-------
From the Regional Administrator
Dear Readers,
In 1970, EPA was created to protect human health and the environment. Remarkable gains have
been made in those decades and as new, global challenges have arisen, EPA's role has become more
vital than ever.
EPA staff in the Pacific Southwest bring experience, talent and a passion for public service to a
range of issues that are increasingly in the public eye from the Navajo Nation to the far reaches of the
Pacific Ocean.
On the islands of the western Pacific, we've used Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Act
funding to upgrade wastewater and drinking water infrastructure, which now provide safe drinking
water to 98% of island residents, up from 39% in just over a decade.
In this report, you'll also read about California's statewide efforts to trap trash before it can wash
into storm drains keeping it out of waterways that empty into the Pacific.
Throughout the Pacific Southwest, we work with state, local and tribal governments to reduce the
greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, even as we invest in resilient infrastructure
to adapt to its consequences.
From the enforcement authority granted by the Clean Air Act and other statutes to common-
sense programs to reduce food waste and encourage clean energy, we have powerful tools to improve the
health of our communities and protect the environment that supports all of us.
It's time to roll up our sleeves. We hope the environmental successes in this report will inspire you
to join us.
Sincerely,
Jared Blumenfeld
Regional Administrator
EPA Pacific Southwest Region
Cover: Coral reefs along the shore of Ofu in American Samoa
-------
Boosting
Renewable
Energy
4
Clean Air for
Nevadans
19
Table of Contents
Managing
Tank Farms,
Island Waters
Large Facilities
Cut Emissions
Sustainable
Water
Infrastructure
Clean Air.
Clean Water.
Clean Land.
Climate & Communities..., 17
Enforcement & Stewardship 21
EPA Funding in the Pacific Southwest 24
Pacific Island Territories Center Pages
Contact Information Inside Back Cover
-------
-------
\tff-
. *
?* >:
, :-rr? :
-
:% Jt*
Bt
- i _ " .
I
CLEAN AIR
Taking Action on Climate
As federal courts consider the future of EPA's Clean Power Plan,
states and local governments press forward to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions in the Pacific Southwest.
Western States Advance Cleaner Energy
In August 2015, President Obama and EPA announced the
Clean Power Plan as a means to cut carbon pollution from
power plants. In the plan, EPA established carbon dioxide
emission performance rates for facilities that generate electric-
ity. Implementation was stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court in
early February pending judicial review.
With the effects of climate change already being felt, western
partners are forging ahead in adopting cleaner energy strategies
and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
California Governor Jerry Brown and governors of fifteen
other states, including Nevada and Hawaii, announced on
February 16, 2016, that they're joining a "Governor's Accord
for a New Energy Future," intended to modernize their power
grids, sustain the momentum of renewable energy develop-
ment, and boost the numbers of electric cars.
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval said that companies have
invested $4.3 billion in renewable energy projects in Nevada since
2009. California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols said
"We're part of a larger group of states moving forward on our
own, and we'll continue developing our own plans regardless" of
the fate of the Clean Power Plan.
Meanwhile, states and local governments are making com-
mitments to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The
Photo: Dennis Schroeder/NREL
-------
megawatts will be generated at
186 Bay Area facilities in nation's
largest solar energy collaboration
state of California and the cities of Los Angeles,
Oakland and San Francisco joined a coalition of
127 jurisdictions representing 27 countries and
six continents on the Under 2 MOU. Their goal
is to limit emissions to 80% to 95% below 1990
levels by 2050 in an effort to limit the global
average temperature increase to below 2°C.
Local entities are also working to make cleaner
energy options available to communities. In
California's Marin County, Marin Clean Energy
now offers a 100% Local Solar Energy option for
its customers.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy joins local officials to
celebrate the Regional Renewable Energy Procurement
program in Hayward, Calif.
Boosting Renewable Energy
Expanding renewable energy is key to cleaner air
and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Local, Federal Agencies Join Forces
In May 2015, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
joined San Francisco Bay Area agencies to celebrate
the Regional Renewable Energy Procurement
project (R-REP), the nations largest solar energy
collaboration involving local, state and federal
government agencies. At the same time, McCarthy
announced the Federal Aggregated Solar Pro-
curement Project, the nations first federal agency
partnership to purchase solar power.
McCarthy joined R-REP lead partner Alameda
County, local officials and solar industry executives
at the West Winton Landfill in Hayward, center-
piece of a 19-agency effort involving 186 Bay Area
facilities developing 31 megawatts of solar power.
