The BEAT News

October 7, 2010

In the News

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Environmental Monitor
Public Notices Alphabetically by town
The BEAT News Archives

Advocacy News (Includes how to reach your legislators)

DEP Enforcement Actions In The Berkshire
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ELM Urges You to Vote "No" on Question 3

Passage would devastate environmental protection programs in Massachusetts
By George Bachrach, ELM President

There is no more important public policy question on this year's ballot than Question 3.  If approved, Question 3 would roll back the state sales tax from 6.25% to 3%.  It's a popular idea.  No one likes paying taxes.  But this rollback would cost the Commonwealth about $2.5 billion in lost revenue.  

It comes at a time when state revenues are already dramatically reduced due to the recession.  In FY '11 we already face a $2 billion budget gap, even after cutting thousands of state jobs and $3 billion from our state budget.   If Question 3 is popular, it's also a disaster for those who want services...police and fire protection, good schools, reliable mass transit and more. 

For those who work to protect the environment, further budget reductions would paralyze us.  The total environmental budget for the Commonwealth currently represents less than 1% of the overall state budget.  We have already taken disproportionate cuts in environmental agencies such as the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Conservation and Recreation and others.  If revenues decline and budgets are cut further, we jeopardize the very essence of environmental protection.

At ELM we understand voter frustration and anxiety about the economy.  But responsible government has already made substantial budget cuts, and will continue to do so.  The blunt instrument of Question 3 would cripple government and destroy much that we care about. We urge you to vote "no" on Question 3 and to spread the word to your family, friends and colleagues.

For more information and resources, visit the Vote No on Question 3 website here.
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Strategic Plan for Responding to Accelerating Climate Change
from the Climate Change and Wildlife Alliance

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently released its climate change strategy, titled "Rising to the Urgent Challenge: Strategic Plan for Responding to Accelerating Climate Change." The plan establishes a basic framework within which the USFWS will work as part of the larger conservation community to help ensure the sustainability of fish, wildlife, plants and habitats in the face of accelerating climate change. The USFWS plans to establish a network of regional hubs for scienctific research and information sharing to be known as Landscape Conservation Cooperatives.

This strategy is an important step in tackling the climate change challenge.
For more information>>
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2011 Master Gardener Training

Western Massachusetts Master Gardeners’ Association is now accepting applications for the 2011 master gardener training leading to Master Gardener Certification. Master Gardeners must complete the classes plus volunteer in public gardening activities to attain certification as a Master Gardener.  Applications for the thirteen week program that
begins January 6, 2011 can be obtained by calling 413 566-3352.or by visiting the WMMGA website at http://www.wmassmastergardeners.org/.

Applications must be submitted by October 15, 2010.
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EPA Issues Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Sustainability Policy

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Sustainability Policy with the goal of increasing the sustainability of water and wastewater infrastructure in the United States. Communities across the country are facing challenges in making costly upgrades and repairs to their aging water infrastructure, which include sewer systems and treatment facilities. Making this infrastructure last longer while increasing its cost-effectiveness is essential to protecting human health and the environment, and maintaining safe drinking water and clean water bodies. The new policy is part of EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s priority to protect America’s waters. 

The policy emphasizes the need to build on existing efforts to promote sustainable water infrastructure. The policy also focuses on working with states and water systems to employ comprehensive planning processes that result in projects that are cost effective over their life cycle, resource efficient, and consistent with community sustainability goals. The policy encourages effective utility management practices to build and maintain the level of technical, financial, and managerial capacity necessary to ensure long-term sustainability. 

The policy represents a collaborative effort between EPA and its federal, state, and local partners. Working with these partners, EPA will develop guidance, provide technical assistance, and target federal, state and other relevant federal financial assistance in support of increasing the sustainability of America’s water infrastructure.

More information
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COOL Committee organizing clothesline work party
By Meghan Foley

A sign advertising the Williamstown COOL Committee’s... (Photo courtesy of Wendy Penner)
Tuesday October 5, 2010
North Adams Transcript

WILLIAMSTOWN -- The Williamstown COOL (Carbon Dioxide Lowering) Committee is organizing a work party to install clotheslines at local homes around town Sunday.
COOL Committee Chairwoman Wendy Penner said Monday the committee hopes to install 20 clotheslines between noon and 5 p.m. in conjunction with a global event, 10/10/10.

