State
Chemical scare quickly under control in Gulfport
Sun Herald
GULFPORT
A truck carrying 50,000 pounds of concentrated hydrogen peroxide was parked at U.S. 49 and 33rd Street on Wednesday afternoon waiting for repairs to a leaky valve, said Fire Chief Mike Beyerstedt.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/harrison-county/article104733371.html
Institute for Marine Mammal Studies studying health of Mississippi dolphins
WLOX
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI (WLOX) -The Mississippi Sound is home to one of the largest populations of bottlenose dolphins in the world.
KEMPER PLANT PROJECT COSTS AND RATES
WXXV
As costs continue to rise for Mississippi Power’s Kemper plant, customers grow concerned about how and if it will affect the cost of monthly bills.
http://www.wxxv25.com/2016/09/28/kemper-plant-project-costs-rates/
Solar farm approved for Union County
AP
NEW ALBANY, MISS.
Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley has approved a $3.7 million, 30-acre solar farm in New Albany.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/state/mississippi/article104836491.html
Hosemann, Biloxi at odds again over Margaritaville
Sun Herald
BILOXI
After objections from Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, Biloxi officials will start over on the plan to rezone Margaritaville Resort Biloxi and 20 acres surrounding it to encourage family entertainment and prevent a casino there.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/harrison-county/article104619376.html
Oil Spill
BP Deepwater Horizon oil sped erosion in worst-coated marsh, study says
Times-Picayune
Patches of marsh grass that had a 90 percent or greater coating of oil from theBP Deepwater Horizon disaster suffered dramatic erosion rates during the two years after the 2010 well blowout, according to a new study. These marshes "didn't recover; they're now gone, having been converted to mudflats," one of the lead scientists said.
National
Both sides optimistic on EPA climate rule case
The Hill
Both opponents and supporters of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) climate rule are optimistic of their chances after Tuesday’s federal court arguments in the case seeking to overturn it.
States Tailor Their Message to Spread Environmental Justice
Bloomberg
State agencies are finding themselves having to convince not just residents but also local businesses about the environmental justice work they undertake, a panel of agency heads said at an Environmental Council of the States meeting Sept. 26 in Wheeling, W.Va.
http://www.bna.com/states-tailor-message-n57982077649/
Report: EPA anti-discrimination office has never issued finding of discrimination
AJC
The Environmental Protection Agency office charged with protecting citizens from environmental discrimination has never issued a finding of discrimination, according to a recently-released report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Pesticide chemical detected in dolphins, birds and fish
CNN
A chemical formerly used in pesticides and most recently in carpet-cleaning products has been ingested by wildlife throughout North America, according to a study appearing today in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/28/health/pesticides-in-dolphins/
Bayer Will Not Appeal EPA Insecticide Ban
Bloomberg
The German chemical maker Bayer AG announced it won’t appeal an Environmental Protection Agency decision to place a ban on the use of flubendiamide, a bug killer the company had been selling under the trade name Belt.
http://www.bna.com/bayer-not-appeal-n57982077693/
Opinion
Salter: Sluggish tax revenue a national phenomenon
Clarion Ledger
STARKVILLE — Does the Mississippi Legislature bear some responsibility for the impact that tax cuts have had on sluggish state tax revenues? Absolutely.
Press Releases
EPA Tool Helps Communities Across the Country Prepare for Climate Change
WASHINGTON - As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to strengthen America’s climate resilience, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released an updated online climate change risk assessment tool that assists users in designing adaptation plans based on the types of threats confronting their communities. EPA’s Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT) is designed for water utilities.
“Water utilities operate on the front lines of climate change and face the challenges of increased drought, flooding and sea level rise. EPA is working to strengthen America’s communities by providing climate preparedness tools like CREAT that local leaders can use to make smart decisions,” said Joel Beauvais, deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water.
