National stormwater calculator helps manage stormwater runoff
WASHINGTON – As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released the National Stormwater Calculator, an innovative addition to the administration’s virtual climate resilience toolkit. EPA’s new calculator will help property owners, developers, landscapers, and urban planners make informed land-use decisions to protect local waterways from pollution caused by stormwater runoff. Preventing stormwater runoff, which can impact drinking water resources and local ecosystems, protects people’s health and the environment.
The calculator, which is phase I of the Stormwater Calculator and Climate Assessment Tool package announced in the President’s Climate Action Plan in June, is a desktop application that estimates the annual amount of stormwater runoff from a specific site, based on local soil conditions, slope, land cover, and historical rainfall records. Users can enter any U.S. location and select different scenarios to learn how specific green infrastructure changes, including inexpensive changes like rain barrels and rain gardens, can prevent pollution. This information helps users determine how adding green infrastructure can be one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce stormwater runoff. Continue reading : EPA Software Helps Reduce Water Pollution as Part of President’s Climate Action Plan
Common-sense exclusion will save industry up to $27.8 million per year
WASHINGTON – Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) modified the hazardous waste management regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to conditionally exclude solvent-contaminated wipes from hazardous waste regulations provided that businesses clean or dispose of them properly. The rule is based on EPA’s final risk analysis, which was peer reviewed in 2008 and published for public comment in 2009, that concluded wipes contaminated with certain hazardous solvents do not pose significant risk to human health and the environment when managed properly. EPA estimates that the final rule will result in a net savings of between $21.7 million and $27.8 million per year.
Wipes are used in conjunction with solvents for cleaning and other purposes by tens of thousands of facilities in numerous industrial sectors, such as printers, automobile repair shops and manufacturers of automobiles, electronics, furniture and chemicals.
“Today’s rule uses the latest science to provide a regulatory framework for managing solvent-contaminated wipes that is appropriate to the level of risk posed by these materials,” said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “I’ve heard directly from stakeholders about the benefits of this rule and the need to finalize it. The rule reduces costs for thousands of businesses, many of which are small businesses, while maintaining protection of human health and the environment.” Continue reading EPA Reduces Regulatory Burden for Industrial Facilities Using Solvent Wipes
Note: With the DEA event, only a phone call is needed to set-up a collection site. References to getting state permits would only apply to independent collection events.
WASHINGTON –– The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the release of an upgrade to its popular online energy management and tracking tool, Energy Star Portfolio Manager. The upgraded tool can help businesses achieve the President’s call to make commercial buildings at least 20 percent more energy efficient by 2020. The new Energy Star Portfolio Manager delivers a more user-friendly interface, enhanced data sharing capabilities, better reporting, and for the first time, the ability to manage buildings across their lifecycle from design through occupancy.
Tens of thousands of organizations—including school districts, retail chains, hospital systems, and local governments—currently use Energy Star Portfolio Manager to measure the energy performance, water use, utility costs, and greenhouse gas emissions of more than 40 percent of the nation’s commercial building space.
“You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” said Janet McCabe, principal deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation. “The new ‘turbo-charged’ Portfolio Manager makes it easier than ever for building owners and managers to make strategic business decisions that are good for the environment and good for the bottom line. Consistent with President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, this tool helps businesses cut wasted energy, reduce harmful carbon pollution, and save money.” Continue reading EPA Debuts Upgraded Energy Star Portfolio Manager Benchmarking Tool
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Gov. Brian Sandoval has sent a second letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz requesting a meeting about Department of Energy activities in Nevada, including plans to haul canisters of radioactive waste from Oak Ridge, Tenn., to the Nevada National Security Site northwest of Las Vegas and proposed cuts to state oversight funding.
In a letter dated July 12 and released by his office Monday, Sandoval reminded Moniz of his first letter sent a month ago, adding “I have received no official communication from your office regarding this request and now write again to request this important meeting as soon as possible.”
Sandoval raised questions about a recent DOE proposal to reduce funding that supports state oversight of waste management.
Leo Drozdoff, director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said figures are not yet firm, but the DOE is talking about chopping Nevada funding by about $300,000 — roughly 30 percent. Continue reading Sandoval pushes for meeting with energy secretary
The federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act — a 27 year old program that aims to alert the public to the presence of hazardous chemicals — is flawed in many states due to lax reporting and oversight, according to a Reuters investigation.
