State
MDEQ awards grant to Cleveland
Bolivar Commercial
by Courtney Warren
11.26.14
Recycling has picked up and Cleveland Public Works recently received a
grant for Earth Day next year.
http://www.bolivarcom.com/view/full_story/26157935/article-MDEQ-awards-grant-to-Cleveland?instance=homefirstleft
Oyster fishermen hopeful season holds out longer
WLOX
PASS CHRISTIAN, MS (WLOX) -Oyster fishermen braved choppy seas and chilly
temperatures as they worked the reefs early Friday. While shoppers were
filling their bags with bargains on Black Friday, commercial fishermen were
hoping to fill their sacks with fresh, Mississippi oysters.
http://www.wlox.com/story/27502720/oyster-fishermen-hopeful-season-holds-out-longer
Corps: Steele Bayou bank work completed early
The Associated Press
VICKSBURG, MISS. — The Army Corps of Engineers says work to shore up the
banks of Steele Bayou has been completed two weeks early.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/11/30/5943891/corps-steele-bayou-bank-work-completed.html?sp=/99/184/218/
Mississippi game warden shortage drastic
Clarion Ledger
Mississippi's shortage of state troopers has received much attention
over the last year, but a shortage of conservation officers — game
wardens, as they used to be known — is also drastic and likely to
get worse.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/11/26/mississippi-game-warden-shortage-drastic/19543783/
Oil Spill
Pascagoula officials prepare to makeover beachfront with oil spill money
WLOX
PASCAGOULA, MS (WLOX) -Pascagoula's beach promenade could soon be getting a
major upgrade. City officials are expecting to receive nearly $4 million to
do the work. The money is expected to come from the latest round of efforts
to help the Gulf Coast recover from the 2010 BP oil spill.
http://www.wlox.com/story/27509739/pascagoula-officials-prepare-to-makeover-beachfront-with-oil-spill-money
Audit: Most BP oil spill claims handled correctly
AP
NEW ORLEANS - A third-party audit of the oil spill settlement
program finds the settlement program has correctly processed 99.5
percent of claims.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/business/2014/11/26/bp--oil-spill-claims-audit/19525239/
Judge shuns BP cleanup workers with later diagnoses
WWL
NEW ORLEANS -- After taking more than two months to reconsider, a
federal judge is sticking with his controversial decision from July
that could knock thousands of sick oil spill cleanup workers out of
a medical claims settlement with BP.
http://www.wwltv.com/story/news/gulf-oil-spill/2014/11/26/judge-shuns-bp-cleanup-workers/19563633/
Regional
Metro New Orleans, Baton Rouge, other areas would violate proposed EPA
ozone standards
Mark Schleifstein
The Times-Picayune
November 26, 2014 at 4:42 PM
The New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles and Shreveport areas would be in
violation of lower standards for ground level ozone, the main ingredient of
smog, that were proposed Wednesday by the federal Environmental Protection
Agency.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/11/new_orleans_and_baton_rouge_ar.html#incart_river
National
EPA Proposes Stricter Ozone Air Pollution Standard
Proposal Expected to Reanimate Battle Between Businesses and Environmental
Groups
Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration is set to release energy regulations in
the coming weeks that will prompt push-back from industry and lawmakers
before a Republican-controlled Congress comes in next year.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/epa-proposes-stricter-ozone-standard-1417012097?KEYWORDS=epa
Business Groups Argue EPA's Plan Will Have Economic Consequences
NPR
Major business groups are reacting skeptically to a proposal from the
Environmental Protection Agency to reduce ozone pollution. Since 1980,
ozone pollution has fallen by a third.
http://www.npr.org/2014/11/27/366956586/business-groups-argue-epas-plan-will-have-economic-consequences
Week ahead: EPA hits homestretch on climate rule
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is entering the homestretch on
President Obama's landmark climate regulation aimed at curbing carbon
pollution from the nation's existing power plants.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/225428-epa-hits-homestretch-on-climate-rule
Five threats to the EPA's climate rule
The Hill
Supporters and opponents of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
proposed carbon regulations for power plants talk about the benefits and
costs as if enactment of the new standards is inevitable.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/e2-wire/225418-five-threats-to-the-epas-climate-rule
Energy Efficiency May Be the Key to Saving Trillions
NY Times
Compared with eye-catching renewable power technologies
like wind turbines and solar panels, energy efficiency is
nearly invisible. But advocates say doing more with less
power may be an even more critical weapon in the fight
against climate change and offers big economic benefits,
too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/01/business/energy-environment/energy-efficiency-may-be-the-key-to-saving-trillions.html?ref=earth&_r=0
Lawmakers take on Lake Erie's dreaded algae blooms
BY JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press
TOLEDO, OHIO — Ohio's lawmakers are taking their first step toward slowing
the spread of algae in Lake Erie since a toxin contaminated the drinking
water for more than 400,000 people.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/11/30/5943038/lawmakers-take-on-lake-eries-dreaded.html?sp=/99/184/767/312/
Opinion
Highway to the Danger Ozone
As Obama rewrites the law, Congress and the courts begin to push back.
