ENVIRO-NEWS

EPA Climate Change and Water News

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Makuch, Joseph" <Joseph.Makuch@ars.usda.gov>
Date: Aug 18, 2010 11:48 AM
Subject: [ENVIRO-NEWS] EPA Climate Change and Water News
To: <Enviro-News@ars.usda.gov>

From: water_climate_change@epa.gov [mailto:water_climate_change@epa.gov]

Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 5:31 PM
Subject: EPA Climate Change and Water News

EPA Climate Change and Water News

EPA News

EPA to Co-Host the 2010 State-EPA Innovation Symposium:  Environmental
Protection for a Changing Climate and Greener Economy on November 1 - 4,
2010 in Madison, Wisconsin
EPA and its State partners are co-hosting the 2010 State-EPA Innovation
Symposium:  Environmental Protection for a Changing Climate and Greener
Economy on November 1 - 4, 2010 in Madison, Wisconsin.  Symposium
participants will have an opportunity to network, learn, and dialogue
about what changes in climate and moves toward more sustainable business
practices mean for the work of environmental agency personnel.  Plenary
speakers and breakout sessions will focus on:  The Making of a Greener
Economy- Emerging Issues and What They Mean for Our Work; Collaborating
for Co-Benefits- Engaging Partners to Maximize Results; and From Climate
to Classic Programs- New Tools and Strategies.  For additional
information, visit:  http://environmental-symposium.org/index.html.

EPA Announced Nearly $30 Million in Grants to Restore and Protect Puget
Sound
EPA announced nearly $30 million dollars in federal grants to help
protect and restore Puget Sound.  The funds are the latest infusion of
federal dollars in an ongoing effort to address decades of industrial
contamination, urban pollution and habitat alteration in Puget Sound.
The grants are geared towards tribal projects, watershed projects, and
outreach and education initiatives.  EPA received over 100 grant
applications for this round of grants. The grants cover a wide range of
projects including removing invasive species from watersheds, improving
salmon migration and increasing fish population, protecting watersheds
from the impacts of urban growth, reopening shellfish beds, purchasing
and preserving critical habitat and watershed lands, funding research to
track progress, protecting shorelines, and educating communities,
homeowners and students about reducing impacts to Puget Sound.
The grant recipients include Washington State, Tribes and local
governments, many of which will work directly with communities and
homeowners on projects to restore and protect Puget Sound.  The
Suquamish Tribe is receiving a grant worth nearly $600,000 for a project
that will restore the Chico Creek estuary, which will result in improved
fish passage and water quality in shellfish growing areas.  The State
and grantees are together matching dollar for dollar the $30 million
grant announced.  Every year, millions of pounds of toxic pollution
enter Puget Sound.  Since 2006, EPA has dedicated $58.4 million dollars
to protecting and restoring Puget Sound.  Link to interactive map of
grants:
http://www.epa.gov/region10/map/funding/pugetsound_funding_map.html.

Other News
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Releases the 2009 State of the Climate Report
The 2009 State of the Climate Report is a comprehensive appraisal of
Earth's climate by more than 300 authors from 48 countries and portrays
all aspects of the climate system.  Observations span the atmosphere,
land, and ocean from the poles to the equator, and confirm that the past
decade was the warmest on record and that the Earth has been growing
warmer over the last 50 years. The report, summary, and supplemental
materials are available at:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/bams-state-of-the-climate/2009.php

Union of Concerned Scientists Hosting Webinars on America's Climate
Choices:  Informing Effective Responses to Climate Change and Adapting
to Its Impacts
On August 17, 2010 from 1-2 p.m. EDT, Dr. Diana Liverman will present
the findings in Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change, which
focuses on climate change information needs, information systems, and
communications.  Dr. Liverman is co-director of the Institute of the
Environment, University of Arizona and Senior Research Fellow at the
Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University.  On August 23, 2010
from 2-3 p.m. EDT, Dr. Thomas Wilbanks of Oak Ridge National Laboratory
will present the main findings of Adapting to the Impacts of Climate
Change.  He will be joined by Dr. Gary Yohe, Professor.  To register and
for more information visit:
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/what_you_can_do/ACC-Informing.html
.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Draft Strategic Plan is Available for
Public Comment Through September 7, 2010
The NWS draft Strategic Plan is ready for review and public comment
through September 7, 2010.  The draft plan represents the strategic
framework that will guide the NWS over the next ten years. The NWS
strategy will prepare NWS to meet the challenges and opportunities of
the future, while continuing to deliver today's mission and expanding to
meet the growing needs of the country.  For additional information,
visit:  www.weather.gov/com/stratplan. To provide comments, visit:
http://nwsstratplan.ideascale.com/

Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) to Host Webinar: One
Plant's Journey to Sustainable, Energy-Neutral Performance, and How You
Can Benefit on August 25, 2010 from 2 - 3 p.m. EDT
Over the course of decade, plant managers at the Strass Wastewater
Treatment Plant near Innsbruck, Austria made steady gains in the amount
of electricity produced and in overall energy efficiency of the
treatment process.  By 2005, the plant was producing more energy than it
required for treatment.  WERF developed a conceptual tool to optimize
carbon, heat, and energy pathways in wastewater treatment based on
Strass' experience.  WERF's researchers will demonstrate this tool,
which allows plants to benchmark their individual processes against
those of the global leaders in wastewater treatment.  The tool
highlights areas in the plant where the largest potential gains in
energy efficiency, energy production, and sustainability can be made.
For additional information, visit:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/570122601.


EPA Climate Change and Water News is produced by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). For more information on EPA's
climate change activities, visit http://epa.gov/climatechange.  For an
overview of climate change and water issues, visit
http://www.epa.gov/ow/climatechange.


***********************************************
Enviro-News is a service of the Water Quality
Information Center at the National Agricultural
Library.  The center's Web site is at
http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/.

The Enviro-News list facilitates information exchange.
Inclusion of an item in Enviro-News does not imply
United States Department of Agriculture(USDA) agreement,
nor does USDA attest to the accuracy or completeness of
the item. See
http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/environews.shtml#disclaimer
You can contact the list owner at
owner-Enviro-News@ars.usda.gov.
***********************************************