In its updated version, CREAT presents information in a series of intuitive modules, provides climate change projection data, and presents monetized risk results. CREAT’s climate projection map illustrates future climate scenarios including precipitation intensity for a 100-year storm or the number of days per year with temperatures above 100ºF. With this powerful information, utility owners and operators can better prepare for the impacts of climate change.
CREAT was built and updated in consultation with drinking water and wastewater utilities, water sector associations, climate science and risk assessment experts, and multiple federal partners. The tool has been used by a number of communities in their adaptation planning efforts. For example, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. used CREAT to better understand the vulnerability of its wastewater infrastructure and operations while the city of Houston, Texas used the tool to better understand the vulnerability of its surface water supplies.
Click the following links to see videos that show how CREAT has benefitted utilities such as Camden, N.J. and Faribault, Minn.
To access CREAT or to learn more about water sector climate readiness, visit EPA’s Climate Ready Water Utilities initiative.
Sears to Improve Public Health Protections from Lead Pollution During Home Renovations
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced a settlement with Sears Home Improvement Products Inc. that resolves alleged violations of the federal Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule for work performed by Sears’ contractors during home renovation projects across the country. Under the settlement, Sears will implement a comprehensive, corporate-wide program to ensure that the contractors it hires to perform work minimize lead dust from home renovation activities. Sears will also pay a $400,000 civil penalty.
“Today’s settlement will have a widespread impact across the home improvement industry, significantly reducing exposure to lead paint dust among children and other vulnerable people,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “In order to contract with Sears, a worker must follow lead safe practices. Contractors will carry this certification to every job they do. EPA expects all renovation companies to ensure their contractors follow these critical laws that protect public health.”
“This settlement will help prevent children and workers’ exposure to lead during home renovations in communities across the United States by ensuring that Sears’ contractors are fully aware of their obligations under lead safety regulations,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Sears is required to implement system wide changes across the corporation which will provide additional protection for consumers and bring the company into compliance with the law.”
EPA discovered the alleged violations through a review of Sears’ records from projects performed by the company’s renovation contractors at numerous projects in cities across California and in Georgia, Minnesota, Nevada, New York and Wisconsin.
The government also alleged that Sears failed to establish, retain, or provide compliance documentation showing that specific contractors had been certified by EPA, had been properly trained, had used lead-safe work practices, or had performed required post-renovation cleaning.
Under the settlement, Sears will implement a company-wide program to ensure that the contractors it hires to perform work for its customers comply with the RRP Rule during renovations of any child-occupied facilities, such as day-care centers and pre-schools and any housing that was built before 1978. For these projects, Sears must contract with only EPA-certified and state-certified firms and renovators, ensure they maintain certification and ensure they use lead safe work practices checklists during renovations.
Sears will also add a link on its website to EPA’s content on lead-safe work practices and use a company-wide system to actively track the RRP firm and renovator certifications of its contractors. In addition, Sears must suspend any contractor that is not operating in compliance with the RRP Rule, investigate all reports of potential noncompliance and ensure that any violations are corrected and reported to EPA.
EPA reached a similar settlement with home improvement retailer Lowe’s Home Centers in 2014 requiring the company to implement a comprehensive, corporate-wide compliance program at its over 1,700 stores nationwide to ensure that the contractors it hires to perform work minimize lead dust from home renovation activities.
The RRP Rule, which is a part of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act, is intended to ensure that owners and occupants of housing built before 1978, as well as any child-occupied facilities, receive information on lead-based paint hazards before renovations begin, and that individuals performing such renovations are properly trained and certified by EPA and follow specific work practices to reduce the potential for lead-based paint exposure. Home improvement companies such as Sears that contract with renovators to perform renovation work for their customers must ensure that those contractors comply with all of the requirements of the RRP Rule.