The Global Work Party, which is being coordinated by the 350.org climate campaign, is an effort raise awareness about climate change and get governments to act on it.
"The idea is to get a work party doing something to work to solve the climate crisis," Penner said.

According to 350.org’;s website, 6,077 events were scheduled in 184 countries in conjunction with 10/10/10 as of Tuesday night.

Penner said the events can be educational or involve the reduction of energy emissions.
"The goal of the day is to send a message that if we can get to work, [our politicians] can get to work on legislature and treaties that will make our work easier," she said.
<more>
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California Law Will Phase Out Copper in Automotive Brake Pads

LOS ANGELES—California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed legislation into law Sept. 27 that limits copper and other toxics in automobile brake pads.

The bill was among several environment and energy-related measures lawmakers passed in the session that ended Aug. 31.

S.B. 346 requires manufacturers of vehicle brake pads to reduce the use of copper to no more than 5 percent by weight by 2021 and no more than 0.5 percent by 2025.

State Sen. Christine Kehoe (D), who sponsored the measure, said in a written statement that “the new law phases out the largest human-generated source of copper in California's urban watershed run-off.”

S.B. 346 grew out of a long-term effort by environmental groups, the automobile industry, and local governments to address the impact of brake pad dust on aquatic species.

“The final legislation represents a balanced approach between environmental concerns, industry feasibility and above all, motorist safety,” Curt Augustine, director of policy and government affairs at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said in a written statement.
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EPA Awards $1.9 Million in Environmental Justice Grants

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $1.9 million in environmental justice grants to 76 non-profit organizations and local governments working on environmental justice issues nationwide. The grants are designed to help communities understand and address environmental challenges and create self-sustaining, community-based partnerships focused on improving human health and the environment at the local level. The grant program supports Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s priority to expand the conversation on environmentalism and work for environmental justice.

“Through our efforts to support local environmental justice projects, we are advancing EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment in communities overburdened by pollution,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Providing training to develop a skilled green workforce will help communities become more resilient in the face of economic and environmental changes and help build healthy and sustainable communities.” 

The principles of environmental justice uphold the idea that all communities overburdened by pollution – particularly minority, low income and indigenous communities – deserve the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, equal access to the decision-making process and a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.

In addition to the traditional criteria, EPA encouraged applications focused on addressing the disproportionate impacts of climate change in communities by emphasizing climate equity, energy efficiency, renewable energy, local green economy, and green jobs capacity building. Grantee projects include trainings for local residents to increase recycling, avoiding heat stroke, improving indoor air quality, reducing carbon emissions through weatherization, and green jobs training programs.

Since 1994, the Environmental Justice Small Grants program has provided more than $21 million in funding to community-based nonprofit organizations and local governments working to address environmental justice issues in more than 1,200 communities. The $1.9 million in grant funding announced today is the largest amount of total funding in one year for environmental justice grants in more than a decade. The grant awards represent EPA’s commitment to promoting community-based actions to address environmental justice issues.

More information on the Environmental Justice Small Grants program and a list of grantees:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/grants/ej-smgrants.html

Note: If a link above doesn't work, please copy and paste the URL into a browser. 
View all news releases related to grants
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United Nations Talks Open in Tianjin to Tackle Threats From Global Warming

By Stuart Biggs - Oct 4, 2010 7:33 AM ET Mon Oct 04 11:33:59 GMT 2010

Talks aimed at reaching an agreement to mitigate climate change opened in China as the United Nations warned that time is running out before global warming reverses decades of economic development.

Delegates from 177 governments began a week of talks today in Tianjin, northern China, the first time the most populous country and biggest emitter of greenhouse gases has hosted a meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Tianjin meeting is the last chance before envoys meet in Cancun, Mexico, for Nov. 29-Dec. 10 talks to help reach an agreement that even the UN climate chief has said is unlikely this year. The last climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009 failed to produce a binding agreement even after leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama flew in to try to hammer out a deal.<more>
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U.S. Military Orders Less Dependence on Fossil Fuels

Aaron Favila/Associated Press
Oil tankers that were set on fire in Pakistan. The convoys that haul fuel to bases have been sitting ducks for enemy fighters.

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: October 4, 2010

Last week, a Marine company from California arrived in the rugged outback of Helmand Province bearing novel equipment: portable solar panels that fold up into boxes; energy-conserving lights; solar tent shields that provide shade and electricity; solar chargers for computers and communications equipment.

