June 2007 United States Environmental Protection EP Agency New England Environmental News in New England ZL JJJ 4 S S S S • S S S S • • S • S • • S S • S S S • • S • Investing in Your Water Just because it’s out of sight, doesn’t mean you can afford to keep it out of mind. The infrastructure on which New England cities and towns are built and run—water distribution and treatment systems—are systems whose services citizens rely upon daily. with little consideration for how they are run or maintained. These services are easy to forget and are often taken for granted. running faithfully below our feet dai- ly, out of our line of sight. This vital infrastructure is aging and deteriorating across the country, especially in New England where we have water treatment and distri- bution systems more than 100 years old. Economic and population growth are placing increasing demands on these systems, at the same time com- munities are faced with competing & Wastewater System 4 demands and diminishing resources. EPA’s 2002 Clean Water and Drink- ing Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis found that the United States faces a shortfall of S500 billion in infrastruc- ture investment by 2020. On April 30 & May 1, 2007. the US EPA Regions 1 and 2 convened for a Sustainable Infrastructure Forum in Groton, CT to examine ways for cit- ies and towns to improve infrastruc- ture efficiency and explore innovative means for funding improvements, es- tablishing leadership models to pro- mote investment and to examine the continued on page 2 ers spend close to S 1 billion each year to heat, cool and light municipal facilities. As the price of energy continues to rise, improving energy efficiency can help New England communities cut energy costs and protect the environment. To help communities become more energy efficient, EPA recently launched the Community Energy Challenge. The Community Energy Challenge is an accessible and achievable way to help communities in New England cut ener- gy costs through efficiency and explore renewable energy sources. By joining Join the Community Energy Challenge! Is your town sending tax dollars out the window because of inefficient buildings? With some of the highest en- ergv costs in the nation, New England- INSIDE • Energy Challenge • Investing in Wastewafer • No Discharge Areas • Water Infrastructure DVD • Urban River Restoration • Harmful Sewage Overflow • $ 1 8 Mu for Brownfields • This is an opportunity/br municipal- ities acmss .\‘cu’ England to identify simple and cost-effective measures that increase ene, y efficiency as we/i as increase the use of renewable ene ’g ’ resources. And the pavof / fbr participating can be big!’ —Robert W. Varney Administrator. EPA New England continued on page 2 ------- (cont.) Invest role that energy efficiency might play The conference presented four pillars of sustainability which provide a foun- dation for improved infrastructure I Better Management 2 Full Cost Pricing 3 Water Efficiency 4 Watershed Approaches The conference discussed and acknowledged that a band-aid ap- proach—waiting for things to break and then attempting to repair them one by one—is costly, both environmen- tally and economically Well planned replacement and rehabilitation of aging pipes, pumps stations and treatment plants to meet or exceed environmen- tal standards The conference sought to identify innovative financing solutions, effec- ti ye communications approaches, and the role of energy used in treatment It resulted in the identification of four priority areas I Institutionalize sustainable infra- structure practices throughout state revolving fund programs 2 Explore opportunities for regional models of governance 3 Initiate an outreach campaign on sustainable infrastructure 4 Reduce energy use and improve efficiency Leadership driven communica- tion efforts to inform the public about the importance of sustainable water systems for their health and environment, including explanatory inserts in bills, will help the public understand the value of this impor- tant public asset Thank you to Dannel Malloy, Mayor of Stamford, CT; Bruce To- bey, VP, Mass Municipal Associa- tion, Michael Sullivan, Mayor of Holyoke, MA, Mark Oefinger, Town Manager, Groton, CT and the many other local government contribu- tors to this important conference Visit www.epa gov/wateri nfrastructure/ + Consider that $1 .50 buysa l6oz. bottled water or 350 gallons of tap water in New England. — NEIWPCC, 2006 (cont.) Energy Fixed costs like eneigy are a real budget-busier for fiscally s/i apped cities like Somerville For us, reducing our energy usage is not only repsonsible heal//i policy but a/so sound fiscal management The EPA Community Energy Challenge provides us the tools and support we need to track our progress on this important initiative —Joseph Curtatone Mayor. Somerville, MA ‘Hamden is proud to be the first municipality in Connecticut to commit to EPA Energy Challenge I see tins program as a critical step to reduce greenhouse gas em iSS ions throughout iVei i’ England” the Challenge, each town agrees to work towards reducing their building energy use by at least 10%—though many are com- mitted to 20 and even 30% How can your community reduce energy use 9 Find out now, by joining the Communi- ty Energy Challenge Commu- nities that sign onto