Lead-based paint was banned in 1978 but still remains in many homes and apartments across the country. Lead dust hazards can occur when lead paint deteriorates or is disrupted during home renovation and remodeling activities. Lead exposure can cause a range of health problems, from behavioral disorders and learning disabilities to seizures and death, putting young children at the greatest risk because their nervous systems are still developing. A blood lead test is the only way to determine if a child has a high lead level. Parents who think their child has been in contact with lead dust should contact their child's health care provider.
Renovation firms that are certified under EPA’s RRP Rule are encouraged to display EPA’s “Lead-Safe” logo on worker’s uniforms, signs, websites and other material, as appropriate. Consumers can protect themselves by looking for the logo before hiring a renovation firm. Consumers can learn more about the RRP Rule and hiring a certified firm by calling the National Lead Information Center at 1 (800) 424-LEAD or visiting www.epa.gov/lead.
Sears Home Improvement Products is part of the Sears Home Services division, within Sears Holdings Corporation. The Home Services division makes over 12 million service and installation calls annually through a network of 6,700 technicians and Sears’ 705 retail stores in the United States. Sears Home Improvement Products is headquartered in Longwood, Florida, does business in 45 states, and maintains 58 district offices.
The consent decree was lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District Court of Illinois. Notice of the lodging of the consent decree will appear in the Federal Register allowing for a 30-day public comment period before the consent decree can be entered by the court as final judgment. To view the consent decree:www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html
More information about today’s settlement:
https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/sears-home-improvement-products-inc-lead-rrp-rule-settlement
The Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. in Atlanta, Ga. Honored as a Green Leader in the Freight Industry
Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421 (Direct), (404) 562-8400 (Main), harris-young.dawn@epa.gov
ATLANTA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that The Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. in Atlanta, Ga. is one of the 2016 winners of the SmartWay® Excellence Awards, which honors logistic companies and shippers in the retail and manufacturing sectors. The awards recognize the top-performing SmartWay shipper partners that demonstrate how businesses can mitigate their carbon footprints and contribute to cleaner, healthier air, while saving on fuel costs as they move goods across America.
“EPA is honoring its top environmental performers – those SmartWay Partners that have taken significant steps towards a sustainable freight transportation energy future,” said Christopher Grundler, director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. “SmartWay Excellence Award recipients have become leaders in this crucial sector of our economy by embracing the mutual benefits that efficiency brings for both operational performance and environmental results.”
The 2016 SmartWay Excellence Awardees for retailers, manufactures and logistics companies are:
- Bacardi USA, Inc. (Coral Gables, Fla.)
- Hewlett-Packard Inc.
- Johnson & Johnson (Skillman, N.J.)
- Kimberly-Clark Corporation (Knoxville, Tenn.)
- Lowe's Companies Inc. (Wilkesboro, N.C.)
- The Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Transportation Insight LLC (Hickory, N.C.)
- Union Pacific Distribution Services (Omaha, Neb.)
- Whirlpool Corporation (Benton Harbor, Mich.)
Award winners demonstrate a commitment to environmental leadership by achieving lower emissions and by demonstrating effective collaboration, advanced technology and operational practices, robust SmartWay data validation and reporting, communication and public outreach, and implementation of sustainability practices in local communities.
EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership supports companies who demonstrate their commitment to corporate sustainability and social responsibility by moving goods in the cleanest, most energy-efficient way possible. Since 2004, SmartWay Partners have avoided emitting more than 72 million metric tons of the carbon pollution that contributes to climate change, while saving more than 170 million barrels of oil and $24.9 billion in fuel costs – equivalent to eliminating annual energy use in more than six million homes. SmartWay also contributes to cleaner air and healthier citizens by significantly reducing emissions of the pollution that contributes to smog, including fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides.
The awards were presented today at the 2016 Annual Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals conference in Orlando, Florida.
Awards for SmartWay carrier partners – such as trucking companies, multimodal transport companies and barge transport companies – will be announced next week at the 2016 American Trucking Association Management Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For more information about SmartWay Excellence Awards, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/smartway-excellence-awards
For more information about SmartWay, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/smartway
