State
MDEQ: No Requests to Export Drinking Water to Date
Clarksdale Press-Register
Robbie Wilbur, a spokesperson for the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality, said on Thursday that to date, no California
companies have sought permits for Mississippi drinking water.
http://www.pressregister.com/news/article_e959b6b2-03c8-11e5-9cb6-bf826ba62c35.html
City of Jackson sued over wastewater treatment plant
Clarion Ledger
The West Rankin Utility Authority has filed a lawsuit against the
city of Jackson, asking the city repay charges it says weren't owed.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/05/27/savanna-street-wastewater-plant/28018655/
Tronox's sodium chlorate plant to close Nov. 30
Monroe Journal
by Ray Van Dusen | 10:25 am | May 27, 2015
HAMILTON – According to Bud Grebey, vice president of corporate affairs and
communications for Tronox, the Hamilton plant's sodium chlorate plant will
cease production Nov. 30 due to a steep decline in the global demand of the
product, which is used as an alternative to chlorine as a whitener for
paper and pulp products.
http://monroecountyjournal.com/2015/05/27/tronoxs-sodium-chlorate-plant-to-close-nov-30/
MDEQ awards solid waste grant to Chickasaw County
Chickasaw Journal
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) awarded
Chickasaw County a solid waste assistance grant of $11,717 that will be
used by the county for clean up of illegal dumping sites.
http://chickasawjournal.com/2015/05/27/mdeq-awards-solid-waste-grant-to-chickasaw-county/
Oil Spill
BILOXI'S CRUDE DEAL: OIL SPILL REPARATIONS ARE FUNDING A BASEBALL STADIUM
IN MISSISSIPPI
Vice Sports Blog
Biloxi, Mississippi's complicated relationship with nature is built into
the town's very infrastructure. The exit off I-110 that delivers drivers to
the city's waterfront loops out over the Gulf of Mexico and back onto dry
land. On a hot recent morning, gulf water the color of dirty dishwater
lapped at the exit's concrete support beams and onto an awkward patch of
beach beneath the off-ramp.
https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/biloxis-crude-deal-oil-spill-reparations-are-funding-a-baseball-stadium-in-mississippi
Regional
EPA approves Warrant Ultra Herbicide for cotton, soybeans
Delta Farm Press
Soybean and cotton growers looking for tools to manage weeds will have a
new, first-of-its-kind option in 2016 with Warrant Ultra Herbicide, a
premix of acetochlor and fomesafen approved by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency last month.
http://deltafarmpress.com/epa-approves-warrant-ultra-herbicide-cotton-soybeans
National
EPA Adds Smaller Waterways, Wetlands to Federal Supervision
Agency says rule would protect sources of drinking water for more than 100
million people
Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration issued a rule on Wednesday putting more
small bodies of water and wetlands under federal protection to ensure clean
drinking supplies, a move that has riled some lawmakers and business and
farming groups.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-administration-adds-waterways-wetlands-to-federal-control-1432740942
New Federal Rules on Stream Protection Hailed, Criticized
WASHINGTON — May 27, 2015, 4:15 PM ET
By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press
New federal rules designed to better protect small streams, tributaries and
wetlands — and the drinking water of 117 million Americans — are being
criticized by Republicans and farm groups as going too far.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/epa-rules-protect-drinking-water-regulate-small-streams-31332848?singlePage=true
EPA strengthens federal protections for small streams
Washington Post
Nearly a decade after the Supreme Court pointed out the confusion over
exactly which waters fall under the Clean Water Act, the Obama
administration responded Wednesday with a new rule that states what is
protected and what is not.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/epa-strengthens-federal-protections-for-small-streams/2015/05/27/73972d10-0477-11e5-a428-c984eb077d4e_story.html
Obama Announces New Rule Limiting Water Pollution
NY Times
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday announced a
sweeping new clean water regulation meant to restore the
federal government's authority to limit pollution in the
nation's rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/us/obama-epa-clean-water-pollution.html?ref=earth&_r=0
EPA unveils comprehensive water regs, critics decry 'power grab'
Fox News
The Obama administration issued controversial new rules Wednesday aimed at
protecting the nation's drinking water but decried by congressional critics
as a regulatory "power grab."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/27/epa-issues-final-rules-protecting-drinking-water-streams/
Barack Obama's water war
Industries like agriculture, oil and home-building are lining up to attack
a rule aimed at protecting wetlands and waterways.
