State
Tupelo ready to accept the TVA challenge
By William Moore
Daily Journal
TUPELO – Residents will be able to not only save money but also join in a
friendly competition with other cities during the Tennessee Valley
Authority's Energy Efficiency Challenge.
http://djournal.com/news/tupelo-ready-to-accept-the-tva-challenge/
Oil Spill
Coastal Delegation Working to Keep BP Settlement Money on the Coast
WXXV
Teamwork: that's the name of the game for local state Legislators who are
trying to ensure BP oil spill money comes back to South Mississippi. Our
coastal delegation has been working together to plan how we can ensure the
$150 million coming back to the state legislature in January makes its way
home.
http://www.wxxv25.com/news/local/story/Coastal-Delegation-Working-to-Keep-BP-Settlement/840ooTNkJEGs6sWcUmrefQ.cspx
$3M oyster hatchery in Grand Isle set to open Wednesday
The Associated Press
August 12, 2015 at 10:06 AM
GRAND ISLE -- State officials are in Grand Isle to formally open a new
oyster hatchery built with $3 million in BP oil spill settlement money.
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2015/08/oyster_hatchery_grand_isle.html#incart_river
Regional
State leaders renew calls to fix wetlands destroyed by MRGO shipping
channel
The Associated Press
August 12, 2015 at 8:18 AM
Environmental groups and state leaders Tuesday renewed calls to fix the
wetlands outside New Orleans destroyed by the Mississippi River-Gulf
Outlet, a federally built shipping channel blamed for worsening the effects
of Hurricane Katrina.
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2015/08/wetlands_restoration_mrgo.html#incart_river
National
States challenge air pollution 'loophole' rule
The Hill
Seventeen states filed a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) crackdown on air pollution from power plants during
exceptional periods.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/250960-state-challenge-air-pollution-loophole-rule
EPA Halts Field Work at Mines After Toxic Spill
Agency contractor doing such work caused breach at Colorado's Gold King
Mine
WSJ
The Environmental Protection Agency suspended investigative field work at
mine sites nationwide Wednesday, a week after one of its contractors doing
such work caused a breach at a Colorado gold mine that sent a surge of
toxic sludge into a major southwestern river system.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/epa-halts-field-work-at-mine-sites-after-toxic-spill-1439422061
EPA Contractor Involved in Colorado Spill Identified as Environmental
Restoration
Fenton, Mo., company was tasked with mitigating pollutants from closed mine
WSJ
Missouri-based Environmental Restoration LLC was the contractor whose work
caused a mine spill in Colorado that released an estimated 3 million
gallons of toxic sludge into a major river system, according to an
Environmental Protection Agency official and government documents reviewed
by The Wall Street Journal.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/epa-contractor-involved-in-colorado-spill-identified-as-environmental-restoration-1439414672
Opinion
BP settlement belongs to Mississippi Gulf Coast
Hattiesburg American
State Sen. Chris McDaniel
On April 20, 2010, an explosion at the British Petroleum offshore
drilling platform,Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Gulf of
Mexico, caused nearly 5 million barrels of oil to gush into the
ocean. Spewing uncontrollably for several months, much of it reached
the shores of Mississippi, polluting beaches and wetlands, harming
tourism and devastating the vital fishing industry.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/opinion/columnists/2015/08/11/mcdaniel-bp-settlement-funds/31433625/
Salter: Kemper plant may shape PSC race
Clarion Ledger
STARKVILLE – One of the more intriguing general election showdowns
in Mississippi will come in the Central District Public Service
Commissio race between Republican Brent Bailey, Democrat Cecil Brown
and Reform Party nominee Latrice D. Notree.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/2015/08/12/salter-kemper-plant-may-shape-psc-race/31529565/
Obama's Climate Plan and Poverty
The EPA's new anticarbon rule is full of redistribution to offset its harm
to the poor.
WSJ
President Obama says that critics of his plan to decarbonize the economy
are "the special interests and their allies in Congress" repeating "the
same stale arguments" about "killing jobs and businesses and freedom." He
adds that "even more cynical, we've got critics of this plan who are
actually claiming that this will harm minority and low-income communities."
http://www.wsj.com/articles/obamas-climate-plan-and-poverty-1439420266
Press releases
Regional Conservation Partnership Program Available in Mississippi Delta
Jackson, Miss. – The United States Department of Agriculture/Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting applications for the
Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The funding is through
the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and is a stewardship
partnership between NRCS, USA Rice Council and Ducks Unlimited.