The 150 Marines of Company I, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, will be the first to take renewable technology into a battle zone, where the new equipment will replace diesel and kerosene-based fuels that would ordinarily generate power to run their encampment.
Even as Congress has struggled unsuccessfully to pass an energy bill and many states have put renewable energy on hold because of the recession, the military this year has pushed rapidly forward. After a decade of waging wars in remote corners of the globe where fuel is not readily available, senior commanders have come to see overdependence on fossil fuel as a big liability, and renewable technologies — which have become more reliable and less expensive over the past few years — as providing a potential answer. These new types of renewable energy now account for only a small percentage of the power used by the armed forces, but military leaders plan to rapidly expand their use over the next decade.  <more>
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Wind Farms can Change Local Climates

ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2010) — Wind power is likely to play a large role in the future of sustainable, clean energy, but wide-scale adoption has remained elusive. Now, researchers have found wind farms' effects on local temperatures and proposed strategies for mediating those effects, increasing the potential to expand wind farms to a utility-scale energy resource.

Led by University of Illinois professor of atmospheric sciences Somnath Baidya Roy, the research team will publish its findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper will appear in the journal's Online Early Edition this week.

Roy first proposed a model describing the local climate impact of wind farms in a 2004 paper. But that and similar subsequent studies have been based solely on models because of a lack of available data. In fact, no field data on temperature were publicly available for researchers to use, until Roy met Neil Kelley at a 2009 conference. Kelley, a principal scientist at the National Wind Technology Center, part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, had collected temperature data at a wind farm in San Gorgonio, Calif., for more than seven weeks in 1989.

Analysis of Kelley's data corroborated Roy's modeling studies and provided the first observation-based evidence of wind farms' effects on local temperature. The study found that the area immediately surrounding turbines was slightly cooler during the day and slightly warmer at night than the rest of the region. <more>
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THE HOUSATONIC RIVER GUIDE MAKES A SPLASH!

Which way to the river?

Follow the Housatonic River Guide!

Travel down the Housatonic River from its source in the Berkshire Hills at Muddy Pond in Washington MA to the Long Island Sound at Stratford CT where it meets the sea.

Fly over the Housatonic River Valley! Launch sites, photos, maps, water levels, tide charts, You Tube links, Watershed Communities, Land Trusts, Environmental Organizations ~ it's all here from Source to Sound!

The Housatonic River Guide is intended to assist with and inspire paddle trips on the river. Every effort has been made to provide clear, accurate and useful information about the river, river-oriented organizations and the communities of the Housatonic River Valley.

Please link the Housatonic River Guide to your website!

Take care and paddle on!

Jenny Hersch
October 2010

Housatonic River Guide
www.housatonicriverguide.com
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Tips to Green Your Halloween
from Environmental Working Group

Dressing up and celebrating Halloween can be fun -- especially for kids. It's easy to make it a healthy holiday for your family and the environment. Just follow these simple steps (download the PDF here) to green your Halloween routine:

1. Pick play makeup carefully. Many children like to wear colorful cosmetics as part of their costumes. If they do, make sure they're using safer products and applying them as directed. Visit cosmeticsdatabase.com to look up your products and find safer ones.
Kids should avoid:

  • Face paints can contain lead, which can impair brain development at extremely low doses, as well as nickel, cobalt and chromium, which can cause skin sensitization and contact dermatitis. Learn more here.
  • Lipstick can also contain hidden lead. Because little ones tend to eat almost as much as they put on their lips, it's best to avoid lipstick all together. Opt instead for a shiny, beeswax-based lip balm. You can find some on Amazon.
  • Nail polish often contains dibutyl phthalate and toluene, chemicals linked to hormone disruption and cancer. You can find safer nail polishes on Skin Deep.
  • Cosmetics in powder form can easily be inhaled. Depending on the particle size, the powder can lodge in children's nasal passages and even lungs -- where it may cause damage.
  • Fragranced products Read ingredient labels and avoid products listing "fragrance" -- EWG research found that fragrances may contain allergens or hormone-disrupting chemicals. Learn more in our short video.

2. Skip the (colored) hairspray. Many hairsprays contain toxic chemicals and fragrance. Kids can easily breathe in sprays. Instead, find a great hat or wig at a second-hand store; or create a great hair-do with ribbons, barrettes and safer, non-spray hair products.

