Pardon the Dust

You may have noticed that the Partnership blog is lacking it’s normal flair, branding and color scheme.  We’re working through some small upgrades and have, for the time being, cut everything back the basic template while we tweak.  Look for the familiar layout, with some new additions, very soon.

Implementing Better Models for Development in the Lehigh Valley

On January 24, representatives from Lehigh and Northampton Counties have planned a public presentation to learn and discuss how we can better make choices for the way our region develops and ensure that development serves our communities, not the other way around. At this evening reception Ed McMahon, a nationally recognized authority on sustainable development, land conservation, and urban design, will provide a public talk based on “Better Models for Development in Pennsylvania”, a guide to creating, maintaining, and enhancing livable communities. The Lehigh Valley is changing; come hear ideas on how to change while keeping our Valley a special place.The program is Free and open to the public. Reception begins at 5:30 followed by the presentation at 6:30.

Please pre-register by contacting Sharla Kistler at 610-965-4397 or skistler@wildlandspa.org

EPA Streamlines Conformity Rule in Response to SAFETEA-LU

From EPA:

Contact: Margot Perez-Sullivan, (202) 564-4355 / PerezSullivan.Margot@epa.gov

State and local governments gain more flexibility to meet transportation conformity requirements, without reducing the program’s important health and air quality benefits, under a new EPA final rule.

Mandated by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), enacted August 2005, the transportation conformity rule provides state and local governments:– more time to meet conformity requirements,
– more flexibility before the consequences of not meeting conformity requirements apply, and
– the option of shortening the timeframe of conformity determinations.Also, this final rule streamlines conformity requirements for transportation projects in carbon monoxide nonattainment and maintenance areas.

Transportation conformity is a Clean Air Act requirement that ensures that federally supported highway and transit project activities are consistent with (conform to) the purpose of a state air quality implementation plan.More on changes to the transportation conformity rule: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/conf-regs.htm

Radon Information from EPA

Radon Causes 100 Times More Deaths than Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: EPA Launches National Radon Action Month

–Breathing home indoor radon causes nearly one hundred times more deaths each year than carbon monoxide poisoning.

–Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer behind smoking.

–Some 20,000 people will die this year due to breathing too much radon without even knowing it.

Responding to this danger, EPA is joining state, local, and tribal governments, community groups, public health organizations, and industry in designating January as National Radon Action Month, to raise public awareness and promote actions reducing these risks.

“In our national drive to reduce greenhouse gases by making our homes greener, we shouldn’t forget that they can’t truly be green without being safe places for people to live,” said Marcus Peacock, EPA’s deputy administrator. “It’s remarkably easy to protect our loved ones by testing for radon and building new homes with radon-resistant features that allow everyone to breathe freely and safely.”

As part of Radon Action Month, EPA has released a public service announcements featuring Fuad Reveiz, a member of the National Association of Home Builders and former NFL Pro Bowl place-kicker.

“It’s simple and cost-effective to build new homes with radon-resistant features,” said Reveiz. “It makes sense to do it right from the start.”

Radon is an invisible radioactive gas that seeps into homes undetected through foundation cracks, and can reach harmful levels if trapped indoors. It travels up from underground sources of uranium in the earth’s crust. EPA estimates that one in 15 homes will have a radon level of four PicoCuries per liter (pCi/L) of air or more, a level the agency considers high.

The radon threat is preventable with some simple steps. In existing homes, families can begin protecting themselves by buying an easy-to-use radon test kit to determine if a high level exists; if so, a high level might be lowered simply with a straight-forward radon venting system installed by a contractor. In new homes, builders can easily and economically include radon-resistant features during construction, and home buyers should ask for these. EPA also recommends that home buyers ask their builder to test for radon gas before they move in.

Radon preventive actions have saved an estimated 6,000 lives in the last 20 years. EPA has a goal to double that number, to 12,000 lives saved, in the next five years. All Americans can contribute to saving someone’s life by testing and reducing high levels in existing homes or testing and building radon-resistant new homes.

As part of an effort called Radon Leaders Saving Lives, EPA is working with state and local governments, non-profit organizations, and radon professionals across the country to educate consumers about ways to reduce radon in existing and new homes. Moreover, everyone can be a radon leader and help save a life by telling a friend or neighbor about preventing lung cancer from breathing radon.

For more information about radon, visit: http://www.epa.gov/radon or call 1-800-SOS-RADON (767-7236)

Radio and print PSAs are available in English and Spanish at: http://www.epa.gov/radon/rnpsa.html

Try Transit Day Update

 

The Coalition for Appropriate Transportation has posted a recap of December’s Try Transit Day. Check it out here

 

January Is Radon Action Month

HARRISBURG (Jan. 2) – January is Radon Action Month and DEP urges all Pennsylvanians to test their homes for radon, a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. The best time to conduct the test is during the colder months when homes are closed and radon is most likely to be trapped and build to unhealthy levels.

Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that occurs naturally through the breakdown of uranium in soil and rocks. It seeps into homes through cracks in basements and foundations, and high levels of radon have been found in homes throughout Pennsylvania. The EPA recommends taking action to lower the level of radon in your home if the level is 4.0 pico Curies/liter (pC/l) or higher.

