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September 27, 2013
Announcement:
EPA is proposing an updated draft permit to regulate stormwater discharges from industrial activities to replace the current 2008 Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) when it expires later this year. The proposed permit will help protect our nation’s waterways from industrial sector pollutants, which can contribute to aquatic ecosystem degradation, increase drinking water treatment costs, and impair the recreational use and aesthetic value of waterways. The permit covers 29 different sectors of industrial activity and, once finalized, will be in effect in the four states and other territories and areas where the EPA is the permitting authority. The draft 2013 MSGP will be available for public comment for 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register.
More information: http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/msgp.cfm.

September 24, 2013
RENO, NV – WSPPN Coordinator Donna Walden was one of just two people nationally to receive a 2013 Pollution Prevention (P2) Volunteer of the Year award from the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable;. The 2013 Most Valuable Pollution Prevention (MVP2) awards were presented last week during ceremonies in Washington, DC to mark Pollution Prevention Week.

“Donna has captured the P2 spirit and helped advance our efforts in multiple ways,” announced Jeffrey Burke, Executive Director of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable. “Donna leads the effort to connect with the business community through the GreenBiz.com P2 IMPACT column as well as co-chairing the green procurement workgroup. She truly meets the definition of P2 Champion.”

“Donna has been a tireless champion for pollution prevention in the EPA Pacific Southwest Region and nationally,” said Chris Lynch, Director of the Business Environmental Program at the University of Nevada, Reno where WSPPN is based. “Based on a recent needs assessment, Donna coordinated P2 101 and Green Chemistry 101 trainings which were videotaped and are now available as educational resources on the WSPPN website for anyone to view, at any time, and learn from.”

For more information on WSPPN, visit WWW.WSPPN.ORG.

US EPA, WASHINGTON – In an ongoing effort to protect bees and other pollinators, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed new pesticide labels that prohibit use of some neonicotinoid pesticide products where bees are present.

“Multiple factors play a role in bee colony declines, including pesticides. The Environmental Protection Agency is taking action to protect bees from pesticide exposure and these label changes will further our efforts,” said Jim Jones, assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

The new labels will have a bee advisory box and icon with information on routes of exposure and spray drift precautions. Today’s announcement affects products containing the neonicotinoids imidacloprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin and thiamethoxam. The EPA will work with pesticide manufacturers to change labels so that they will meet the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) safety standard.
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E-reporting initiative will increase efficiency, ease burden for states and improve public access to data

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a rule that would modernize Clean Water Act (CWA) reporting processes for hundreds of thousands of municipalities, industries, and other facilities by converting to an electronic data reporting system. The proposed e-reporting rule would make facility-specific information, such as inspection and enforcement history, pollutant monitoring results, and other data required by permits accessible to the public through EPA’s website.

EPA estimates that, once the rule is fully implemented, the 46 states and the Virgin Island Territory that are authorized to administer the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program will collectively save approximately $29 million each year as a result of switching from paper to electronic reporting.
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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced changes to its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program to improve the scientific foundation of assessments, increase transparency in the program and the process and allow the agency to produce more IRIS assessments each year.  IRIS is a human health assessment program that evaluates information on health effects that may result from exposure to environmental contaminants. These high quality, science-based health assessments are used to inform decisions to protect public health and the environment.

“EPA is committed to producing high quality scientific assessments in a timely and transparent manner,” said Lek Kadeli, principal deputy assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development.  “The improvements announced today will further strengthen our IRIS assessments and enable the agency to better protect human health and the environment by completing more health assessments for chemicals that are being used across our country every day.”
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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) today added more than 130 chemicals to its Safer Chemical Ingredients List. For the first time, 119 chemicals that use fragrance for commercial and consumer cleaning products have been added to the list.

“Fragrances are an important yet complex part of many consumer cleaning products. By adding fragrance and other chemicals to the Safer Chemical Ingredients List, EPA continues its commitment to help companies make safer products and provide the public with greater access to chemical information,” said James Jones, acting assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
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Source: Environmental Protection Online.com

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.