The landfill will be repurposed by installing
19,000 photovoltaic solar panels to generate more
than 6 megawatts of power the first project of
its kind in the Bay Area.
Like the regional project, the federal partner-
ship including the U.S. Forest Service, Depart-
ment of Energy (DOE), and General Services
Administration (GSA) will take advantage of
economies of scale in solar installation at nine
federal sites: seven in California (San Jose, Menlo
Park, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Bruno,
Santa Rosa, and Mare Island) and two in Nevada
(Carson City and Reno).
The initial project will provide five megawatts
to a U.S. Forest Service facility and eight GSA
locations in California and Nevada. GSA, in part-
nership with DOE, EPA and the Forest Service,
awarded this contract to SolarCity Corp. of San
Mateo, Calif.
JACQUELYN MENGHRAJANI
Jacquelyn Menghrajani has
|^--v been EPAs Children's Health
Coordinator in the Pacific
Southwest since 2013.
In January 2016, she
helped spearhead a two-day
symposium in San Diego
1 discuss children's environ
ental health risks that are
commonly found in communiles in the U.S.-Mexico
border region - such as the Imperial Valley, where
parlculate pollulon levels and childhood asthma
rates are high.
During the symposium, Regional Administrator
Jared Blumenfeld announced the release of a new
guide to help schools planning renovalon projects
to minimize children's exposure to environmental
hazards (see p. 22).
Creating Jobs, Supporting Employers
Marin Clean Energy's Solar One project is expect-
ed to break ground this year on a 12-megawatt
photovoltaic power array on a 60-acre brownfield
site at Chevron's Richmond Refinery. Under a
community agreement, 50% of the construction
workers will be local graduates of Richmond-
BUILD, a green-jobs training program partially
funded by EPA.
In Southern California, EPA has teamed with
the South Coast Air Quality Management District
to accelerate deployment of solar-powered electric
vehicle (EV) charging stations at worksites.
Through an EPA grant, the district is provid-
ing rebates to qualified entities to lower the cost
of installation. In addition, EPA is providing free
technical assistance in installing solar EV charging
stations for any business, nonprofit or government
agency. Solar photovoltaic arrays can be placed on
workplace roofs and carports, or off-site, generat-
ing clean power to recharge commuters' cars while
their owners are at work.
-------
Focus on California
In the battle to reduce fine parts-dilate air pollution,
EPA provides both targeted funding and strong
enforcement.
Funding Cleaner Engines, Wood Stoves
Old diesel trucks and equipment are one of the
largest sources of fine particulates, which pose
serious health threats to people with asthma and
heart disease.
In 2015, EPA's West Coast Collaborative
awarded more than $4.5 million in Diesel Emis-
sion Reduction Act (DERA) funding to California
agencies to reduce diesel, greenhouse gas and black
carbon emissions from old trucks, buses, tractors
and harbor equipment.
More than half of the funds went to the Los
Angeles and Long Beach Harbor Departments,
which received $2.5 million to replace an old diesel
cargo crane with a new, zero-emission electric
crane, and to replace eight existing yard diesel trac-
tors with all-electric automated guided vehicles.
The California Air Resources Board and Sacra-
mento's air quality district together received more
New school buses are significantly cleaner than old
diesel models, reducing children's exposure to
unhealthful emissions.
than $1 million to replace old diesel refuse trucks
and farm tractors and to retrofit school buses with
filters that can reduce particulate emissions by 85%.
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control
District received more than $1 million in DERA
grants to speed up replacement of 80 diesel farm
tractors with new, cleaner-burning Tier 4 tractors.
In addition, the San Joaquin Valley received
almost $5 million and the Northern Sierra air
quality district received $2.5 million from EPAs
Targeted Air Shed Grant Program.
The San Joaquin district will provide funding
to replace agricultural tractors and residential wood
stoves. The Northern Sierra district will fund the
replacement of older wood stoves with cleaner-
burning devices in the Portola area, where stoves
are a heavy contributor to particulate pollution in
the winter.
Enforcement Brings Air Quality Benefits
Three major enforcement cases also served to cut
pollution from wood stoves in California while
achieving major reductions in emissions from
trucks and factories.
In the first, under California's Truck and Bus
Regulation, EPA found that Estes Express Lines
failed to install particulate filters on 73 heavy-duty
diesel trucks. The Virginia-based company paid a
$100,000 penalty and contributed $35,000 to UC
Davis Extension to finance a training program on
compliance for out-of-state trucking firms.
