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Envirobytes - An Environmental Newsletter
EnviroBytes, a Summary of Issues and Events for Week Ending November 14, 2008
SUSSEX COUNTY RECEIVES EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR ITS TREATMENT PLANT OPERATIONS
EPA Regional Administrator Donald S. Welsh presented Sussex County, Del. with the Region 3 Excellence Award for outstanding operation and maintenance of their South Coastal regional wastewater treatment plant. Many significant improvements in the nation's water quality can be attributed to better wastewater treatment, Welsh said. The treatment plant transforms solids into a product called "coastal blend" which is distributed to farmers. Welsh congratulated county managers and staff for their state-of-the-art operation and their commitment to protect the community's environment.
EPA PROMOTES AMERICA RECYCLES DAY TO ENCOURAGE RECYCLING NATIONWIDE
EPA designated Nov. 15 as America Recycles Day to encourage Americans nationwide to recycle and buy recycled products. The EPA 2007 Municipal Solid Waste Characterization report showed that Americans recycled and composted 85 million tons of the 254 million tons of total municipal solid waste produced last year up slightly from the year before. Americans save energy, conserve natural resources, and reduce climate change when they reduce, reuse, or recycle. Recycling creates jobs and reduces business costs. For more information, go to http://www.nrc-recycle.org/americarecycles.aspx 
To see the report, go to epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/msw99.htm
CONFERENCE PROMOTES ENVIRONMENTAL EXCELLENCE IN HEALTH CARE
Region 3 staff participated in the Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (MD-H2E) conference at the University of Maryland School of Nursing in Baltimore, titled: "Promoting Healthy Patients, Employees, and Communities." EPA staff led sessions on proper management of pharmaceutical waste and the use of natural pest control in hospitals. Other topics included green buildings, reducing and recycling waste, and procuring sustainable foods. EPA co-founded Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) to educate health care professionals on pollution prevention and waste reduction. For information on H2E go to http://www.epa.gov/pbt/pubs/h2efactsht2.pdf For information on MD-H2E, go to http://www.mde.state.md.us/BusinessInfoCenter/PollutionPrevention/information/h2e.asp
ENVIRONMENTAL PARTNERSHIP SUMMIT NEEDS SPEAKERS
The National Environmental Partnership Summit has a call for speakers for its annual summit that will be held at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco on May 4-8. The summit will focus on pollution prevention and environmental assistance, including greening your business, research and new clean technologies, regulatory updates, resource efficiency, and community engagement success stories, with sustainability as an underlying common thread in all tracks. The Summit theme is "Harnessing the Power of Collaboration." The call for speakers is out now through December 5 and can be found at: http://www.environmentalsummit.org/AbstractForm.cfm The previous conference was held in Baltimore, Md.
EPA EXTENDS COMMENT TIME ON PRELIMINARY REGULATORY DETERMINATION FOR PERCHLORATE
In response to requests, EPA is extending the public comment period on its preliminary regulatory determination not to regulate perchlorate in drinking water at a national level. The agency is now extending comments until Nov. 28. A regulatory determination is a formal decision by EPA as to whether it should initiate development of a national primary drinking water regulation for a specific contaminant under the Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA will make a final determination for perchlorate after considering information provided in the public comment period. For more information, go to
epa.gov/safewater/ccl/reg_determine2.html
EPA P3 GRANT PROGRAM TARGETS UNIVERSITY STUDENT TEAMS
The EPA P3 awards competition is a national student design competition for sustainability to "research, develop, and design solutions to real world challenges involving the overall sustainability of human society." EPA awarded 49 P3 grants (People Prosperity and the Planet grants) for a total of $880,000 to student teams representing 39 universities at 23 states through this competition. The P3 Award includes the possibility of additional funding up to $75,000 that gives students an opportunity to further develop their sustainable designs and move them to the marketplace. For information about the P3 winners (Phase I) including 4 from region 3: Drexel, (Pa.), James Madison (Va.), Johns Hopkins (Md.), and Lehigh (Pa.) and their projects, go to epa.gov/ncer/p3/current/index.html For information on the P3 Award program, go to epa.gov/p3
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