August | 2018 | YPGG

EPA Seeks Input on Regulatory Approach for Managing Excess Flows

August 31, 2018 / Lee Ann Rush / 0 Comments

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will host three public listening sessions to seek input on a rulemaking effort aimed at providing certainty surrounding the management of peak wet weather flows at certain municipal wastewater treatment plants.

“EPA is taking action to provide municipalities with sought-after regulatory certainty so that facilities can optimize wastewater treatment during wet weather,” said EPA Office of Water Assistant Administrator David Ross. “It’s critical that we hear from cites, states, tribes, and others so that we can design a rule that protects public health and local water quality and also allows for innovation and flexibility.”

Recognizing the years of experience individual cities, states, tribes, utilities, and other stakeholders have in managing wet weather challenges to efficient publicly owned treatment works operations (POTWs), EPA is undertaking a robust outreach effort to gather critical input prior to proposing any changes to its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) regulations.

The public listening sessions will be held:

October 16, 2018, 9am local time; EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC
October 24, 2018, 9am local time; EPA Region 7 in Lenexa, Kansas
October 30, 2018, 11am EDT; online listening session.

To register for a listening session, visit www.epa.gov/npdes/municipal-wastewater; a transcript of remarks made at the listening sessions will be available after each event at this website.

The public can also submit written input to inform this action until October 31, 2018, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov [Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2018-0420].

Background

Rainwater that inadvertently enters sewer systems increases flows to wastewater treatment plants, potentially creating operational challenges. In April 2018, EPA announced a new rulemaking to look at issues associated with managing and treating peak flows during wet weather events at POTWs with separate sanitary sewer systems. Through this rulemaking, EPA will consider changes to its NPDES regulations to establish a transparent and lasting approach to permitting flexible peak flow management strategies. The goal of this effort is to provide a regulatory structure that allows for the continuous effective operation of treatment plants and the protection of water quality and public health.

For more information, visit www.epa.gov/npdes/municipal-wastewater

Widespread Praise For EPA Nominee Alexandra Dunn; Nominated to Lead EPA Chemical Office

August 31, 2018 / Administrator / 0 Comments

WASHINGTON – Today, President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate Alexandra Dunn to serve as assistant administrator for the U.S Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP). Ms. Dunn currently serves as regional administrator for EPA’s Region 1 office in Boston, Mass.

“As her tenure as Region 1 Administrator has demonstrated, Alexandra Dunn is highly qualified and well-suited to lead EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Ms. Dunn has worked closely with states, tribes, and local governments to protect public health and the environment while providing the regulated community the certainty it needs to create jobs and support local economies. She will use her experience and wealth of knowledge to help EPA faithfully implement the Toxic Substances Control Act and ensure chemicals in the marketplace are safe.”

Prior to joining EPA, Alexandra Dunn served as executive director and general counsel for the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to helping state agencies improve environment outcomes for Americans. While at ECOS, Ms. Dunn helped state governments improve water infrastructure, reduce air pollution, clean up contaminated sites, manage chemical safety, and enhance economic development. Before joining ECOS, Ms. Dunn was executive director and general counsel for the Association of Clean Water Administrators.

Ms. Dunn has also been published in the areas of the ethics of community advocacy, environmental justice, urban sustainability, water quality, cooperative federalism, and the Clean Water Act. Previously, she taught environmental justice and human rights and the environment as dean of Environmental Law Programs at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. She also taught at Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law, where she served as faculty advisor to the student Environmental Law Society. Ms. Dunn most recently taught environmental justice as an adjunct associate professor of law at American University’s Washington College of Law. Ms. Dunn has also been published in the areas of the ethics of community advocacy, environmental justice, urban sustainability, water quality, cooperative federalism, and the Clean Water Act.

Last year, Ms. Dunn was elected to the Board of Regents of the American College of Environmental Lawyers, and she served on the executive committee and board of directors of the Environmental Law Institute. She has chaired the American Bar Association’s (ABA) section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, as well as its World Justice Task Force, and she served on the ABA Presidential Task Force on Sustainable Development.