the chal- lenge receive help and support from EPA New England and EPA ENERGY STAR® through free training and technical as- sistance in energy management and benchmarking Reduce energy use, save money, and conserve natural resources by joining the Com- munity Energy Challenge Please visit www epa gov/re- gion 1/eco/energy/energy-chal- lenge html, and click “Take the Challenge” today’ + —Craig Henrici Mayor. Town of Hamden, CT “The City of Rochester is excited to participate in EPA c Energy Challenge We are committed to protecting the environment and reducing enemgv use Plus, our city council always wants to save money —John Scruton City Manager, Rochester, NH To participate: • Make a commitment to improve energy efficiency • Assess—benchmark—the energy performance of all municipal buildings, schools and/or drinking water and waste water treatment facilities in the community • Set a goal to reduce energy use by 10% or more • Return a Community Energy Challenge form letter to EPA New England • Promote energy efficiency and renewables to citizens, companies and organizations in the community —2— ------- Harmful Sewage Overflow: A Consequence of Unsustainable Infrastructure Sanitary Sewage Overflows, a prob- lem faced by many towns, contribute to beach and shellfish bed closures, claims and complaints from flooded homeowners. Caused by breakdowns in the system of pipes. pumps and other parts of a town’s infrastructure, when a SSO occurs, ra sewaue is released from the \ astewater collec- tion system and often times ends up in streets, basements or surface waters. Costly property damage is likely to be the result, as well as risk to public health due to bacteria in the water and mildew that grows after flooding. The most common cause of SSOs is inadequate maintenance of a city or town’s waste water system. The good Implementation of preventative maintenance programs has been shown to significantly reduce the frequency and volume of sewage overflows. news is you can prevent overflows. Implementation of preventative main- tenance programs has been shown to significantly reduce the frequency and volume of these discharges. EPA is combining assistance, train- ing and enforcement to address SSOs. EPA efforts will help municipalities identify and prevent problems with the operation and maintenance of their wastewater collection infrastruc- ture and will also provide them with guidance on how to develop long-term management and investment plans for future protection. Find out more about SSOs and CSOs at: www.epa.gov/regionl SSO New England States Receive $18 Million for Brownfields EPA recently awarded S70.7 million dollars in funding for Brownfield grants nationwide, including Sl8 million dedicated to New England projects. Brownfields are sites where expan- sion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or poten- tial presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. EPA grants help pay to assess, clean and redevel- op these sites and transform them into public facilities, including housing or open spaces for recreation. The Sl8 million awarded to New England was given for both assessment and clean-up. A total of 80 grants were given to 53 towns, cities and other re- cipients. These grants were distributed amongst the states with 33 in Massa- chusetts, 17 in Connecticut, 10 in New Hampshire, 8 in Rhode Island, 7 in Vermont and 5 in Maine. For more information, go to www.epa.gov/region I brownfields whatsnew.htm. In 2006. Broit’,,fields grants fll l /L’ it possible to perfbr,n major asbestos USSt”.sl?iL’n! and cleanup of a .Vas/wa, VH site. It al/o t’ed i/ic much needed expansion ala p0/ni/al’ Sc/liar center a.’ well u. s adding service space and a ho,,singJuciIi v. The 24.000 sq. Ii. cc/her includes 43 Iwusing units. —3— ------- Eliminating Boat Discharge Along the NE Coast Rhode Island and New Hampshire prohibit in all coastal waters the dis- charge of treated and untreated boat sewage. Connecticut plans to desig- nate the remaining third of its coast- line as such this summer. EPA New England is currently working with states and municipalities to imple- ment a strategy to designate the en- tire New England coastline as a No Discharge Area. A No Discharge Area is a des- ignated body of water that prohib- its the discharge of treated and tin- treated boat sewage. Federal Law prohibits the discharge of untreated sewage from vessels within three nautical miles from land. Under the EPA Clean Water Act. states may petition for a “No Dis- charge Area.” EPA reviews seven requirements in addition to the type of outreach campaign planned for mariners. The outreach campaign of operation and who to call for assistance. Communities have come together in Massachusetts and Maine to des- ignate adjoining coastlines. In 2006. _______ Casco Bay in Maine and the towns of Kingston, Plymouth and Duxbury along the Massachusetts’ South Shore earned this designation. This spring the Ur- ban 1-larbors Institute held a meeting of Bos- ton Harbor communities to discern the interest and viability of pushing a harbor-wide strategy, effectively making all of Boston Harbor a NDA. The cities of Boston and Quincy plan to submit applications this year. To find out more, check out www.epa.gov/ region I/topics water nodischarge.html. Water Infrastructure DVD Now Available Curious about