Posted by VicPlough on May 29, 2012 in
Agriculture Release Date: 04/10/2012Contact Information: Mark MacIntyre, EPA PIO/Seattle, 206-553-7302, macintyre.mark@epa,gov
Cyndi Grafe, EPA PIO/Boise, 208-378-5771, grafe.cyndi@epa.gov
(Boise, Idaho — April 9, 2012) A new water discharge permit for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) will help protect Idaho’s rivers, lakes and streams from animal waste, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Boise, Idaho. The new EPA "General Permit” regulates discharges to surface waters from most Idaho CAFOs, including those on tribal lands. The permit covers a wide array of Idaho livestock operations, not only beef cattle and dairy cows, but also horses, sheep, pigs and poultry.
Many CAFO operations in Idaho are well managed to protect against harmful discharges of animal wastes. Runoff from CAFOs can discharge manure, litter, and process waste water into streams, lakes or other surface waters causing not only serious environmental harm, but also exposing people to pathogens.
CAFO runoff or over-application of manure can harm water quality, damage habitat and cause fish kills by introducing excessive nutrients to rivers and streams. Groundwater can also be harmed, when pharmaceuticals and nutrients seep through the soil and contaminate aquifers that many Idahoans depend on for drinking water.
According to Mike Bussell, Director of EPA’s office of Water and Watersheds in Seattle, the Agency is reaching out to help CAFO owners or operators understand why they need to apply for the permit if they expect to discharge to a nearby stream, creek, lake or river.
“This permit will give producers the certainty they’ve been seeking,” said Mike Bussell, “Our message is clear: If you operate a CAFO and there’s runoff from pens, feed and manure storage areas, or areas where manure is spread, you need a permit.”
Operations covered by the new general permit include:
any animal feeding operation that either meets the EPA definition of a CAFO, or designated a CAFO by EPA; and
any CAFO that discharges to surface water from where animals are confined or manure and wastewater is spread.
In addition to the standard permit application, CAFO owners and operators must submit a nutrient management plan for EPA’s initial review. The EPA reviews these documents and will make them available for public comment before granting permit coverage.
CAFOs that have had permits in the past and wish to have continued coverage under the new permit, or CAFOs that discharge, will have 90 days after May 9, 2012 (effective date), to apply for their permit, submit their plan for review and obtain coverage under the new permit.
EPA will continue to work with the state of Idaho, tribal and local governments, environmental groups and other interested parties to get the new permit in place, offer compliance assistance to producers and safeguard Idaho’s water for the future.
For more about the new permit, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/region10/water/npdes/generalpermits.html
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Posted by VicPlough on May 28, 2012 in
Agriculture Release Date: 03/16/2012Contact Information: Dave Bary or Jennah Durant at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov
(DALLAS – March 16, 2012) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $300,000 to Santa Fe Community College to provide funding for its Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Program. The funds will be used to recruit, train and place unemployed or underemployed residents throughout the Santa Fe, New Mexico, region in environmental careers. Those selected to participate in the program will be trained and develop skills needed to safely conduct cleanup work at solid and hazardous waste contaminated sites.
Additional Information on EPA grants: http://www.epa.gov/region6/gandf/index.htm
More about activities in EPA Region 6: http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.html
EPA audio file is available at http://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/podcast/mar2012.html
# # #
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Posted by VicPlough on May 27, 2012 in
Agriculture Release Date: 05/18/2012Contact Information: Molly Hooven, Hooven.Molly@epa.gov, 202-564-2313, 202-564-4355
WASHINGTON – Today, at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Convention in Washington, DC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized nearly 100 commercial building design projects submitted by 43 architecture firms that achieved Designed to Earn the Energy Star certification in the past year.
Projects that receive Designed to Earn the Energy Star certification are estimated to be nearly 40 percent more energy efficient than typical buildings. In total, the projects recognized at the convention are estimated to prevent nearly 175,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and save more than $23 million in annual energy costs across 10 million square feet of commercial space.
