Weekly Highlights from the EPA (April 6)
Friday, April 6, 2012
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
For audio podcasts: http://www.epa.gov/earthday/podcasts/index.html
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