Environment
Surviving An Exceptional Funding Drought
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
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
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
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.
EPA Develops Planning Approach To Improve Water Quality In Cities
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a commitment to using an integrated planning process to help local governments dealing with difficult financial conditions identify opportunities to achieve clean water by controlling and managing releases of wastewater and stormwater runoff more efficiently and cost effectively.
Styrene Litigation Continues; Labeling May Not Be Required
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
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
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.
NLRB Pushing Pro-Union Agenda; EPA Proposal Affects Pipeline Compressors
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has picked up the pro-union cudgel from Democrats in Congress. In the last session of Congress, Democrats had tried and failed to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) which would have expanded union organizing rights.
Water and wastewater construction loans awarded
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
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.
DC Water awards $330M tunnel contract for clean rivers project
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) Board of Directors has approved the Authority's largest contract to date, for the design and construction of a storage and conveyance tunnel as part of the Clean Rivers Project.
Hydrofracking changes water wells
A study by Duke University researchers has found high levels of leaked methane in well water collected near shale-gas drilling and hydrofracking sites.
Emissions Regulations Continue to Change – Here’s How to Keep Up
One might think all would be quiet now that the “dust” is beginning to settle on interim Tier 4 and Final Tier 4 doesn’t take effect for most off-road equipment until the 2013 – 2015 timeframe, depending on horsepower.
CertainTeed Honored For Environmental Efforts
CertainTeed Corporation, through its parent company Saint-Gobain, is once again sharing top honors for its contributions to protecting the environment through energy efficiency.
New Underground Construction Standards Imminent From OSHA; Pipeline Bill In Congress; Wetland Gas Repairs
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) appears ready to propose a new standard on silica exposure which would have a major impact on underground construction companies.
Dubuque to settle violations of Clean Water Act
The city of Dubuque, IA, has agreed to pay a $205,000 civil penalty and spend an additional $3 million on improvements to its water pollution control plant and sewer collection system over the next three years to settle a series of alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act.
Taking Water Pipe HDD To Extremes
Mesa Verde National Park is located in the relatively isolated southwestern corner of Colorado, near Durango. More than 1,000 years ago, the area was home to Pueblo-dwelling people, and the park contains more than 4,000 archeological sites -- including 600 cliff dwellings -- which are among the most notable and best preserved in the United States.
HOBAS Pipe USA earns ISO 14001 certification
HOBAS Pipe USA has obtained ISO 14001 certification, the international standard for environmental management.
EPA awards grant for sewer improvements
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $868,000 to the city of Clinton, IA, for improvements to its wastewater system. The construction project is expected to be completed by the spring of 2012.
Sharp Budget Knife at Throat of SRFs
The Environmental Protection Agency’s water infrastructure congressional appropriations are destined to sink, maybe like stones, this year. Republicans and some Democrats want to severely cut the appropriations for both the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds in fiscal year 2011, which started last Oct. 1.
New guide helps municipalities monetize the value of green infrastructure
Quantifying the economic value of green infrastructure's benefits is the key to helping municipalities adopt this innovative and cost-effective stormwater management approach, according to a new report by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) and American Rivers.
INGAA Locks Horns with PHMSA
The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) has locked horns with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) over the agency's advisory bulletin on pipeline safety.
Expect Federal Funding Cuts, New Regs In 2011
The 2011 Congress will be one of the most unpredictable in many years, and probably one of the most explosive too, owing to the partisan friction occasioned by the Republican tide washing over both the House -- where the GOP took over -- and the Senate.
Delta plans to restore ecosystem via tunnel or canal
After meeting for four years and spending $140 million, the California Natural Resources Agency, U.S. Dept. of the Interior and our other agencies have released the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. The document outlines two goals: restoring the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem and building a pair of tunnels or canal to ferry its water elsewhere.
Tier 4 FAQ report published
Five leading off-road equipment industry associations have published a "frequently asked questions" (FAQ) report about Tier 4 technology – the next generation of clean diesel emissions standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the federal Clean Air Act. These standards apply to new diesel engines used in off-road equipment beginning in 2011.
INGAA releases white paper on pipeline energy efficiency
The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) released a white paper, Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Efficiency, analyzing the achievements and challenges in connection with optimizing the energy efficiency of natural gas pipeline transportation.
EPA to fund California infrastructure improvements
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced nearly $300 million in federal funding to improve aging water and wastewater infrastructure and protect human health and the environment for people in the state of California. This new infusion of money through infrastructure capitalization grants will help state and local governments finance many of the overdue improvements to water projects that are essential to protecting public health and the environment throughout California.
Technology Report Released For Force Main Rehab
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report published earlier this year contains a wealth of information about rehabilitation technologies available for sewer force mains. The report, “State of Technology Report for Force Main Rehabilitation,” was prepared as part of the EPA’s Sustainable Water Infrastructure Initiative. Here, the principal author of the report gives his summary of the contents.
EPA-Mandated PCB Removal Could Cost Billions
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may require pipelines to severely reduce the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) throughout their systems, a move which would cost the industry tens, and potentially hundreds, of billions of dollars, according to the American Gas Association. Pamela F. Faggert, vice president and chief environmental officer, Dominion Resources Services, Inc., says the new regulatory measures the EPA is considering could cost her company alone a minimum of $300 million.
- 2 workers killed, 1 injured while working on sewer line in Mobile, Ala.
- $5.3 billion, 516-mile pipeline to connect Texas to Arizona through New Mexico
- Tunnel boring continues under Chesapeake Bay for $3.9 billion HRBT Expansion project
- Judge approves construction for key portion of $485 million pipeline in Larimer County, Colo.
- 31 workers rescued after LA tunnel partially collapses
- New products: Latest industry developments
- 31 workers rescued after LA tunnel partially collapses
- Ohio Supreme Court rules sewer line location isn’t a ‘defect’ in property dispute
- Faulconer Construction begins rock blasting for water pipeline project in Charlottesville, Va.
- $5.3 billion, 516-mile pipeline to connect Texas to Arizona through New Mexico