The California truck rules are the first of their
kind in the nation and are expected to prevent an
estimated 3,500 deaths between 2010 and 2025.
Heavy-duty diesel trucks in California must meet
2010 engine emissions standards or use diesel
particulate filters.
As part of its settlement with EPA, Estes also
paid $255,000 to the San Joaquin district's Burn
Wood smoke hangs over the Portola area of Plumas County,
Calif., which has failed to meet standards for particulate air
pollution. (Photo: Northern Sierra AQMD)
Cleaner incentive program to replace wood-
burning stoves with cleaner ones. The program
received an additional $350,000 as a result of
EPA enforcement actions against two industrial
facilities in the valley:
Guardian Glass will spend $70 million to
install air pollution controls to reduce emissions of
nitrogen oxide (NOX), sulfur dioxide (SO2), par-
ticulates and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) at all seven of
its manufacturing facilities in the U.S., including
one in Kingsburg in Fresno County. Guardian also
paid a $312,000 civil penalty.
The J.R. Simplot Company will spend $40
million to cut SO emissions by more than 50%
at five of its facilities in California, Idaho and
Wyoming including its sulfuric acid plant in
Lathrop, near Stockton, Calif. The company will
also pay an $899,000 fine. SO is a precursor to
fine particulate (PM ) pollution, which is an
acute problem in the San Joaquin Valley.
-------
-------
CL EAN WAI !R
Turning the Tide of Trash
Ten years ago, trash in California's waterways seemed like an
intractable problem. Now it's trending downward fast - helping
reduce marine debris in the Pacific.
Improving Storm water Management
When heavy rains occur in California's urban areas, stormwater
runoff washes tons of trash from streets and parking lots into
nearby waterways and ultimately the Pacific Ocean. Trash seri-
ously degrades habitats for fish and wildlife, and can lead to fatal
ingestion or entanglements.
As much as 80% of the trash that ends up as marine debris is
generated on land. Much of it is plastic, ultimately adding to the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the massive vortex of marine debris
in the mid-Pacific, where it breaks down into tiny bits consumed
by birds, fish and other wildlife mistaking it for food.
The tide of trash began to turn when EPA and the state
recognized the problem by designating waterways as "impaired"
by trash under the federal Clean Water Act, which requires states
to develop pollution reduction plans for these waters or alternative
control approaches. The plans are called Total Maximum Daily
Loads (TMDLs), and must be approved by EPA.
This spurred the states Los Angeles Regional Water Quality
Control Board and local governments to take action. In the Los
Angeles River watershed, 42 cities implemented trash control
systems, including capture devices in storm drains, resulting in a
dramatic reduction in trash entering the LA River. In 2015, the city
of LA reported trash reductions of 100% based on trash in storm
Albatross nesting amid piles of marine debris
washed ashore and gathered on Midway Island.
-------
Spotlight
of Pacific islanders now have
access to clean drinking
water - up from 39% in 2003
drains measured in 2002-2004. Similar measures in
parts of the San Francisco Bay Area reduced trash in
waterways about 40% by 2014.
In addition, the LA regional board adopted
the first TMDL for trash in Santa Monica Bay to
prevent plastic pellets known as "nurdles," used
in manufacturing plastic products, from reaching
the bay and its beaches.
EPA Approves California's Trash Policy
Last year, the State Water Resources Control
Board adopted an innovative first-of-its kind
statewide policy designed to keep trash out of all
streams, lakes, bays, estuaries, and coastal and
ocean waters. California's new Trash Control
Policy includes a water quality standard for trash.
EPA approved the standard in January 2016.
The new trash policy prohibits the discharge
of trash to state waters through storm drain
systems, transportation corridors, and industrial
and construction sites that are regulated under
Volunteers clean up trash in Coyote Creek.
(Photo: City of San Jose, Calif.)
stormwater permits. It calls for the use of trash-
capture devices in areas that generate large
amounts of garbage.
Municipalities and other stormwater permit
holders must comply by installing either full
trash-capture systems or similar devices coupled
with programs like increased street sweeping and
educational outreach to prevent litter.
This approach has already proven success-
ful in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay
regions. The LA River is targeted to reach zero
trash discharged from stormwater sources in
2016. The recently updated San Francisco Bay
stormwater permit has a target date of 2022 for
zero trash.
