U.S. EPA Asking Public for Hydraulic Fracturing Research Related to Drinking Water Resources; Deadline to Submit Data or Studies is Nov. 15, 2013

On April 30, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it had extended from April 30 to November 15, 2013, its deadline for accepting data and scientific literature from the public for the agency’s study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking-water resources.  Following is the EPA’s background statement on its request for information, from the Federal Register notice of the deadline extension, online at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/04/30/2013-10154/request-for-information-to-inform-hydraulic-fracturing-research-related-to-drinking-water-resources.

“In response to public concern, the U.S. Congress urged the EPA to conduct scientific research to examine the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and drinking water resources.  The EPA currently has underway a study to understand the potential impacts, if any, of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources and to identify the driving factors that may affect the severity and frequency of any such impacts.

“The scope of the study includes the full hydraulic fracturing water lifecycle—from water acquisition, through the mixing of chemicals and injection of fracturing fluids, to the post fracturing stage, including the management of flowback and produced water and its ultimate treatment and disposal.  The study includes a review of the published literature, analysis of existing data, scenario evaluation and modeling, laboratory studies and case studies.  A copy of the EPA document entitled, Study of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources: PROGRESS REPORT can be found on the Internet at: http://epa.gov/hfstudy/pdfs/hf-report20121214.pdf.

“To ensure that the EPA is up-to-date on evolving hydraulic fracturing practices and technologies, the EPA is soliciting relevant data and scientific literature specific to potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources.  While the EPA conducts a thorough literature search, there may be studies or other primary technical sources that are not available through the open literature.  The EPA would appreciate receiving information from the public to help inform current and future research.   Consistent with our commitment to using the highest quality information, The EPA prefers information which has been peer reviewed.  Interested persons may provide scientific analyses, studies, and other pertinent scientific information, preferably information which has undergone scientific peer review.  The EPA will consider all submissions but will give preference to all peer reviewed data and literature sources.”

Virginia Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards in 2013 Recognize 28 Programs and Projects

At the Environment Virginia Conference in Lexington on April 10, Gov. Robert McDonnell’s office announced the 2013 winners of the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards.  The awards recognize four levels of achievement—Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorable Mention—in environmental programs, environmental projects, land-conservation programs, or land-conservation projects.  This year, nine Gold Medals were awarded, along with four Silver Medals, six Bronze Medals, and nine Honorable Mentions.  The Gold Medal winners were as follows: DuPont Spruance Plant in Richmond for its Environmental Sustainability Program; Joint Base Langley-Eustis for the Fort Eustis Sustainability Program; Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story for waste-management and resource-efficiency efforts; MillerCoors Shenandoah Brewery in Elkton, for its energy-efficiency efforts; Pepsico Blue Ridge Gatorade plant inWytheville, for its comprehensive sustainability program; Piedmont Environmental Council in Warrenton for its Land Conservation Program; Prince William County’s Solid Waste Division for its Sustainability Program; the Virginia Port Authority for its Corporate Environment and Sustainability Program; and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg for its Sustainability Program.

The complete list of award winners, with descriptions of their achievements, is available online available in the award ceremony program, online at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/PollutionPrevention/GovernorsEnvironmentalExcellenceAwards.aspx.

For a Water Central News Grouper post on last year’s winners, please see Virginia Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards in 2012 Recognize 26 Projects and Programs, posted 4/27/12.

Dominion Resources Announces in Early April 2013 Its Permit Application for Liquefied Natural Gas Export-facility Project at Terminal in Chesapeake Bay Off Maryland

On April 1, 2013, Dominion Resources, Inc., based in Richmond, Va., announced that it had filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to convert an import facility to an export facility at the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Cove Point in the Chesapeake Bay (off Calvert County, Maryland).  Dominion also announced that it has agreements in place with Indian and Japanese companies to buy the LNG from the proposed facility.  The plans for an export facility follow the large expansion of U.S. natural gas production in recent years, including from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations underlying several mid-Atlantic states (including small parts of Virginia).  In January 2013, a Maryland court ruled in Dominion’s favor in a lawsuit by the Sierra Club seeking to halt the project; the Sierra Club has appealed that ruling.

Source: Dominion moves ahead with Md. gas export project, Associated Press, 4/1/13.
Please see also Update on Dominion-Sierra Club Dispute over Proposed LNG Export Terminal in Chesapeake Bay, posted 6/7/12 on the Water Central News Grouper (updated 9/18/12).

