·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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A final rule under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act streamlines regulation of hazardous secondary materials when they are recycled by reclamation. EPA’s regulation maintains strong protection of human health and the environment by limiting the streamlined requirements to specific, legitimate recycling activities.

“Removing barriers to legitimate recycling is good for business and the environment,” said Susan Parker Bodine, assistant administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “This rule will help conserve natural resources, save energy, and, reduce costs.”

The rule excludes materials from the federal hazardous waste system that are:

• generated and legitimately reclaimed under the control of the generator;
• generated and transferred to another company for legitimate reclamation under specific conditions; or
• determined by EPA or an authorized state to be non-wastes on a case-by-case basis via a petition process.

The rule also contains a provision to determine which recycling activities are legitimate under the new exclusions and non-waste determinations. These exclusions are not available for materials that are considered inherently waste-like, used in a manner constituting disposal, or burned for energy recovery.

EPA estimates that about 5,600 facilities handling approximately 1.5 million tons of hazardous secondary materials annually may be impacted by this rule. The activities most affected are metals and solvent recycling. EPA estimates that the regulation will save approximately $95 million per year for the affected industries.

Information about the Definition of Solid Waste Rule: epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/dsw/index.htm
To read this rule: epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/dsw/rulemaking.htm

Friday, October 24, 2008

Registration and Exhibits open at 9:00 a.m.
Speakers and Workshops from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Hosted by the Village of Lisle, Benedictine University, and The Morton Arboretum. Presented by the State of Illinois Green Governments Coordinating Council.

Benedictine University Krasa Center
5700 College Road
Lisle, IL 60532

Registration for the 2008 Sustainable Cities Symposium is free.

• Symposium Registration
• Symposium Program

Read the press release.

Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (KAB) is proud to announce its partnership with leading publisher Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing to promote Little Green Books, a new eco-friendly line of children’s novelty and storybooks aimed at parents and children looking to learn more about the environment.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Four new books illuminate the confluence of science, art and ornithology.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

In the last few decades, there have been surprises on each side of the energy debate.

Read the press release.

To honor Child Health Day, EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education is launching a campaign to educate middle and high school students about climate change, its effects on children’s health, and actions teens can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become Climate Ambassadors in their communities.

Solicitation Closing Date: December 23, 2008: 4:00 pm Eastern Time

SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Synopsis of Program:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of the P3 Award Program, is seeking applications proposing to research, develop, and design solutions to real world challenges involving the overall sustainability of human society. The P3 competition highlights the use of scientific principles in creating innovative projects focused on sustainability. The P3 Awards program was developed to foster progress toward sustainability by achieving the mutual goals of economic prosperity, protection of the planet, and improved quality of life for its people– people, prosperity, and the planet – the three pillars of sustainability. The EPA offers the P3 competition in order to respond to the technical needs of the world while moving towards the goal of sustainability. Please see the P3 website (http://www.epa.gov/P3) for more details about this program.

Award Information:
Anticipated Type of Award: Grant
Estimated Number of Awards: Approximately 50 awards for Phase I; Approximately 6 awards for Phase II
Anticipated Funding Amount: Approximately $950,000 total for all awards
Potential Funding per Award: Up to $10,000 per Phase I grant for one year including direct and indirect costs. Proposals for Phase I grants requesting an award of more than $10,000 will not be considered. Upon the successful completion of Phase I, Phase I grant recipients will have the opportunity to apply for Phase II funding of up to $75,000 for two additional years including direct and indirect costs (see Background section for more information). Proposals for Phase II grants requesting an award of more than $75,000 will not be considered. Cost-sharing is not required for either Phase I or Phase II grants.

Eligibility Information:
Public nonprofit institutions/organizations (limited to degree-granting public institutions of higher education) and private nonprofit institutions/organizations (limited to degree-granting private institutions of higher education) located in the U.S. are eligible to apply. See full announcement for more details.

For a full-color, graphic version of this newsletter, go to http://greenbiz.com/enewsletter.

Green IT Can Make a Splash in the World of Water
By Matthew Wheeland
http://www.greenbiz.com/podcast/2008/10/06/green-it-make-splash-world-water
Peter Williams, the Chief Technology Officer for IBM’s Big Green Innovations project, explains how the company’s idea for a new, nonprofit water organization can make managing our most precious resource even more efficient.