Reaching the goal of zero trash will require
continued vigilance, not only by regional water
boards and local governments, but by individuals
and businesses. California's success in reducing
trash in waterways has led EPA to start a national
Trash Free Waters program, which will also
benefit from local research in the distribution and
effects of microplastics.
www.waterboards.ca. gov/water_issues/programs/trash_control
www.epa.gov/region9/marine-debris
Responding to Drought
EPA is working with federal, state and local partners
to improve sustainable water management.
Funding Water-Saving Infrastructure
After four years of the most severe drought in the
region's history, water managers are increasingly
looking to EPA's Drinking Water and Clean Water
State Revolving Funds (SRFs) to help them invest
in infrastructure to conserve water.
In Southern California, the city of Carlsbad is
using $30 million in low-interest loans from EPA's
SYLVIA MCLAUGHLIN
Known as "the bay's best
friend, Sylvia Mclaughlin
passed away in January
2016 at age 99. She was one
of the three founders of the
nonprofit Save The Bay that
, jump-started California's en
f vironmental movement. Back
in 1961, she and friends Es
ther Gulick and Kay Kerr decided that "something
had to be done" to stop the filling of San Francisco
Bay with urban trash and soil.
They recruited tens of thousands of supporters,
and by 1965 passed a state law that temporarily
stopped the expansion of dozens of landfills then
surrounding the bay. Four years later, they passed
a permanent ban on bay filling. Work to restore a
healthy bay ecosystem is still going strong, includ
ing efforts to restore 100,000 acres of the bay's
original wetlands.
(Photo courtesy of Save The Bay)
Clean Water SRF to nearly double its capacity
to treat water for non-potable uses like irrigation
and industry. The project will expand the city's
capacity to 7,235 acre-feet per year, build 18 miles
of pipeline and a new storage tank, and install 156
water meters.
Once completed, Carlsbad will recycle all of
its wastewater during summer months, meeting
nearly 33% of its annual water needs.
The Orange County Water District completed
an even bigger project in 2015, expanding its
groundwater replenishment system's capacity by
31,000 acre-feet per year. The project, financed
by $137 million from the Clean Water SRF,
takes secondary-treated wastewater and further
treats it to meet drinking water standards. The
purified water goes to percolation basins, where it
recharges groundwater, and is pumped to supply
drinking water.
For the year ending in June 2015, Clean
Water SRF agreements worth $789 million
-------
were executed to finance water recycling
projects in California.
Federal Agencies Step Up
EPA's WaterSense Program has been working with
the Department of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment to find ways to increase the water efficiency
of millions of households assisted by the agency.
EPA collaborated with HUD on the Water
Wednesday Webinar series, which helped HUD
staff and grantees in the Pacific Southwest
incorporate water efficiency into their programs,
saving water, energy and money. More than 1,200
people have taken part in the webinars, including
staff from USDAs Rural Development program,
as well as state and local housing officials.
The Department of Veterans Affairs 561-acre
Sacramento Valley National Cemetery won a Fed-
eral Green Challenge award in 2015 for reducing
water consumption by more than 22% nearly 14
million gallons while keeping its grass green.
The cemetery used a moisture-monitoring
sensor and irrigation control system to ensure
efficient water usage. Workers re-programmed
their system to turn off after it rains, audited their
sprinkler system, and re-aligned irrigation heads
to prevent waste.
Irrigation controllers with EPAs WaterSense
label use local weather and landscape conditions to
tailor watering schedules to plants' actual needs.
The Federal Green Challenge, led by EPA,
encourages federal facilities to reduce their
environmental impact. In 2014, agencies
diverted over 390,000 tons of waste from land-
fills, saved nearly 80 million gallons of water, and
sent 450 tons of e-waste to certified recyclers,
saving taxpayers over $24 million.
www.epa.gov/watersense
www.epa.gov/fgc
Focus on Tribes
EPA works with tribes to build operational and
regulatory capacity to protect water resources.
Strengthening Infrastructure
Since the early 1990s, EPA has provided
financial assistance to tribes for construction of
drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
In addition, EPA provides grant funding to
more than 100 tribes in the region to build tribal
capacity to administer water quality programs
and protect tribal rivers, lakes and streams.
EPA supports tribal water quality monitor-
ing, assessment, prevention of polluted runoff
in waterways, development of water quality
standards, and wetlands protection. In addition
to $29 million for tribal clean water programs
and infrastructure projects in the Pacific South-
west in 2015, EPA has provided assistance and
expertise in several areas.
