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Envirobytes - Archive
EnviroBytes, a Summary of Issues and Events for week ending February 4, 2011
EPA RECOGNIZES EFFORTS TO BUILD SUSTAINABLE, HEALTHY, SENIOR COMMUNITIES IN THE REGION
Two local communities were awarded EPA’s 2010 EPA Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging awards for improving the overall quality of life for seniors including by reducing pollution, commuting, and building community centers and gardens. The awards come in two categories, the Achievement Award and the Commitment Award. The two Commitment Award winners were the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood & Community Services, Va. and the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, Pa. For more information, go to https://www.epa.gov/aging/bhc/awards/2010/index.html
TWO ORGANIZATIONS IN THE EPA MID-ATLANTIC REGION RECOGNIZED AS 2010 WASTEWISE AWARD WINNERS
On Feb. 2, EPA recognized the 2010 WasteWise award winners for successfully implementing the partnership’s strategies in reducing waste while saving money. The WasteWise Partner of the Year Honorable Mention in the small business category was won by Framing Success, Inc. - A Division of Herff Jones, Inc. of Virginia, and the Gold Achievement Honorable Mention in the Paper Reduction category was won by Excel, Inc. of West Virginia.
EPA ANNOUNCES LIST OF TOP GREEN POWER PARTNERS THAT ARE IMPROVING AIR QUALITY
On Feb. 2, EPA released a list of the top 50 partner organizations that are purchasing power from renewable resources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and harmful air pollutants to protect human health. Among the top 50 are the Commonwealth of Pa., the District of Columbia, BNY Mellon (Pittsburgh), the University of Pennsylvania, the Montgomery County (Md.) Clean Energy Buyers Group, Carnegie Mellon University, and Drexel University. For a list of the 50 organizations who partnered with EPA to improve air quality, go to https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/toplists/top50.htm
JOINT EPA, HUD AND DOT PROGRAM SUPPORTS THE BUILDING OF SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES THROUGH SMART GROWTH
EPA is accepting letters of interest for the Sustainable Communities Building Blocks technical assistance program until Feb. 23, 2011. The program will provide technical assistance to 20 communities to be chosen through a competitive process to implement smart growth principles and approaches to improve quality of life, protect the environment, improve public health, and expand economic opportunity, and jobs. For more information, go to https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/index.htm
EPA TO REGULATE PERCHLORATE AND 16 OTHER TOXIC CHEMICALS TO PROTECT DRINKING WATER
EPA announced that based on new scientific evidence, the agency will regulate perchlorate to reduce its prevalence in the nation’s water and to protect human health. In a separate action, the agency is also seeking to establish a new drinking water strategy to address as a group up to 16 toxic chemicals (volatile organic compounds) to protect public health and well being. For more information, go to http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/unregulated/perchlorate.cfm
Visit the drinking water strategy at
http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/dwstrategy/index.cfm