Politico
By JENNY HOPKINSON
The Obama administration announced new protections Wednesday for thousands
of waterways and wetlands, pushing ahead despite a fierce counterattack
from powerhouse industries like agriculture, oil and home-building — and
their supporters in Congress.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/epa-waterways-wetlands-rule-118319.html
EPA Plans Temporary Pesticide Restrictions While Bees Feed
WASHINGTON — May 28, 2015, 4:30 AM ET
By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer
If honeybees are busy pollinating large, blooming croplands, farmers
wanting to spray toxic pesticides will soon have to buzz off, the
Environmental Protection Agency is proposing.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/epa-plans-temporary-pesticide-restrictions-bees-feed-31356771
Opinion
EPA's Amphibious Attack
An expansive new rule lets Washington regulate any creek or pothole.
Wall Street Journal
While retrenching abroad, the Obama Administration remains committed to
expanding Washington's footprint at home. Behold the Environmental
Protection Agency's rewrite Wednesday of the Clean Water Act that extends
federal jurisdiction over tens of millions of acres of private land.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/epas-amphibious-attack-1432769456
Press Releases
COCHRAN, WICKER EXPECT CHALLENGES TO FINAL EPA RULE ON CLEAN WATER REGS
Miss. Senators Critical of EPA Push to Expand Regulatory Reach Over
Streams, Ponds, Ditches
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger
Wicker (R-Miss.) today said they expect new challenges to final rules
issued Wednesday that would greatly expand the reach of the federal
government to regulate water sources, including tributaries, ponds and
ditches.
The Mississippi Senators have been consistently critical of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) effort to rewrite regulations in
order to redefine and expand the definition of which waters can be
regulated by the Clean Water Act. The EPA on Wednesday issued its final
rule for the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulations. The rule
will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
"The Environmental Protection Agency is disregarding the input of
businesses, agricultural interests, and property owners and asking
Mississippians for their blind trust as it implements these far-reaching
regulations. People are right to be skeptical," Cochran said. �
��I expect
that this rule will continue to be challenged in Congress and in the court
system. It is a vast and unwarranted expansion of the agency's authority,
and has the potential to place expensive regulatory burdens on every
property owner in the country."
"The Obama Administration is once again giving Washington bureaucrats
more control over the lives of Americans, in particular our farmers and
ranchers," Wicker said. "In addition to the burden on private property
owners and small businesses, this regulation would take a significant toll
on economic growth and pose major challenges for local officials – while
failing to provide any clear benefits. This power grab not only challenges
the intent of Congress but also defies the decisions of the Supreme Court,
which has already ruled on the provision twice."
By bringing more waters—including streams, creeks, wetlands, and
ponds—under the WOTUS regulations, the EPA would use an expanded
interpretation of the Clean Water Act of 1972 to gain federal regulatory
control over an unprecedented amount of privately-held land. The final
rule could have far-reaching implications for Mississippi's 10 major river
basins and 86,000 miles of streams.
Since the WOTUS regulations were first proposed by the EPA and Army
Corps of Engineers, Cochran and Wicker have worked to stop the EPA effort
to advance the regulations, which have been widely criticized by
agriculture and small business sectors. Additionally, the EPA's use of
organized grassroots lobbying efforts has come under scrutiny, with the New
York Times reporting on possible legal and ethical violations at the
agency.
The Mississippi Senators have used their committee assignments to
challenge the effort, including passing legislation that forced EPA and the
Corps to withdraw its agriculture Interpretive Rule that outlined just 56
activities out of more than 160 conservation practices that previously
qualified for the normal farming and ranching exemption.
This year, Cochran and Wicker cosponsored the Federal Water Quality
Protection Act (S.1140), which would block the WOTUS rule and require the
EPA to write a new rule by Dec. 31, 2016, that would exempt certain bodies
of water – isolated ponds, ditches, agriculture water, storm water,
groundwater, floodwater, municipal water supply systems, wastewater
management systems, and streams – from Clean Water Act requirements. The
Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and
Wildlife, on which Wicker serves, conducted a hearing on S.1140 on May 19.
###
Clean Water Rule Protects Streams and Wetlands Critical to Public Health,
Communities, and Economy
Does not create any new permitting requirements and maintains all previous
exemptions and exclusions
Washington – In an historic step for the protection of clean water, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army finalized the Clean
Water Rule today to clearly protect from pollution and degredation the
streams and wetlands that form the foundation of the nation's water
resources.
