–Via Vivian Doyle, EPA Region 4–

As a result of the Feb. 2008 Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (KEEC) and TDEC conference entitled, “Green Development: Good for Water and the Bottom Line,” EPA-HQ gave TDEC and KEEC a grant to fund locals that are planning to implement green infrastructure demonstration projects.The primary goals of the project is to:

Inform city/county officials of the benefits of green development and the codes/regulations that can be implemented to encourage green development in their communities;
and Promote dialogue and exchange among developers, architects, contractors and state and local officials on the aspects of green development and its contribution to the efficient use and quality of waters.

TDEC developed a plan to partner with some other organizations and conduct competitive grant offering for municipalities. The recipients would use the funding to implement green infrastructure and LID practices in their communities.

Information on “best practices” identified through the grant program would be posted on TDEC’s green development website, http://state.tn.us/environment/greendev.

The TDOT and TVA’s Growth Readiness program confirmed their intent to participate as financial and administrative partners in demonstrating best practices.

Vivian M. Doyle, MSPH
Tennessee Watershed Coordinator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4
Atlanta, GA
doyle.vivian@epa.gov

A few of you have contacted me to point out my spelling error in yesterday’s post on John.  The link back to the article with corrections is here.

I miss John’s wit and humor and hope he would have had a good laugh at my expense over this one.

Apologies for posting such an ‘Onion worthy’ headline..

Counties Adopt Framework for Sustainable Production

July 23, 2008

The National Association of Counties on July 15 adopted the first national policy supporting a “framework” approach to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

“NACo’s adoption of the Extended Producer Responsibility framework is a great step forward for our environment,” said Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt, Ramsey County, Minn. “Smart design protects the environment and saves money by preventing costly waste.”  See the full article here.

Those of you who are following the recent debates about contracting practices related to the Knox County Composting facility may be interested in viewing this editorial found in the July 28th issue of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Deceased Knox County Solid Waste Director,  John Evans, has been named in comments that question the contractor’s business relation with the county.

This letter to editor puts the actions and integrity of the former director in perspective.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/28/letters-july-28/

Methane ‘cooks’ are using empty propane tanks from the propane gas cylinder exchanges available at Wal-Mart, Kroger, and other chains. These contaminated cylinders have been found in many states at cylinder exchange and refilling locations as well as in hotel rooms and mobile laboratories, where the manufacturing of this illegal substance takes place.

Anhydrous ammonia is very corrosive and weakens the structure of the tank. It can be very dangerous when mixed with propane and hooked up to our backyard grills. As observed in the illustrations, a blue-green stain on any brass portion of a service valve is evidence that it may have been in contact with anhydrous ammonia. The pungent odor of ammonia on or near the cylinder is also an indication. If you suspect that a propane cylinder contains or has contained anhydrous ammonia, exercise extreme caution and restrict access to the area.

If you have any of these tanks contact your Fire Department, Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Unit or the nearest office of the United States Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for information on properly disposing of the cylinder. The National Propane Gas Association has posted more information here.

I would like to know if anyone else has a Comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure Manaual for their Public Works or Solid Waste Department. We developed ours last year and want to give our employees some examples of others to see how they can be done and some better ideas of doing various tasks. We are going to review and update ours every year and would like comments and other examples if available. I know of a few other departments across the state that are also developing their SOP and I am sure we would all benefit from sharing this information. Shawn Lindsey

–From Chattanooga Times Free Press–

Chattanooga, TN - After the decision last year to scale back curbside recycling from weekly to monthly, Mayor Ron Littlefield said he wants the city to increase the service to twice-a-month pickup in a year.

The city will need to buy more environmentally friendly trucks for the expanded service, he said, and he plans in the upcoming capital budget to propose funding to buy the vehicles, although he acknowledged that he has no estimates on how much money will be needed.

“Just how we work our way into (twice-a-month pickup) is something that we have to plan for,” he said earlier this week.  Full article found here.

SERDC is a regional non profit focusing on uniting industry, government and non government organizations to promote sustainable recycling in the Southeast. The May newsletter is posted here.

Among the topics included in this issue —

• Alabama has passed a bill to increase recycling efforts. House Bill 395, the Waste and Recyclable Materials Management Act, will levy a $1.00 per ton surcharge on the tipping fee at landfills. The fee is expected to generate approximately $7.6 million annually which will be used n part to support the enhancement of local recycling efforts.
• Virginia addresses computer recovery & recycling through the Computer Recovery and Recycling Act. This Act will require the manufacturer of more than 500 items of computer equipment to adopt and implement a recovery plan providing for the reasonably convenient collection, recycling, and reuse of computer equipment returned by a consumer in the Commonwealth. The provisions of this Act become effective on July 1, 2009.

The City of Athens is going to be using an ARC GIS extension called Network Analyst which helps you find the most efficient routes for destinations using your current road network. We are applying this software to our Residential and Commercial Garbage Routes. We need to know if anyone else is doing this and what their experience has been. We are looking for any way possible to save on fuel cost if anyone has other ideas they would like to share.

Memo on Fuel Savings

Fuel-and-energy-savings-plan-2008-2.doc

NACO (through the support of our Green Government Initiative sponsors) will be hosting a series of FREE green government webinars. The intended audience is any elected county official or county staff; however anyone interested in learning more about the county role in green government practices is encouraged to register. Participants will learn valuable background information on each subject, discover new resources, and hear case studies from various counties. See this link to register and read more about NACO’s Green Initiatives.

Each webinar will cover a different green subject. The first webinar will be an introductory Green Counties webinar on May 7, 2008. To participate all you need is a computer with internet access and a phone line! Please take a look and forward to other appropriate staff in your county as you see fit.