During the recent drought emergency in
California, state and federal agencies helped
many California tribes prevent and respond to
drinking water shortages. The Indian Health
Service, EPA and other agencies collaborated to
produce a tribal drought planning handbook to
help identify state and federal resources available
to secure emergency drinking water supplies. It's
online at http://go.usa.gov/cwaDT.
In January 2016, the Hoopa Valley Tribe
became one of 10 communities selected from
across the country to receive financial planning
assistance for wastewater infrastructure under a
new national program known as WaterCARE.
Through this program, EPA will help commu-
nities make wise infrastructure investments by
conducting financial evaluations and identifying
partnership opportunities.
Walker River Paiute tribal leaders have received authority
to set standards under the Clean Water Act.
The tribe, located in California's North
Coast region, will receive financial and technical
guidance to plan wastewater system upgrades
that will help prevent pollution of the Trinity
River and its tributaries, thereby protecting
drinking water sources for many tribal homes.
Supporting Tribal Clean Water Act Programs
EPA is currently working on two proposed reg-
ulations that would enable tribes to implement
the Clean Water Act on their lands, in a manner
similar to states.
The first, expected to be finalized in mid-
2016, would expedite the process for tribes to
gain approval under the Clean Water Act to set
their own water quality standards. In the Pacific
Southwest, nine tribes have already done so.
This proposal would standardize and streamline
the process for all other tribes.
The second, proposed in January 2016,
would enable eligible tribes to obtain authority
to identify impaired waters on their lands and
to develop pollution control plans for each
of them, known as TMDLs (Total Maximum
Daily Loads of specific pollutants). Clean
Water Act Section 303(d) currently empowers
states to take this important first step to restore
beneficial uses of surface waters.
-------
-------
CLEAN LAND
A Year of Disaster Response
Emergency response teams had a busy year, with large-scale clean-
ups of a coastal oil spill, two major wildfire areas and a typhoon.
Oil Spill Strikes Santa Barbara Coast
On May 19, 2015, more than 100,000 gallons of crude
oil spilled from a ruptured pipeline less than a mile from the
Santa Barbara County coastline. The oil travelled through a
culvert under Highway 1 and across Refugio State Beach, with
an estimated 21,000 gallons reaching the ocean. The result was
California's largest coastal oil spill in the past 25 years.
EPA on-scene coordinators worked with the Coast Guard,
the state Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill
Prevention and Response, and the county's Office of Emergency
Management to quickly contain and remediate the spill.
Nearly 1,000 workers participated in the first weeks. On the
water, cleanup crews used thousands of feet of boom to corral
and absorb the oil and recovered 10,000 gallons of oily water.
On land, thousands of cubic yards of oiled vegetation, sand and
soil were removed.
To ensure the job would be properly carried out, EPA and
the Coast Guard issued a cleanup order to the pipeline's owner,
Plains All-American Pipeline L.P., on May 27. The order estab-
lished federally enforceable timelines and cleanup requirements
for the long-term actions needed to restore coastal resources.
EPA officials inspect the site of the Refugio oil spill near Santa Barbara,
which affected marine habitat and wildlife along the California coast.
Photo: U.S. Coast Guard
Story continues, p. 14
-------
Guam, CNMI Improv
PHILLIPINES
Last summer's Typhoon Soudelor was an example of the
increasingly frequent and powerful storms in the tropical
Pacific that stem from the rising greenhouse gas emis-
sions worldwide. The typhoon devastated Saipan in CNMI,
knocking out the island's power grid by downing hundreds
of power poles.
The damage took months to repair. EPA on-scene
coordinators collected transformers filled with toxic PCBs from
the downed poles, while EPA drinking water experts worked
to restore safe water, which was unavailable without power to
pump water from wells.
Fortunately, 40 sewage pumping stations continued
operating, thanks to EPA grants that had earlier paid for
refurbishing them, including the addition of backup generators.
This resilient infrastructure prevented sewage from spilling into
Saipan's streets.
COMMONWEALTH OF
NORTHERN MARIANA
ISLANDS
(CNMI)
SAIPAN 0
GUAM
Equator
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
AUSTRALIA
Solid waste management is a particular challenge for
islands, where open dumping and litter can contaminate
precious land and water resources.
