| Northeast-Midwest Institute Weekly Update |
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NEMWI Seeks Great Lakes Washington Program Director
| NEMWI seeks a Director for its Great Lakes Washington Program (GLWP), funded by grants from the Joyce and Mott Foundations. The NEMWI GLWP serves to inform and energize the bi-partisan and bi-cameral Congressional Great Lakes Task Forces and to facilitate bipartisan federal policy action to address Great Lakes-critical issues. Major issue areas of the GLWP are ecological restoration, older cities revitalization, and sustainable economic growth and transportation. GLWP activities include: researching emerging federal policy issues and options; serving as a liaison among Great Lakes-based stakeholders, including industry, environmental interests, and state and local government; and Washington-based decision-makers, including federal agencies and elected officials; and serving as a resource for objective information to Great Lakes Task Force member offices on legislative, policy, and budgetary matters relevant to the Great Lakes. He/she also helps coordinate, on behalf of NEMWI, Great Lakes relevant activities in Washington, DC. Applications are due by August 17. More information and application details are available here.
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Brownfields Tax Expensing Program Eliminated from Tax Extenders Bill
| Last week, the Senate Finance Committee approved the Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012 through a bipartisan vote of 19-5. The package includes more than $205 billion in tax cut extensions for families and businesses. A last-minute modification removed the brownfields remediation tax expensing program from the bill, which initially had been included for a two-year extension in the Chairman's mark. This program would have provided a same-year incentive for the clean-up of brownfields, offering a tax deduction for costs associated with abatement or control of hazardous substances at qualified contaminated sites, an important program for the NEMW region. The Senate may consider the bill in September for a floor vote. A separate floor vote in the House is less likely and instead may be included within the larger context of debate over extension of the Bush tax cuts, especially as Congress heads into a "lame duck" session. Bill text is available here on the Senate Finance Committee's website.
For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Short-term Farm Disaster Aid Package Passes House - Going Nowhere Fast
| In the context of the worst U.S. drought in 56 years, late last Thursday afternoon, the House approved a short-term, $383 million package of loans and grants for livestock producers and a limited number of farmers. The House disaster relief bill (HR 6233) focuses on providing loans and grants to producers of livestock and fruit trees impacted by the drought during the current (2012) Fiscal Year, and would pay for its $383 million price tag by capping the Conservation Stewardship Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program during Fiscal Year 2013. As a partisan response to the drought, the bill's prospects in the Senate are slim and its likelihood of enactment into law slimmer. To read details of the House bill and its relation to the comprehensive farm bill, see this blog article.
For more information, contact Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grants Webinar
| The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is offering a webinar on the benefits of area-wide planning for brownfields development and a new grant opportunity for local governments and nonprofits. The webinar will feature Drew Curtis of the Ironbound Community Corporation in Newark, NJ, and Jim Gulnac of Sanford, ME, who will discuss pilot projects and lessons learned in their communities. The webinar will take place on Thursday, August 9, from 3:00 to 4:00 EST at https://epa.connectsolutions.com/epasmartgrowth. No pre-registration is required.
For more information, contact Beth Zgoda, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Rural Communities Smart Growth Webinar
| The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering a webinar on tools and strategies that can help rural communities to spur economic growth while maintaining their rural character. Ben Herman (Clarion Associates, a national land use firm) and Dean Severson (Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Planning Commission) will highlight zoning strategies from EPA's recent publication, "Essential Smart Growth Fixes for Rural Planning, Zoning and Development Codes," and provide tips for implementation. The webinar is on Thursday, August 16, from 2:00 to 3:00 EST at https://epa.connectsolutions.com/epasmartgrowth. No pre-registration is required.
For more information, contact Beth Zgoda, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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State Hydraulic Fracturing Disclosure Rules and Enforcement Comparison Released
| The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a comparison of state hydraulic fracturing disclosure rules and enforcement, including a series of maps showing how states handle these requirements differently. Specifically, NRDC found that, of at least 29 states with fracking, only 14 have public disclosure requirements of any kind. The full issue brief can be found on the NRDC website.
For more information, contact Elin Betanzo, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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