Weekly Highlights from the EPA (April 6)

Highlights from EPA’s Office of Public Engagement

April 2 to April 6, 2012

Table of Contents

1. EPA to Allow 15 Percent Renewable Fuel in Gasoline

2. U.S. Announces Innovative Clean Air Agreement For Industrial Flares With Marathon Petroleum Company

3. EPA Fines Violators of the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule

4. April is Earth Month! Here are Some Environmental Tips

1. EPA to Allow 15 Percent Renewable Fuel in Gasoline/Agency approves first applications for registration of ethanol to make E15

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the first applications for registration of ethanol for use in making gasoline that contains up to 15 percent ethanol – known as E15. Ethanol is a renewable fuel that can be mixed with gasoline. For over 30 years ethanol has been blended into gasoline, but the law limited it to 10 percent by volume for use in gasoline-fueled vehicles. Registration of ethanol to make E15 is a significant step toward its production, sale, and use in model year 2001 and newer gasoline-fueled cars and light trucks.

To enable widespread use of E15, the Obama Administration has set a goal to help fueling station owners install 10,000 blender pumps over the next 5 years. In addition, both through the Recovery Act and the 2008 Farm Bill, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. Department of Agriculture have provided grants, loans and loan guarantees to spur American ingenuity on the next generation of biofuels.

For the full press release: http://go.usa.gov/m58

2. U.S. Announces Innovative Clean Air Agreement For Industrial Flares With Marathon Petroleum Company

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice today announced an innovative environmental agreement with Ohio-based Marathon Petroleum Company that already has significantly reduced air pollution from all six of the company’s petroleum refineries. In a first for the refining industry, Marathon has agreed to state-of-the-art controls on combustion devices known as flares and to a cap on the volume of waste gas it will send to its flares. When fully implemented, the agreement is expected to reduce harmful air pollution by approximately 5,400 tons per year and result in future cost savings for the company.

"Today’s agreement will result in cleaner air for communities across the South and Midwest,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "By working with EPA, Marathon helped advance new approaches that reduce air pollution and improve efficiency at its refineries and provide the U.S. with new knowledge to bring similar improvements in air quality to other communities across the nation.”

For the full press release: http://go.usa.gov/m59

3. EPA Fines Violators of the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced three enforcement actions for violations of the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (RRP) and other lead rules. The RRP rule requires the use of lead-safe work practices to ensure that common renovation activities like sanding, cutting and demolition, which can create hazardous lead dust, are conducted properly by trained and certified contractors or individuals. EPA finalized the RRP rule in 2008 and the rule took effect on April 22, 2010.

"Exposure to lead can cause serious health problems and affects our most vulnerable population, our children,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "By taking action to enforce lead rules we are protecting people’s health and ensuring that businesses that follow the rules have a level playing field.”

For the full press release: http://go.usa.gov/m55

4. April is Earth Month! Here are Some Environmental Tips

Environmental responsibility is everyone’s responsibility. For Earth Month, instead of having only 17 thousand EPA employees working to protect the environment, we now have over 300 million Americans as environmental partners making environmentally protective choices. By equipping this growing army of environmental stewards with the tools they need to meet today’s challenges, EPA is helping America shift into a green culture.

To learn more about these basic areas where you can make a difference and to sign up for daily environmental tips, see the link below.

• Save Energy

• Use Water Efficiently

• Reduce / Reuse / Recycle

• Environmentally Protective Choices

For a full list of environmental tips: http://www.epa.gov/earthday/tips.htm