State
Well permits expand options for conservation practices
Delta Farm Press
When the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality's irrigation well permits first began to be issued in the early 2000s, they were for 10 years.
http://deltafarmpress.com/irrigation-systems/well-permits-expand-options-conservation-practices
Warnock declares sewage emergency
Madison County Journal
CANTON — The Canton Municipal Utilities Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to declare an emergency and authorize new CMU Engineer Rudy Warnock to clean sewage lines in the city. http://onlinemadison.com/Content/Default/News/Article/Warnock-declares-sewage-emergency/-3/592/38668
Houlka aldermen hear lagoon report
Chickasaw Journal
HOULKA – Water is going to houses in town and then away from them – and that is good.
http://djournal.com/chickasaw/2016/10/04/houlka-aldermen-hear-lagoon-report/
City extends solar panels moratorium
Daily Corinthian
The Corinth Board of Aldermen extended the moratorium on solar panel construction for another 60 days.
http://www.dailycorinthian.com/view/full_story/27284908/article-City-extends-solar-panels-moratorium?
Supervisors seek loan from MDA for energy savings
Neshoba Democrat
Neshoba County plans to partner with an energy management firm as part of a $1.62 million energy savings performance project which is expected to reduce utilities at the courthouse, coliseum and several other county buildings by about 35 percent. http://www.neshobademocrat.com/Content/NEWS/News/Article/Supervisors-seek-loan-from-MDA-for-energy-savings/2/297/39609
Alligator season plays important role in nature
Picayune Item
Not only do alligators have a negative reputation, they are also misunderstood when it comes to their importance of the wetlands of southern Mississippi and Louisiana.
http://www.picayuneitem.com/2016/10/alligator-season-plays-important-role-in-nature/
No does allowed in Sunflower WMA gun seasons
Clarion Ledger
The deer population at one of Mississippi's more popular public lands isn't what it should be and biologists are attempting to turn the situation around.
3 On Your Side Investigates: Raw Deal
WLBT
JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -A 3 On Your Side investigation found a significant drop in restaurant inspections statewide, and even fewer in the Jackson metro area, due to budget cuts that hit the Mississippi Department of Health earlier this year.
http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/33323827/3-on-your-side-investigates-raw-deal
Oil Spill
RESTORE COUNCIL SEEKS COMMENT ON BP SPILL PLAN
MPB
The council overseeing billions in BP oil spill restoration money wants to hear from the public by Friday with comments on its updated plan. MPB’s Evelina Burnett reports.
http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/2016/10/05/restore-council-seeks-comment-on-bp-spill-plan/
Money may transform Louisiana, coast
Daily Advertiser
The biggest legal settlement in U.S. history by a single payer, BP, may someday transform Louisiana, says the man who was charged with disbursing part of that lawsuit payout.
Alabama's bypass to the beach, a 'top priority' project, revived with BP money
Al.com
With $65 million in new money thanks to the state's BP settlement, the long-beleaguered U.S. 98 project in coastal Alabama has a new life, but officials are proceeding cautiously.
http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2016/10/alabamas_top_priority_road_pro.html
Regional
Raw oysters kill 1 person a month in the US
Sun Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.
A plate of raw oysters cost Jose Luis Ruiz his leg, his livelihood and his house.
The night he ate them, the 51-year-old awoke with an upset stomach and pain in his calf. Within two days, he could barely walk.
http://www.sunherald.com/latest-news/article105911992.html
Q&A: Polluted Water Pours Into Sinkhole at Fertilizer Plant
AP
Hurricane Matthew's heavy rains are predicted to soak much of Florida, and that could complicate efforts to manage the pollution flowing into a sinkhole that opened up beneath a fertilizer plant's massive pile of toxic waste.
National
Paris Climate Treaty to Take Effect in November
President Obama hails chance ‘to save the one planet we’ve got’
WSJ
WASHINGTON—A climate treaty negotiated by more than 200 countries to cap emissions and curb the global rise in temperatures will go into force in November after the United Nations announced Wednesday the pact had reached the threshold necessary to formally take effect.
