State
Gasoline spill sparks emergency in Woodville
Natchez Democrat
NATCHEZ — Portions of U.S. 61 and Mississippi 24 in Woodville were closed Friday morning after a truck transport tanker spilled approximately 900 gallons of gasoline at a local convenience store.
RESIDENTS VOICE COMPLAINTS OVER LANDFILL ODOR
Scott County Times
Residents in the vicinity of North Homewood Road and Highway 501 in Forest are having an odorous experience due to a bad bouquet on the breezes blowing their way. Waste Management Clearview Landfill, located about five miles away on Mudline Road in Lake, is apparently having some challenges in putting a lid on this pungency.
Asbestos won’t stop clean-up of old hospital in Brookhaven
Daily Leader
Work on the old hospital on the corner of North Jackson and West Congress Street continues, despite rumors of it being shut down due to asbestos.
Happy to Do It: Mother and daughter volunteer their time picking up trash in Bay St. Louis
Sea Coast Echo
Since January 2011, Carla Schmitt and her daughter Sarah have been voluntarily "cleaning up the trash" in areas of Bay St. Louis.
Mississippi oyster season to begin Monday
WLOX
BILOXI, MS (WLOX) -Oyster season in the western portion of the Mississippi Sound will begin Monday at legal sunrise.
South Mississippi personnel file for Nov. 5
Sun Herald
Jamie Miller, who attended the Perkinston campus from 1991-93, was presented the Spirit of Gulf Coast Award, given to someone who has made significant contributions in support of Bulldog athletics.
Alligator hunting season remains strong in Mississippi
Sun Herald
The state of Mississippi had another solid alligator hunting season.
According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, participation among permitted hunters remained high.
Mississippi farmers need their stories heard, says state’s first female agriculture chief
Sun Herald
What keeps her up at night is knowing 30 percent more food will be needed to feed the world’s population in just 30 years, said Mississippi’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Cindy Hyde-Smith.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary fills USDA leadership position for MS
News MS
U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker said they are confident agriculture and rural development needs in Mississippi will be well served with the appointments of Bobby Carson of Marks and John Rounsaville of Madison to lead U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agencies in the state.
State Government
State revenue slowdown unusual
Daily Journal
JACKSON – Mississippi’s general fund revenue, used by the Legislature to pay for education, public safety, health care, parks and other state government essentials, is not growing like it used to.
Analysis: There's no hiding Mississippi's economic weakness
AP
JACKSON, MISS.
Let's make this simple — Mississippi's economy is weak and shows few signs of growing stronger.
Government purchasing reforms set to kick in; local leaders worried
Clarion Ledger
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/04/mississippi-contract-reform-reverse-auction-local-governments-purchasing/817879001/
Oil Spill
Supreme Court rules for state in beach hotel lawsuit
AP
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled against the state auditor and a legislator who challenged Alabama's use of oil spill settlement funds to build a beach hotel.
Carl Gray boat ramp caught in RESTORE limbo
News Herald
PANAMA CITY — Improvements to what was once a boat ramp at Carl Gray Park are stuck in financial limbo, alongside other RESTORE Act projects, as proposals slog through the legislative system.
Regional
Studies toward growing tiny crustaceans as fish larva food
AP
NEW ORLEANS
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant is getting nearly $1 million to figure out how to raise tiny crustaceans called copepods (KOH-pee-pahdz) for large-scale use in hatcheries for saltwater fish.
Official in state gets role at EPA
Blanz is tapped for 2 key panels
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
WASHINGTON -- Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, who is replacing many of his department's top Obama-era advisers, plans to appoint an Arkansas official to serve on the agency's Science Advisory Board.
National
U.S. Report Says Humans Cause Climate Change, Contradicting Top Trump Officials
NY Times
WASHINGTON — Directly contradicting much of the Trump administration’s position on climate change, 13 federal agencies unveiled an exhaustive scientific report on Friday that says humans are the dominant cause of the global temperature rise that has created the warmest period in the history of civilization.