As part of its Zero Waste Plan, Guam has embraced
composting green waste and has increased its recycling
rate to 33%, up from 18% just a few years ago.
Guam and Saipan (CNMI) have made great progress in
cleaning up two former dumps that received all their waste
for decades. Saipan's Puerto Rico Dump closed in 2002,
and Guam's Ordot Dump closed in 2011, when their trash
started going to new, state-of-the art municipal landfills. But
that still left two mountains of trash releasing toxic leachate
at the old dumps.
Today, Ordot (in photo) has a leachate collection trench
around it, robust stormwater controls, and a multi-layer pro-
tective cover to keep water out. Construction was completed
in March 2016. Similar work began at Saipan's Puerto Rico
Dump in 2015 and is expected to finish later this year.
An isolated island group in the South Pacific, Ar
Samoa is vulnerable to the stronger typhoons a
sea-level rise associated with global climate ch
islands' principal energy source is oil, including
and diesel, delivered by tanker ship at a high c(
Blessed with plenty of sunlight, the territoi
adopted a goal of fossil-free energy independei
help achieve this, EPA is providing funding and
assistance for solar energy micro-grid systems
On American Samoa's remote Manu'a Isla
electricity comes from an old generator fueled I
grade diesel that creates so much particulate p
banned on the U.S. mainland.
An EPA grant is helping retire the old gene
build a solar power station with battery storage
the lights on at night.
-------
HAWAII
Pacific island ecosystems
are extremely vulnerable to
the impacts of climate
change, particularly sea
level rise and ocean acidifi-
cation, which could stop the
growth of coral and shelled
organisms. Plastic marine
debris breaks down into tiny
bits in ocean waters, which
are mistaken for food and
eaten by birds and fish,
poisoning or starving them.
nencan
nd
ange.The
gasoline
ist.
yhas
ice. To
technical
nds,
}y a low-
ollution it's
rator and
to keep
STRENGTHENING ISLAND
INFRASTRUCTURE
EPA provided $32.4 million in fiscal 2015 to improve
environmental protection and public health on island
territories in the Pacific -American Samoa, Guam and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Since 2010, the islands have received more than $200
million in water and wastewater infrastructure support -
more than in the previous 40 years.
Water and
Wastewater
Construction
$24.9 million
Consolidated
Program Support
$7.47 million
Photo: American Samoa Power Authority
AMERICAN SAMOA
Diesel Emission Reduction
$42,000
-------
Spotlight
42,00
mines have been abandoned
in California
Ensuring Safe Recovery from Wildfires, Typhoon
In September and October 2015, two major
wildfires burned more than 200 square miles in
Northern California's Lake, Calaveras and Ama-
dor counties. On September 28, while the fires
were still burning, EPA on-scene coordinators
began clearing properties of household hazardous
waste in a buffer zone around schools while also
performing air and radiation monitoring.
Propane tanks, pressurized cylinders like
oxygen tanks and aerosol cans, and containers
with wastes that could have survived the fires
were brought to a staging area, sorted, and sent to
proper disposal sites. Properties were then sam-
pled to ensure they were safe for rebuilding.
By late October, EPA and the state Depart-
ment of Toxic Substances Control had cleared
Response personnel identify and dispose of household hazardous waste
in burned homes.
610 properties in the Butte Fire area, while
in Lake County, EPA crews had cleared 632
properties.
In the outer Pacific, EPA response person-
nel did a similar job with the Coast Guard and
contractors in the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands (CNMI) after Typhoon Soudelor
swept through the area in August.
Responders had to act quickly to ensure that
hazardous waste wasn't swept up in the clearing
of non-hazardous debris. They also collected and
disposed of transformers filled with PCBs from
downed power poles. In addition, EPA drinking
water experts helped restore the islands' damaged
drinking water systems (see p. 12).
Managing Abandoned Mines
EPA works to protect ecosystems and nearby
communities from the severe environmental
hazards posed by abandoned mines.
New Resources for Cleanups
Mining has been an economic
driver in western states for
more than 150 years. However,
thousands of abandoned mines
have left a toxic legacy requiring
careful oversight to prevent
further contamination of nearby
lands and water bodies.
Many of the most haz-
ardous sites are on Superfund's
National Priorities List (NPL),
which provides authority and
funding to conduct investiga-
tions and cleanups. Ongoing
efforts to strengthen financial
assurance requirements for
FRANK RABAULIMAN
When Typhoon Soudelor hit
Saipan on August 2, CNMI
Bureau of Environmental and
Coastal Quality Administrator
Frank Rabauliman sprang into
action.