Radon mitigation systems typically cost between $800 and $1,200 and most homeowners will want to hire a radon mitigation professional to install the system. In Pennsylvania, anyone who tests or performs mitigation work for radon on a home other than the one in which they live must be certified by DEP. A list of certified radon contractors is available at www.depweb.state.pa.us, or by calling 1-800-23 RADON.

Weekend Forecast: Code Yellow

The Lehigh Valley/Berks Area Air Quality Forecast for:Saturday, January 5, 2008:
Fine Particulates (PM 2.5) – Code YELLOW

Sunday, January 6, 2008:
Fine Particulates (PM 2.5) – Code YELLOW

Monday, January 7, 2008:
Fine Particulates (PM 2.5) – Code YELLOW

Regional Maximum PM 2.5 Concentrations:
Thursday, December 20, 2007:
PM 2.5 – GREEN (25 AQI or 7.7 µg/m3)

Short-Term Discussion: Winds have shifted and the bitterly cold air mass that has affected us over the last couple of days will lift back up into Canada. Milder air will filter over the eastern US this weekend though clouds and possible rain showers should keep temperatures from rising too high; the models are suggesting upper 50s or even 60s for early next week. The westerly wind shift around midnight coincided with a jump of air quality readings; moderate levels are expected to continue through this weekend.

Partly cloudy and cold overnight with temperatures expected to bottom out near 20 degrees in most places; a bit lower in some of the outlying areas and in the Poconos. Partly sunny early then increasing clouds by the afternoon with a slight chance of an evening shower. Afternoon temperatures are expected to reach the low to mid 40s. Saturday’s air-quality readings should remain in the code YELLOW (moderate) range.

Cloudy overnight with a chance of a light shower or even some mixed precipitation. Low temperatures could fall slightly below freezing, which could lead to poor traveling conditions with any precipitation. Remaining mostly cloudy with a chance of a light shower and afternoon temperatures rising into the low to mid 40s. Sunday’s fine-particulate concentrations should remain in the code YELLOW (moderate) range.

Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of a light shower and temperatures falling into the mid 30s. Mostly cloudy with a chance of a shower early then maybe some breaks in the clouds by the afternoon. Warm southwesterly flow could push Monday’s high temperatures into the 50s. Monday’s fine-particulate concentrations should remain in the code YELLOW (moderate) range.

Extended: Persistent southwesterly flow around a stubborn high-pressure system anchored off the east coast will gradually bring unusually warm air over much of the Northeast by the end of this weekend. Next week’s temperatures should be well above normal for this time of year. A potent storm system will make its way across the country’s midsection bringing rain to our area by Wednesday. With no real change in air mass we expect air-quality levels to remain in the moderate range for the extended period.

EPA Widens Window on Regulatory Process

From EPA:

EPA is sharing more information about ways the public can get involved in environmental regulation.

The agency has added new features to one of its most popular Web sites for environmental regulatory information. This site – titled “Laws, Regulations, Guidance and Dockets” – is often the public’s first exposure to EPA’s regulatory activities. Its user-friendliness has been enhanced with easily accessible ways to search and comment on EPA regulations and significant guidance documents, and to learn how environmental regulations are written. The site also includes new sections for finding regulations and related documents, plus regulatory history, statutory authority, supporting analyses, compliance information, and guidance for implementation. Also, for the first time, searches for regulatory information can be conducted by environmental topics, such as water or air, or by business sectors, such as transportation or construction.

The new site is easily accessible from EPA’s homepage and can be found by choosing “Laws, Regulations, Guidance & Dockets” from the left-hand navigation bar.

See the new site: http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/

Air News Brief (HQ): Air Pollutants Clear Out as Clean-Air Programs Close In

From EPA:

PA’s clean fuels programs have exceeded expectations in reducing ozone pollutants and air toxics. A new report based on data collected from 1995-2005 finds emission reductions often significantly greater than regulatory requirements. The data, which provide a view of recent gasoline property trends, are mainly from EPA’s reformulated gasoline (RFG) and anti-dumping programs. Highlights of the report include:

Gasoline sulfur decreases — Average annual sulfur content in all gasoline dropped from about 300 parts per million (ppm) in 1997 to about 90 ppm in 2005.

RFG nitrogen oxide (NOx) reductions exceed requirements — RFG exceeded applicable NOx performance standards during both Phase I (1998-1999) and Phase II (2000 and beyond).

RFG toxics reductions exceed requirements — On average, Phase I RFG complied with Phase II standards, and toxic performance still improved with the transition to Phase II standards.

Conventional gasoline NOx and toxics emissions decreased — Between 1998 and 2005, the summer NOx emissions of conventional gasoline were reduced by 5.7 percent, while summer exhaust toxics were reduced by 4.7 percent.

Ethanol use in RFG increased and MTBE use decreased — In the summer of 1996, about 11 percent of the RFG sold contained ethanol while virtually all the remainder contained MTBE. By the summer of 2005, the ethanol share increased to about 53 percent, with corresponding decreases in MTBE.

The Fuel Trends Report is now available at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/rfg/properf/rfgperf.htm

More information about the various clean fuels programs discussed in the report is available at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/gasoline.htm