EPA Selects the University of California, Los Angeles to Help Find New Uses for Toxics Data

EPA Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 20, 2014
MEDIA CONTACT: Nahal Mogharabi, 213-244-1815, mogharabi.nahal@epa.gov

EPA Selects the University of California, Los Angeles to Help Find New Uses for Toxics Data

LOS ANGELES– The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced this week its selection of academic partners for the 2014 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) University Challenge, a project designed to find innovative ways to increase public awareness of industrial releases of toxic chemicals in communities and around the country. The University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA) Institute of Environment and Sustainability was one of six universities selected.

“The EPA’s TRI University Challenge allows students to learn about environmental issues, work as a team and produce results that will be used by communities for years to come,” said Magali Delmas, Professor of Management at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “We look forward to continuing our work that will help encourage facilities to reduce emissions and provide residents with more access to information about facilities that emit toxics in their neighborhoods.”

Through these partnerships, EPA will work with six diverse academic institutions to raise student awareness of environmental data as well as develop practical and replicable projects focused on data visualization and analytics for improving the presentation and understanding of TRI data. As part of UCLA’s project, the university will:

• §  Issue evaluative ratings of environmental performance of facilities in the Greater Los Angeles Area that that emit toxic chemicals into the environment;
• §  Lead a workshop with manufacturers to discuss ratings and identify opportunities to reduce toxic chemical releases; and
• § 

TRI provides communities with information about toxic chemical releases to the air, water, and land, as well as what industries are doing to reduce and prevent these releases. TRI helps industry, government, non-governmental organizations, and the public make more informed decisions to protect their health and environment.

The TRI University Challenge is open to anyone affiliated with an accredited college or university. In addition to UCLA, projects were proposed for 2014 by faculty and students from Drew University, Southeastern Louisiana University, the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Tennessee State University, and the University of South Carolina.

The 2014 TRI University Challenge follows the successful 2013-2014 Challenge, in UCLA along with seven other academic partners collaborated with EPA on projects related to environmental education, pollution prevention, stakeholder engagement, and data mash-ups. UCLA’s 2013 project resulted in the development of the Cal EcoMaps website that includes an interactive map of TRI reporting facilities in the Los Angeles Basin. The website will allow users to see information on profiled facilities such as total toxic releases per facility, percent of waste treated through preferred management practices, and an estimate of associated cancer risks.

While there is no financial award for this Challenge, academic partners will receive support from TRI Program staff and national recognition by being featured on the TRI University Challenge website. In addition, partners will be encouraged to pursue opportunities to speak at relevant conferences and events. 

The selected projects will begin in the fall of 2014 and are expected to conclude at the end of the academic year in the summer of 2015.

More information on the TRI University Challenge: www.epa.gov/tri/university

More information about TRI: www.epa.gov/tri

USDA Blog » People’s Garden in Illinois Provides Food, Sanctuary for Pollinators

What’s the buzz going on in Princeton, Ill.? A food fest for our pollinator friends, that’s what.

This is a People’s Garden designed specifically for pollinators such as bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. The idea came to Ellen Starr, area biologist with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, while walking her dog one day.

USDA Blog » People’s Garden in Illinois Provides Food, Sanctuary for Pollinators

Mo-Kan Regional Council to Apply $1.2M in EPA Grants toward Environmental Job Training and Brownfields Redevelopment

EPA News Release:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

11201 Renner Boulevard, Lenexa, KS 66219

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations

Mo-Kan Regional Council to Apply $1.2M in EPA Grants toward Environmental Job Training and Brownfields Redevelopment

Contact Information: EPA Region 7 - Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394 (office), 816-518-2794 (cell),whitley.christopher@epa.gov; Mo-Kan Regional Council - Ellie Brewer, 816-233-3144, ellie@mo-kan.org

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Lenexa, Kan., June 19, 2014) - Dozens of underused or abandoned properties compromised by hazardous wastes or petroleum contamination in a 15-county area of northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas may be eligible for environmental redevelopment funding – and approximately 40 local residents will receive special training and placement assistance into environmental jobs – all as a result of $1.2 million in new EPA grants to the region, officials announced today.

The grants, including $1 million from EPA’s Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup (ARC) competition, and $200,000 from EPA’s Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) program, will be administered locally by the Mo-Kan Regional Council, of St. Joseph, Mo.

“Through the good work of Mo-Kan, its staff and its partner agencies, these funds will have direct, profound and positive impact on communities in and around the Midland Empire,” EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks said. “Brownfields properties will be cleaned up and returned to productive use, and local residents will get job training and placement assistance in meaningful, sustainable environmental career positions.”