Proposed Natural Gas Power Plant in Loudoun County is Subject of Public Hearing April 3, 2013, by Va. Air Pollution Control Board

The draft permit for a proposal to build a 750 megawatt-capacity, natural-gas-fired electrical-generating plant south of Leesburg (Loudoun County) will be the subject of an April 3, 2013, Air Pollution Control Board/Department of Environmental Quality public hearing and information session (6 p.m., at the Stone Bridge High School cafeteria, 43100 Hay Road in Ashburn).  Green Energy Partners/Stonewall, LLC, proposes to build and operate the Stonewall Combined-Cycle Project, first announced in 2009 and estimated to cost $600 million.  According to the company’s Web site (http://www.loudounpower.com/project/, as of 3/22/13), the project would have two natural-gas turbines; include a photovoltaic solar-energy array; and use up to 5 million gallons per day of Leesburg’s treated wastewater for cooling.  The public comment on the draft permit runs 2/27/13 to 4/19/13.

Sources: Developers seek fast track for Loudoun energy plant, Washington Business Journal, 9/28/12; ‘Green Energy’ Plant Proposed In Loudoun, Leesburg Today, 2/27/09; and Virginia Regulatory Town Hall information on the April 3 meeting, online at http://townhall.virginia.gov/L/Viewmeeting.cfm?meetingid=19627.

Virginia’s (and the Nation’s) Infrastructure Gets Graded by the American Society of Civil Engineers

Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) publishes a “report card” on the state of engineered infrastructure in the United States.  The latest national report was released March 19, 2013, and gave a grade of D+, a small improvement over the D grade given in 2009.  The report covers infrastructure in aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water, energy, hazardous waste, inland waterways, levees, ports, public parks and recreation, rail, roads, schools, solid waste, transit, and wastewater.  According to the ASCE’s news release on this year’s report, grades were assigned based on “capacity to meet future demand, condition, funding, future needs, operation and maintenance, public safety, resilience, and innovation.”  The 2013 national report also includes reports for each state.  As of 3/21/13, the Virginia assessment at the Web site for the national report was the same as that compiled in 2009 by the Virginia Section of the ASCE (ASCE-Va.).  That report give Virginia an overall grade of D+ (compared to a D in 2009), and the following grades in each category: aviation = C+; bridges = C; dams = D-; drinking water = C-; energy = C-; parks = B-; rail and transit = C-; roads = D-; schools = D+; solid waste = C; stormwater = D=; and wastewater = D+.  Key water-related facts highlighted on the Virginia page for 2013 include $6.1 billion in water-supply infrastructure needs and $6.9 billion in wastewater needs “over the next 20 years”; 184 “high-hazard” dams; 1250 “structurally deficient” bridges, and 2421 bridges considered “functionally obsolete” (out of 13,769 total bridges at the time).  The full national report for 2013 is available online at http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/#p/home; the Virginia report is available at http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/#p/state-facts/virginia.

Cartoon that accompanied a February 2010 Virginia Water Central article on the 2009 infrastructure report by the American Society of Civil Engineers-Virginia Section.  Illustration by George Wills, Blacksburg, Va. (http://www.etsy.com/people/BlacksburgArt).

Additional sources:
ASCE’s New Report Card Bumps the Nation’s Infrastructure Grade Up to a D+, ASCE News (American Society of Civil Engineers), March 2013.

American Society of Civil Engineers Report Confirms Long Overdue Need for Transportation Infrastructure Investment in Virginia, Virginia Governor’s Office News Release, 3/20/13.

Hampton Roads, Va., Area Rated 25th in 2012 Among U.S. Cities in Certifying Buildings in U.S. EPA’s Energy Star Program

On March 12, 2013, the U.S. EPA announced the 25 U.S. cities with the highest number of buildings achieving the agency’s Energy Star certification for energy efficiency and savings in 2012.  Virginia’s Hampton Roads area was 25^th on the 2012 list, with 67 buildings in the area having gained Energy Star certification last year.  Los Angeles lead the 2012 list with 528 buildings certified, followed in the top five by Washington, D.C., with 462 buildings; Chicago, 353; New York, 325; and Altanta, 304.  The EPA estimates that Energy Star-certified buildings use an average of 35 percent less energy and emit 35 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than non-certified buildings.  More information about the EPA’s Energy Star program, including a link to the list of the top 25 cities in 2012, is available online at http://www.energystar.gov/.

Sources:   EPA Announces Cities with the Most Energy Star Buildings in the US, U.S. EPA News Release, 3/12/13; and Hampton Roads lands on list for energy efficiency, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 3/15/13.

Virginia Dept. Mines, Minerals and Energy Receives Federal Finding Allowing It to Proceed with Application for Offshore Wind Energy Research Lease

On March 14, 2013, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (or BOEM, part of the Department of Interior) announced that it had found “no competitive interest” in the offshore area where the Commonwealth of Virginia (specifically, the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, or DMME) is seeking a federal lease for research activities on the potential for offshore wind energy.  According to BOEM’s news release on the finding (which was made after a public-comment period closed on January 22, 2013), the “decision clears the way for DMME to submit a plan for renewable research activities, including siting and installation of two meteorological and ocean monitoring platforms to collect data on wind velocities, water levels, waves, and bird and bat activities.”  DMME submitted an application to BOEM for a research lease in June 2012.