New Report from GreenBiz.com Proposes Bringing IT to Water Management
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/06/greenbiz-report-brings-it-water-management
In the first of our new series of reports, Peter Williams of IBM explains the potential for high-tech water management strategies, and offers a call for a new public-private organization to manage U.S. water use efficiently.

USPS Aims to Cut Energy Use by a Third
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/03/usps-aims-cut-energy-use-a-third
USPS is applying a variety of strategies, such as energy efficiency requirements for equipment, green building practices, lighting retrofits in processing plants, renewable energy systems and alternative fuel vehicles.

Sustainable Agriculture Standard Talks Begin
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/03/sustainable-agriculture-standard-talks-begin
More than 50 companies and interested parties are represented on the panel working to set a nationwide standard of sustainable agriculture.

Ben & Jerry’s Trials Cleaner Freezers
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/02/ben-jerrys-trials-cleaner-freezers
The ice cream company has received EPA permission to install freezers cooled with propane, technology used widely in Europe but banned in the U.S.

New Digital Book Profiles Green Programs at Apple, Gap, Other Firms
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/02/new-digital-book-profiles-green-programs-apple-gap-other-firms
A new book available only in digital form from Vault.com Inc. profiles the eco-friendly practices and programs of nearly 70 North American companies.

PepsiCo Reports Making Big Strides Toward Green Goals
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/03/pepsico-reports-making-big-strides-toward-green-goals
PepsiCo, the corporate parent of Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Quaker foods, Tropicana and the soda that is its namesake, said it’s making strong progress toward its environmental goals. In September, PepsiCo was named anew to the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North American indexes.

Enterprise Offers Nationwide Car Sharing Program
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/01/enterprise-offers-nationwide-car-sharing-program
Enterprise expanded its business-to-business car sharing service nationwide in a move it says will accommodate the recent surge in public transportation ridership, the company said Tuesday.

SF Mayor Issues Solar Challenge to 1,500 Biggest Firms
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/01/sf-mayor-solar-challenge
The 1,500 largest firms in San Francisco can each get a free solar assessment and an energy audit, if they enlist in Mayor Gavin Newsom’s drive to install enough solar power arrays to generate 5 megawatts of electricity – double the city’s current capacity for sun power.

California Passes Chemical Regulation Law, EPA Gathering More Health Information
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/09/30/california-passes-chemical-regulation-law-epa-gathering-more-health-information
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that creates a comprehensive, state-level approach to regulating chemicals, while the EPA continues efforts to gather health and safety information on widely-used substances

UN Report Predicts Renewable Energy Can Create 20M Jobs by 2030
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/09/30/green-jobs
Efforts to curb climate change and a growing global market for environmental products and services are expected to create millions of jobs worldwide in the coming decades, according to a report from the United Nations Environment Programme.

The Green Collar Economy
http://www.greenbiz.com/resources/resource/the-green-collar-economy
“The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems” offers a look at the ways that investing in green jobs can save the economy and the environment at the same time.

“Mean it Like you Say It: Authenticity As a Core Principle Of Enterprise That Flourishes Over Time”
http://www.greenbiz.com/resources/resource/mean-it-like-you-say-it
Expert marketing strategists share their slideshow about building credible brands and strong foundations for eco-friendly businesses from their panel at the 2008 West Coast Green Conference.

Six Steps to the Greenest Meetings Possible
By Deborah Fleischer
http://www.greenbiz.com/feature/2008/10/06/six-steps-greenest-meetings-possible
Although more and more meetings are happening virtually, there are times when only a physical meeting will do. Here are some easy steps to make sure your next event is as low-impact as possible

When GE meets Google
By Marc Gunther
http://www.greenbiz.com/column/2008/09/27/when-ge-meets-google
Because many of us are captivated by the extraordinary goings-on in Washington, on Wall Street and in the presidential campaign, it’s easy to overlook everything else that’s happening in the world of business.

The Five Horsemen of Environmental Change
By Brad Allenby
http://www.greenbiz.com/column/2008/10/03/five-horsemen-environmental-change
Just as railroads fundamentally changed the country and the world in the 19th century, five even more power technologies are already among us, making it all the more imperative that we examine them from their potential environmental impacts.

The Blossoming of Biomimicry
By Joel Makower
http://www.greenbiz.com/column/2008/09/24/the-blossoming-biomimicry
Much like a healthy ecosystem, biomimicry is flourishing.