Craig Butler, Director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency: "Alex is a very professional, positive, and experienced leader. She is a great communicator at all levels and understands how to manage programs and staff to maximize results. This will be critical in her new role, especially with a national focus on emerging contaminants and the public awareness heightened to these issues. Alex will be great in her new role. I wish her success and pledge my assistance if and how she needs it."

John Linc Stine, Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency: "I worked directly with Alex Dunn as the Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety Reform Act was enacted. She represented state environmental programs and was an effective advocate for our interests in protecting public health and the environment. She is a proven leader who can build effective partnerships."

Todd Parfitt, Director of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality: "Based on my experience working with Ms. Dunn, coupled with her diverse background and experience in environmental protection, I am confident that Ms. Dun possesses the necessary traits to successfully implement EPA's chemical safety and pollution prevention programs. As an officer for ECOS, I had the privilege of working closely with Ms. Dunn on numerous environmental protection issues during her four year tenure as Executive Director and General Counsel for ECOS. During that time, she demonstrated strong leadership and decision making skills while balancing the interests and needs of all 49 member states, including her involvement in national discussions related to TSCA reform legislation."

John C. Cruden, President of the American College of Environmental Lawyers: "Alexandra is currently serving as the Regional Administrator, Region 1, Environmental Protection Agency and has done a superb job working with the northeast states of that Region, advancing environmental actions. She will bring great management skills, a passion for the environment, and the ability to work cooperatively with states, environmental groups, industry, and academia to this new position. As the most recent Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, US Department of Justice, I have had the pleasure of working with a number of EPA Assistant Administrators as I served in both Republican and Democratic Administrations. I can say, without any hesitation, that Alexandra Dunn is supremely well qualified, will be a great and good force for positive environmental action, and will be someone who carefully reviews, abides by, and implements the law."

Scott Fulton, President of the Environmental Law Institute: “I have known Ms. Dunn in various professional capacities for the last 25 years and believe that she is an excellent choice for this position. She is a deeply experienced environmental leader and attorney who understands the complexity of regulatory and policy decisions, including those of the office she has been asked to lead. Ms. Dunn is respected across the environmental community by businesses; federal, state, and local officials; and nongovernmental organizations. I am confident she would serve the American people with integrity, intelligence, and distinction if confirmed as Assistant Administrator of OCSPP.”

LaJuana Wilcher, former EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water: "Alex's extensive professional experience working in the environmental field over the past 25 years positions her perfectly to provide leaership and perspective needed to succeed as EPA's Assistant Administrator. IN addition to he recent experience as EPA's Regional Administrator, she has worked with State environmental agency leaders, municipal agencies, industry and academics. Alex has relied on her legal background to guide organizations, clients and students concerning a full range of environmental issues. She has been involved in all aspects of environmental law, legislation, regulation, policy and litigation, both as a leader of large organizations and as an attorney."

Deb Markowitz, Visiting Professor of Environmental Policy and Leadership at the University of Vermont: “I served from 2010 – 2017 as the Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources for Vermont. In that capacity I worked closely with Ms. Dunn in her prior role as the Executive Director of the Environmental Council of the States. I saw first-hand Ms. Dunn’s significant strengths as a manager and as a leader. More specifically, Alexandra Dunn is an excellent choice to oversee implementation of the nation's chemical regulatory programs, especially the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act which amended the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Ms. Dunn and I worked together, in our prior professional roles, as this law was negotiated, to ensure that states would maintain meaningful chemical regulatory authorities. Her deep knowledge of key issues and passion for the portfolio of work in this EPA office will ensure her success."

Amy Edwards, co-chair of Holland & Knight’s National Environmental Team: “I am writing to support the nomination of Alexandra Dapolito Dunn to become the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention at the EPA… During her more than two decade career, she has had in-depth experience with a broad range of issues involving air, water, waste, energy, and environmental justice… Alex is well regarded for her substantive expertise, her vision, and her excellent management skills."

EPA Reaches Settlement on Clean Water Act Violations with Two Animal Feeding Operations in West Point area of Nebraska

August 31, 2018 / Lee Ann Rush / 0 Comments

LENEXA, KANSAS - EPA Region 7 has reached an administrative settlement with two concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) facilities in the West Point area to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The agreement is expected to help safeguard Nebraska waterways from pollutants and bring both facilities within federal regulatory compliance.

