Thursday, May 01, 2014

WIMS Environmental HotSheet 5/1/14

National / International News

 

<> American Lung Association "State of the Air 2014" Shows Half the U.S. Lives with Unhealthy Air - Nearly half of all Americans – more than 147 million – live in counties in the U.S. where ozone or particle pollutions levels make the air unhealthy to breathe

<> Coalition Calls for Vote on Shaheen-Portman Energy Efficiency Bill - As bipartisan momentum builds behind Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman's (R-OH) efforts to pass a comprehensive energy efficiency bill, a coalition of 85 business, industry, environmental and public interest groups are urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the bipartisan legislation to the floor for a vote.

<> Committee Approves Legislation to Expedite LNG Exports - The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved H.R. 6, the Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act, by a bipartisan vote of 33 to 18. . .

<> States already scaling back planned work for next year in anticipation of funding crisis - Congressional inaction on saving the nation's transportation fund would have tangible impacts on projects planned for next year and beyond, forcing many long-awaited projects to halt indefinitely as soon as this summer. 

<> CASAC Review of EPA's Welfare Risk and Exposure Assessment for Ozone – Draft consensus responses to the agency's charge questions and individual comments from the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Ozone Review Panel

<> Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change in Agriculture - a California Environmental Associates and Climate Focus authored report, finds that annual carbon emissions from global agriculture can be reduced by as much as 50 to 90 percent by 2030.

<> EPA Awards $860,000 to Communities to Reduce Water Pollution, Build Resilience to Climate Change – U.S. EPA) today announced $860,000 to help 14 communities expand their use of green infrastructure to reduce water pollution and boost resilience to the impacts of. . .

<> EPA Seeks Comment on Proposed Decision to Register Enlist Duo Herbicide Containing the Choline Salt of 2,4-D and Glyphosate - EPA is making available for a 30-day public comment period a proposed regulatory decision to register Enlist Duo containing glyphosate and the choline salt of 2,4-D for use in controlling weeds. . .

<> NASA's Carbon-Counting Spacecraft Arrives at Launch Site - A NASA spacecraft designed to make precise measurements of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere is at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., to begin final preparations for launch. . .

<> Up-Front Information for emission reduction contributions in the 2015 Agreement under the UNFCCC - outlines which general elements of up-front information are required for all types of mitigation contributions under the new agreement to make them transparent, comparable and quantifiable, and describes additional requirements for specific types of contributions.

<> Why 5 Utilities Quietly Dumped ALEC and Others Won't Even Speak of the Lobbying Group - Some of the nation's largest utilities have quietly distanced themselves from the secretive, climate-denying lobbying group...

 

Federal Register Highlights 

The following is an alert of Environmental Federal Register announcements that may be of interest for: Thursday, May 1,, 2014.  (Click here to access today's complete Federal Register index with links to complete announcements).

 

1. Nothing We're Tracking Today (click for the complete Energy & EPA announcements)