State
Statewide burn ban is no longer in effect
WLOX
MEMA releases preliminary damage reports from Easter storms
WDAM
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency released an updated list of its preliminary damage reports Wednesday in response to the severe weather that hit the state this past Sunday.
Olive Branch woman spends weekends on trek to stop litter
DeSoto Times-Tribune
If you drive along an Olive Branch roadway some Saturday morning, you may come up upon her, a black trash bag in hand, occasionally spying something along the roadway and stooping down to pick it up.
Pontotoc advertising for bids on sewer line refurbishing
Pontotoc Progress
At last week’s April 7 board meeting Pontotoc Aldermen approved a motion to advertise for bids to complete $400,000 in sewer line refurbishing.
Ruleville New Home to 100 Megawatt Solar Power Plant
Delta Daily News
SUNFLOWER COUNTY, MS (Ben Caxton) — Sunflower County is about to be the new home of a 100-megawatt solar power plant to be built on a thousand-acre tract on the north side of the county after a unanimous vote last week by the Mississippi Public Service Commission voted unanimously this week to approve the project.
State Government
Gov. Reeves to announce decision on shelter-in-place order on Friday
WJTV
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Governor Tate Reeves will announce a decision on the shelter-in-place order, which is set to expire on April 20, 2020.
Tate Reeves announces emergency childcare, help for homeowners because of coronavirus
Sun Herald
Homeowners will receive up to six months of mortgage relief and essential workers will have access to emergency childcare centers under programs Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced Wednesday in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Reeves created a task force to 'Restart Mississippi' after coronavirus. Here's what we know.
Clarion Ledger
Gov. Tate Reeves has created a private-sector task force to help Mississippi economically recover from coronavirus pandemic.
Oil Spill
USF researchers sampled more than 2,000 fish in the Gulf of Mexico. They found oil pollution in every one.
Tampa Bay Times
In the decade since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers from the University of South Florida have circled the Gulf of Mexico, catching fish and cutting them open in search of toxic pollution.
Regional
St. Bernard wants to lower Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet dam by 18 feet
NOLA.com
The St. Bernard Parish Council voted Wednesday to authorize the emergency removal of the top 18 feet of the rock dam that closes the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet navigation channel just south of Bayou La Loutre, arguing that the flow of Mississippi River water through the Bonnet Carre Spillway into parish wetlands will again get captured behind the dam, causing fish kills and otherwise disrupting the parish's commercial and recreational fishery economy.
Cost-share programs provide incentive to increase surface water use
Delta Farm Press
Lori Dabbs, Hargrove Farms, grew up watching water from alluvial groundwater wells and surface water reservoirs move through canals across her family's farm outside of Stuttgart, Ark. Three wells went dry in the 1970s, so they initiated land improvements through the 1980s and 1990s that increased irrigation efficiency but did not solve their water supply problem.
National
Trump administration expected to weaken mercury rule for coal plants
Reuters
The Trump administration is expected this week to withdraw the legal justification for an Obama-era rule that forced coal-fired power plants to cut their mercury emissions, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
Environmental Lawyers Split on DOJ Debt Policy for Pandemic
Bloomberg
Court says EPA erred in blocking agency grantees from serving on its boards
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cannot bar recipients of its own grants from serving on agency boards, a New York district court ruled Wednesday.
California Says it Will Fill Gaps in Lax EPA Enforcement
Bloomberg
California’s top environmental agency said it would “fill any enforcement gaps” left by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decision last month to relax oversight in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
IRS launches ‘Get My Payment’ tool for stimulus checks
WMC
The Internal Revenue Service's tool for people to track their direct payment from the coronavirus relief package went live Wednesday.
Press Releases
EPA Releases Eighth Update to the Administrator’s Superfund Emphasis List, Continuing the Commitment to Help Accelerate Progress at Sites Across the Country
04/15/2020
WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the eighth update to the Administrator’s Emphasis List of Superfund Sites Targeted for Immediate, Intense Action.
...Prior to listing the Mississippi Phosphates Corporation site on the Administrator’s Emphasis List, EPA conducted wastewater operations at the site that managed and treated wastewater at a rate of approximately 2,000,000 gallons per day—at a cost of approximately $1,000,000 per month. The site was placed on the Administrator’s Emphasis List to expedite permanent closure of the East Gypsum Stack and allow field work to eliminate on site storage of contaminated water and reduce the volume of water requiring treatment. Since the site was removed from the Administrator’s Emphasis List, closure of the East Gypsum Stack began in November 2018 followed by the installation of the final cover system on the initial 55 acres in September 2019. Overall, expediting this work, saved several months of time and millions of dollars of costly temporary wastewater management and treatment operations. This year, work will continue and shift to the south slope of the site.
EPA Announces Grant Funding to Support Healthy School Environments
04/15/2020
WASHINGTON (April 15, 2020) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking grant applications through the Children's Healthy Learning Environments Grant Initiative from states, federally recognized tribes, universities, local governments, non-profits, and other groups to support children’s environmental health in school and childcare settings.
EPA at 50: EPA Celebrates 50 Years of Earth Day
04/15/2020
WASHINGTON (April 15, 2020) - As part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 50th anniversary commemoration, the agency is kicking off its monthly series with a look at the history of Earth Day in America.
GOMESA projects proposal deadline June 30, 2020
MDMR
BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is accepting proposals for projects that may receive funding from the Gulf of Mexico Energy Securities Act (GOMESA). The deadline for proposals to be submitted is 5 p.m. on June 30, 2020.
NFWF Releases Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Partnership Five-Year Report With USDA’s NRCS
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 14, 2020) - The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today released its Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Partnership report detailing the results of the first five years of a successful partnership with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to accelerate Gulf Coast private lands conservation.NFWF and NRCS launched the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Partnership in late 2014.
Treasury, IRS unveil online application to help with Economic Impact Payments; Get My Payment allows people to provide direct deposit information and gives payment date
IRS
WASHINGTON – Working with the Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service today unveiled the new Get My Payment with features to let taxpayers check on their Economic Impact Payment date and update direct deposit information.