"Building owners and architects who achieve EPA’s Designed to Earn the Energy Star for commercial buildings are getting it right from the start," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. "From city skyscrapers to rural elementary schools, these new building design projects are helping to save energy and money from the ground up for American families and businesses."
By 2035, 75 percent of all buildings will be new or renovated, and architecture firms are uniquely positioned to design energy efficient buildings and reduce carbon emissions. For the past five years, EPA has worked with AIA to promote energy efficiency in new commercial construction by highlighting Designed to Earn the Energy Star projects at the AIA National Convention. This year, EPA’s Energy Star Challenge: Race to DC created competition across the country to see who could submit the most Designed to Earn the Energy Star projects. The country was divided into three regions and the Big Easy Central, representing the mid-section of the country, won with nearly 50 projects achieving certification.
Project highlights from the three regions include:
East Coast Region—High Performance Computing Research Center at Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.); Architect of Record, Gensler: This project design provides power to the computers while using as little energy as possible. During winter, the air conditioning system can be switched off and giant louvers, or movable slates, can be opened to let in cold outside air.
Central Region—Kroger Store (Dallas, Texas); Architect of Record, Robertson Loia Roof: This design incorporates energy efficient features such as cooler/freezer refrigerant heat replacement systems and roof planters for heat island effect reduction and shading. White high solar reflective roof material is also in the project plan to minimize sunlight absorption.
Western Region—Red Hawk Elementary School (Erie, Colo.); Architect of Record, RB+B Architects: The sustainable design of Red Hawk Elementary School creates a vibrant place for kids to learn with a central space connected to all parts of the school which allows for interactions amongst students and teachers. Sustainable features include proper orientation of classrooms to maximize daylight, displacement ventilation coupled with ground source heat pumps as well as radiant floor heating, low flow fixtures, and highly insulated building envelope.
Since the Designed to Earn the Energy Star certification was launched in 2004, nearly 430 projects from almost 180 architecture firms have achieved the certification. If these buildings are operated as designed, EPA estimates that they will prevent more than 452,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and save almost $50 million in annual energy costs. Projects that achieve Designed to Earn the Energy Star certification meet specific energy performance criteria set by EPA, perform in the top 25 percent nationwide on EPA’s national energy performance scale, and are independently verified by a licensed professional engineer or registered architect.
Launched in 1992 by EPA, Energy Star is a market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. This year marks Energy Star’s 20th anniversary. Over the past 20 years, with help from Energy Star, American families and businesses have saved about $230 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 1.7 billion metric tons of carbon pollution. To date, more than 1.3 million new homes and nearly 16,500 buildings across all 50 states have earned EPA’s Energy Star certification. The Energy Star label can be found on more than 60 different kinds of products with more than 5 billion sold over the past 20 years.
More on the winners of the Projects receiving Designed to Earn the Energy Star Certification:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=new_bldg_design.top_design_firms
More on Designed to Earn the Energy Star Certification: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cbd_guidebook.cbd_guidebook
More on the 2012 Energy Star Challenge: Race to DC: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=new_bldg_design.architects_challenge
More on commercial building design: www.energystar.gov/CommercialBuildingDesign
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Posted by VicPlough on May 24, 2012 in
Agriculture Release Date: 04/16/2012Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394, whitley.christopher@epa.gov
Environmental News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Kansas City, Kan., April 16, 2012) – Petersen-Bubke, LLP, a beef cattle feedlot in Monona County, Iowa, has agreed to pay a $10,000 civil penalty to the United States for violations of the federal Clean Water Act related to discharges of pollutants into Rush Creek and its tributaries.
According to an administrative civil consent agreement and final order filed by EPA in Kansas City, Kan., EPA personnel conducted a compliance evaluation and inspection of the facility in March 2011 and observed evidence of discharges of process wastewater and pollutants from the facility into the creek.
Petersen-Bubke was confining approximately 1,050 cattle at the time of the inspection, which made it subject to regulation as a large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). However, the feedlot did not have a necessary National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, nor had it applied for one, as required by the Clean Water Act.
