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News

North Central Montana Water Project Helps Distribute Clean Drinking Water
Friday, February 03, 2012-- The general manager for the North Central Montana Regional Water Authority has announced that flooding the past two years on the Rocky Boy's Reservation and the 2011 floods across the state served as a stark reminder of why the Regional Water System is needed in northcentral Montana. The recent flooding wreaked havoc on public water infrastructure and water system reliability and communities across the state were faced with high turbidity and much of the aging infrastructure was stressed beyond measure. -- (full text)
[Great Falls Tribune]

Critics Move to Block Proposed San Antonio Streetcar System
Thursday, February 02, 2012-- Opponents of San Antonio's planned downtown streetcar system have made the argument that county officials broke a promise with voters when they agreed to use advanced transportation district funds to help fund the project. The group claims that multiple pieces of campaign literature used to promote the ATD tax in 2004 explicitly stated the money would not go toward light rail or toll roads, and that a streetcar is "light rail by another name." -- (full text)
[San Antonio Express News]

Washington County, Maryland, to Promote Private Curbside-Recycling Program
Wednesday, February 01, 2012-- Washington County (MD) has decided to promote a private curbside-recycling program starting in June, at which point the county's unmanned recycling drop-off bins will be removed. According to the County Administrator, the increased amount of private curbside recycling will permit the county to get rid of recycling drop-off boxes. Currently, there is no charge for county residents to use the drop-off boxes, and their cost - about $350,000 per year - comes directly from landfill revenue which is declining. -- (full text)
[The Hagerstown Herald-Mail]

California Rail Planners Turn Down New High-Speed Rail Offer
Wednesday, February 01, 2012-- California high-speed rail planners have decided to stick with the current plan, which is backed by the California High-Speed Rail Authority, of building a high-speed rail line instead of accepting an offer made to them by San Francisco leaders. Under the current plan, the rail service won't be available to San Francisco until 2034. Under the new proposal, the planners would have received $4.5 billion to start in San Francisco as well as Central Valley, the original plan's starting point. -- (full text)
[The San Francisco Examiner]

Houston Tops List of Green Power Local Governments
Wednesday, February 01, 2012-- The Top 20 Green Power Local Government list represents the largest purchasers among local government partners within the Green Power Partnership. The combined green power purchases of these organizations amounts to more than 2.6 billion kilowatt-hours annually, which is equivalent to the electricity needed to power more than 224,000 average American homes annually. -- (full text)
[U.S. EPA]

EPA to Provide Nearly $10 Million to Clean Up Beaches Across the Nation
Wednesday, February 01, 2012-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that it will provide $9.8 million in grants to 38 states, territories and tribes to help protect the health of swimmers at America's beaches. The agency also launched an improved website for beach advisories and closings, which will allow the public to more quickly and easily access the most current water quality and pollution testing information for more than 6,000 U.S. beaches. -- (full text)
[U.S. EPA]

EPA Releases Handbook to Help Water Utilities Plan for Sustainability
Tuesday, January 31, 2012-- The U.S.EPA has released a comprehensive handbook to help water sector utilities build sustainability considerations into their planning. "Planning for Sustainability: A Handbook for Water and Wastewater Utilities" will help utilities ensure that water infrastructure projects across the nation, including those funded through the state revolving fund programs, are sustainable and support the long-term sustainability of the communities these utilities serve. -- (full text)
[U.S. EPA]

Mobile Approves Master Plan to Focus on Smart Growth
Monday, January 30, 2012-- The Mobile (AL) City Council voted recently to approve "A New Plan for Mobile," an economic and urban development blueprint commissioned by the Mayor during his first term in office. Walkability, mixed land-use and other smart growth principles are now officially part of Mobile's master plan, which is meant to guide development in the city.
[Smart Growth Network]

