State
DECREE TALKS
Northside Sun
Atlanta firm hired to renegotiate Jackson consent decree
Jackson is moving forward with plans to renegotiate its sewer consent decree with the federal government.
Presence of oil to keep Riverfront Park closed, delay repairs
Vicksburg Post
Riverfront Park will be closed through early spring as officials with Vicksburg, Warren County and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality determine a plan to clean up oil contamination at the park.
Tronox sues FTC for blocking acquisition
Commercial Dispatch
Tronox Corp. has filed suit against the Federal Trade Commission, claiming the regulatory body is deliberating delaying action in an effort to block the mining/chemical company's efforts to complete a sale which would more than double its sales of titanium dioxide (TiO2).
Clay may seek grant for Pheba utility
Daily Times Leader
A grant could be the help a rural Clay County water association needs to improve its services.
Clay County supervisors will decide in two months whether to apply for a $600,000 -- the maximum allowed -- CDBG grant for the Sun Creek Water Association in Pheba. The utility is studying a new well and elevated water tank.
Forgotten drainage program could be windfall for county
Daily Times Leader
A long-forgotten federal flood-control project that started 55 years ago and was shut down 25 years ago could provide a small financial windfall for Clay County.
With tariffs, solar farm company making plans
Daily Journal
TUPELO – The company behind the installation of the first solar farm in Lee County said that the Trump administration’s 30 percent tariff on solar imports to the U.S. says it is in a good position to adapt to the change.
Oil Spill
Could Jackson County have a retail boom like D’Iberville? It’s possible if this bill passes
Sun Herald
The Cook Road corridor runs along I-10 north of Ocean Springs from the shopping mecca of Sangani Boulevard, to where North Washington Avenue becomes Tucker Road and intersects with Seaman Road.
Air your views on proposed coastal recreation projects
Houma Courier
Officials are seeking public comment on several area projects that would use fines from BP’s 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill to upgrade recreational areas that were damaged.
Regional
Gov. Rick Scott’s DEP wants to take over issuing federal wetland permits
Tampa Bay Times
For decades, Florida’s builders and developers have complained about how long it takes to get a federal permit to fill wetlands.
93,000 pounds of Mardi Gras beads among debris removed during citywide catch basin cleaning project
The Advocate
Roughly 7.2 million pounds of debris were removed from clogged city catch basins across the city during a four-month emergency cleaning program, including more than 93,000 pounds of Mardi Gras beads.
National
Week ahead: EPA chief to face grilling on reg rollback
The Hill
Supreme Court sends WOTUS rule to district courts
High Plains Journal
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled Jan. 22 that the proper jurisdiction for challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Waters of the United States or Clean Water Rule is in federal district court, not the circuit court level.
Salt, the solution to winter's dangers, threatens US waters
AP
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - When roads turn into ice rinks, consider trying beet juice, molasses, and even beer or cheese waste to make them safer. So say experts who fear road salt is starting to take a toll on the nation's waterways, putting everything from fish and frogs to microscopic zooplankton at risk.
In Reversal, EPA Suspends Alaska Mining Proposal To Preserve Watershed Protections
NPR
The Environmental Protection Agency said in a surprise announcement Friday that it was suspending its effort to withdraw proposed protections for a southwest Alaska watershed to make room for a new mine.
Trump taps former astronaut to head US Geological Survey
The Hill
President Trump on Friday named James Reilly, a former astronaut and oil exploration geologist, to lead the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Opinion
The time is now to put BP money to work on the Coast
Sun Herald
BY GULF COAST BUSINESS COUNCIL
Time is running out for the Mississippi Gulf Coast to get its fair share of the BP money. Right now, the Mississippi Legislature is deciding how it will spend a $750 million economic damage settlement from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. With each day that passes, lawmakers get closer to making final decisions about how — and where — those economic damage settlement dollars will be spent.
This big idea would make Mississippi’s ‘Blue Economy’ even better for the Coast and the state
Sun Herald
BY MONTY GRAHAM
Some of the smartest investments happen along coastlines — and what better coast to invest in than the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Our Coast has seen its share of natural and man-made disasters, and has used resiliency and determination to come back, stronger than ever.
Officials advertising themselves on your dime? Some want to halt it: Geoff Pender
Clarion Ledger
You know those ads you see or hear with state elected officials telling you about their programs or accomplishments?
Chances are, you're paying for them.
Press Releases
Mississippi Longleaf Pine Initiative Continues
Jackson, Miss. – The United States Department of Agriculture/Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has financial assistance available to
qualified Mississippi landowners wanting to create or restore longleaf pine stands
on their land. This Longleaf Pine Initiative (LLPI) is offered under the Environmental
Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) to qualified landowners and forest managers
in Central and Southern Mississippi working to restore longleaf ecosystems.
Longleaf pine forests nearly vanished, but a coordinated conservation effort
led by NRCS and other conservation partners is helping this unique ecosystem
of the Southeast recover. Longleaf pines provide valuable forest products,
pine straw production, scenic beauty, good wildlife habitat and harbor many
threatened and endangered species. There are 29 threatened and endangered
species that depend on these forests for survival. Two specific species are
“NRCS is committed to working with land managers to help restore and
expand this critical ecosystem,” stated Kevin Kennedy, acting NRCS state
conservationist for Mississippi. “Longleaf pine forests provide vital habitat
to a variety of species as well as valuable timber. We look forward to seeing
what we can accomplish with our partners.”
NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to help landowners and
land managers plant and manage longleaf forests. LLPI is in its eighth year
and has helped restore more than 350,000 acres of longleaf forests.
Applications for all NRCS financial assistance programs are accepted on a
continuous sign-up process with specific sign-up deadlines being established
to rank, contract and fund qualified tracts of land. Applications for the
Longleaf Pine Initiative received by March 16, 2018 will be considered for
funding in the first ranking period.
For additional information about the Longleaf Pine Initiative,
NRCS financial assistance covers part of the cost to implement conservation practices.
assistance information. For more information,
