EPA awards $496,000 to the State of Utah to reduce diesel emissions along the Wasatch Front

EPA Press Release:

Truck retrofit project to save fuel and money, and reduce 21 tons of particulate matter and 1,364 tons of greenhouse gases

Contacts:

U.S. EPA: Richard Mylott 303-312-6654; Kyle Olson 303-312-6002

Utah Department of Environmental Quality: Lisa Burr, 801-536-4019

(Denver, Colo. – February 20, 2014) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the Utah Department of Environmental Quality a $496,000 grant to reduce diesel emissions from heavy- duty trucks based in seven counties along the Wasatch Front, an area challenged by levels of particulate matter that exceed federal air quality standards.

“Getting Utah’s trucking fleets up to speed with technologies that dramatically reduce pollution, including harmful fine particles, is a step towards healthier air quality,” said Shaun McGrath, EPA’s regional administrator in Denver. "We know that improving air quality in Wasatch Front communities will require solutions from all types of emission sources.  These types of clean diesel investments offer significant fuel and cost savings and set an example for efforts to secure clean air.”

This project will focus on retrofitting 19 long-haul trucks, based in Utah, with exhaust control devices that will reduce particulate matter emissions up to 90% and idle-reduction technologies that will reduce engine idling time by more than 8,000 hours. Bingham Livestock, Intermountain Rigging and Heavy Haul, L & S Transport, and Sugar House Van Lineswere selected to participate due to their activity in areas along the Wasatch Front. The project will also replace two outdated vehicles operated by C.R. England Global Transportation and Pacific States Cast Iron Company with new ones that meet high emissions standards.

Investments in clean-diesel technologies save money and reduce premature deaths, asthma attacks,  respiratory ailments, lost work days, and many other health impacts that affect the region every year.  In addition to the important health benefits, EPA’s grant will result in the reduction of 48 tons of nitrogen oxides; 21 tons of particulate matter (PM 2.5); 15 tons of hydrocarbons; 83 tons of carbon monoxide; and 1,364 tons of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.  It will also save 83,462 gallons of fuel.

For information about EPA’s clean diesel initiatives, visit: http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel. 

No more ‘dry clean only’ labels? | TheHill

Environmental groups are pushing the Federal Trade Commission to do away with dry clean only labels.

Dry cleaners, the groups say, often use cleaning chemicals that are harmful to the environment and can pose health risks to workers and consumers.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/pending-regs/198735-green-groups-want-to-kill-dry-clean-only-labels#ixzz2trpbGTW7
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No more ‘dry clean only’ labels? | TheHill

Paris getting creative with 'ghost stops' – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs

Paris getting creative with 'ghost stops' – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs

USDA Blog » 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Partnerships Continue to Grow

USDA Blog » 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Partnerships Continue to Grow

Conference to look at Activated Sludge's past, present and future - Filtration Separation

Conference to look at Activated Sludge's past, present and future - Filtration Separation

Building a Legacy of Good

Building a Legacy of Good

EPA Protects Wetlands in Calif. and Ariz. with $1.5 Million in Grants

EPA Press Release:

For Immediate Release:  February 18, 2014 

Press Contact:  David Yogi, 415-972-3350, yogi.david@epa.gov 

           

EPA Protects Wetlands in Calif. and Ariz. with $1.5 Million in Grants

Agency now accepting applications for 2014 grant cycle

SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the award of $1,565,140 in 2013 Wetland Program Development Grants to six tribes in California and Arizona and four California organizations to conduct research designed to prevent and eliminate water pollution.  EPA also announces it will begin today accepting applications for the 2014 Wetland Program grant cycle.

Work under these grants, awarded annually, will range from enhancing computer programs that rapidly assess wetland conditions, to helping tribes develop programs to better monitor and protect their wetlands. 

 “Wetlands are key to the vitality of local communities and wildlife -- in an era of climate change, healthy wetlands act as natural buffers to floods and sea level rise,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “Continued support for research and projects to improve water resources is critical in the arid West.”

This is a list of the 2013 grantees:

• Bishop Paiute Tribe (Bishop, Calif.)
• Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (Rohnert Park, Calif.)
• Pala Tribe (Pala, Calif.)
• Pinoleville Pomo Nation (Mendocino County, Calif.)
• Yurok Tribe (Klamath, Calif.)
• White Mountain Apache Tribe (Whiteriver, Ariz.)
• East Merced Resource Conservation District (Merced, Calif.)
• Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy (West Sacramento, Calif.)
• San Jose University (San Jose, Calif.)
• Aquatic Science Center (Richmond, Calif.)

First awarded in 1990, EPA’s Wetland Program Development Grants provide eligible applicants an opportunity to conduct projects that promote the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution.

EPA will accept applications for the 2014 grant cycle until April 1, 2014. Approximately $1.5 million infederal funding will be available for projects in the Pacific Southwest Region.

For more information about this year’s grant recipients, visit:  http://www.epa.gov/region09/water/wetlands/grants/grants-13.html

To learn more about submitting an application for the 2014 grant cycle, visit: http://www.epa.gov/region09/water/wetlands/grants/index.html

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