State
Jackson council votes down $15M contract
Clarion Ledger
The Jackson City Council voted Thursday against awarding a $15
million contract to a company that partnered on the project with a
political ally of Mayor Tony Yarber.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/09/17/council-votes-million-contract/32557905/
Registration open for 27th annual Mississippi Coastal Cleanup on Oct. 17
Mississippi Press
April M. Havens
September 17, 2015 at 7:51 AM
Volunteer registration for the 27th annual Mississippi Coastal Cleanup is
now open, the Mississippi Marine Debris Task Force announced today.
http://www.gulflive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/09/registration_open_for_27th_ann.html#incart_river
Chlorine Leak in Gulfport
WXXV
Children left River Oaks Elementary School this afternoon a little earlier
than normal when a chlorine leak threatened their safety.
http://www.wxxv25.com/news/local/story/Chlorine-Leak-in-Gulfport/VZyU42Dqaki1PKfbDxzhVQ.cspx
Sewer line plans for Tupelo
WTVA
TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- For the residents of the West Tupelo area that was
recently annexed, the news that new sewage lines are on the way was music
to their ears.
http://www.wtva.com/Sewer_Plans_.html
Solar panel maker says it will start Jackson operation in November
MBJ
Seraphim Solar Manufacturing USA has announced that it will conduct a trial
operation of a $50 million solar-panel plant in Jackson and then begin
"formal operation" in November.
http://msbusiness.com/2015/09/solar-panel-maker-says-it-will-start-jackson-operation-in-november/
National
GOP senators move to overturn Obama's water rule
The Hill
Nearly the entire Senate Republican caucus sponsored legislation Thursday
that would overturn the Obama administration's regulation asserting its
authority over streams and wetlands.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/254108-gop-senators-move-to-overturn-obamas-water-rule
New Mexico Official: EPA Kept Water Data Secret After Spill
AP
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials refused for weeks to share
water-quality data with their state counterparts following a blowout of
toxic wastewater from a Colorado mine that fouled rivers across the
Southwest, New Mexico's top environmental regulator testified Thursday.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/mexico-official-epa-water-data-secret-spill-33830087
New regs for Friday: Air pollution, methane emissions, coal miners
The Hill
Friday's edition of the Federal Register contains new rules for air
pollution from aluminum production, methane emissions from oil and gas
production and safety requirements for coal miners.
http://thehill.com/regulation/254000-new-regs-for-friday-air-pollution-methane-emissions-coal-miners
Flushing the Toilet Has Never Been Riskier
Some of today's sewers were built before bathrooms as we know them existed.
It's time to upgrade.
The Atlantic
Flushing toilets enable most Americans to make their own waste disappear as
if by magic, but most would be hard-pressed to answer this simple question:
When you flush, where does it go?
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/09/americas-sewage-crisis-public-health/405541/?utm_source=SFTwitter
Press releases
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| USDA Partners with EPA, Offers New Resources to Support Water Quality Trading |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
|LINCOLN, Neb., Sept. 17, 2015 - This week, following the recent announcement of $2 |
|million in Conservation Innovation Grants to support water quality trading markets, the|
|Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted a|
|joint workshop to expand markets for water quality benefits generated on farms, ranches|
|and forest lands. |
| |
| |
|Water quality trading is an innovative approach to reduce pollution and efficiently |
|achieve water quality goals. Trading is based on the fact that sources in a watershed |
|can face very different costs to control the same pollutant. Trading programs allow |
|facilities facing higher pollution control costs to meet their regulatory obligations |
|by purchasing environmentally equivalent (or superior) pollution reductions from |
|another source at lower cost, thus achieving the same water quality improvement at |
|lower overall cost. |
| |
| |
|USDA and EPA signed a partnership agreement in 2013 to advance water quality trading |
|and other market-based approaches that provide benefits to the environment and economy.|
|The workshop attracted over 200 participants involved in water quality trading from |
|across the nation. |
| |
| |
|"Conservation practices that improve soil health and conserve nutrients also produce |
