State
Council gets update on sanitary sewer overflow issues in Hattiesburg
WDAM
HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM) -The Hattiesburg City Council held a special called meeting Monday to hear a legal update on sanitary sewer overflow issues in Hattiesburg.
Walt's Look Around:Dinosaur tooth
WLBT
(video)
http://www.msnewsnow.com/clip/12723056/walts-look-arounddinosaur-tooth
Meridian drainage project goes green
WTOK
MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - The 5th Street Drainage Project in Downtown Meridian will soon be going green.
http://www.wtok.com/content/news/Meridian-drainage-project-goes-green-393202621.html
City of Jackson continues water sampling, 13 homes have elevated lead levels
WLBT
JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -As part of the City of Jackson’s continued efforts to meet the requirements of the Compliance Plan issued by the Mississippi State Department of Health and in compliance with the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule, the City recently conducted another round of water sampling for lead and copper in drinking water and has received the results.
State tax collections still on decline
By Bobby Harrison
Daily Journal Jackson Bureau
JACKSON – August state revenue collections provide insight on why Gov. Phil Bryant opted to make the earliest budget cuts in recent memory.
http://djournal.com/news/state-tax-collections-still-decline/
Oil Spill
Judge to hear lawsuit against Gulf park beach hotel project
Al.com
A Montgomery judge on Tuesday morning will hold a hearing on a request to dismiss a lawsuit by State Auditor Jim Zeigler and state Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow challenging the use of certain BP oil spill funds to build a beach lodge and conference center at Gulf State Park.
http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/09/judge_to_hold_hearing_in_lawsu.html
Regional
Feds to halt red wolf recovery program
The Hill
The federal government is halting its wild red wolf recovery program in North Carolina as part of a reevaluation of the strategy for conserving the species.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/295512-feds-to-halt-red-wolf-recovery-program
National
Oklahoma, EPA shutter 32 wells in new earthquake-prone area
AP
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A 5.8-magnitude earthquake and a series of smaller aftershocks in Oklahoma led to the discovery of a new fault line and stoked fears among some scientists about activity along other unknown faults that could be triggered by oil and gas wastewater that's being injected deep underground.
Greens move to dismiss EPA lawsuit over airplane emissions
The Hill
A pair of environmental groups is moving to dismiss their lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for not regulating greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft.
EPA Proposes New Water Rules for Nuclear Emergencies
New guidelines would boost amount of radioactive contamination allowed after events such as a nuclear-power plant accident
WSJ
In the wake of a nuclear emergency, the Environmental Protection Agency thinks it would be acceptable for the public to temporarily drink water containing radioactive contamination at up to thousands of times normal federal safety limits.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/epa-proposes-new-water-rules-for-nuclear-emergencies-1473725010
NPPC, FARM BUREAU WIN FOIA CASE AGAINST EPA
KTIC
A federal appeals court Friday overruled a lower court decision to throw out a lawsuit brought by the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its release to environmental groups of personal information on tens of thousands of farmers.
http://kticradio.com/agricultural/nppc-farm-bureau-win-foia-case-against-epa/
Farm groups fighting EPA on atrazine
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Some of Wisconsin’s largest farm groups are worried that federal regulators will increase restrictions on atrazine, a weed killer sprayed on corn fields and other crops.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2016/09/12/farm-groups-fighting-epa-atrazine/90284056/
Anadarko Buys Gulf of Mexico Assets From Freeport-McMoRan for $2 Billion
Freeport looks to cut debt, refocus on copper; Anadarko to use cash generated from assets to fund onshore activity
WSJ
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said Monday that it is buying oil and gas assets in the Gulf of Mexico from mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc. for $2 billion, expanding its footprint in offshore oil.
Protests Slow Pipeline Projects Across U.S., Canada
Anti-Keystone XL Fight Emboldens Resistance to At Least 10 Other Projects
WSJ
The Keystone XL pipeline was touted as a model for energy independence and a source of jobs when TransCanada Corp. announced plans to build the 1,700-mile pipeline six years ago.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/protests-slow-pipeline-projects-across-u-s-canada-1418173235
Martinez names new secretary of Environment Department
Sante Fe New Mexican
New Mexico Environment Department Deputy Secretary Butch Tongate was appointed Monday to the agency’s top post, the latest change-up in Gov. Susana Martinez’s Cabinet in recent weeks. He also will be the third person to lead the agency since Martinez took office in 2011.
