State
RESIDENTS FINALLY RECEIVING SETTLEMENT MONEY FROM KERR-MCGEE SUIT
WCBI
Dam in Ellisville being monitored for potential breach
WDAM
JONES COUNTY, MS (WDAM) -
Train derails in Covington County
WDAM
COVINGTON COUNTY, MS (WDAM)
Myrtle – Micheal Canerdy won.
Myrtle Mayor
Totals
100% Reporting
Micheal Canerdy
69
65%
Jay Turcotte
37
35%
http://www.wtva.com/election New leaders in the capital, surrounding cities Clarion Ledger
WASHINGTON – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt sent a letter to governors today to inform them of EPA’s efforts related to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone promulgated in October 2015. EPA is extending the deadline for promulgating initial area designations, by one year, for the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
“States have made tremendous progress and significant investment cleaning up the air. We will continue to work with states to ensure they are on a path to compliance,”
said Administrator Scott Pruitt. The National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone is an outdoor air regulation under the Clean Air Act. As part of the process to determine what areas of the country are able to meet the current air quality standards, states are currently submitting their proposals for area designations under the 70 parts per billion (ppb) standard, which was lowed from 75 ppb in 2015. Areas designated as being in “nonattainment” of the standard face consequences, including: increased regulatory burdens, restrictions on infrastructure investment, and increased costs to businesses.
EPA is giving states more time to develop air quality plans and EPA is looking at providing greater flexibility to states as they develop their plans. And, pursuant to the language in the recently-enacted FY2017 Omnibus funding bill, Administrator Pruitt is establishing an Ozone Cooperative Compliance Task Force to develop additional flexibilities for states to comply with the ozone standard.
Additionally, the Agency is taking time to better understand some lingering, complicated issues so that air attainment decisions can be based on the latest and greatest information. This additional time will also provide the agency time to review the 2015 ozone NAAQS, prior to taking this initial implementation step.
Although the new ozone standard was set on October 1, 2015, there remains a host of complex issues that could undermine associated compliance efforts by states and localities. The Agency is evaluating these issues, primarily focused on:
- Fully understanding the role of background ozone levels;
- Appropriately accounting for international transport,
- And, timely consideration of exceptional events demonstrations.
“We share the goal of clean air, a robust economy and stronger, healthier communities. We are committed to working with states and local officials to effectively implement the ozone standard in a manner that is supportive of air quality improvement efforts without interfering with local decisions or impeding economic growth,”
said Administrator Pruitt. Since 1980, total emissions of the six principal air pollutants have dropped by 63 percent and ozone levels have declined by 33 percent. Despite the continued improvement of air quality, costs associated with compliance of the ozone NAAQS have significantly increased.
Organizations Across the Country Seek to Improve Water Infrastructure, Grow Local Economies 06/06/2017
Contact Information:
Tricia Lynn (
lynn.tricia@epa.gov)
(202) 564-2615
WASHINGTON – Organizations from across the country are seeking to partner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to invest in their local economies and improve water infrastructure. EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program received ‘letters of interest’ from prospective borrowers in communities across 19 states, an example of EPA’s programs supporting President Trump’s vision of investing in our nation’s infrastructure.
“The infrastructure needs of our nation and communities are broader than just roads and bridges,” said
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “Improvements are needed to address drinking and waste water infrastructure, and EPA’s WIFIA program offers opportunities to provide credit assistance to spur innovative investments that address water infrastructure needs.”
Established by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, the WIFIA program is a new federal loan and guarantee program at EPA that aims to accelerate investment in our nation’s water by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental credit assistance for regionally and nationally significant projects.
WIFIA is funded at $25 million by Congress for fiscal year 2017. This will allow for $1.5 billion in loans, spurring $3 billion in projects to repair, rehabilitate, and replace aging water treatment plants and pipe systems, and construct new infrastructure for desalination, water recycling, and drought mitigation. Combined with similar EPA programs, such as EPA’s State Revolving Fund (SRF) loans, private equity, revenue, and municipal bonds, these projects could address over $12 billion in infrastructure needs across the country.
EPA received over 40 letters of interest from prospective borrowers interested in developing local projects from cities, counties, towns and private businesses in:
Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin. A map of these requests can be found
here. EPA is currently evaluating project eligibility, credit worthiness, engineering feasibility, and alignment with WIFIA’s statutory and regulatory criteria. Through this competitive process, EPA will select projects that it intends to fund and invite them to continue to the application process this summer.
For more information about the WIFIA program, visit:
https://www.epa.gov/wifia President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Additions to his Administration President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts
President Donald J. Trump today announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key positions in his Administration:
Jeffrey Bossert Clark of Virginia to be an Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources at the Department of Justice. Mr. Clark is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He is a complex trial and appellate litigator with especially deep experience in administrative law, cutting across dozens of statutes and numerous agencies. Mr. Clark has been with Kirkland since 1996, with the exception of his period of service by virtue of appointment by the Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice from 2001-2005. He has worked on cutting-edge cases in numerous areas of law, and argued and won numerous cases in multiple Circuits. From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Clark was the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Justice Department. While there, he supervised the Appellate Section (50 lawyers and staff) and the Indian Resources Section (25 lawyers and staff). Also during that period, he reviewed, edited, or contributed to virtually every brief the Environment Division of the Department of Justice filed in the Courts of Appeals, including several cases of exceptional significance he personally briefed and argued. He also worked on every Supreme Court environmental or natural resource case during this same period.