|real water quality benefits. With support from USDA and our Federal partners, water |
|quality markets can create incentives to increase these environmental benefits and |
|boost investment in rural America. The actions we are announcing today will help us get|
|there," said Ann Mills, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and |
|Environment. |
| |
| |
|Among the new water quality trading resources announced: |
| |
| |
|EPA-USDA Water Quality Trading Roadmap |
| |
| |
| · The Water Quality Trading Roadmap is a decision support tool for those designing |
| and participating in water quality trading programs. The Roadmap is a searchable |
| database that consolidates policy guidance from EPA, information from State |
| programs, and examples and supporting materials from across the U.S. |
| |
| |
|EPA-USDA partnership on EnviroAtlas to support environmental markets |
| |
| |
| · USDA and EPA will incorporate environmental markets data layers into the Federal |
| ecosystem service decision support tool, EnviroAtlas. The data layers will show |
| where markets for water, carbon, wetlands, and habitats occur on the U.S. |
| landscape, provide information about these markets, and allow this information to|
| be displayed in the context of existing environmental data from Federal agencies.|
| |
| |
|Nutrient Tracking Tool (NTT) |
| |
| |
| · USDA will release this fall the next version of NTT, ready for use in the Pacific|
| Northwest and Ohio River Basin. The new version of NTT is a USDA hosted, |
| user-friendly, web-based tool that calculates edge of field nutrient and sediment|
| loads for use in conservation planning and environmental market credit |
| calculation. NTT will be made available in additional regions in 2016. |
| |
| |
|USDA Environmental Markets Website |
| |
| |
| · USDA released the Department-level environmental markets website. The site |
| integrates information, tools and resources on environmental markets from across |
| the Department, allowing users to easily gain a snapshot of environmental market |
| activities at USDA. |
| |
| |
|These new resources were announced days after the Natural Resources Conservation |
|Service awarded over $2 million in Conservation Innovation Grants to support water |
|quality trading markets. The 2015 Water Quality Trading Conservation Innovation Grant |
|Awardees are: |
| |
| |
|Conservation Marketplace Midwest ($243,933)-proposes to develop and pilot a Field |
|Stewards program, an innovative conservation credit system designed to allow companies |
|in the food industry to buy "offsets" for water quality and agricultural conservation. |
|Through the purchase of certification credits, food companies can demonstrate |
|sustainability to their customers without having to create a new chain-of-custody |
|supply chain for agricultural commodities, keeping costs low for retailers and the |
|consumer. (MN) |
| |
| |
|Electric Power Research Institute ($300,000)-proposes to develop and execute, for the |
|first time, trades of "stacked" ecosystem services-both water quality and greenhouse |
|gas emissions reduction credits. EPRI administers the Ohio River Basin nutrient trading|
|program, the only multi-state trading program in the country. (IN, KY, OH) |
| |
| |
|Great Lakes Commission ($400,000)-substantial water quality issues plague the Western |
|Lake Erie Basin (WLEB), leading to harmful algal blooms each summer in Lake Erie. The |
|Great Lakes Commission proposes to develop a framework for water quality trading in the|
|WLEB. (IN, MI, OH) |
| |
| |
|Iowa League of Cities ($700,000)-proposes to develop a framework for water quality |
|trading in Iowa to support the State's Nutrient Reduction Strategy. (IA) |
| |
| |
|National Association of Conservation Districts($116,725)-proposes to develop guidance |
|materials and engage in outreach and training to increase participation of soil and |
|water conservation districts in nutrient trading programs. In many water quality |
|trading programs, district employees are the conservation experts interacting with |
|agricultural producers generating credits from the installation of conservation |
|practices. (Nationwide) |
| |
| |
|Virginia Tech University ($285,729)-proposes to develop the information and tools |
|required to incorporate agroforestry into Virginia's nutrient trading program, which |
|currently largely depends on the retirement of marginal agricultural lands for credit |
|generation. In December 2014, USDA, EPA and the State of Virginiacelebrated a |
|first-of-its-kind transaction when the Virginia Dept. of Transportation purchased |
|phosphorous credits generated by a Virginia farmer. (VA) |
| |
| |
|# |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