Obama hails climate change deal as potential turning point
AP
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama welcomed the news Wednesday that the Paris agreement on climate change will take effect in a month, saying "this gives us the best possible shot to save the one planet we've got."
Power plant, industrial emissions continue to fall, EPA reports
Houston Chronicle
Emissions of greenhouse gases from the country’s power plants and other industrial facilities continue to fall,the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported Tuesday.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2016/10/04/power-plant-industrial-emissions-continue-to-fall-epa-reports/
US aiming to reach new refrigerant emissions deal
The Hill
Officials hope to reach a deal next week to phase down the global use of a warming-causing refrigerant chemical.
The EPA gets closer to cleaning up one of the nation’s most polluted rivers
Washington Post
The Environmental Protection Agency moved a step closer Wednesday toward cleaning up the most polluted stretch of one of the most polluted rivers in the United States.
How a 'rogue' environmental group transformed American fisheries
Al.com
One of the nation's largest environmental groups -- bankrolled with $50 million from the heirs to the Walmart fortune -- has spent millions of dollars pushing a wholesale change in how the U.S. manages its fisheries, an AL.com investigation reveals.
http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2016/10/edf_how_a_rogue_environmental.html
Opinion
BOBBY HARRISON: State’s revenue outlook remains uncertain
Daily Journal
Gov. Phil Bryant essentially said last week he is done cutting budgets for the current calendar year.
http://djournal.com/opinion/bobby-harrison-states-revenue-outlook-remains-uncertain/
Press Releases
Environmental Quality Incentives Program Accepting Applications
Jackson, Miss. – The United States Department of Agriculture/Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will have financial and technical assistance available for fiscal year 2017 to assist Mississippi producers with the implementation of conservation practices through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
NRCS accepts applications for EQIP opportunities on a continuous basis, however there are certain deadline dates set forth to rank applications in designated ranking periods. The deadline to sign-up to be considered in the first ranking period is November 18, 2016.
NRCS helps producers improve water and air quality, build healthier soils, improve grazing and forest lands, conserve energy, enhance organic operations and achieve many environmental benefits. All NRCS programs are completely voluntary and offer science-based solutions that benefit both the landowner and the environment.
"The Environmental Quality Incentives Program offers producers a variety of options to conserve natural resources on their properties," stated Kurt Readus, State Conservationist for Mississippi.
"This conservation investment helps improve environmental health and the economy of Mississippi’s communities."
Applicants can sign up at their local NRCS office. Interested producers, farmers and ranchers can apply for EQIP and obtain more information at their local USDA/NRCS office. For more information about EQIP, visit the NRCS website: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/ms/programs/financial/eqip/?cid=nrcs142p2_017159. To locate your nearest NRCS office, local USDA service center/ .
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EPA Offers Assistance to Help Rural Communities Revitalize Downtowns
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today invited rural communities to apply for planning assistance to develop strategies that help grow the economy and revitalize downtown neighborhoods. EPA is offering this assistance as part of Rural Advantage, a suite of federal economic development planning assistance programs for rural communities.
“Rural Advantage is helping communities reinvent themselves in ways that are good for the economy and the environment,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “We are excited to partner with communities that want to use their unique rural assets to create a brighter, healthier future.
Communities may apply for assistance through the following programs:
• Local Foods, Local Places (LFLP), which helps communities leverage local food enterprise to diversify their economy and renew their downtowns.
• Cool & Connected, which helps communities use broadband service to create walkable, connected, economically successful neighborhoods.
• Healthy Places for Healthy People, a new program that will help communities partner with health care facilities to catalyze downtown revitalization and to improve options for healthy living and economic opportunity.
Rural Advantage is part of the Obama Administration's commitment to place-based strategies to help communities develop competitive advantages. In these places, federal experts are working side by side with residents and local leaders to create customized solutions, bolstering coordination across agencies and improving how we interact with and serve community partners.