3. Burn more eco-friendly candles -- if at all. Candles can give off toxic compounds. Choose fragrance-free candles made from bee, palm or soy wax. Traditional paraffin-wax candles are made from petroleum by-products. Order your eco-friendly candles.

4. Don't wear synthetic facemasks or teeth. Masks and fake teeth are made from a variety of synthetic materials that aren't always labeled. Plastics may be softened with endocrine-disrupting phthalates. Rather than covering your head with unknown, possibly toxic materials, make your own mask from simple materials or try a half-face, masquerade-style mask instead.

5. Offer treats that you would like your kids to receive. Hand out items that have fewer, more natural ingredients. Click here and here for more tips on choosing Halloween treats.

6. Create a low-impact costume. Rather than buying a new costume, get creative with items you already own or can get used at a local resale shop or from friends. Consider a costume swap at school or among friends. Click here to learn more about hosting your own swap.

7. If you are going to a party or planning a quick meal, skip the single-use dinnerware. Choose a more sustainable option, like compostable products. Click here to find compostable dinnerware on Amazon.

8. Decorate naturally. Pick up pumpkins, gourds and hay bales from a local farm to create a haunting scene and reuse decorations from year to year.
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Some nonprofit groups may lose Tax-Exempt Status by 10/15

 WASHINGTON — Oct. 15 is fast approaching ...a crucial due date for thousands of small nonprofit organizations at risk of losing their tax-exempt status because they have not filed the required forms in the last three years. - http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=228389,00.html?portlet=7

The list of all charities that are in jeopardy of losing tax-exempt status is accessible here: http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=225889,00.html?portlet=7 - here's the link to all Massachusetts-based groups: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/ma.pdf.  Below is a partial list of the names of river, watershed, conservation, park and other environmental organizations that are on this list (you may want to check here yourself for any specific groups you're concerned about).  If you are connected to or familiar with any of these groups, you are encouraged to alert them (current or former board members, e.g.) as to the possible imminent loss of their tax-exempt status.   

CHARLES RIVER CUTLER PARK TO COMMONWEALTH AVENUE
PROTECTION 

EAST LONGMEADOW FRIENDS OF CONSERVATION

FRAMINGHAM ADVOCATES FOR THE SUDBURY RIVER INC 

FRIENDS OF WEBB STATE PARK AND BACK RIVER INC

FRIENDS OF BELLE ISLE MARSH INC

FRIENDS OF CONCORD RURAL TRAILS INC 

FRIENDS OF LAKE BOON 

FRIENDS OF LEVERETT POND INC

FRIENDS OF LYNN WOODS INC 

FRIENDS OF MONOMOY INC 

FRIENDS OF MOSELEY WOODS INC

FRIENDS OF POND MEADOW INC 

FRIENDS OF QUABBIN INC 

FRIENDS OF RUSSELLS MILLS INC  

FRIENDS OF SALEM WOODS INC  

FRIENDS OF THE KEYSTONE ARCHES INC

FRIENDS OF THE LOWELL FOREST INC 

FRIENDS OF VEASEY PARK INC

FRIENDS OF WILD ACRES INC

GREATER FALL RIVER LAND CONSERVANCY   

HODGES VILLAGE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

HOOSIC RIVER BASIN CITIZENS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ASSOCIATION 

HOUSATONIC RIVER RESTORATION INC  

LAKE COCHITUATE WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC 

LAKE WICKABOAG PRESERVATION ASSN 

MAHAIWE HARVEST LAND TRUST INC

MASHPEE WATERSHED AND LAND TR INC

MASSACHUSETTS AQUATIC CONSERVATION SOCIETY 

MASSACHUSETTS ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION SOCIETY INC

PARKER RIVER REFUGE ACCESS COMMITTEE INC 

POWOW RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION

QUABOAG RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC  

SCITUATE LAND CONSERVATION TRUST 

SHAWME PONDS WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC

TAUNTON RIVER WATERSHED ASSOC INC

TEN MILE RIVER WATERSHED ALLIANCE INC 

TRAPHOLE BROOK PROTECTION ASSOCIATION INC

TYRINGHAM LAND TRUST INC 

THOREAU COUNTRY CONSERVATION ALLIANCE INC 

WALDEN CONSERVANCY INC 

WALDEN FOREVER WILD COMMITTEE INC

WESTFIELD RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION

WESTBOROUGH COMMUNITY LAND TRUST INC

WILDLANDS CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT INC
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