The RCPP program will assist landowners and rice producers that voluntarily
implement conservation and management practices that help reduce
groundwater demand in the Mississippi Delta. These conservation practices
work to improve irrigation water management, control sediment and nutrient
runoff, and provide waterfowl habitat on rice production lands, helping to
ensure sustainability of the water source for future rice production.
This financial assistance program is targeted for rice production acreage
in 10 Mississippi counties in the Delta that are over an alluvial aquifer
and will invest approximately $560,000 in 2016. The counties that
currently qualify are Bolivar, Coahoma, Humphreys, Leflore, Quitman,
Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tunica, and Washington.
"NRCS is proud to partner with the USA Rice Federation and Ducks Unlimited
to provide financial assistance to eligible landowners and producers in the
Mississippi Delta to address the water resource concerns in the local
aquifer," stated Kurt Readus, state conservationist for Mississippi.
Landowners and producers interested in participating in the RCPP may apply
at their local USDA Service Center / NRCS office. NRCS
financial-assistance programs offer a continuous sign-up, however
applications received by October 16, 2015 will be considered for funding.
Specific sign-up deadlines are established for ranking, contracting and
funding with additional ranking deadlines established if additional funding
is available.
To locate an office, please go to
http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app. For more information, visit
our website at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/ms/home/.
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School Indoor Air Quality Assessments Go Mobile
EPA Launches School IAQ Assessment Mobile App
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today launched
a new mobile app to assist schools and school districts with performing
comprehensive indoor air quality (IAQ) facility assessments to protect the
health of children and school staff. The School IAQ Assessment mobile app
is a "one-stop shop" for accessing guidance from EPA's Indoor Air Quality
Tools for Schools Action Kit.
"Kids learn best in a healthy school environment. Now there's an app for
that! This app puts a powerful tool in the hands of people at the state,
district and school level to protect children's health" said Janet McCabe,
assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "This mobile
app is our latest effort to provide updated, user-friendly guidance to help
schools identify, resolve and prevent indoor air quality problems, using
low- and no-cost measures."
The mobile app provides schools and school districts with an efficient,
innovative technology integrated with proven strategies for addressing
critical building-related environmental health issues such as ventilation,
cleaning and maintenance, environmental asthma triggers, radon, and
integrated pest management. Schools that want to develop, sustain or
reinvigorate their IAQ management programs can use this tool to identify
and prioritize IAQ improvements. The School IAQ Assessment mobile app
complements existing IAQ management programs and can become the central
tracking mechanism schools and districts use to organize building
assessments and prioritize IAQ improvements.
Today, half of the schools in the United States have adopted IAQ management
programs, the majority of which are based on EPA's IAQ Tools for Schools
guidance. EPA developed the mobile app to help these schools more
efficiently carry out their IAQ management programs and to help the
remaining nearly 60,000 schools to conduct regular and thorough assessments
to ensure their schools are safe and productive places to learn.
How It Works
• DOWNLOAD: Go to www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/iaq_schools_mobile_app and
initiate the app on your Apple or Android smart device. Access the How to
Get Started section to review the set-up options, intent and capabilities
of the app.
• ASSESS: Conduct a walkthrough of your school buildings using a set of
easy-to-follow checklists — all you need is an Internet connection. Then,
submit your completed checklists via email to a designated IAQ coordinator
for review and follow-up action. You can also attach photos and detailed
notes about the assessed area in your completed checklist submission.
• DISCOVER: The completed checklists will identify IAQ concerns and
validate good IAQ practices already in place. Checklists are provided to
your designated IAQ Coordinator with recommended action steps generated by
the app to address identified IAQ problems. Recommendations are based on
the Framework for Effective IAQ Management for comprehensively addressing
IAQ.
• LEARN MORE: The mobile app includes other valuable resources from the IAQ
Tools for Schools Action Kit, such as information on radon and asthma
management in schools, as well as, EPA's newest guidance – Energy Savings
Plus Health: Indoor Air Quality Guidelines for School Building Upgrades,
which integrates IAQ protections into school energy retrofits and other
building projects.
Visit http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/iaq_schools_mobile_app/ to download
the new mobile app and www.epa.gov/schools for other valuable school
environmental health resources
