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NEMWI Briefing on Transportation Climate Initiative - April 23
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On Monday, April 23, NEMWI will host a Capitol Hill briefing on the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States' Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI). TCI seeks to a) increase use of alternative fuels and vehicles; b) create sustainable communities that reduce vehicle miles traveled; c) adopt innovative communication technologies to improve the transportation system's efficiency; and d) increase freight movement's efficiency. NEMWI's briefing will be in the Capitol Visitor Center, Congressional Meeting Room South, from 3-4pm, and will address: state involvement in TIC; agency staff opinions and expectations of the collaboration; and the relationship between federal policy and TCI. Speakers will include: Vicki Arroyo, Georgetown Climate Center; Brett Taylor, Delaware Department of Transportation; Andrea Friedman, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (invited); and John Thomas, U.S. EPA.
For more information or to RSVP, contact Beth Zgoda, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute (202.464.4003).
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EPA FY 2012 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: Request for Applications
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Later this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expects to announce its Request for Applications seeking the submission of competitive assistance applications for FY 2012 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funding. EPA expects to award approximately $20 million of GLRI funding through this competitive process. Complete applications will be due approximately 35 days after release of the announcement. The implementation of projects submitted and selected is expected to provide numerous benefits, including:
- An increase in on-the-ground/in-the-water restoration or protection actions;
- A reduction in phosphorus loading from agricultural and urban lands that contributes to harmful algal blooms and water quality impairments;
- A reduction in the amount of toxic substances entering the Great Lakes;
- Safer Great Lakes beaches; and
- Additional invasive species control.
For more information, contact Leah Konrady, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program.
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EPA Approves Philadelphia's Combined Stormwater Plan
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The Northeast-Midwest region has a disproportionate number of the nation's combined sewer systems. Combined sewers have the advantage of cleaning pollutant-rich runoff from roads and homes, but rain events often overwhelm the system and a mix of stormwater runoff and sanitary waste is released into waterways. Philadelphia and other Northeast-Midwest cities are leaders in developing innovative ways to deal with this problem. Last week, the City of Philadelphia and the EPA signed a partnership agreement that will pave the way to signing a formal consent decree meant to resolve the issue of Clean Water Act (CWA) violations in the city. The agreement represents EPA approval of the Philadelphia Water Department's plan, "Green City, Clean Water," to eliminate combined sewer overflows as mandated by the CWA. The plan will spend $2 billion over the next 20 years and will be the first of its kind focusing on "green" projects instead of costly concrete retention tunnels. For more coverage see the news roundup from the PWD.
For more information contact Fritz Ohrenschall, Research Associate at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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New Partnership on Unconventional Natural Gas and Oil Research
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The U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of the Interior last week announced a formal partnership to coordinate and align all research associated with development of the nation's abundant unconventional natural gas and oil resources. This new partnership will help coordinate the agencies' current and future research and scientific studies. It is part of a broader set of activities coordinated under the Obama Administration's "Interagency Working Group to Support Safe and Responsible Development of Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources." The working group was created through an executive order last week. See the EPA press release and the memorandum of understanding.
For more information, contact Elin Betanzo, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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