Marengo, Illinois, Seeks Bids For $12 Million Wastewater Project
Monday, January 30, 2012-- Marlengo's delayed multimillion-dollar project to expand its aging wastewater treatment plant is slated to bid out for the second time. The city sought bids last August after receiving approval for a $12 million loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. However, all seven bidders exceeded the $12 million budget, with bids ranging from $15.5 million to $17.9 million. The project's purpose is to modernize the wastewater treatment plant by enhancing the pumping capacity from 900,000 gallons of water a day to 2.25 million gallons a day. State and local officials say the large-scale project is essential for future development and would extend the plant's life by at least 20 years. -- (full text)
[The Northwest Herald]

Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Reviewing $237 Million Capital Improvements Program
Monday, January 30, 2012-- The Cape Girardeau (MO) City Council is planning to review its capital improvements program which spans from 2012 to 2017 and includes a list of 183 funded and unfunded projects that total more than $237 million. Since the city first initiated the annual process of adopting the five-year list in 1983, many -- if not most -- of the city's major and minor transportation, recreational and environmental projects were first brought to light with the release of the capital improvements program. -- (full text)
[The Southeast Missourian]

EPA Releases New Tool with Information about Water Pollution Across the U.S.
Friday, January 27, 2012-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced the release of a new tool that provides the public with important information about pollutants that are released into local waterways. Developed under President Obama's transparency initiative, the Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool brings together millions of records and allows for easy searching and mapping of water pollution by local area, watershed, company, industry sector, and pollutant. Americans can use this new tool to protect their health and the health of their communities. -- (full text)
[U.S. EPA]

Carpinteria, California Switches to LED Street Lighting to Cut Costs
Thursday, January 26, 2012-- To save on energy bills, cities around the nation are setting their sights on high-pressure sodium vapor street lights and replacing them with light-emitting diodes. Because of their daylight-like brightness, LED lighting promotes neighborhood safety at night while trimming the energy use and maintenance costs of local governments converting from traditional lighting. Carpinteria (CA) is already benefitting from a recent street lighting upgrade funded by a block grant from federal stimulus funds. The upgrade will enable Santa Barbara County to cut costs without shedding essential services. -- (full text)
[Sustainable City Network]

New APA Resource Offers a Framework for Local Economic Development
Thursday, January 26, 2012-- A new planning document for Story County, Iowa, is focused on the belief that any economic development strategy should reflect quality of life in addition to jobs, economic activity, and improved tax base. Major issues addressed in the plan include strategic partnerships and investments, as well as trails, recreation, and other quality of life issues. -- (full text)
[APA]

Instant Street Makeovers Put New Spin on Urban Planning
Wednesday, January 25, 2012-- Community activists are taking city planning into their own hands, trying urban design experiments that are deliberately cheap, temporary, and unofficial. The short-lived planning events have included the organizing of local food trucks to meet at a certain spot where lunch options are scarce, or an annual Parking Day, when activists turn on-street parking spaces into a pedestrian park for a few hours. These interventions have sometimes led to altered municipal policies and lasting changes in the cityscape. -- (full text)
[Miller-McCune ]

Las Vegas Officials Considering Infill Development Policies
Wednesday, January 25, 2012-- After decades of sprawl and a deteriorating urban core, Las Vegas (NV) officials are now considering infill policies to encourage developing the over 90,000 acres of empty lots within the city boundaries. As of 2010, the valley had about 330,000 acres within the Bureau of Land Management's "disposal boundary," or land available for development, and 200,000 of those acres were built upon. -- (full text)
[Las Vegas Business Press]

EPA Announces the Release of the 2010 TRI National Analysis
Wednesday, January 25, 2012-- The TRI National Analysis is an annual report that displays EPA's analysis and interpretation of the most recent Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data. It includes a variety of documents and webpages, available below, that outline national and local trends in toxic chemical disposal or other releases to the environment. It also includes trends in toxic chemicals managed by TRI facilities, and analyses of certain chemicals of interest, industry sectors, parent companies and geographic areas. -- (full text)
[U.S. EPA]