This development follows the December 2012 announcement by Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell’s office that the company Furgo Atlantic of Norfolk (http://www.fugroatlantic.com/) was selected to conduct a geological survey of the area (called the Virginia Wind Energy Area and comprising about 113,000 acres located 23 nautical miles offshore from Virginia Beach).  The $600,000 survey, to be funded 50:50 by the Commonwealth and the BOEM, is intended provide information on the physical and environmental characteristics of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf.  Such information is needed to allow design of offshore wind-energy structures.

Sources:  Milestone cleared for wind energy research lease offshore Virginia, U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management News Release, 3/14/13; Governor McDonnell Applauds Award for Offshore Wind Turbine Technology Demonstration to Virginia Utility, Virginia Governor’s Office News Release, 12/13/12.

Five Water, Environment, or Energy Grant Opportunities in Virginia; Deadlines Range from March 20 to September 10, 2013

The following information was provided on March 13, 2013, by the Virginia Water Monitoring Council (VWMC).  Please feel free to forward this information.  When forwarding, please acknowledge the VWMC.  For more information about the VWMC, please visit http://vwrrc.vt.edu/vwmc/default.asp.

The VWMC is able to provide these announcements and others because of grants from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s Citizen Monitoring Grant Program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Virginia Department of Health. 

Virginia Trees for Clean Water – Submission deadline: March 20, 2013 – Designed to encourage creating and supporting long-term and sustained canopy cover. Grant funding is available on a 50/50 match basis for local units of government, approved non-profit organizations, community civic organizations, educational institutions, or private citizens. In-kind matches including volunteer time are permissible. Contact Barbara White at 434-220-9041 or barbara.white@dof.virginia.gov to get a copy of the request for proposals and guidelines.

Chesapeake Bay Green Streets-Green Jobs-Green Towns Grant Program – Submission deadline: March 22, 2013 – The initiative supports local, grassroots-level greening efforts by towns and communities in urbanized watersheds that reduce stormwater run-off through creation of “green streets.” To learn more or apply, visit: http://www.cbtrust.org/site/c.miJPKXPCJnH/b.5457271/k.C58E/Grants.htm. For more information, contact Hieu Truong at htruong@cbtrust.org or 410-974-2941 (ext. 112).

Keep Virginia Beautiful: 30 Grants in 30 Days – Awards given: April, 2013 – Thirty applicants throughout Virginia will receive $500 grants in the following areas: (a) Cigarette Litter Prevention, (b) Plastic Bag Litter Prevention and Recycling, and (c) Beautification and Community Greening. The awards will be given in April to coincide with Earth Day. The following website will have grant applications available soon, and currently describes past recipients: http://www.keepvirginiabeautiful.org/outreach/grants/.

Dominion Grants for K–12 Teachers for Math and Science Programs – Submission deadline: May 1, 2013 – Dominion Power is accepting applications for the 2013-14 academic year for grants that provide elementary and secondary educators with the tools they need to revitalize math and science education through the study of energy or the environment. Dominion accepts grant applications up to $10,000. To learn more or apply, visit: https://www.dom.com/about/education/grants/index.jsp. For more information, contact the Dominion Educational Partnerships coordinator, Educational_Grants@dom.com.

National Science Foundation: Water Sustainability and Climate Grant – Submission deadline: September 10, 2013 – The goal is to enhance the understanding and predict the interactions between the water system and land use changes, the built environment, ecosystem function and services and climate change/variability through place-based research and integrative models. Partner agencies include the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture. To view details, visit:   http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503452. For more information, contact Thomas Torgersen at ttorgers@nsf.gov or 703-292-4738.

Virginia Power Outage Map Links from AEP and Dominion Virginia Power

As of 3/6/13:

To see a map of American Electric Power (AEP) power outages in Virginia, visit https://www.appalachianpower.com/outages/Default.aspx.

To see see a map of Dominion Virginia Power outages, visit https://www.dom.com/storm-center/dominion-electric-outage-map.jsp.

50 Recommendations for U.S. Energy System Affordability, Security, and Environmental Sustainability are Focus of Bipartisan Policy Center Report Released on 2-27-13

On February 27, 2013, the Energy Project of the Bipartisan Policy Center (http://bipartisanpolicy.org/) released America’s Energy Resurgence: Sustaining Progress, Confronting Challenges, a 188-page report that lists 50 recommendations for achieving a “U.S. energy system [providing] affordable, secure, and reliable supplies of energy and …continuous improvement in environmental performance,” according to the report’s summary.  The recommendations are in four broad areas: pursuing a diverse portfolio of energy resources; improving the energy productivity of the economy; accelerating innovation and technology improvements across the energy sector; and improving energy policy governance and accountability.  Links to the full report and its summary are available online at http://bipartisanpolicy.org/library/report/america%E2%80%99s-energy-resurgence-sustaining-success-confronting-challenges.