For example:
· The City of Brea, Calif., will use its supplemental funding to clean
sections of a former rail line, which will be reused as a
rails-to-trails project for alternative transportation and recreation
options.
· Cleanup of a downtown property in Great Falls, Mont., will allow
Easter Seals Good Will to move forward with a $2.5 million
redevelopment, which will create numerous construction and permanent
jobs.
· A loan from the Indiana Finance Authority will go toward cleanup of
the former Carpenter Manufacturing site, which will be redeveloped
into a business park redevelopment creating approximately 100 jobs.
· The Land-of-Sky Regional Council will use the additional funding for
cleanup at the former Chatham Mill in Salem, N.C. Once cleaned,
developers plan to rehabilitate the 300,000 square foot structure
into approximately 150 multifamily rental units.
· In Nassau County, N.Y., funds will be used to address the last
un-remediated parcel of Glen Cove's 52 acre waterfront redevelopment
area.
There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated sites in the
United States. EPA's Brownfields program targets these sites to encourage
redevelopment, and help to provide the opportunity for productive community
use of contaminated properties. EPA's Brownfields investments overall have
leveraged more than $20 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from
public and private sources and on average, $17.79 is leveraged for every
EPA Brownfields grant dollar spent.
The funds have enabled the support of 90,000 jobs in cleanup, construction
and redevelopment.
More information on EPA's Brownfields program:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
More information on Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund grants:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/rlflst.htm
EPA Seeks Input for Potential Rule Revisions on Existing Uses of PCBs
Release Date: 07/15/2013
Contact Information: Molly Hooven (news media only), Hooven.molly@epa.gov,
202-564-2313, 202-564-4355
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking
nominations from individuals who represent small businesses, small
governments, and small not-for-profit organizations to provide input to a
federal panel that will explore changes to existing uses of polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs). This panel will focus on the agency's development of a
proposed rule to revise or end the existing authorized uses of PCBs as
appropriate if the conditions under which they were authorized more than 30
years ago have changed. This rulemaking may address existing liquid-filled
PCB use authorizations, PCBs in fluorescent light ballasts, PCBs in natural
gas pipelines, and regulatory language clarifications.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires agencies to establish a Small
Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel for rules that may have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The SBAR panel
will include federal representatives from the Small Business Administration
(SBA), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and EPA.
Small Entity Representatives (SERs) will be selected by the SBAR Panel to
provide comments on behalf of their company, community or organization and
advise the panel about the potential impacts of the proposed rule on small
entities. EPA is seeking self-nominations directly from the small entities
that may be subject to the rule requirements. Other representatives, such
as trade associations that exclusively or at least primarily represent
potentially regulated small entities, may also serve as SERs.
SERs provide advice and recommendations to the panel. The SERs participate
in consultations with the SBAR Panel via telephone, webinar, or in person
in one or two meetings and are given an opportunity to submit written
comments to the Panel.
Self-nominations may be submitted through the link below and must be
received by July 29, 2013.
Nominate yourself as a Small Entity Representatives:
http://www.epa.gov/rfa/pcb.html
More about the Small Business Advocacy Review process:
http://www.epa.gov/sbrefa/faq.htm
More about the regulation of PCBs:
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/pubs/laws.htm
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