Corpus Christi, Texas, Receives Grant for Innovative Green Space Project
Tuesday, January 24, 2012-- Corpus Christi (TX) has been selected as one of five cities in the U.S. to receive a $25,000 grant for innovative green space projects. The green space will allow families and organizations to cultivate and harvest vegetables for their own meals, and share or sell their goods at community events planned for the park. -- (full text)
[The Corpus Christi Caller Times]

Campbell County, Virginia, Continues to Remove Chemicals from Polluted Groundwater
Friday, January 20, 2012-- A week after the Virginia Supreme Court overturned a $9 million judgment against Campbell County in a contamination lawsuit, officials said they remain committed to removing the leachate that got into the groundwater on Claude and Virginia Royals' Rustburg property. The Royals realized their well water was contaminated in 2002 by the neighboring landfill, and the county has been working to removing the chemicals for the past decade. Several times each year, Campbell County tests water from 51 sites on the landfill and the Royals' property. -- (full text)
[Lynchburg News and Advance ]

Draft Decision Trees on Solar & Wind Energy Screening Open for Comment
Thursday, January 19, 2012-- EPA and the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab have developed draft decision trees to screen brownfields, greyfields, rooftops, abandoned parcels, and landfills for solar and wind energy potential. The solar and wind screening decision trees are designed to encourage leadership from local governments and other stakeholders in the development of renewable energy resources at the community level. EPA is accepting comments on the draft decision trees through February 16, 2012, and seeks city and county volunteers to beta test the decision trees. -- (full text)
[U.S. EPA]

La Verne, California, Approves Shutting Down Redevelopment Agency
Thursday, January 19, 2012-- The La Verne (CA) city council unanimously approved closing down its redevelopment agency. According to La Verne's City Manager, the city would lose roughly $4 million from a court order that dissolves the agency in its first year and about $2 million in following years. The move comes as a result of the California Governor's proposed bills in his 2011-12 budget to eliminate redevelopment agencies unless cities or counties agreed to pay a set fee this year and then a regular amount in subsequent years. The California Supreme Court ruled in December that the state had the authority to abolish redevelopment agencies. -- (full text)
[Inland Valley Daily Bulletin]

EPA Releases Report on Expanding the Nation's Water Supply Through Municipal Wastewater Reuse
Wednesday, January 18, 2012-- The National Research Council recently released a report, co-sponsored by EPA, that highlights the potential that reuse of municipal wastewater can play in augmenting traditional water supplies, particularly in areas that are experiencing or expect to face challenges in meeting demand for water. EPA agrees that advancements in water treatment processes make reuse of municipal wastewater a more viable option when risks are appropriately managed. EPA will review the findings and recommendations to determine how they can inform the Agency's ongoing efforts to promote a more integrated view of the nation's water resources. -- (full text)
[U.S. EPA]

Wisconsin Helps More Than 30,500 Homeowners Save on Utilities
Tuesday, January 17, 2012-- The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that Wisconsin has surpassed its aggressive energy efficiency goal established with the for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Through the weatherization program, the state has helped a total of more than 30,500 Wisconsin families improve the energy efficiency of their homes over the last three years, saving the average household more than $400 a year on its energy utility bills. -- (full text)
[Sustainable City Network]

Four Counties in Southeast Florida Release Regional Climate Change Action Plan
Tuesday, January 17, 2012-- The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact was executed by Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Monroe Counties in January 2010 to coordinate mitigation and adaptation activities across county lines. The Compact represented a new form of regional climate governance designed to allow local governments to set the agenda for adaptation while providing an efficient means for state and federal agencies to engage with technical assistance and support. Last week, the four counties released a draft of the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Action Plan which provides a framework for regional scale action to reduce emissions and prepare Southeast Florida for the impacts of global climate change. -- (full text)
[U.S. EPA]