The rule ensures that waters protected under the Clean Water Act are more
precisely defined and predictably determined, making permitting less
costly, easier, and faster for businesses and industry. The rule is
grounded in law and the latest science, and is shaped by public input. The
rule does not create any new permitting requirements for agriculture and
maintains all previous exemptions and exclusions.
"For the water in the rivers and lakes in our communities that flow to our
drinking water to be clean, the streams and wetlands that feed them need to
be clean too," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. "Protecting our water
sources is a critical component of adapting to climate change impacts like
drought, sea level rise, stronger storms, and warmer temperatures – which
is why EPA and the Army have finalized the Clean Water Rule to protect
these important waters, so we can strengthen our economy and provide
certainty to American businesses."
"Today's rule marks the beginning of a new era in the history of the Clean
Water Act," said Assistant Secretary for the Army (Civil Works) Jo-Ellen
Darcy. "This is a generational rule and completes another chapter in
history of the Clean Water Act. This rule responds to the public's demand
for greater clarity, consistency, and predictability when making
jurisdictional determinations. The result will be better public service
nationwide."
People need clean water for their health: About 117 million Americans – one
in three people – get drinking water from streams that lacked clear
protection before the Clean Water Rule. America's cherished way of life
depends on clean water, as healthy ecosystems provide wildlife habitat and
places to fish, paddle, surf, and swim. Clean and reliable water is an
economic driver, including for manufacturing, farming, tourism, recreation,
and energy production. The health of our rivers, lakes, bays, and coastal
waters are impacted by the streams and wetlands where they begin.
Protection for many of the nation's streams and wetlands has been
confusing, complex, and time-consuming as the result of Supreme Court
decisions in 2001 and 2006. EPA and the Army are taking this action today
to provide clarity on protections under the Clean Water Act after receiving
requests for over a decade from members of Congress, state and local
officials, industry, agriculture, environmental groups, scientists, and the
public for a rulemaking.
In developing the rule, the agencies held more than 400 meetings with
stakeholders across the country, reviewed over one million public comments,
and listened carefully to perspectives from all sides. EPA and the Army
also utilized the latest science, including a report summarizing more than
1,200 peer-reviewed, published scientific studies which showed that small
streams and wetlands play an integral role in the health of larger
downstream water bodies.
Climate change makes protection of water resources even more essential.
Streams and wetlands provide many benefits to communities by trapping
floodwaters, recharging groundwater supplies, filtering pollution, and
providing habitat for fish and wildlife. Impacts from climate change like
drought, sea level rise, stronger storms, and warmer temperatures threaten
the quantity and quality of America's water. Protecting streams and
wetlands will improve our nation's resilience to climate change.
Specifically, the Clean Water Rule:
· Clearly defines and protects tributaries that impact the health of
downstream waters. The Clean Water Act protects navigable waterways
and their tributaries. The rule says that a tributary must show
physical features of flowing water – a bed, bank, and ordinary high
water mark – to warrant protection. The rule provides protection for
headwaters that have these features and science shows can have a
significant connection to downstream waters.
· Provides certainty in how far safeguards extend to nearby waters. The
rule protects waters that are next to rivers and lakes and their
tributaries because science shows that they impact downstream waters.
The rule sets boundaries on covering nearby waters for the first time
that are physical and measurable.
· Protects the nation's regional water treasures. Science shows that
specific water features can function like a system and impact the
health of downstream waters. The rule protects prairie potholes,
Carolina and Delmarva bays, pocosins, western vernal pools in
California, and Texas coastal prairie wetlands when they impact
downstream waters.
· Focuses on streams, not ditches. The rule limits protection to
ditches that are constructed out of streams or function like streams
and can carry pollution downstream. So ditches that are not
constructed in streams and that flow only when it rains are not
covered.
· Maintains the status of waters within Municipal Separate Storm Sewer
Systems. The rule does not change how those waters are treated and
encourages the use of green infrastructure.
· Reduces the use of case-specific analysis of waters. Previously,
almost any water could be put through a lengthy case-specific
analysis, even if it would not be subject to the Clean Water Act. The
rule significantly limits the use of case-specific analysis by
creating clarity and certainty on protected waters and limiting the
number of similarly situated water features.
A Clean Water Act permit is only needed if a water is going to be polluted
or destroyed. The Clean Water Rule only protects the types of waters that
have historically been covered under the Clean Water Act. It does not
regulate most ditches and does not regulate groundwater, shallow subsurface
flows, or tile drains. It does not make changes to current policies on
irrigation or water transfers or apply to erosion in a field. The Clean
Water Rule addresses the pollution and destruction of waterways – not land
use or private property rights.
