 | ||
|
National News |
 |
 | ||
|
|
|
|
| |||||||||
|
|
|
EPA Press Advisory: (1) New Web-Based Tools Provide Unprecedented Public Access to Local Brownfields Information; (2) Room Air Cleaners Now Eligible for ENERGY STAR; (3) Advanced Environmental Monitoring Contracts Awarded; (4) Leading Innovators Recognized at Annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards; (5) Minor Corrections and Clarifications Made to Drinking Water RegulationsFollowing are some Agency developments which may interest you. If you need more information on any of these subjects, call the appropriate contact. News for release: (Washington, D.C. -- Wednesday, June 30, 2004) (1) New Web-Based Tools Provide Unprecedented Public Access to Local Brownfields Information Dave Ryan, 202-564-7827 / ryan.dave@epa.gov EPA introduced two new interactive Brownfields web tools that will give the public unprecedented access to interrelated information about local Brownfields properties. The tools allow residents to locate Brownfields in their area and provide access to new detailed information about the individual Brownfields grants. Grants are awarded to communities across the United States for assessment planning, cleanup and job training. EnviroMapper, combines interactive maps and aerial photography to locate and display those Brownfields properties that have received EPA grants. The public can locate properties by a variety of means, such as zip code, city, county, tribe, state or congressional district. Envirofacts, provides other detailed information on properties, such as property profiles, grant profiles, performance reports and contact information. Users can also search parts of Envirofacts directly by providing certain key details such as a grant name or number. The two new tools announced today identify and provide information on those Brownfields that have received EPA grants, but do not show all Brownfields in the country, such as those funded solely by state and local governments. Brownfields are real estate properties where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Users can access the Brownfields Envirofacts or EnviroMapper on the new Find EPA Brownfields Projects Where You Live page at: http://epa.gov/brownfields/bfwhere.htm (2) Room Air Cleaners Now Eligible for ENERGY STAR John Millett, 202-564-7842 / millett.john@epa.gov EPA will release new product specifications that allow energy efficient room air cleaners to earn the ENERGY STAR. Residential air cleaners that earn the ENERGY STAR will be 35 percent more energy efficient than conventional models. About 15 million room air cleaners are currently in use in the United States, and consume approximately $800 million worth of electricity, or 10 billion kilowatt hours, per year. EPA developed the new product specification as a result of increased consumer interest in these products, significant energy savings potential, and interest from manufacturers in producing more efficient products. EPA estimates that within 5 years, residential air cleaners with ENERGY STAR will save Americans as much as $200 million and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking more than 150,000 cars off the road. Projected consumer savings for one air cleaner will average $200 over the lifetime of the product. To date, Access Business Group, Blueair Inc., Friedrich Air-Conditioning Co., Sharp Electronics Corporation, The Holmes Group, and the Whirlpool Corporation have committed to manufacture and label ENERGY STAR qualified models. For more information about the program, call 1-888-STAR-YES or visit: http://www.energystar.gov . (3) Advanced Environmental Monitoring Contracts Awarded Suzanne Ackerman, 202-564-7819 / ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov To foster commercial ventures that create jobs and benefit the environment, EPA awarded four companies a total of $900,000 to develop new environmental measurement and monitoring technologies through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. EPA is one of 12 federal agencies that participate in the SBIR Program, enacted in 1982 to strengthen the role of small businesses in federal research and development and to promote U.S. technical innovation. To participate in SBIR, a small business must have less than 500 employees and the business must be more than 50 percent owned by U.S. citizens. EIC Laboratories, Inc. of Norwood, Mass. will develop a portable automated sensor to detect toxins in blue-green algae blooms in water supplies. This new sensor will weigh approximately 10 pounds and detect different toxins through a simple dipstick arrangement, eliminating the need for time-consuming techniques that could only be performed in a laboratory. Fort Environmental Laboratories, Inc. of Stillwater, Okla. will continue development of a biological monitor to detect endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment, and a standardized, laboratory-based amphibian model. OPOTEK, Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif. will create a compact portable instrument for high-sensitivity measurements of trace hydrocarbon vapors. The benefit of this technology will be real-time field measurement of hazardous air pollutants from both mobile and stationary sources. Vescent Photonics, Inc. of Denver, Colo. will continue work on new laser technology that can detect a broad array of air contaminants at parts per trillion levels. For more information, contact James Gallup at gallup.james@epa.gov or visit: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir. (4) Leading Innovators Recognized at Annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards David Deegan, 202-564-7839 / deegan.dave@epa.gov Leading researchers and industrial innovators were recognized on June 28 for significant contributions in advancing pollution prevention and industrial ecology at the 2004 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The Presidential-rank awards are given to select individuals and organizations that have made dramatic science contributions with identifiable applications that result in less pollution and/or waste in a manufacturing process. The 2004 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge awards were bestowed on Professors Charles A. Eckert and Charles L. Liotta, both of the Georgia Institute of Technology; Jeneil Biosurfactant Company of Saukville, WI and Lutz, FL; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company of Syracuse, NY and Princeton, NJ; Buckman Laboratories International of Memphis, TN; and Engelhard Corporation of Beachwood, OH, Louisville, KY, and Iselin, NJ. EPA’s Green Chemistry Challenge promotes research to develop less-toxic alternatives to existing technologies, and to reduce or eliminate waste generation in industrial production. An independent panel of technical experts selected the five winners after reviewing more than 80 nominations for this recognition. The awards were given in five categories: Academic, Small Business, Alternative Synthetic Pathways, Alternative Reaction Conditions and Designing Safer Chemicals. More information on the Presidential Green Chemistry Awards is available at: http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry . (5) Minor Corrections and Clarifications Made to Drinking Water Regulations Cathy Milbourn, 202-564-7824 / milbourn.cathy@epa.gov On June 29, EPA published minor corrections and clarifications to drinking water regulations in the Federal Register. This final rule will help public drinking water systems comply with regulations by clarifying and correcting existing drinking water regulations. The minor corrections and clarifications do not affect existing public health protection. The final rule shifts the compliance date for some requirements of the Long Term 1 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule from January 14, 2005, to January 1, 2005, to ease implementation and improve readability of the Consumer Confidence Reports provided to customers. It provides states the flexibility to use optional monitoring data for disinfection profiling carried out under that rule. Additionally, the rule establishes a detection limit for uranium of 1 part per billion in the Radionuclides Rule, which established a maximum contaminant level for uranium in drinking water of 30 parts per billion. Finally, the Agency is clarifying and correcting typographical errors, inadvertent omissions, editorial errors, and outdated language in the Surface Water Treatment Rules and other Drinking Water rules. This includes reinstatement of text that was previously omitted from the Lead and Copper Rule, but maintained in current rule guidance, that lists the types of facilities that must be sent public education brochures by a public water system which has exceeded the action level for lead or copper. The final rule is available at: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/new.html . R127 ### Release date:06/30/2004 Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email
|
|
|
|
 | ||
|
EPA Home | Privacy and Security Notice | Contact Us
URL: Last Revised: 06/30/2004 03:32:59 PM
|