Wall Street Journal
The afterparty of President Obama 's immigration rewrite is a year-end
blowout of anticarbon regulation that is also contemptuous of the rule of
law and democratic consent. The better development is that the two other
branches of government aren't amused by the festivities and may impose some
accountability for the damage.
http://m.wsj.com/articles/highway-to-the-danger-ozone-1417122149?mobile=y&mod=hp_opinion
Press Releases
EPA Proposes Smog Standards to Safeguard Americans from Air Pollution
WASHINGTON-- Based on extensive recent scientific evidence about the
harmful effects of ground-level ozone, or smog, EPA is proposing to
strengthen air quality standards to within a range of 65 to 70 parts per
billion (ppb) to better protect Americans' health and the environment,
while taking comment on a level as low as 60 ppb. The Clean Air Act
requires EPA to review the standards every five years by following a set of
open, transparent steps and considering the advice of a panel of
independent experts. EPA last updated these standards in 2008, setting them
at 75 ppb.
"Bringing ozone pollution standards in line with the latest science will
clean up our air, improve access to crucial air quality information, and
protect those most at-risk. It empowers the American people with updated
air quality information to protect our loved ones - because whether we work
or play outdoors – we deserve to know the air we breathe is safe," said EPA
Administrator Gina McCarthy. "Fulfilling the promise of the Clean Air Act
has always been EPA's responsibility. Our health protections have endured
because they're engineered to evolve, so that's why we're using the latest
science to update air quality standards – to fulfill the law's promise, and
defend each and every person's right to clean air."
EPA scientists examined numerous scientific studies in its most recent
review of the ozone standards, including more than 1,000 new studies
published since the last update. Studies indicate that exposure to ozone
at levels below 75 ppb -- the level of the current standard -- can pose
serious threats to public health, harm the respiratory system, cause or
aggravate asthma and other lung diseases, and is linked to premature death
from respiratory and cardiovascular causes. Ground-level ozone forms in the
atmosphere when emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds
"cook" in the sun from sources like cars, trucks, buses, industries, power
plants and certain fumes from fuels, solvents and paints. People most at
risk from breathing air containing ozone include people with asthma,
children, older adults, and those who are active or work outside. Stronger
ozone standards will also provide an added measure of protection for low
income and minority families who are more likely to suffer from asthma or
to live in communities that are overburdened by pollution. Nationally, 1 in
10 children has been diagnosed with asthma.
According to EPA's analysis, strengthening the standard to a range of 65 to
70 ppb will provide significantly better protection for children,
preventing from 320,000 to 960,000 asthma attacks and from 330,000 to 1
million missed school days. Strengthening the standard to a range of 70 to
65 ppb would better protect both children and adults by preventing more
than 750 to 4,300 premature deaths; 1,400 to 4,300 asthma-related emergency
room visits; and 65,000 to 180,000 missed workdays.
EPA estimates that the benefits of meeting the proposed standards will
significantly outweigh the costs. If the standards are finalized, every
dollar we invest to meet them will return up to three dollars in health
benefits. These large health benefits will be gained from avoiding asthma
attacks, heart attacks, missed school days and premature deaths, among
other health effects valued at $6.4 to $13 billion annually in 2025 for a
standard of 70 ppb, and $19 to $38 billion annually in 2025 for a standard
of 65 ppb. Annual costs are estimated at $3.9 billion in 2025 for a
standard of 70 ppb, and $15 billion for a standard at 65 ppb.
A combination of recently finalized or proposed air pollution rules –
including "Tier 3" clean vehicle and fuels standards – will significantly
cut smog-forming emissions from industry and transportation, helping states
meet the proposed standards. EPA's analysis of federal programs that
reduce air pollution from fuels, vehicles and engines of all sizes, power
plants and other industries shows that the vast majority of U.S. counties
with monitors would meet the more protective standards by 2025 just with
the rules and programs now in place or underway. Local communities, states,
and the federal government have made substantial progress in reducing
ground-level ozone. Nationally, from 1980 to 2013, average ozone levels
have fallen 33 percent. EPA projects that this progress will continue.
The Clean Air Act provides states with time to meet the standards.
Depending on the severity of their ozone problem, areas would have between
2020 and 2037 to meet the standards. To ensure that people are alerted when
ozone reaches unhealthy levels, EPA is proposing to extend the ozone
monitoring season for 33 states. This is particularly important for at-risk
groups, including children and people with asthma because it will provide
information so families can take steps to protect their health on smoggy
days.
The agency is also proposing to strengthen the "secondary" ozone standard
to a level within 65 to 70 ppb to protect plants, trees and ecosystems from
damaging levels of ground-level ozone. New studies add to the evidence
showing that repeated exposure to ozone stunts the growth of trees, damages
plants, and reduces crop yield. The proposed level corresponds to levels
of seasonal ozone exposure scientists have determined would be more
protective.
EPA will seek public comment on the proposal for 90 days following
publication in the Federal Register, and the agency plans to hold three
public hearings. EPA will issue final ozone standards by October 1, 2015.
To view the proposal: http://www.epa.gov/glo/
