Sunday, May 5, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
EPA Strengthens Conflict of Interest Review Process for Science Review Panels
EPA News Release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 3, 2013
EPA Strengthens Conflict of Interest Review Process for Science Review Panels
WASHINGTON — The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it has improved its conflict of interest review process for contractor-managed peer reviews. EPA has put a new oversight process in place to ensure that contractors follow all existing conflicts of interest guidance and requirements. In addition, EPA will now ensure that the public has the opportunity to review and comment on a peer review panel’s composition when influential scientific documents are being considered.
“We are committed to scientific integrity at EPA,” said EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe. “Improving the contract-managed peer review process and increasing transparency will lead to stronger science at the agency.”
This revised process will apply to all future technical documents designated as Influential Scientific Information or Highly Influential Scientific Assessments where independent peer reviews will be conducted by panels selected and managed by independent contractors. For future peer review panels, EPA will now publish the names, principal affiliations and resumes of candidates being considered for the panel. Members of the public will be able to provide comments on the candidates for a period of at least three weeks.
After selecting the final peer review panel, the contractor will consult with EPA to review whether the contractor followed existing conflicts of interest guidance and requirements, and identify and provide input on any issues. In addition, the names of the final peer review panel members will be posted publicly before the meeting takes place. This process will ensure that existing conflicts of interest guidance and requirements are applied correctly and where a potential conflict of interest is identified, allow EPA to determine whether the contractor’s plan to address the conflict is acceptable. The new process does not change EPA’s existing standards for determining conflicts of interest.
More information about scientific research at EPA: http://www.epa.gov/ord/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 3, 2013
EPA Strengthens Conflict of Interest Review Process for Science Review Panels
WASHINGTON — The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it has improved its conflict of interest review process for contractor-managed peer reviews. EPA has put a new oversight process in place to ensure that contractors follow all existing conflicts of interest guidance and requirements. In addition, EPA will now ensure that the public has the opportunity to review and comment on a peer review panel’s composition when influential scientific documents are being considered.
“We are committed to scientific integrity at EPA,” said EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe. “Improving the contract-managed peer review process and increasing transparency will lead to stronger science at the agency.”
This revised process will apply to all future technical documents designated as Influential Scientific Information or Highly Influential Scientific Assessments where independent peer reviews will be conducted by panels selected and managed by independent contractors. For future peer review panels, EPA will now publish the names, principal affiliations and resumes of candidates being considered for the panel. Members of the public will be able to provide comments on the candidates for a period of at least three weeks.
After selecting the final peer review panel, the contractor will consult with EPA to review whether the contractor followed existing conflicts of interest guidance and requirements, and identify and provide input on any issues. In addition, the names of the final peer review panel members will be posted publicly before the meeting takes place. This process will ensure that existing conflicts of interest guidance and requirements are applied correctly and where a potential conflict of interest is identified, allow EPA to determine whether the contractor’s plan to address the conflict is acceptable. The new process does not change EPA’s existing standards for determining conflicts of interest.
More information about scientific research at EPA: http://www.epa.gov/ord/
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Virginia Co. to Pay Penalty, Improve Systems to Prevent Potential Oil Spills at Hurt, Va. Facility
EPA Press Release:
Virginia Co. to Pay Penalty, Improve Systems
to Prevent Potential Oil Spills at Hurt, Va. Facility
PHILADELPHIA (May 2, 2013) -- English Construction Company has agreed to prepare and implement oil spill prevention plans and pay a $17,289 penalty to settle alleged violations of federal oil spill prevention regulations at its construction facility at 113 Main Street in Hurt, Va., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.
Under the Clean Water Act, owners of facilities that store 1,320 gallons of oil or more must develop and implement a spill prevention, control and countermeasure (SPCC) plan. SPCC plans are required to prevent discharges of oil from onshore facilities into navigable waterways, and for containing oil in the event a discharge occurs.
Under the Clean Water Act, owners of facilities that store 1,320 gallons of oil or more must develop and implement a spill prevention, control and countermeasure (SPCC) plan. SPCC plans are required to prevent discharges of oil from onshore facilities into navigable waterways, and for containing oil in the event a discharge occurs.
During a compliance inspection at the Hurt facility, EPA inspectors found that the company failed to prepare an SPCC plan. In addition, EPA alleged that English Construction failed to conduct required testing and visual inspections of oil storage containers, failed to put in place facility drainage safeguards, or to adequately train personnel to operate and maintain equipment for preventing oil spills.
