Attached is the final draft of the Spokane River Biofilm Study for Task Force review. Ecology will evaluate and consider any comments that are made. Please provide any comments by March 11 to Brandee Era Miller @ BERA461@ECY.WA.GOV and cc lara@whitebluffsconsulting.com.
Here is the link to the report on Ecology’s ezShare site:
Clean Water Act Section 123 Columbia River Basin Restoration Program – Request for Applications – NEW DEADLINE March 8th
EPA is offering a one month extension to the following funding opportunities.
Applications must be submitted electronically by Tuesday, March 8, 2022 11:59 pm (Eastern) through www.grants.gov by following the instructions in the RFA.
Columbia River Basin Restoration Funding Assistance Program – Lower Columbia River Estuary Basin
EPA-R10-OW-CRBRP-2022-01 is available at: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=336445.
Columbia River Basin Restoration Funding Assistance Program – Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin
EPA-R10-OW-CRBRP-2022-02 is available at: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=336446.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 (EPA), is issuing two Request for Applications (RFA) from eligible entities to improve water quality in the Lower Columbia River Estuary and/or the Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin through specific actions to reduce toxics, increase monitoring, and/or increase public education and outreach. The Columbia River Basin Restoration Program (CRBRP) will assist tribal, state, and local governments; nongovernmental entities, and others as they implement the Columbia River Basin Toxics Reduction Action Plan and the Lower Columbia River Estuary Plan – Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan and conduct activities to support EPA national goals for the Columbia River Basin.
Eligible projects must address at least one of the following project categories: eliminating or reducing pollution; cleaning up contaminated sites; improving water quality; monitoring to evaluate trends; reducing runoff; protecting habitat; or promoting citizen engagement or knowledge. Priority for funding will be given to projects which are consistent with federal fiscal years 2021 and 2022 (FY21/22) funding priorities as described in the RFA.
More information about this funding opportunity can be found at: EPA’s Columbia River Basin Website .
Our work to rid schools and buildings of hazardous PCBs
Few would argue there are higher priorities than protecting children from harm. We agree with the need to provide protection for children, and want to see that protection extended to those who work with children in the places where they spend vast amounts of time: schools.
Our work to identify and eliminate toxic chemicals in schools has been ongoing for decades, but a big push in recent years has been targeting polychlorinated biphenyls, also known as PCBs. While the government banned the manufacture of PCBs in the U.S. in 1979, the chemicals remain in buildings that were constructed or renovated before or around that date.
PCBs are a group of human-made compounds found in air, water, land, and sediments. They last for decades in the environment, building up in the food chain causing toxic effects to the immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems in people and animals. PCBs also cause cancer in animals and are believed to cause cancer in people.