During inspections at these CAFOs, EPA inspectors observed that both facilities lacked adequate, engineered livestock waste controls to prevent discharges of manure and process wastewater. Analysis of sampling conducted by EPA documented that feedlot-related pollutants discharge into an unnamed tributary of Plum Creek. The creek discharges into the Elkhorn River, which is listed as “impaired” by the state of Nebraska for Escherichia coli (E. coli), a disease-causing type of fecal coliform bacteria passed through the fecal excrement of livestock.

Both facilities have agreed to provide EPA a plan describing how they will either: 1) cease all discharges from their facilities, 2) reduce the number of cattle at their facilities below regulatory thresholds, or 3) obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit that would require measures to minimize pollutant impacts. An NPDES permit is required for the discharge of pollutants from any “point source” into waters of the U.S.

In addition, each facility has agreed to pay a civil penalty. Bar MK, L.L.C., has agreed to pay a penalty of $29,000. Cindy Stratman, doing business as Cindy Stratman Livestock, has agreed to pay a penalty of $22,000.

The Consent Agreement and Final Orders for both sites are available for public notice and comment for 30 days.

Review public notices on CWA civil enforcement in EPA Region 7

Learn more about EPA’s Enforcement program

Learn more about EPA Region 7

YPGG: Opting Out of Phone Book Delivery Vital for Consumers and Environment

August 30, 2018 / Lee Ann Rush / 0 Comments

Companies which print paper books are burning 3.2 kilowatts of electricity per hour and wasting over 7,200,000 barrels of fossil fuel.

NORTHPORT -- YellowPagesGoesGreen.org ("YPGG"), a telephone directory at the forefront of the environmentally-conscious "Green" movement, is announcing the greater-than-ever need to participate in the national "out-out" movement regarding unwanted home delivery of print telephone directories. With a vast array of digital and internet-based alternatives available to consumers to consult to get the information they need, the very concept of the traditional phone book is a relic best consigned to history's garbage heap, and opting out of its delivery is not only a great way to reduce clutter in your life, but to also safeguard the environment as well.

An innovator in digital business and telephone directory listings and an advocate for staunch environmentalism, YellowPagesGoesGreen.org is a cutting-edge website that delivers over 28.5 million up-to-the-minute Yellow Page listings and over 200 million White page listings throughout the United States. In addition, YPGG is a pioneer in the national phone book "opt-out" movement that seeks to abolish obsolete print telephone directories that are not only out-of-date by the time they land on doorsteps, but find themselves clogging landfills by the millions shortly thereafter.

Every year, thousands upon thousands of phone books land upon the stoops of people who almost never even crack them open once, as their needs in that regard are already fulfilled by any number of digital alternatives, such as YPGG, easily and instantly accessible via devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, and laptops, just to name a few.

However, despite the uselessness of phone books in this day and age, much of the populace is unaware of the option to opt-out of their delivery; they instead simply accept these clumsy and out-of-date tomes as a part of everyday life that they've always known. But if they took a moment to see how destructive they are – in addition to how unnecessary – they would likely be far more inclined to take the simple step of opting out of their delivery once and for all by visiting YPGG's website: https://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/opt-out.php. Once there, it's just a matter of clicking the "opt-out" button and following a few easy steps to forever sever yourself from print phone directory delivery, stopping the unsolicited delivery of 540 million books per year.

Opting out of phone book delivery can help the Earth in many ways. First, it helps conserve energy, as the companies that print them are burning up 3.2 kilowatt of electricity per hour and wasting over 7,200,000 barrels of fossil fuel, in addition to many other finite natural resources. Secondly, opting out also helps to save trees, as already over 19,000,000 of them have been gobbled up to serve the publishing needs of phone book companies. Thirdly, phone books are expensive and difficult to recycle – on the rare occasions that the average person even bothers to do so – due to the specific nature of the paper fiber used. And finally, opting out saves the consumer time, as using online alternatives such as YPGG makes it far easier for them to find up-to date-listings for people and businesses, doing in mere moments what would take far, far longer with an actual physical book.

