State
Mississippi pump project gets go-ahead, but needs funding
AP
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday gave the green light to long-debated flood control project in Mississippi. But the project still needs federal funding, and the start of construction could be years away — if it happens at all.
Analysis: Mississippi Pump Fight Unresolved as Trump Departs
AP
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Farmers and environmentalists have been arguing for decades over proposals for a massive federal flood-control project in the south Mississippi Delta. The fight is continuing into a new presidential administration.
Fire at Jackson energy plant still under investigation
WLBT
Jackson considering private consultant to help reorganize public works
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The city of Jackson could bring on a private consultant to help reshape its public works department.
Jackson experiencing ‘high volume of water main breaks’
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Residents in some parts of the city of Jackson could experience low or no water pressure due to a high number of water main breaks in recent days.
Volunteers help clean up Gulfport for MLK Day
WLOX
GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - In Gulfport, volunteers spent this Martin Luther King Jr. Day beautifying the city.
SUNCOAST INFRASTRUCTURE SMOKE TESTING AROUND RESERVOIR THIS WEEK
Northside Sun
This week, around the Barnett Reservoir, Suncoast Infrastructure, Inc. are smoke testing their sewer lines.
State Government
State officials provide COVID 19 vaccine update
MPB
Mississippi Health officials say they expect more COVID 19 vaccines to become available starting this week. Vaccine distribution is still limited.
STATE PROCUREMENT REVIEW BOARD APPROVES $156 MILLION IN EXEMPTIONS FROM LAW REQUIRING REVERSE AUCTIONS FROM STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES
Northside Sun
While reverse auctions are the law in Mississippi, the state’s Public Procurement Review Board has handed out hundreds of exemptions for state and local government entities each year.
Oil Spill
Louisiana's Rabbit Island, eroding home to brown pelicans, gets $15.6 million facelift
NOLA.com
The lone brown pelican colony in southwest Louisiana sits on an island that, like the vast majority of the state's coastline, has fallen prey to erosion. These days, Rabbit Island is barely half the size it was in 1959, having been reduced to a 200-acre mix of open water and low land within Cameron Parish’s Calcasieu Lake.
Regional
New Orleans restaurants' oyster shells helped save the coast; can they again?
NOLA.com
In an eroding bay south of New Orleans, where the sea is rapidly claiming land, your dinner leftovers were being stacked into an 800-ton wall nearly a mile long.
In Mardi Gras season, could wooden tokens be an alternative to plastic beads?
NOLA.com
For the past few years, Alma Robichaux has been searching for ways to make Louisiana's festivals and Mardi Gras season parades less threatening to the environment. She wants to keep the tradition but leave the plastic in the past.
National
Biden’s Climate Plan to Get a Boost From Democrat-Led Senate
WSJ
WASHINGTON—When President-elect Joe Biden’s advisers wrote his climate plan, they often had one small audience in mind: the U.S. Senate.
Biden taps Janet McCabe to serve as deputy at EPA
The Hill
The incoming Biden administration plans to tap Janet McCabe to serve as deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the transition team announced early Friday.
12 states, green groups sue EPA over airline standards they deem insufficient
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is facing two legal challenges from environmental groups and a coalition of 12 states and Washington, D.C., over its new emissions standards for airlines.
EPA finds toxic chemicals leached into common pesticide
AP
BOSTON -- Toxins leached from packaging into a pesticide commonly used on mosquitoes, the Environmental Protection Agency has found, but the risks to human health are unclear.
Businesses Aim to Pull Greenhouse Gases From the Air. It’s a Gamble.
NYT
Using technology to suck carbon dioxide out of the sky has long been dismissed as an impractical way to fight climate change — physically possible, but far too expensive to be of much use.
Groups sue EPA over 'backwards' lead rule
The Hill
Environmental and civil rights groups are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over a new lead rule critics argue doesn't do enough to remove the lead pipes that contaminate drinking water.
Great Lakes Pipeline Adds Heat to U.S.-Canada Energy Tensions
WSJ
TORONTO—Canadian and U.S. officials are at odds over the fate of a pipeline underneath the Great Lakes, exacerbating disagreements over energy policy between the two nations as the Biden administration prepares to take office.
Biden taps Criswell as first woman to lead FEMA
The Hill
President-elect Joe Biden has selected Deanne Criswell to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Minnesota's river restorations benefitting 'one of the most exceptional fish in the world'
Duluth News Tribune
GRAND FORKS -- They can live a long time – more than 100 years, studies have shown – they can grow to gargantuan proportions and they’re a popular target of bowfishing enthusiasts on lakes and rivers in the Red River Basin. They’re also a species of fascination.
Press Releases
Governor Tate Reeves Extends Executive Order
JACKSON — Today, Governor Tate Reeves announced the decision to extend Executive Order 1535 until Wednesday, February 3,2021 at 5:00 PM.
USACE publishes Record of Decision for Yazoo Area Pumps Project
Jan. 15, 2021
VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) published its Record of Decision for the Yazoo Area Pumps Project Jan. 15.
EPA Announces $46 Million in Funding Available to Reduce Emissions from Diesel Engines
Grant funding prioritized for areas facing air quality challenges
01/15/2021
WASHINGTON (January 15, 2021) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of grant funding to implement projects which reduce emissions from the nation’s existing fleet of older diesel engines. EPA anticipates awarding approximately $46 million in Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant funding to eligible applicants, subject to the availability of funds.
EPA Approves Emergency Exemption for Antiviral Air Treatment
01/15/2021
WASHINGTON (January 15, 2021) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced approval of an emergency exemption request for use of Grignard Pure, as an additional tool in limited use situations to aid in the fight against COVID-19.
EPA Awards $11 Million Cooperative Agreement for National Environmental Education Training Program
01/15/2021
WASHINGTON (January 15, 2021) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to award approximately $11 million to the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) for a five-year cooperative agreement to develop and manage the National Environmental Education Training Program.
Service Proposes Amendment to American Alligator 4(d) Regulation
January 15, 2021
USFWS
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is proposing to amend regulations concerning American alligators by revising provisions pertaining to interstate and foreign commerce.
Prestigious UM Research Center Gets New Director
UM
OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi center that is a global leader in the science and research of water management and soil conservation has a new director.
Silver Ships Delivers Refurbished 11-Year-Old Workboat to The University of Southern Mississippi
01/15/2021
USM
Silver Ships, Inc. today announces the delivery of a refurbished 48-foot workboat to The University of Southern Mississippi (USM). The vessel in its original state was an Endeavor 45 built by Silver Ships in 2008 for the State of Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (DMR).
