Thursday, January 13, 2005

[Environmental policy] EPA IG Reports on Management Challenges EPA's Office of Inspector General (IG) recently published its Semiannual Report to Congress on EPA activities of April 2004 through September 2004. The report discusses the management challenges being faced by the EPA, and notes the progress that has been made regarding these challenges as well as the areas where further improvements are needed. Among the issues addressed in the report are several that are particularly significant to the chemical industry and related sectors. These include: Effectiveness of Effluent Guidelines in Reducing Pollutant Discharges Uncertain: EPA’s effluent guidelines program underwent a number of changes in the 1990s. While improvements occurred, the impact of those guidelines in reducing pollutant discharges and meeting Clean Water Act goals remains uncertain. Effluent guidelines are national technology regulations that limit the discharge of pollutants to surface waters and publicly owned treatment works. Guidelines are to be taken into account as part of the renewal of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits for individual facilities’ discharge permits. Petroleum Refinery Program Needs to Improve Tracking: EPA’s performance measurement and reporting approach for the national petroleum refinery program has not provided useful and reliable information necessary to effectively implement, manage, evaluate, and continuously improve program results. EPA has not established and communicated clear goals, systematically monitored refinery program progress, reported actual outcomes, or tracked progress toward achievement of consent decree goals. EPA learned several important lessons that it should apply to its refinery program and perhaps other enforcement and compliance assurance programs. These include focusing on specific enforcement concerns and encouraging EPA regional and headquarters staff to effectively work together.  [ChemAlliance Environmental News] 10:38:36 AM Google It!    [Climate change] Fossil Fuel Curbs May Speed Global Warming: Scientists LONDON (Reuters) - Cutting down on fossil fuel pollution could accelerate global warming and help turn parts of Europe into desert by 2100, according to research to be aired on British television on Thursday. "Global Dimming," a BBC Horizon documentary, will describe research suggesting fossil fuel by-products like sulfur dioxide particles reflect the sun's rays, "dimming" temperatures and almost canceling out the greenhouse effect. [Reuters: Science] 10:29:24 AM Google It!    [E-waste] Tell Steve Jobs to recycle his iWaste From Gil Friend: Coolest pack of gum I'VE ever seen. Apple's done it again with the iPod Shuffle, continuing the ephemeralization of technolust. Very, very cool. But not totally cool, as Ted Smith of Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition reminds us: Tell Steve Jobs to recycle his iWaste: Steve Jobs should do more than celebrate his profits. He should live up to his good reputation and take responsibility for Apple's iWaste. He should harness the company's resources to produce toxic-free iPods and to recycle the millions of obsolete Apple computers that can poison our communities with over 36 million pounds of lead. Up to now, Jobs has chosen another course. His company has no effective program to recycle discarded computers or iPods nor has it eliminated many toxins in its products. It opposes legislation to recycle electronic waste and produce cleaner machines. Batteries for iPods that fizzle out after a year or two and which are difficult and expensive to replace are Apple's most recent addition to the growing toxic iWaste mass. It's time for Jobs to take another approach. [Gil Friend] 10:27:31 AM Google It!    [Design for Environment] It Began With a Dot: Product Regulation and Future Markets From Gil Friend: New Bottom Line: It Began With a Dot. Speaking of eWaste and the ecological challenges facing the computer industry, I've just posted a new 'New Bottom Line' column to the Natural Logic web site. It Began With a Dot: Product Regulation and Future Markets looks at: how the European electronic product take back and content directives are rippling through the industry's supply chain; why so many companies have been surprised, scrambling and resistent; how they could have seen it coming -- and can see what might be coming next -- by looking through; and what they can do about it -- profitably. An excerpt: Some companies have embraced the inevitable, and are diligently investing time and money in reaching goalposts that the EU is still moving. Hewlett Packard, for example, has made "design for environment" a key part of product design strategy, and has created a joint venture with mining giant Noranda to field an efficient take-back system -- mining the exceptionally rich ores of modern society's high tech detritus. Others have taken a "do as little as possible, as late as possible" strategy -- a strategy based on a pervasive and deeply wrong-headed assumption: that designing and delivering better, more efficient, less toxic, more recyclable products would necessarily cost more money and yield less profit. The bottom line impact of losing access to the European market aside, the assumption is patently -- and demonstrably -- false.... What can be done about it? Here are four steps to consider: Understand the drivers. Drop the assumptions. Face the facts. Design what works - before it's demanded. Steer by the logic, not the thresholds [Gil Friend] 10:26:06 AM Google It!    [Fuel cells] Honda's President Details Initiatives in Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Engines Honda President Takeo Fukui laid out a vision for the company's future yesterday that was both clear and compact. [ENN Business Headlines] 10:24:33 AM Google It!    [Aquariums] The better aquarium: lights, coral - no cyanide Industry and environmental groups are pushing a system to catch ornamental fish in a sustainable way. [Christian Science Monitor | Sci/Tech] 10:23:53 AM Google It!    [Government] High-Performance Government: Structure, Leadership, Incentives Government--United States Source: RAND Corporation High-Performance Government: Structure, Leadership, Incentives "In 2003, the National Commission on the Public Service, chaired by Paul Volcker, issued a report detailing problems within the federal government today and recommending changes in its organization, leadership, and operations. This book suggests practical ways to implement the recommendations and defines a research agenda for the future. Thirteen essays address the primary problem areas identified by the Volcker Commission, and the commission report itself is included." Full Document (PDF; 1.9 MB) [ResourceShelf's DocuTicker] 10:21:57 AM Google It!    [Air pollution] North American Power Plant Air Emissions Power Plants--North America Source: Commission for Environmental Cooperation North American Power Plant Air Emissions "This report represents a milestone in promoting cooperation in North America through the collection, exchange, and public dissemination of comparable environmental information by Canada, Mexico and the United States. The report presents, for the first time, specific air pollutant information from 2002 for individual fossil fuel-fired power plants across North America." + Read the Report [PDF] [ResourceShelf's DocuTicker] 10:18:03 AM Google It!    [Remediation] Bioremediation Bug Genome Revealed Dehalococcoides ethenogenes is the only bacterium known to reductively dechlorinate groundwater pollutants, tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE), to ethylene. Seshadri et al. (p. 105) now present an analysis of the genome of D. ethenogenes. Multiple dehalogenases and reductases were identified which indicate that the organism is highly evolved to utilize halogenated organic compounds and H2. The analysis provides insight into the organism's complex nutrient requirements, and surprisingly suggests that an ancestor was a nitrogen-fixing autotroph. Because the organism is difficult to culture, the genome sequence contributes significantly to our understanding of the physiology of this organism and its bioremediation potential. (Science, Vol 307, Issue 5706, 13 , 7 January 2005). [This Week in Science] 10:16:39 AM Google It!    [Remediation] Mmmmm, Toxicants Genome sequence reveals how a bacterium breaks down toxic pollutants [ScienceNOW] 10:09:46 AM Google It!

© Copyright 2005 Laura L. Barnes. Last update: 10/25/2005; 12:09:02 PM.