EnviroBytes

EnviroBytes, a Summary of Issues and Events for Week Ending June 6, 2008

EPA AWARDS GRANTS TO BALTIMORE CITY SCHOOLS TO REDUCE AIR POLLUTION
 
Donald S. Welsh, EPA's mid-Atlantic regional administrator, awarded two grants to the Baltimore City Public School District: a $68,600 Clean School Bus USA grant to retrofit school buses with pollution control technologies, and a $95,000 EPA Tools-for-Schools grant to improve the school's indoor environment. The grants will reduce pollution in 19 diesel-powered District school buses, and assess the indoor air quality in 190 of its school buildings.  According to Mr. Welsh, reducing exposure to harmful air will allow students (especially those with asthma) "to breathe cleaner air and live healthier lives." For more information on the Clean School Bus program, go to
http://www.epa.gov/reg3artd/vehicletran/vehicles/schoolbus.htm
To see how EPA implements a district-wide indoor-air program, go tohttp://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/

EARTH DAY CONTEST WINNER RECOGNIZED

Thomas Damm, EPA's regional Office of Public Affairs Director, presented a plaque to Miss Amy Platt, a teacher at the Hillside Intermediate School in Bridgewater, N.J. at a May 30th ceremony hosted by EPA in Philadelphia. Miss Platt's 5th grade class had won the Earth Day contest sponsored by EPA's Children's Health and Environmental Education program. The school's winning entry was an innovative recycling program that reduced the use of the class's disposable plastic water bottles by 50 percent and prevented a large amount of the school's plastic from going to a landfill by providing a recycling bin at the playground. For details on the ceremony and the winning entry, visit the school's website at http://brrsd.k12.nj.us/news.cfm?story=238&school=9                

EPA HONORS CONSERVATION GROUPS FOR PROTECTING OPEN SPACE; CREATING GREENER COMMUNITIES

The annual Montgomery County (Pa.) Open Space Symposium was held on May 29 to educate municipal leaders to create greener communities by conserving open space, and keeping undeveloped land. At the occasion, EPA provided two wetlands champions with plaques in honor of American Wetlands Month:  The Morris Arboretum (for restoring 7 acres of wetlands located in the floodplain of the Wissahickon Creek), and the Montgomery County Lands Trust (for its innovative Green Futures program training municipal leaders to improve their open space conservation efforts). By curtailing development (mainly through conservation easements), land conservation enables a community to preserve its beauty, maintain clean air and clean water, and promote the public health of the community.

CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM FEATURED AT WORLD WATER EXPO SYMPOSIUM

"Water and Sustainable Development" is the theme of the planet's largest World Water Expo now taking place in Saragoza, Spain from June 14 to Sept. 14.  The Expo will debate climate change, the geopolitics of water, and health and education, in an attempt to find solutions to the problems of water in this century. EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program was featured at the Expo's May 12 - 15 symposium with a presentation on the integrated models, monitoring and research used for estuarine restoration, which will result in publication of a paper later this year. For more information on the Expo, go to http://www.expozaragoza2008.es/Home/seccion=3&idioma=en_GB.do

EPA APPROVES DELAWARE'S 2008 LIST OF IMPAIRED WATERS

EPA approved the final "State of Delaware 2008 Combined Watershed Assessment Report and Determination for the Clean Water Act List of Waters Needing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)." The report provides a statewide assessment of surface water and ground water resources, highlights Delaware's initiatives in water resources management and pollution control and provides a list of waters that need TMDLs to meet water quality standards. For more information, go to http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/water2000/Sections/Watershed/TMDL/305and303.htm
 
GREEN BUILDINGS ON THE RISE WITH EPA'S HELP

Green buildings are on the rise as people realize the important impact they have on our environment and public health. EPA has released a new video on green buildings in its Green Scene series on how EPA is encouraging and supporting green building programs, and how homeowners can green their homes by taking simple steps. Americans spend nearly 90 percent of their time in buildings, and buildings are responsible for nearly 40 percent of U.S. energy use and about 40 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions. To see how EPA is providing opportunities to reduce these impacts in the buildings where we live, work and play, go to http://www.epa.gov/multimedia/playercontents/video/greenscene22/greenbuilding.html

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