how other local leaders are addressing water infrastructure issues in their towns? Check out Water Infrastructure: Successful Strat- egies for Local Leadership, a new DVD by EPA’s Local Government Advisory Committee which features Gloucester, Massachusetts’s former mayor. Bruce Tobey. EPA’s LGAC is an advisory panel chartered under the Federal Adviso- ry Committee Act to provide the citizens of the nation with more efficient and effective environmental protection by strengthening the partnership between local government and EPA. We congratulate Chuck Hafter, City Manager of South BUrlington, Vermont on his recent appointment to this important committee. DVDs are available on a first come first serve basis. If you would like to reserve a copy, e-mail Fran Eargle at Eargle.Frances epa.gov. or go to www.epa.gov/waterinfrastructure/lgac_video/index.html to view the video online. may include distribution of written material, visual material, and access to websites. The information may inform the public as to where the pump-out facilities are located, times Matte. • Southeest Hatter ‘Camden Hetbo R andHatto’ Coastal No Discharge Areas in New England — Current NDA — 2007-2008 Be P peds Cape Cod Bay 2OO8 Wdtfteet MA Chatharn. MA Ha th. MA arrwtable. MA Cape Cod Shore Line ‘ ‘F nOU8 ’. MA a udet MA All Rliod nd Watats CT —ç ’. E I C _ e _ . Pt aa N ts Mac Created. . , 1) 2007 US EPA New Engatrai GiS Catflat L\PtqeGsddwge lng WeEdMMwafptae .5sned 4 ------- Urban River Restoration: Promise and Challenge While some New England communities have realized the promise ofurban rivers, turning them into tourist attractions and recreational destinations, other commu- nities are still struggling to remedy the toll taken on them by our rich industrial heritage. On March 29, 2007. EPA New England along with the Urban Harbors Institute held the Promise and Challenge of Urban Rivers Conference in Boston. The conference brought together over 330 people, from across New England, including representatives from all levels of government, environmental and pub- lic health advocates, watershed associa- tions, neighborhood groups, and urban and regional planners. The conference covered topics such as: Urban river success stories, con- taminated sediments, public access and urban land conservation, storm water and illicit connections, urban river res- toration, monitoring and water quality report cards as a way to get results for your river. Conference presentations are now available on-line, courtesy of the Center for Watershed Protection. They can be accessed through the EPA web site. (epa.gov/ne/urbanrivers) The conference also provided a fo- rum to look at common environmental problems on multiple levels, including networking with others who share an interest in a particular river or issue. Communities also learned a technique to measure water quality improvement and explain it to the public in plain lan- guage—a water quality report card sys- tem, which has been used effectively on the Charles and Mystic Rivers in Mas- sachusetts. In 1995, Boston’s Charles River earned a grade D. marginally meeting swimming and boating standards. To- day it boasts a B± and meets boating and swimming standards much of the time. This is good news for the legions of college crew teams and recreational boaters who spend considerable time on the river. This April, Massachusetts and EPA New England, have started a similar report card technique by the Charles River. and has received an initial grading of D. Clearly there is work to be done. At the conference, EPA New Eng- land Regional Administrator, Bob Varney announced a Volunteer Moni- toring Equipment Loan Program . This program provides equipment to new or existing groups who have volunteers to monitor water quality, in order to generate well-documented physical, chemical and biological data for use in On March 29, 2007, EPA New England and the Urban Harbors Institute held the Promise and Challen . e of Urban Rivers assessing conditions of the region’s wa- ters. This year’s applications were due April 30th and we are targeting urban groups for equipment loans this year. To find out more about the equipment loan program, or to read more about the conference, visit www.epa.gov/ne/ur- banrivers/. i i- I — I The mj$e and the of Urban Rive, Agenda 4 gisaraijo - - - , uo * .___ Mardi 29, 2007 Conference in Boston. L C4 . J 4 R REPORT CARD ‘03.... ... B •04 •05 B ‘95 D ‘96 C- ‘97 C ‘98 B ‘99 B •00 B ‘0 1 B ‘02 B [ o 1 LBI ] .4 plain language approach— a water quality report card system—has been used effectivel,y on the Charles and .%ui.vtic Rivers. J RT1 M Rwe’r 2007 Ev st —5— ------- EPA New England Local Government Office EPA New England 1 Congress Street Suite 1100 Boston, MA 02114-2023 phone (617) 918-1021 fax (617) 918-0021 Editors Douglas Gutro gutro doug@epa gov and Elizabeth Murphy EPA Contributors Denny Dart, Lucy Edmondson, Trish Garrigan, Shubhada Kambli, Jackie Leclair, Ann Rodney, Carol Tucker and Bill White wwwepa gov/ne EPA9O1R07003 June 2007 Ca printed on 1 00% recycled paper, with a minimum of 50% post-consumer waste, using vegetable based inks United States Environmental Protection Agency New England I Congress Street Suite I 100 Boston, MA 02114 Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300 An Equal Opportunity Employer ------- |