Under the Obama Administration, EPA and federal partners have provided rural advantage assistance to 83 communities, to date. Sixty-eight communities have been selected for assistance through Local Foods, Local Places, and 15 communities have received assistance through Cool & Connected, ten of which are in Appalachia.
In 2012, Williamson, W Va., was selected to participate in the Livable Communities in Appalachia program, the predecessor to LFLP. Through that effort, a team of small-town development experts worked with Sustainable Williamson to create an action plan tailored to achieving the town’s goals, including improving access to food to realize better health outcomes.
Upon implementing the plan, Sustainable Williamson received an $80,000 planning grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration. That grant helped create a Federally Qualified Health Center that later received an additional $650,000 to support clinic operations. Sustainable Williamson also established a downtown farmers’ market and community garden that increased access to healthy foods for Williamson residents. The Williamson Health and Wellness Center also received LFLP assistance, in 2015, to provide support to new entrepreneurs starting up their businesses in the local food and health care sectors, and to expand the community’s innovative approaches to creating a culture of health.
In Montrose, Co., the Cool & Connected action plan helped advance Proximity Space, an award-winning coworking project, and link it to the community’s efforts to build a walkable and investment-ready downtown. Coworking space allows people to access high-speed internet, conference rooms, and office equipment, and is one of many ways that small towns can leverage broadband to boost main street development.
Communities selected for this latest round of assistance will work with an EPA-supported team of experts, including through a two-day workshop, to develop strategies and action plans that enable them to realize their local revitalization goals. The team will include people with expertise in community development, and representatives of the federal agencies that sponsor the three programs so communities can build connections and take better advantage of federal programs and resources.
Working with federal partners, EPA will select thirty or more communities for assistance through a competitive process.
EPA’s Rural Advantage federal partners are the United States Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Delta Regional Authority and the Economic Development Administration.
Communities may apply by submitting letters of interest by November 6. For more information and to submit an application, see: https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth
EPA Awards $1.2 Million in Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreements
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today competitive cooperative agreements with 10 community-based organizations working to address environmental justice issues nationwide. Each of this year’s recipients will receive up to $120,000 to support two-year projects. The projects will address a variety of environmental justice issues through innovative project activities in areas like green infrastructure, stormwater management and recycling.
EPA’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement program provides funding for non-profit and tribal organizations to partner with stakeholders from across industry, government, and academia to develop and implement solutions that significantly address environmental and/or public health issues in America’s low income and minority communities.
“This funding will help dedicated and diverse organizations that work every day to address crucial environmental justice issues in their communities,” said Matthew Tejada, EPA’s Director of the Office of Environmental Justice. “The innovative and collaborative projects these funds will support and bring lasting environmental and public health benefits to local communities.”
The community-based organizations will use EPA’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving model to execute a wide array of project plans aligned with EPA’s priorities of making a visible difference in communities, protecting America’s waters, taking action on toxics and chemical safety, and addressing climate change and improving air quality. The neighborhoods and communities participating in these projects have been impacted by environmental harms plaguing their local areas.
The 10 cooperative agreements total about $1.2 million. The selected recipients are:
The Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island
People United for Sustainable Housing, Inc. (New York)
CASA de Maryland, Inc.
Cape Fear River Watch, Inc. (North Carolina)
Metropolitan Tenants Organization (Illinois)
Mary Queen of Viet Nam Community Development Corporation (Louisiana)
Dutchtown South Community Corporation (Missouri)
Conejos County Clean Water, Inc. (Colorado)
Asian Health Services (California)
El Centro de la Raza (Washington state)
Please visit: https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-collaborative-problem-solving-cooperative-agreement-2 for a full description of the 2016 Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement projects.
More information about EPA’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Cooperative Agreement Program can be found on the Office of Environmental Justice EJ Grants webpage:
https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-grants-funding-and-technical-assistance