The rule protects clean water necessary for farming, ranching, and forestry
and provides greater clarity and certainty to farmers about coverage of the
Clean Water Act. Farms across America depend on clean and reliable water
for livestock, crops, and irrigation. The final rule specifically
recognizes the vital role that U.S. agriculture serves in providing food,
fuel, and fiber at home and around the world. The rule does not create any
new permitting requirements for America's farmers. Activities like
planting, harvesting, and moving livestock have long been exempt from Clean
Water Act regulation, and the Clean Water Rule preserves those exemptions.
The Clean Water Rule will be effective 60 days after publication in the
Federal Register.
More information: www.epa.gov/cleanwaterrule and http://www.army.mil/asacw
Reasons We Need the Clean Water Rule
By EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Assistant Secretary of the Army for
Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy
Today, EPA and the Army are finalizing a Clean Water Rule to protect the
streams and wetlands we rely on for our health, our economy, and our way of
life.
As summer kicks off, many of us plan to be outside with our friends and
families fishing, paddling, surfing, and swimming. And for the lakes and
rivers we love to be clean, the streams and wetlands that feed them have to
be clean, too. That's just one of many reasons why this rule is so
important. Here are several more:
Clean water is vital to our health. One in three Americans get drinking
water from streams that lacked clear protection from pollution without the
Clean Water Rule. Finalizing the rule helps protect 117 million Americans'
health.
Our economy depends on clean water. Major economic sectors—from
manufacturing and energy production to agriculture, food service, tourism,
and recreation—depend on clean water to function and flourish. Without
clean water, business grinds to a halt—a reality too many local small
business owners faced in Toledo last year when drinking water became
contaminated for several days.
Clean water helps farms thrive, and the rule preserves commonsense
agriculture exemptions. Farms across America depend on clean and reliable
water for livestock, crops, and irrigation. Activities like planting,
harvesting, and moving livestock across streams have long been exempt from
Clean Water Act regulation; the Clean Water Rule doesn't change that. The
final rule doesn't create any new permitting requirements for agriculture,
maintains all previous exemptions and exclusions, and even adds exclusions
for features like artificial lakes and ponds, water-filled depressions from
construction, and grass swales—all to make clear our goal is to stay out of
agriculture's way. Just like before, a Clean Water Act permit is only
needed if a water is going to be polluted or destroyed—and all exemptions
for agriculture stay in place.
Climate change makes protection of water resources even more essential.
Impacts from climate change like more intense droughts, storms, fires, and
floods—not to mention warmer temperatures and sea level rise�
�threaten our
water supplies.
But healthy streams and wetlands can protect communities by trapping
floodwaters, retaining moisture during droughts, recharging groundwater
supplies, filtering pollution, and providing habitat for fish and wildlife.
With states like California in the midst of historic drought, it's more
important than ever that we protect the clean water we've got.
Clear protections mean cleaner water. The Clean Water Act has protected our
health for more than 40 years—and helped our nation clean up hundreds of
thousands of miles of polluted waterways. But Supreme Court decisions in
2001 and 2006 threw protections into question for 60 percent of our
nation's streams and millions of acres of wetlands. Using the latest
science, this rule clears up the confusion, providing greater certainty for
the first time in more than a decade about which waters are important to
protect.
Science shows us the most important waters to protect. In developing the
Clean Water Rule, the Agencies used the latest science, including a report
summarizing more than 1,200 peer-reviewed, published scientific
studies—which showed small streams and wetlands play an important role in
the health of larger downstream waterways like rivers and lakes.
You asked for greater clarity. Members of Congress, state and local
officials, industry, agriculture, environmental groups, scientists, and the
public called on EPA and the Army to clarify which waters are protected
under the Clean Water Act. With this rule, the agencies are responding to
those requests and addressing the Supreme Court decisions. EPA and the Army
held hundreds of meetings with stakeholders across the country, reviewed
over a million public comments, and listened carefully to perspectives from
all sides. All of this input shaped and improved the final rule we're
announcing today.
Just as importantly, there are lots of things the rule doesn't do. The rule
only protects waters historically covered under the Clean Water Act. It
doesn't interfere with private property rights, and it only covers
water—not land use. It also doesn't regulate most ditches, doesn't regulate
groundwater or shallow subsurface flows, and doesn't change policy on
irrigation or water transfers.
