environment

Drought Brings Challenges To City Water Departments
Jeff Griffin, Senior Editor
May 2012, Vol. 67 No. 5

Failed crops drooping over dry, rock-hard soil backed by record heat . . . dried lake beds and farm ponds . . . reservoirs falling to dangerously-low levels . . . wildfires burning tens of thousands of acres, consuming everything in their path . . .

And the list goes on.

Surviving An Exceptional Funding Drought
Robert Carpenter, Editor
February 2012, Vol. 67 No. 2

As last summer’s drought conditions wore on, I learned that there is a condition even worse than “extreme.” There is an “exceptional” drought category, which essentially means “pending devastation if you don’t get rain fast.” The impact of this drought, when finally broken, will be felt for years.

Rule Changes, Proposals Could Prove Significant For 2012 Underground Market
Stephen Barlas, Washington Editor
February 2012, Vol. 67 No. 2

The One-Call and excavation damage provisions included in the new pipeline safety bill passed by Congress in December will trigger a number of state and federal responses in 2012. However, a rule allowing the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to impose civil penalties on excavators -- ordered by the 2006 pipeline safety bill but never finalized -- would be even more significant. A proposed rule moving that requirement forward is expected this year, finally, perhaps as early as this winter.

Pipeline VOC Emission Limits Soon To Be Finalized; EPA Makes Changes To Pipeline GHG Reporting Rule
February 2012, Vol. 67 No. 2

Natural gas transmission companies are very unhappy with the EPA's decision to tighten industry air emission limits. A consent decree signed by the EPA requires the agency to revise both New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for the natural gas industry, including for pipelines, by the end of February. Those are two separate EPA regulatory programs.

Upgrade water system, create nearly 1.9 million jobs
December 2011, Vol. 66 No. 12

Want to create nearly 1.9 million American jobs and add $265 billion to the economy? Upgrade our water and wastewater infrastructure. That’s the message of a new report released by Green For All, in partnership with American Rivers, the Economic Policy Institute and the Pacific Institute. The Rockefeller Foundation generously provided funding for the project.

Styrene Litigation Continues; Labeling May Not Be Required
Jeff Griffin, Senior Editor
October 2011, Vol. 66 No. 10

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has established a schedule for filing motions by both parties in the styrene industry’s legal challenge to the federal government’s designation of styrene as a possible cause of cancer.

Record storm water proposals submitted to WERF
September 2011, Vol. 66 No. 9

The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) received an unprecedented number of pre-proposals seeking funding for stormwater management research under its 2011 Unsolicited Research Program.

Contractor Finds Success Embracing Island’s Pristine Environment
September 2011, Vol. 66 No. 9

It’s among the most historic, unspoiled and coveted vacation spots anywhere in North America. Located off the southern tip of Cape Cod, MA, Martha’s Vineyard is the largest true island along the East Coast of the United States.

Water and wastewater construction loans awarded
August 2011, Vol. 66 No. 8

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau announced recently that seven communities and one county have been approved to receive low-interest loans for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements.

Northeast Ohio regional sewer plan approved
August 2011, Vol. 66 No. 8

In an effort to clean up Lake Erie that began with the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent has approved a 25-year regional sewer district plan to reduce the amount of untreated waste that is dumped into local waterways, usually during flooding.

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