Press releases
| USDA Investments to Improve Drinking Water and Waste Infrastructure for 168 Small Towns |
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| ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 12, 2016 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making investments to improve water and waste infrastructure for 168 small towns across the country, including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The investment, totaling $283 million, is made through USDA Rural Development's Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program, which provides assistance and financing to develop drinking water and waste disposal systems for communities with 10,000 or fewer residents. "Strong infrastructure is critical to keeping America's communities of all sizes thriving, and USDA is proud to partner with the National Rural Water Association to help improve the livelihood of our smallest towns by providing access to reliable water and wastewater systems," said Vilsack. "Projects like these are critical to the economy, health and future of rural America, and today 19 million residents now have improved water and wastewater services in their communities thanks to investments USDA has made since 2009." USDA Rural Utilities Service Administrator Brandon McBride made the announcement on Vilsack's behalf here at the National Rural Water Association's WaterPro conference. The city of Monticello, Ill., for example, is receiving a $14.3 million USDA loan to construct a wastewater treatment plant to benefit the city's 5,500 residents. The funding will help the city expand its sewage capacity and comply with environmental regulations. In Mississippi, the Mt. Olive Water Association, a non-profit organization serving approximately 368 customers, is receiving a $297,000 loan and a $238,000 grant for a water systems improvement project. The funding will provide a water storage tank, fire hydrants and a generator for this small system. Mt. Olive is one of the first applicants to use Rural Development's new online application system, RD Apply. In this new process, applications can be submitted by anyone, anywhere in the country, any time of day. That means even the most remote rural communities can submit an application as long as they have access to the internet. USDA's Water and Environmental Programs division launched RD Apply at the National Rural Water Association's WaterPro conference in Oklahoma City on Sept. 28, 2015. Funding for each project announced today is contingent upon the recipient meeting the terms of the loan, grant or loan/grant agreement. In 2015, the Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority completed a water treatment plant to bring safe and plentiful water to Boone, Newton and Searcy counties in northwest Arkansas. USDA provided $62 million in loans and grants. The rural water systems in these counties were plagued by excessive amounts of naturally occurring radon, radium and fluoride in their groundwater supplies, causing them to be under administrative orders from the state health department. Approximately 20,000 rural Arkansas residents now have a safe, dependable supply of water as a result of USDA's investment. Newton and Searcy counties are persistent poverty counties and are within USDA's StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity initiative. Launched in 2010, StrikeForce is part of the Obama Administration's commitment to address persistent poverty across America. Today's funding builds on USDA's historic investments in rural America over the past seven years. Since 2009, USDA has worked to strengthen and support rural communities and American agriculture, an industry that supports one in 11 American jobs, provides American consumers with more than 80 percent of the food we consume, ensures that Americans spend less of their paychecks at the grocery store than most people in other countries, and supports markets for homegrown renewable energy and materials. Since 2009, USDA Rural Development (@USDARD) has invested $13.5 billion for 5,739 water and waste infrastructure projects, benefiting 19.1 million rural residents; invested nearly $13 billion to start or expand nearly 112,000 rural businesses; helped 1.1 million rural residents buy homes; funded nearly 9,200 community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care facilities; and helped bring high-speed Internet access to nearly 6 million rural residents and businesses. USDA also has invested $31.3 billion in 963 electric projects that have financed more than 185,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines serving 4.6 million rural residents. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/results. # |
Southeastern Orchid Placed on Federal Threatened and Endangered Species List
Cookeville, Tenn. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is adding the white fringeless orchid to the federal list of threatened and endangered species, as a threatened species to protect and conserve the rare plant.
While the orchid is found in six Southern states – Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi - populations are small, isolated, and face a wide array of threats across their range. Because of the threat of collection, the Service is not designating critical habitat for this plant.