"YellowPagesGoesGreen.org isn't against the telephone books themselves, but the unwanted delivery of five pounds of paper to people's doorsteps," said YPGG CEO and President, Michael Keegan. "We believe that you shouldn't have to bear the cost of recycling something you didn't ask for in the first place. If we want a phone book, we'll ask for one."

As you can see, opting-out of home delivery of print telephone directories makes sense in every conceivable way that you could look at it. It saves time, it's more efficient, and it's best for the planet. Opt out today and do your part to make the Earth a cleaner, greener place for us all to live.

Yellow Pages Directory Inc., owner of both YellowPagesGoesGreen.org and PaperlessPetition.org, offers an environmentally-friendly Web-based alternative to paper telephone directories while providing a simple and convenient mechanism for customers to opt out from the receipt of printed yellow books. Both web sites have been instrumental in promoting opt-out awareness across the United States over the past several years, and allowing users to reduce their own environmental footprints in the process. Yellow Pages Directory Inc. has also taken steps to reduce its own impact on the environment through the use of the most up-to-date and energy-efficient web-hosting services available.

For more information please visit http://www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org.

Yellow Pages Goes Green: 2018 Will Herald End of Print Phone Directories in Favor of Digital Options

August 29, 2018 / Administrator / 0 Comments

WANTAGH, N.Y. - YellowPagesGoesGreen.org ("YPGG"), a telephone directory at the forefront of the environmentally-conscious "Green" movement, has made a bold proclamation- that 2018 will be the year that digital and web-based business and residential directory distribution will take the very concept of the print-based phone book – already rendered out-of-date and obsolete by the ever-steady progress of technology – and confine it to the scrap pile of history once and for all. Thus, the very goal of YPGG – providing users the cutting edge in online directory options while protecting the Earth's environment at the same time – will have been achieved, to the betterment of mankind the world over.

"Mark my words…digital directories have already overtaken print by a unfathomable margin, but 2018 will be the year where print will be vanquished once and for all. It's no longer a question of if print will die…it's now a question of when," said YPGG CEO and President, Michael Keegan. "The environment has sustained countless years of abuse by the creation of millions of physical phone books that are outdated the second they hit the stoops of residents who immediately throw them in the trash. After all, why would anyone want a clunky old phone book when they can just use a smartphone and have the same information faster, better, and cleaner? Believe me when I say that print is done for in 2018."

According to news website Vox, phonebooks were once actually quite useful; before the internet was created, they were the only way the average person had to look up phone numbers and addresses of friends, family, and businesses in their area. But nowadays they have become useless in every sense of the word, and a burden upon society- simply recycling or throwing away the 650,000 tons of phonebooks distributed nationally each year costs municipalities somewhere between $45 and $62 million.

But that burden of creating these useless phonebooks also extends to energy resources and the environment of the Earth itself. Scientific American notes that 19 million trees and 7.2 million barrels of oil are used annually to produce 1.6 billion pounds of paper, in addition to 3.2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity; this process typically creates over 268,000 cubic yards of solid waste that ends up in landfills, and that number excludes the countless discarded phonebooks that eventually find their way there was well, especially in regions where recycling is not available or convenient. And according to statistics, only a mere fraction of Americans are currently bothering to recycle their phonebooks; typically that number hovers under 20 percent annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Social Media Today have also recently written on the lopsided amount of advantages of online directory listings that have caused people to abandon print options in droves, noting that – due to skyrocketing mobile device usage – 70 percent of Americans don't even open their phone books, and only 11% use the white pages. In direct contrast, 97 percent of consumers have used the Internet to find local businesses in the last year.

Clearly, print phonebooks – already limping along for the last decade – are close to the end of line, with digital directories the new standard-bearer for 2018 and the future. YellowPagesGoesGreen.org is leading the charge with the most up-to-date listings available anywhere, in addition to resources for consumers to "opt-out" of print phone directory delivery, enabling them to finally "go green" and embrace both technology and the environment at the same time. It is the steadfast hope of YPGG that 2018 will be the last year anyone ever sees a print phone book ever again.