EPA

11/04/2009 -- LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a Unilateral Administrative Order to Texaco Inc. that requires the company to assess soil and groundwater contamination and evaluate additional cleanup options, for the Pacific Coast Pipeline Superfund Site (commonly known as the “Texaco site”) in Fillmore, Calif.

“With this UAO, EPA looks forward to moving the Site cleanup into its final phase, so the property can be returned to productive reuse by the community,” said Keith Takata, Director of the Superfund program in EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. “This cooperative effort builds on prior cleanup work and will result in a protective cleanup for the community.”    » read more »

Letter to Agencies Calls for Consumer Protection Measures

Washington, DC – Last week, Congressman Harry Teague lead a group of 30 House members in sending a letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lisa Jackson calling for more accurate reporting of ENERGY STAR ratings. Two recent reports released by both the Inspector General of the DOE and EPA have placed the integrity of the label in question, citing unqualified appliances that have received the energy-efficiency moniker. The letter urges the officials to provide consumers with accurate information on products claiming the ENERGY STAR designation.    » read more »

11/03/2009 -- WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is adding three new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.

To date, there have been 1,610 sites listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 340 sites have been deleted resulting in 1,270 sites currently on the NPL (including the three new sites added in today’s rulemaking). There are 63 proposed sites awaiting final agency action: 58 in the general Superfund section and five in the federal facilities section. There are a total of 1,333 final and proposed sites.    » read more »

Listing makes cleanup of Tooele County facility a high priority

(Denver, Colo. -- November 2, 2009) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with support from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ), today announced it has added U.S. Magnesium, LLC, in Tooele County, Utah, to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites.

Listing U.S. Magnesium on the NPL makes the cleanup of the site a high priority nationally. It also enables EPA and UDEQ to use Superfund authority under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act to initiate and oversee the cleanup of the site. Sites listed on the NPL are among the nation’s most contaminated places.    » read more »

11/02/2009 -- SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking action against the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency following federal violations of the Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

On behalf of the U.S. EPA, the Department of Justice has lodged a proposed consent decree with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the city and county of San Francisco for releasing at least 940 barrels of diesel fuel -- some of which entered into Islais Creek, a tributary of the San Francisco Bay.    » read more »

Inaction, Delay in Changing Bush-era Rule to Protect Streams Put Appalachian Communities at Risk and Put Focus on Environmental Protection Agency

November 2, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of the Interior intends to delay issuing a rule that would protect Appalachian streams and communities from mountaintop removal coal mining, giving even more urgency to the need for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take action to address this destructive practice.    » read more »

Kansas City, Kan., October 30, 2009 - Proposals for Environmental Education grants to develop new programs or to improve the quality of existing programs will be accepted through Dec. 15, 2009 from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska communities by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kan.

EPA regional offices may award grants up to $50,000. Grants over $50,000 and up to $200,000 are awarded by EPA headquarters in Washington.    » read more »

Legislation, crafted in part by Congressman Rothman, funds infrastructure investment, land conservation and cleaner air and water in New Jersey

October 29, 2009 -- (Washington, DC) – Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2996, the Fiscal Year 2010 Interior and Environment Appropriations Conference Report, which was co-authored by Congressman Rothman and fellow members of the House Appropriations Committee.    » read more »

Legislation also includes $2.1billion for clean water, $500,000 for Oakland-Macomb Interceptor

October 29, 2009 -- (Washington D.C.)- The House approved legislation today to provide $475 million for a new Great Lakes restoration effort. The funding, approved as part of the annual funding bill for the Department of the Interior and Environmental Protection Agency, passed the House by a vote of 247 to 178. The Senate is expected to approve the measure in the near future, clearing the legislation for President Obama's signature.

“The Michigan Delegation has been fighting for years to win this kind of restoration money,” said Rep. Levin. “The difference this time is that we now have a President who cares about the Great Lakes."    » read more »

Carper Amendment in Interior Appropriations Bill Directs the EPA to Study Black Carbon Emissions to Improve Public Health & Reduce Global Warming

October 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – A plan to help reduce black carbon emissions, authored by Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), was included in the final Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2996), which passed the Senate this evening by a vote of 60-40.

The Carper provision directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study the environmental impact of dangerous black carbon, and to determine the most cost-effective ways to reduce its emissions to improve public health and reduce global warming.    » read more »

Statement of Lisa P. Jackson Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Legislative Hearing on the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works

10/27/2009 -- Chairman Boxer, Ranking Minority Member Inhofe, and members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify about the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.

I last appeared before this Committee on July 7. Since then, this Administration has, under President Obama’s leadership, taken unprecedented steps to decrease America’s dependence on oil, put our nation in the lead of the 21st Century energy economy, and reduce the greenhouse-gas pollution that threatens our children and grandchildren.    » read more »

Data will help protect public health from harmful emissions

10/26/2009 -- TIJUANA, MEXICO – Today in Tijuana B. C., Mexico, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the Environmental Protection Agency of Baja California, the California Air Resources Board and the Border Environment Cooperation Commission will initiate the Baja California Air Monitoring Network coverage assessment study and the Tijuana-Rosarito Emissions Inventory.    » read more »

October 22, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is marking National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week by announcing several actions the agency proposes to take to prevent lead poisoning. Lead poisoning may cause a variety of adverse health effects, including brain and nervous system disorders, high blood pressure, and hypertension. Children six years old and under are most at risk.

EPA has issued a proposed rule to expand the coverage of the 2008 Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule. The new rule proposes to eliminate a provision that exempted some housing from the rule’s requirement that contractors be trained and certified and use lead-safe work practices when renovating, repairing or painting a pre-1978 home.    » read more »

Funds to Boost Economy, Create Jobs and Protect Public Health

10/20/2009 -- (PHILADELPHIA - October 20, 2009) In a move that stands to create jobs, boost the local economy, and protect human health and the environment for the people in the District of Columbia, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today it has awarded more than $38.9 million to improve aging water infrastructure in the District.

This new infusion of money provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will help the District Department of the Environment, and DC Water and Sewer Authority finance water projects that are essential to protecting public health and the environment.    » read more »

October 18 -24 is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week

(San Francisco, Calif. -- 10/19/2009) National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, October 18-24, is set aside to educate parents and children about the dangers of lead exposure, especially lead-based paint hazards in housing.

Lead poisoning is the number one environmental hazard threatening children in the United States -- affecting more than 300,000 children who are less than six years old. Lead exposure can harm young children and babies even before they are born, and children who appear healthy can also have high levels of lead in their bodies. The behaviors and rapid growth of children less than six years old make them more likely to be harmed by lead.    » read more »