Feb. SRRTTF meetings/biofilm news story/EPA grant

Upcoming SRRTTF meetings: (conf. call number 605-313-5141, 723394#)
PMF work group: Feb. 4 at 11 am (conf. call)
TSCA work group: Feb. 5 at 10 am (conf. call)
Education & Outreach work group: Feb. 11 at 10 am (Spokane Regional Health District)
The next SRRTTF meeting will be held Wednesday, Feb. 26 from 8:30 am – 12:00 pm at Liberty Lake Sewer & Water District – 22510 E Mission Ave., Spokane, WA
(For additional info. contact lara@whitebluffsconsulting.com)

Crosscut has written an article “10 of the Wildest Discoveries Washington Scientists Made in 2019” which includes Siana Wong and Brandee Era-Miller’s work on the PCB biofilm project.

Take a look at number 4! https://crosscut.com/2019/12/10-wildest-discoveries-washington-scientists-made-2019

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking grant applications from states and federally-recognized tribes to promote pollution prevention (P2) in businesses across the country. Through these grants, the agency hopes states and tribes, along with colleges, universities and intertribal consortia, will develop and provide information, training and tools to businesses to help them reduce costs and the use of water, energy and other natural resources.

EPA anticipates awarding approximately $9.38 million in total federal pollution prevention grant funding over a two-year funding cycle ($4.69 million in FY 2020 funds and $4.69 million in FY 2021 funds). Individual grant awards could be in the range of $40,000-$500,000 for the two-year funding period or between $20,000 – $250,000 funded per year.

Proposals are due by March 31, 2020

EPA Announces Grant Opportunity for Pollution Prevention Technical Assistance

San Francisco – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking grant applications from states and federally-recognized tribes to promote pollution prevention (P2) in businesses across the country. Through these grants, the agency hopes states and tribes, along with colleges, universities and intertribal consortia, will develop and provide information, training and tools to businesses to help them reduce costs and the use of water, energy and other natural resources.

“Pollution prevention grants are important tools that help support innovative solutions to reducing pollution,” said EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Assistant Administrator Alexandra Dapolito Dunn. “The results of work done under these grants have created best practices that are helping to advance economic growth, increase sustainability and protect the environment.”

EPA anticipates awarding approximately $9.38 million in total federal pollution prevention grant funding over a two-year funding cycle ($4.69 million in FY 2020 funds and $4.69 million in FY 2021 funds). Individual grant awards could be in the range of $40,000-$500,000 for the two-year funding period or between $20,000 – $250,000 funded per year.

For these grants, EPA emphasizes the importance of grantees documenting and sharing P2 best practices that are identified and developed through these grants, so that others can replicate these practices and outcomes. Each grantee will be required to develop at least one case study during the grant period on P2 practices that are new or not widely known or adopted, or where detailed information on the P2 practices could benefit other businesses or P2 technical assistance providers.

Grant applications should focus on at least one of the following P2 priority areas, also referred to as National Emphasis Areas (NEAs) that support several of the Agency’s Smart Sectors:  

  1. NEA #1: Food and Beverage Manufacturing and Processing
  2. NEA #2:  Chemical Manufacturing, Processing and Formulation
  3. NEA #3:  Automotive Manufacturing and Maintenance
  4. NEA #4:  Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing and Maintenance
  5. NEA #5:  Metal Manufacturing and Fabrication

EPA’s national P2 Program will host two informational webinars for potential applicants and interested stakeholders. The first webinar will be held on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 from 2:00 – 3:30 pm EDT. To register, please go to: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8522288642270023693.

This webinar will review information about the P2 Grant program and the application process to help potential applicants submit a high-quality application to EPA for consideration.  Time will be provided on the webinar for questions and answers. 

The second webinar will be held on Tuesday, February 25, 2020 from 2:00 – 3:30 pm EDT to review and answer questions on the NEAs for this grant competition cycle. To register, please go to: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4696774328423521549.

The webinar registration links will work best when using the Google Chrome browser.  Please consult the solicitation for further details.

Proposals are due by March 31, 2020. Additional information is available on www.grants.gov, under Funding Opportunity Announcement EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-001.

Read more about P2 and the P2 Grant Program.

Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.


PMF & Green Chemistry final reports/Ecology & EPA news/EAP sampling schedule/Upcoming mtgs.

Task Force,

The PMF blank study final report with the changes discussed at the last Task Force meeting can be seen on the website at this link: http://srrttf.org/?page_id=10186

The final IPCBs and Pigments report from Northwest Green Chemistry can be seen at this link: http://srrttf.org/?page_id=10179

Ecology’s Water Quality Program is offering more than $183 million in financial assistance for 106 high-priority clean water projects across the state.  See the link below for more information:
From onsite septic repair to stormwater infrastructure, $183 million is going to more than 100 clean water projects

EPA’s May 2019 Fish and Shellfish Program Newsletter focuses on PCBs. Click the link for some interesting articles.

Brandee Era-Miller and Siana Wong from the Dept. of Ecology will be out on the Spokane River doing sampling work the first week in August and they could use one additional person to help on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday August 6-8. Please email Siana Wong, swon461@ECY.WA.GOV if interested.

Upcoming work group meetings (conf. calls: 605-313-5141, 723394#):
July 31 – Tech Track @ 10 am (Dept. of Ecology office, 4601 N. Monroe St., Spokane)
Aug. 7 – TSCA conf. call @ 10 am
Aug. 8 – Data Management conf. call @ 3pm
Aug. 13 – Education and Outreach @ 10 am (Spokane Regional Health District office)
For meeting materials please follow this link on the website: http://srrttf.org/?page_id=9623 and then select the work group you are interested in.


PMF Phase 1 Report comments due 5/17 – Ecology letter to EPA regarding WA water quality standards

Hi Task Force members and interested parties,

As a reminder, the PMF phase 1 report comments are due to Mike Hermanson (mhermanson@spokanecounty.org) by next Friday, May 17.  Please also cc lara@whitebluffsconsulting.com.  Here is the report: PMF Blank Study draft final report_030419

Maia Bellon, the Director of Ecology recently sent a letter to EPA urging them not to reconsider Washington’s water quality standards for human health criteria.  The letter can be found here: 5-7-19 Director Bellon Letter to EPA Administrator Wheeler re HHC

Also, here is a research brief provided by Mike LaScoula from Spokane Regional Health District on the breakdown of PCBs to potentially harmful metabolites in humans: SRP_ResearchBrief_293_508

Thanks!

Upcoming October Meetings

Hello Task Force members and interested parties,

Here are the schedules for upcoming work group meetings and our next Task Force meeting.

Upcoming Work Group meetings:

TSCA Conference Call – Wednesday October 3, 2018, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
PMF Conference Call – Thursday, October 4, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Data Management Conference Call – Monday, October 15, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

The Conference Call in number for each of these meetings is 641-715-0857 and the participant code is 723394#.

We had a great Education & Outreach meeting last Friday and the meeting summary will be posted to this page on the website soon:  http://srrttf.org/?page_id=9302

Our next Task Force meeting will be held Wednesday, October 24 from 8:30 am to noon at Liberty Lake Sewer and Water.  More information to come.  We have another full meeting agenda shaping up.

Thanks!