EPA Region 7 issued an order to the feedlot in May 2011, directing it to install discharge controls or apply for an NPDES permit. In accordance with the order, Petersen-Bubke has complied with the Clean Water Act by reducing the number of cattle it confines below the regulatory threshold, and by constructing livestock waste controls.
Unauthorized and uncontrolled discharges of wastewater and stormwater from concentrated animal feeding operations and their production areas can cause exceedances of water quality standards, pose risks to human health, threaten aquatic life and its habitat, and impair the use and enjoyment of waterways.
By agreeing to the settlement, Petersen-Bubke has certified that it is in compliance with the Clean Water Act.
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Learn more about EPA’s civil enforcement of the Clean Water Act
Learn more about the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and how it regulates concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs)
Read a summary (1 pg, 28K About PDF) of how the NPDES regulations define large, medium and small CAFOs
EPA Region 7 offers 10 tips to help CAFO owners and operators prepare for inspections
Connect with EPA Region 7 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion7
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Posted by VicPlough on May 24, 2012 in
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Posted by VicPlough on May 22, 2012 in
Agriculture Release Date: 03/26/2012Contact Information: Donna Heron 215-814-5113/heron.donna@epa.gov
PHILADELPHIA (March 26, 2012) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has cited Crespo Realty, Inc. , of Flushing, N.Y., for allegedly violating a federal law requiring the company to disclose information on lead-based paint hazards to tenants renting four Reading, Pa. properties.
The Disclosure Rule under the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act requires sellers and landlords of residential housing built before 1978 (when lead-based paint was banned under federal law) to disclose to purchasers and tenants the presence of known lead-based paint hazards (or lack of knowledge of hazards). Landlords must provide a lead hazard information pamphlet; provide a standard warning statement in the lease on the dangers of lead-based paint; and include disclosure and acknowledgment language in leases.
According to EPA’s complaint, Crespo Realty, Inc. did not provide the required lead hazard information and lead hazard disclosures in five leases in four residential properties in Reading. EPA will propose a penalty for these alleged violations after giving the company an opportunity to respond to the complaint. However, the complaint notes that the statutory maximum penalty for violations of the Disclosure Rule is $11,000 per violation. Crespo has the right to a hearing to contest the alleged violations.
EPA is cooperating with other federal, state, and local agencies to protect tenants and homeowners from the health risks of lead-based paint. High blood levels of lead can cause permanent damage to the nervous system and widespread health problems, such as a reduced intelligence and attention span, hearing loss, stunted growth, reading and learning problems and behavioral difficulties. Young children, in particular, are most vulnerable because their nervous systems are still developing.
For more information on environmental, health, and legal issues involving lead, please visit http://www.epa.gov/lead/index.html.
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Posted by VicPlough on May 12, 2012 in
Agriculture Release Date: 05/01/2012Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov
ATLANTA – In celebration of World Asthma Day, EPA Region 4 is partnering with Cobb and Douglas Public Health to hold a training event with the theme “Being Active with Asthma”. Representatives from EPA will provide training to maintain a healthy learning environment.
Who: EPA and Cobb and Douglas Public Health
What: Maintaining a healthy learning environment.
When: Tuesday, May 1, 2012 from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Where Cobb Safety Village
1220 Al Bishop Drive
Marietta, GA 30008
The training session will cover three objectives that will enhance participant awareness of common indoor air quality issues, and provide low cost or no cost solutions to resolve these concerns. Objectives include:
- Understanding of basic indoor air principles and approaches to communicate with teachers and parents about indoor air events;
- Learning how to perform classroom and home assessments to identify and resolve common indoor air asthma triggers; and
- Learning how to the steps to establish a preventive maintenance program for both the classroom and home.