Brooks pointed out that the two EPA grants relate directly to three of EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy’s top priorities for the Agency’s work: making a visible difference in communities, taking action on toxics and chemical safety, and launching a new era of state and local partnerships.

The $1 million Brownfields ARC grant will establish a revolving loan fund from which Mo-Kan will provide loans and subgrants to eligible entities to support cleanup activities, community engagement and cleanup planning. The grant includes $573,100 for work on properties affected by hazardous substances, and $426,900 for work on petroleum-contaminated properties.

The $200,000 Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant will allow Mo-Kan, working with its partners, to train approximately 40 low-income unemployed and underemployed individuals in environmental work, including 20 trained for environmental remediation, and 20 who will receive specialized training for wastewater treatment or collection systems operations. Mo-Kan’s goal is to place at least 30 program graduates in sustainable employment positions, working locally.

“Mo-Kan works with a variety of economic development, community-based organizations, business owners, lenders and employers,” noted Mo-Kan’s executive director, Tom Bliss. “A common need shared by each of these is access to good jobs, a trained workforce and quality of life. EPA has provided a vital, locally-controlled resource to address these concerns.”

As a designated regional planning commission and economic development district recognized by the states of Kansas and Missouri and the federal government, the not-for-profit Mo-Kan Regional Council is uniquely qualified to administer the EPA grants to the region, Brooks said. Communities and residents of Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Clinton, DeKalb, Gentry, Holt, Nodaway and Worth counties in Missouri; and Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Jackson, Jefferson and Nemaha counties in Kansas, will be eligible for help from the grants.

Mo-Kan is already aware of nearly 400 potentially eligible Brownfields properties in the 15-county targeted region, including at least 68 flagged properties in downtown St. Joseph alone. Other eligible properties will likely be identified throughout the region as Mo-Kan begins to invite applicants for its loans and subgrants, Bliss said.

The need for more sustainable, well-paying jobs in the region is practically a constant, Bliss said. Mo-Kan will work with the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s St. Joseph Career Center and its staff, along with other partners, to provide the environmental job training.

Mo-Kan will partner with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ (MDNR) Brownfield Voluntary Cleanup Programs to identify and assess sites for cleanup. Mo-Kan’s Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund, funded by the EPA Brownfield ARC grant, will provide cleanup resources for contaminated sites, and EPA’s job training grant will provide funds to train workers for these Brownfield remediation projects.

“A significant problem facing rural America is population loss,” Bliss said. “As families leave, fewer customers patronize restaurants, grocery stores and pharmacies, leading to closures, a weakened tax base and the inability for communities to move forward without help. EPA has stepped up to support our region. We know this project will help reverse this trend by providing resources to small businesses, communities and individuals in a positive way.”

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Governor Quinn Announces $69 Million for DuPage County Clean Water Projects

Illinois.gov - Illinois Government News Network (IGNN) - Search the News Results

USDA Blog » Pollinator Protection: Conservation Helps Rare Butterfly

Every year, millions of tourists fly from central Mexico into the United States, first stopping in the deep American South and then continuing northward even into parts of southern Canada. How all of this is done without passports, customs agents or airplanes?

This is the annual journey made by monarch butterflies, one of the best-known and most beloved butterflies in North America.

USDA Blog » Pollinator Protection: Conservation Helps Rare Butterfly

Covanta to build recycling plant in Indianapolis - Renewable Energy from Waste

Morristown, New Jersey-based Covanta, a waste, recycling and renewable energy firm, and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard have jointly announced a plan to bring recycling to all single-family homes in the city of Indianapolis through the construction of a new material recycling facility. 



The Covanta Advanced Recycling Center, to be built next to Covanta’s Indianapolis energy-from-waste (EfW) facility, will be designed to recover recyclables from mixed municipal solid waste (MSW). The company expects to invest around $45 million to build the facility. The Efw facility has been in operation in the city since 1988.



Covanta to build recycling plant in Indianapolis - Renewable Energy from Waste

USDA Blog » Honeybee Operation Gets Chance to Rebuild Following Disaster

Larry Loveless of Gillespie, Ill., works full-time at a factory by day, but spends his evenings and free time beekeeping.

The harsh winter of 2013 brought devastating losses to many livestock producers, including beekeepers. Loveless lost more than half of his colonies due to several days of sub-zero temperatures. He started with 20 colonies and was down to only seven by the end of the winter.

USDA Blog » Honeybee Operation Gets Chance to Rebuild Following Disaster