U.S. Climate Report Says Human Activity Will Determine Pace of Climate Change
Past three years have been warmest years on record, government scientists say
WSJ
A new U.S. government report drew a direct line between human activity and the quickening pace of climate change, saying the future emissions of greenhouse gasses would determine how warm the earth gets and how quickly sea levels rise.
EPA names industry, state officials to advisory boards
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overhauled its external advisory boards Friday with new members representing various regulated industries and states, among other entities.
Could EPA regional headquarters move from San Francisco to Phoenix?
The Republic
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt discussed moving the agency's regional headquarters from San Francisco to Phoenix during a meeting with metro Phoenix officials in May.
Northeast Washington silicon smelter plans raise concerns
Spokesman-Review
NEWPORT, Wash. – Last year, a Canadian company announced plans to build a $325 million silicon smelter in northeast Washington.
Opinion
We applaud the PEER committee for taking action to protect our personal information
Editorial – Sun Herald
The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance, Evaluation and Expenditure Review recognized the urgent need to fix a broken system that failed to protect the privacy of thousands.
Press Releases
EPA Announces Intention To Nominate Members To Three Important Federal Advisory Committees
11/03/2017
Contact Information:
WASHINGTON (November 3, 2017) – Today, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced his intention to appoint members who will serve on the Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC), the Clean Air Science Advisory Committee (CASAC) and the Science Advisory Board (SAB).
“To ensure that EPA is receiving the best independent scientific advice, I am appointing highly-qualified experts and scientists to these important committees,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
In a fair, open, and transparent fashion, EPA reviewed hundreds of qualified applicants nominated for these committees. Members who will be appointed include experts throughout the environmental stakeholder community, including from NGOs, academia, industry, and state, tribal and local officials. The makeup of the membership speaks to EPA’s commitment to science and openness to expertise from a diverse array of perspectives. Those nominees willing to serve have committed to remaining financially independent from EPA grants during their tenures.
Federal Advisory Committees (FAC) members that will serve on the BOSC can be found here. Federal Advisory Committees (FAC) members that will serve on the CASAC can be found here. Federal Advisory Committees (FAC) members that will serve on the SAB can be found here.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Solicits Public Input on Mitigation Policies
November 3, 2017
To help ensure that its policies are consistent, effective and transparent, and provide a level of certainty to all involved parties, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is soliciting public review of and comment on its Service-wide Mitigation Policy and its Endangered Species Act - Compensatory Mitigation Policy (ESA-CMP). These policies provide direction to Service employees on how to develop mitigation recommendations to offset the impacts of development activities on species or their habitats.
The review is part of a broader Service effort to re-evaluate several regulations and policies related to the Secretary of the Interior’s Order 3349 on American Energy Independence (March 29, 2017). The order directed bureaus to review policies to ensure consistency with directives in effect at the time Secretarial Order 3349 was issued.
The existing Mitigation Policy, which revised the long-standing 1981 Service Mitigation Policy, articulates general policy and principles intended to guide recommended mitigation across all Service programs. These principles were in turn stepped down into the ESA-CMP.
The Service is soliciting additional input regarding whether to retain or modify the mitigation goals or other policy direction articulated within our mitigation policies. Based on comments received, the Service will decide whether and how to revise the policies.
The notice will publish in the Federal Register on November 6, 2017. Written comments and information concerning this proposal can be submitted by one of the following methods:
- Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments to:
- Mitigation Policy at Docket No. [FWS–HQ–ES–2015–0126]
- ESA-CMP at Docket No. [FWS–HQ–ES–2015–0165]
- U. S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. [FWS–HQ–ES–2015–0126 or FWS–HQ–ES–2015–0165]; Division of Policy, Performance and Management Programs; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg Pike - MS: BPHC Falls Church, VA 22041-3808.
The Service invites comments, information and recommendations from governmental agencies, Indian Tribes, the scientific community, industry groups, environmental interest groups and any other interested parties.
Comments must be received within 60 days, on or before January 5, 2018. The Service will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means the agency will post any personal information provided through the process. The Service is not able to accept email or faxes.