The listing follows the September 2015 proposal to protect the orchid. The Service has considered the orchid a candidate for the threatened and endangered species list since 1999, and in 2004 was petitioned by an outside group to add it to the list of protected species.
“Because of its small populations across six states and myriad threats, conserving the white fringeless orchid comes with challenges,” said Cindy Dohner, the Southeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “We hope our partners will rally to recover the plant before its situation becomes more critical.”
The ultimate goal is to recover the orchid, so that it no longer needs the protective measures of the ESA. The Service will now develop a recovery plan for the species and work cooperatively with partners to conserve its habitat. The Service’s Southeast Region through an aggressive At-Risk species conservation effort is strengthening existing partnerships, building new ones, and completing a range of conservation actions including better surveys and monitoring to determine that 72 species across the region do not need the ESA’s protection. As a result, to date, another dozen species’ status has improved from endangered to threatened and in some cases like the Louisiana black bear have been removed from the list and recovered.
While the threatened status means the orchid is not facing imminent extinction, low numbers have been observed at more than half the orchid’s known locations, and threats are present throughout the plant’s range – leading the Service to conclude that it is likely to face extinction in the foreseeable future.
There are 57 known occurrences of the orchid, spanning six southeastern states, with 33 located entirely, or in part, on lands owned or managed by local, state, or federal governments. The orchid’s distribution is concentrated in the Cumberland Plateau of Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and extends into South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi, with isolated populations scattered across the Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain. Most occurrences are in forested wetlands, though, some are in utility or transportation rights-of-way, where the plant sometimes thrives in the well-lit, open conditions. Finally, less than 20 percent of occurrences have ever been observed to have more than 100 flowering plants during a single growing season. Left unprotected, the plant’s range and abundance will likely continue to diminish.
Compounding the orchid’s plight is the fact that it appears to rely on a limited number of butterflies and a single species of fungus to complete its life cycle, making it susceptible to anything that threatens these creatures as well. Like most terrestrial orchids, white fringeless orchid has small, wind-dispersed seeds that lack nutrient reserves, so the young plants depend on a fungus to enhance sprouting and promote early growth.
Though the orchid can self-pollinate, it has only three known external pollinators, all butterflies – the silver spotted skipper, spicebush swallowtail, and eastern tiger swallowtail.
Habitat destruction and modification from development, forestry practices, alteration of water flow, such as beaver dam removal, right-of-way maintenance, and invasive species also have resulted in the plant’s disappearance from 10 sites and affected dozens of others. Collection is an historical and ongoing problem. Hundreds of specimens were collected in the 1940s. A 1992 status survey for the species included reports of two nurseries collecting white fringeless orchid plants for resale. More recently, evidence of collecting was observed at a Georgia site in 2004; and in 2014, biologists from the Service and the State of Tennessee documented the loss of 52 plants to collecting from a roadside occurrence in Tennessee.
The orchid’s listing is part of the Service’s effort to implement a court-approved work plan addressing this listing workload and resolving a series of lawsuits concerning the agency’s Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing program.
The Service’s final rule listing the orchid as threatened appears in the September 13, 2016 Federal Register. Protection for this plant under the ESA becomes effective on October 13, 2016, 30 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register. For threatened plants, it is illegal under the ESA to take, damage, or destroy any such plants, from areas under federal jurisdiction or in knowing violation of any law or regulation of any State, or to possess, import, export or conduct interstate or international commerce without authorization from the Service. The ESA also requires all federal agencies to ensure actions they authorize, fund, or undertake do not jeopardize the existence of listed species.
The Service initially proposed to protect the orchid and sought public comment on September 15, 2015, and again sought public input on April 14, 2016. All comments received are posted at http://www.regulations.gov and are addressed in the final listing rule. For more information about this plant and the final rule visit http://www.fws.gov/cookeville or the Federal Register at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number FWS-R4-ES-2015-0129.
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov/southeast.
Connect with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usfwssoutheast, follow our tweets at www.twitter.com/usfwssoutheast,watch our YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/usfws, and download photos from our Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwssoutheast.