Under the law, public and private facilities must issue an inventory of any potentially hazardous chemicals they have on site. The inventory, known as a Tier II report, is then filed with state, county and local emergency officials and is supposed to be made publicly available so that emergency services and local residents can make appropriate emergency plans.
A new educational center to help train water professionals will be opening in West Sacramento, as part of the California-Nevada Section of the American Water Works Association (CA-NV AWWA).
The CA-NV AWWA will be opening its new educational center in West Sacramento, located directly off the I-80 freeway. The new facility will provide drinking water professionals additional opportunities for CA-NV AWWA education and training that had been less available in the region until now.
“This is another big step for the California-Nevada Section on our path to provide more of the highest quality water knowledge that is the hallmark of AWWA. With this new center, we can schedule classes more often and on more topics than ever before,” said Dr. Timothy Worley, executive director of CA-NV AWWA.
Classes began on Friday, June 21, 2013, with the Backflow Refresher Workshop that will utilize an indoor backflow laboratory. The workshop was a memorable event bringing to fruition the vision of a West Sacramento center where all water industry professionals in the region can take advantage of the current, relevant, and innovative education and certification programs CA-NV AWWA offers.
CA-NV AWWA, has released a schedule of classes for the year. Registration is open for the upcoming Backflow Refreshers, Backflow Courses, Water Distribution (D2-D5) Reviews, Water Treatment (T1-T4) Reviews and Water Quality & Regulations Workshops.
A public ribbon cutting ceremony and an open house for the West Sacramento Training Center is planned for July 18, 2013 at 4:00pm.
Pump prices have the ability to make or break an average American’s day, month, or year. But while gasoline stations fight over tenths of cents to tempt your tank, electric vehicle “plug prices” have remained a mystery – until now. A new tool reveals all, and the results are astonishing. Let’s take a look to see whether pump prices or plug prices are the real pocket pinchers.
Pump vs. plug
The Department of Energy unveiled its “eGallon calculator” this month, a shockingly simple tool to compare state-specific pump prices to plug prices. While gas prices scream at us from street signs, electric vehicle driving costs are nowhere to be found. eGallon changes all that, opening up information for consumers to make cost-conscious decisions about what to drive.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Looking beneath national numbers, eGallon’s data are state-specific and constantly refreshing. With the cheapest gas prices around, South Carolina’s $3.41 per gas gallon is 3.15 times its $1.08 electric equal. And Hawaii’s most expensive electricity ($3.69 per gallon) still manages to squeeze under gasoline’s $3.74. Using mileage data for the five top-selling electric vehicles in 2012 – Tesla‘s (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model S, General Motors‘ (NYSE: GM) Chevy Volt, Nissan‘s Leaf, Ford‘s Focus, and BMW‘s ActiveE – the number cruncher compares these vehicles’ costs to a gasoline car that averages 28.2 miles per gallon. The result? On average, it costs around three times less per gallon ($1.14) to put the pedal to the metal in an electric vehicle versus a gasoline-powered vehicle.
A bit of historical perspective points to another win for electric expenditures. While pump prices can spike overnight with erratic oil, regulated utilities keep electricity prices slow and steady through thick and thin.
Source: Energy.gov
Electricity also offers a more diverse generation portfolio, creating opportunities for environmental efficiency and energy independence. And while this isn’t currently the case with coal-centric utilities or imported energy, it’s a bigger basket to choose from than anything traditional fuels have on tap.
Beyond the pump
Critics will argue that pump prices aren’t the only costs – and they’re right. Beyond the purchase price premium, electric vehicles can be more expensive in many ways. For starters, electric batteries don’t last forever. Chevy’s Volt comes with an eight-year warranty, and replacements currently clock in around $4,500. If you need a quick charge for your Tesla vehicle and can’t make it to one of the automakers’ eight “supercharger” stations, go ahead and tack on $1,200 for a faster-charging home kit.
But battery technology is rapidly improving, and a new power pack eight years from now may provide magnitudes more of power at a fraction of the cost. Likewise, Tesla Motors has big plans for powering its rapidly growing fleet of vehicles. The electric-auto maker is tripling its stations this summer, with a whopping 200 planned for 2015.
Source: Teslamotors.com
Is gas a goner?
Gasoline isn’t going anywhere. But for the first time, consumers have a concrete comparison point for their daily commute. eGallon is exactly what America needs to put things in perspective, allowing drivers everywhere to now make more data-driven decisions on their next vehicle purchase.