More on how to control asthma and still live a healthy active life: http://www.epa.gov/asthma
More on the community award winners: http://epa.gov/asthma/awards.html
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Posted by VicPlough on May 10, 2012 in
Agriculture Release Date: 04/30/2012Contact Information: Margot Perez-Sullivan, (415) 947-4149, perezsullivan.margot@epa.gov
SAN FRANCISCO—The EPA recently proposed to limit nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions at Reid Gardner Generating Station in Moapa Valley, Nevada, as part of a national effort to reduce regional haze that impairs visibility at protected national parks and wilderness areas. The proposal published on April 12, 2012 would establish lower limits for NOx emissions under Federal and state plans that require the facility to install Best Available Retrofit Technology to control these emissions.
On Thursday, May 3, 2012 the EPA will host two separate public hearings as well as informational sessions in advance of the public hearings. The first hearing is at the Big Auditorium in the Administration Building of Moapa Band of Paiutes on 1 Lincoln Street in Moapa from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, with an informational session from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. The second hearing is at the Ron Dalley Theater of Moapa Valley Empowerment High School on 2400 St. Joseph Street in Overton from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, with an informational session from 5:00 to 6:00 pm.
Any person may provide written comments, oral comments and/or data pertaining to the proposal at either the public hearings or directly to EPA on or before June 4, the close of the public comment period. The Agency intends to respond to comments and take final action no later than July 13.
The proposed actions are designed to reduce the fine particle air pollution that results in visibility impairment, known as regional haze. This haze obscures the view of scenery and objects at a distance, reducing the beauty of our protected natural areas.
Congress set the goal of the “prevention of any future, and the remedying of any existing, impairment of visibility in mandatory Class I Federal areas which impairment results from manmade air pollution.” These Class I areas include 156 national parks and wilderness areas such as the Grand Canyon National Park. Under EPA’s Regional Haze Rule, the states are required to establish long-term strategies for making reasonable progress toward achieving natural visibility in Class 1 areas.
For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/region9/air/actions/nv.html
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Posted by VicPlough on May 10, 2012 in
Agriculture Release Date: 03/06/2012Contact Information: James Pinkney, (404) 562-9183, pinkney.james@epa.gov
(ATLANTA – March 6, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold an availability session on Thursday, March 8, 2012 regarding the Macon Naval Ordnance Plant (MNOP) site in Macon, GA. The availability session will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Allied Industrial Park, Building 102, 600 Guy Paine Rd., Macon, GA to discuss potential proposal of the Site to the National Priorities List (NPL). EPA and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD) will provide information about the site.
The MNOP was constructed and operated by the Reynolds Corporation before World War II. The Navy, under the U.S. Department of Defense, assumed operations in 1941 and continued to manufacture ordnance until 1965. Ordnance manufactured at the MNOP included flares, small primers, detonators, and other triggering mechanisms. The total area of the MNOP was approximately 433 acres, which extended from Guy Paine Road (north) to Rocky Creek (south).
Structures at the MNOP included numerous buildings, several miles of paved roads, fueling facilities, aboveground storage tanks (AST) and underground storage tanks (UST), solvent storage buildings, explosives storage magazines, a bunker area, a metals plating facility, and a sewage, or wastewater, treatment plant (WWTP).
After it was declared surplus by the Navy, the property was sold in December 1965 to the Maxson Electronics Company (Maxson) of New York. Maxson continued to produce ordnance under contract with the Navy until it sold the property to Allied Chemical Corporation (Allied) in 1973. Allied manufactured automobile seat belts at the site and made beneficial use of all or nearly all of the buildings, USTs and ASTs, and utilities. Allied sold the property in 1980 to the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority (MBCIA), which renamed the property the Allied Industrial Park. MBCIA currently leases or sells buildings as office and warehouse space to various industrial and commercial businesses on the AIP property.
Community members interested in obtaining additional information are encouraged to contact Sherryl A. Lane, EPA Community Involvement Coordinator, at (770) 608-1747.
ATTENTION: A media availability session will be held at the Allied Industrial Park, Bldg 102, 600 Guy Paine Rd., Macon, GA from 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 8, 2012. EPA and the GAEPD will be available to answer media questions concerning the potential proposal of the site to the NPL.
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Posted by VicPlough on May 3, 2012 in
Agriculture Published by: United States Environmental Protection Agence (EPA) (
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