An accidental oil spill into sewers and waterways can pose threats to people’s health and the environment. English Construction’s SPCC plans will prevent potential oil spills into nearby Roanoke River.
Costs associated with spill prevention plans are often much less than costs for cleaning up spills that occur.
EPA’s penalty takes into account English Construction’s efforts in resolving the alleged violations, and that the company is now complying with applicable SPCC regulations.
EPA to Award Over a Half Billion in Funding to Areas Impacted by Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York
EPA Press Release:
EPA to Award Over a Half Billion in Funding to Areas Impacted by Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York
Funding will Help Upgrade Wastewater and Drinking Water Facilities Damaged by Sandy
(New York, N.Y. – May 2, 2013) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it will provide grants of $340 million to the state of New York and $229 million to the state of New Jersey for improvements to wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities impacted by Hurricane Sandy. The funding announced today will help storm-damaged communities in both states as they continue to recover from the damage caused by the storm on Oct. 29, 2012.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, wastewater and drinking water treatment systems in New York and New Jersey were so severely damaged that some could not provide safe drinking water or treat raw sewage. The funding announced today will give states the capacity to further reduce risks of flood damage and increase the resiliency of wastewater and drinking water facilities to withstand the effects of severe storms similar to Sandy.
“As communities continue to recover following Hurricane Sandy’s devastation, it’s important that their efforts to rebuild our infrastructure such as wastewater and drinking water facilities are approached in a sustainable way,” said Acting EPA Administrator Bob Perciasepe. “These funds are another critical step in the Administration’s ongoing effort to help New York and New Jersey recover and move forward in a way that ensures local communities are stronger than ever before.”
“With extreme weather conditions increasingly becoming the norm, Congress wisely provided funding to make sure our wastewater and drinking water facilities can withstand Hurricane Sandy-sized storms,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. "This funding will help vulnerable communities in New Jersey and New York become more resilient to the effects of climate change.”
These funds, which will be provided to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, were authorized by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 and signed into law by President Obama on Jan. 29, 2013. In addition to protecting drinking water systems and maintaining water quality, the funding will provide for 6,000 short-term construction jobs.
The funds will be awarded as grants to the states and most will be given out to local communities as low or no interest loans that will be paid back to the states. Up to 30 percent of the money can be awarded as grants to communities rather than as loans.
Almost 60 percent of the funds will go to New York and about 40 percent of the funds will go to New Jersey for both the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs. The determination of how the funds should be allotted to New Jersey and New York was based on the percentage of the population living in impacted counties that FEMA designated for disaster assistance.
Projects will be selected by the states of New Jersey and New York using project priority ranking systems that are based on elements of the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act and state regulations. The highest rankings will be given to proposed projects that will most ensure water quality or provide the most protection to drinking water systems. Applicants may submit projects that incorporate green infrastructure, such as wetlands and detention basins to collect stormwater or natural features like sand dunes that are capable of mitigating storm water impacts; raise equipment from basements; and provide backup sources of energy that are renewable.
The states will review the proposed projects from impacted communities and then submit Intended use plans that include the recommended projects to EPA for review. The Intended use plans will be subject to public comment periods (30 days in New Jersey and 45 days in New York). Following these comment periods, EPA will evaluate the intended use plans and award the grants to the states.
The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act provided EPA with $500 million for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and $100 million for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The funding provided by the act is subject to sequestration, which has reduced the money available by $25 million for wastewater improvements and $5 million for drinking water. It also includes funding for EPA to administer the program.
Today’s funding complements the efforts of the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force created by President Obama. The Task Force works closely with federal, state and local officials to help communities address rebuilding challenges, use funding as effectively as possible and provide oversight to ensure it is used as it was intended. Other federal support includes:
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency has obligated more than $1 billion to support state and local rebuilding efforts. It has also disbursed more the $1.3 billion directly to impacted families, covering eligible repair costs and meeting temporary housing needs.
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has approved disaster recovery plans for New York and New Jersey, which means $3.5 billion in funding will be available for home and small business owners.
- The U.S. Small Business Administration has also provided more than $2 billion in disaster loans to homeowners and small businesses.
- The Federal Transit Administration’s Emergency Relief Program has allocated $2 billion in funding and the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program has allocated $584 million to repair and rebuild damaged infrastructure.
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has allocated $474 million in Social Services Block Grants to help provide services to survivors and rebuild damaged health care facilities.
More information about the federal government’s response to Sandy:http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/hurricane/sandy
More information on the EPA’s response to Sandy and today’s announced funding:http://www.epa.gov/sandy
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page,http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2
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