These are just a few of the many reasons why clean water and this rule are
important—learn more here http://www2.epa.gov/cleanwaterrule and share
yours with #CleanWaterRules.
Tronox Sodium Chlorate Plant In Hamilton To Close
BY AUNDREA SELF · MAY 27, 2015
(PRESS RELEASE)
Tronox Hamilton, Sodium Chlorate Plant Announcement
The Tronox sodium chlorate plant in Hamilton, Mississippi will cease
production in late November, 2015. This action is the result of a steep
decline in global demand for sodium chlorate, which is used as an
alternative to chlorine as a whitener for paper and pulp products.
Closing the Sodium Chlorate plant is a difficult decision for Tronox; one
that was made after a full consideration of alternatives. In light the low
near- and long-term market demand for the product, and the prohibitive
costs to upgrade the facility, the company concluded that this transition
is the only viable option.
We anticipate that approximately 70 jobs will be eliminated when the plant
closes in late November 2015, and of that number, approximately 30 will be
offered comparable positions at our TiO2 plant in Hamilton.
Colleagues leaving Tronox as a result of this decision will be offered
severance, extended benefits, and outplacement services.
We thank our colleagues at the plant for their dedication and decades of
service to the company and our customers. By making this announcement
several months in advance of the closing of the plant, our goal is to
lessen its impact on affected colleagues and the surrounding community.
Since October 2013, Tronox has supplied almost its entire finished
inventory of sodium chlorate – 130,000 metric tons per annum �
� to ERCO
Worldwide. Under the terms of the 2013 agreement ERCO assumed all of
Tronox's existing customer contracts.
In April, ERCO notified Tronox that it will terminate its agreement with
Tronox after the 2015 production cycle.
Production at the Sodium Chlorate plant will continue into the fourth
quarter of this year. During this period, we will maintain our focus on
safe and sustainable operations and our commitment to manufacturing a
high-quality product.
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| New USDA Portal Enables Farmers, Ranchers to Request Conservation Assistance Online |
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| |
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| |
|Washington, D.C. May 27, 2015 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that |
|farmers, ranchers and private forest landowners can now do business with U.S. |
|Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) |
|through a new online portal. With today's launch of Conservation Client Gateway, |
|producers will have the ability to work with conservation planners online to access |
|Farm Bill programs, request assistance and track payments for their conservation |
|activities. |
| |
| |
|"What used to require a trip to a USDA service center can now be done from a home |
|computer through Conservation Client Gateway," Vilsack said. "USDA is committed to |
|providing effective, efficient assistance to its clients, and Conservation Client |
|Gateway is one way to improve customer service." |
| |
| |
|Conservation Client Gateway enables farmers, ranchers and private landowners to |
|securely: |
| |
| |
| · Request NRCS technical and financial assistance; |
| |
| |
| · Review and sign conservation plans and practice schedules; |
| |
| |
| · Complete and sign an application for a conservation program; |
| |
| |
| · Review, sign and submit contracts and appendices for conservation programs; |
| |
| |
| · Document completed practices and request certification of completed practices; |
| |
| |
| · Request and track payments for conservation programs; and |
| |
| |
| · Store and retrieve technical and financial files, including documents and |
| photographs. |
| |
| |
|Conservation Client Gateway is entirely voluntary, giving producers a choice between |
|conducting business online or traveling to a USDA service center. |
| |
| |
|"Our goal is to make it easy and convenient for farmers and ranchers to work with |
|USDA," Vilsack said. "Customers can log in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to |
|electronically sign documents, apply for conservation programs, access conservation |
|plans, report practice completion or track the status of conservation payments. Through|
|Conservation Client Gateway, producers have their conservation information at their |
|fingertips and they can save time and gas money by reducing the number of trips to USDA|
|service centers." |
| |
| |
|Conservation Client Gateway is available to individual landowners and will soon be |
|extended to business entities, such as Limited Liability Corporations. It is part of |
|the agency's ongoing Conservation Delivery Streamlining Initiative, which will feature |
|additional capabilities in the future. |
| |
| |
|For more information about Conservation Client Gateway, visit: |
|www.nrcs.usda.gov/clientgateway. |
| |
| |
|Fact Sheet |
| |
| |
|FAQ page |
| |
| |
|# |
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|USDA Announces $1.4 Billion in Proactive Savings through Blueprint for Stronger Service|
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