Rabauliman, like many oth
1 ers at BECQ, ignored damage
to his own home from the
worst storm to hit the island in 30 years to help
clear debris and bring back drinking water to the
people of Saipan. He and his team worked long
hours, even as the government was officially
closed.
Rabauliman has served on the cabinet of three
governors and brought leadership skills from his
career in education to the job of protecting CNMI's
environment. He has overseen a reorganization
of BECQ that has resulted in resource efficiencies
and better protection of coral reefs and near-shore
water quality, while also providing development
opportunities for staff.
mine owners will help ensure that fewer mines
become abandoned and a burden for future tax-
payers. There are an estimated 42,000 abandoned
mines in California alone.
Among the hazardous mine sites being man-
aged in the Pacific Southwest:
Iron Mountain, near Redding, Calif, is
honeycombed with tunnels from more than a
century of mining that ended in the 1960s. As a
result, wet season runoff seeps into the mountain,
where it picks up toxic dissolved metals and becomes
highly acidic before flowing out at the base of the
mountain. In the 1960s and 1970s, dissolved heavy
metals from the mine sometimes resulted in massive
fish kills in the Sacramento River.
Since 1983, when EPA listed Iron Mountain
as a Superfund site, EPA has diverted the acidic
water into treatment systems, and built a dam
near the base of the mountain to store the runoff
-------
so it can all be treated. By 2004, this eliminated
97% of the metals flowing into the river from the
mine. Such treatment has now been funded by
responsible parties for the next century.
The abandoned Argonaut gold mine in
Jackson, a historic town in California's Sierra
Nevada foothills, left 65 acres of mine tailings
after operating from the 1850s until 1942. Over
the past year, EPA cleaned up 11 residential yards,
a large vacant lot and a junior high school lunch
area contaminated with high levels of arsenic, lead
and mercury from the mine tailings.
The state of California is currently working to
reduce hazards from a 100-year-old tailings dam
and is supporting EPAs efforts to add the site to
the NPL.
At the Rio Tinto Mine in northeastern
Nevada, EPA and the state Department of
Environmental Protection reached an agree-
ment in 2012 with the corporate successors to
four former mine owners, who are paying $25
million for a cleanup now underway.
Under the agreement, the four corporations
are removing mine tailings from Mill Creek,
improving the creek to support native redband
trout, and improving water quality in Mill Creek
and the East Fork Owyhee River. The state of
Nevada is overseeing the cleanup with input
from EPA and the Shoshone Paiute Tribes of
Duck Valley.
At the abandoned Anaconda Copper Mine
in Yerington, EPA and the state of Nevada have
taken a number of short-term actions over the
past decade to prevent toxics from migrating
off-site. Hundreds of monitoring wells have
been drilled to map and monitor the plume of
contaminated groundwater. In 2016, the state
of Nevada supported the site's potential inclusion
on the NPL.
Focus on Hawaii, Pacific Islands
Fresh water is especially precious on islands
in the Pacific, where EPA is working to prevent
pollution from underground tanks and sewage.
Addressing Contaminants in Hawaii
The Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility near Pearl
Harbor is the nation's largest underground fuel
storage tank facility, with 20 tanks, each 250 feet
tall and 100 feet in diameter, encased in concrete,
lined with steel and built within a hillside.
Leaking jet fuel poses a potential threat to
nearby groundwater, which is a source of drink-
ing water for the U.S. Navy's Joint Base Pearl
Harbor-Hickam and surrounding areas. In
response to a recent leak of about 27,000 gallons
of fuel, EPA and the Hawaii Department of
Health (DOH) reached a binding agreement
with the Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency
(DLA) in September 2015.
The agreement requires response to the fuel
release and a number of measures to minimize
the threat of future leaks at Red Hill, with EPA
and DOH overseeing and approving all work
done by the Navy and DLA, and with penalties
imposed if work isn't carried out as specified.
Large-capacity cesspools are another threat to
Hawaii's groundwater. Since 2005, EPA and state
regulations have required owners to close them
and use state-approved septic or wastewater treat-
ment systems. More than 3,000 have been closed.
Last year, EPA took action against three
businesses that had not complied, assessing
penalties totaling more than $300,000. Maui's
Travaasa Hotel Hana Resort, Oahu's Vacation
Inns International and Shaka's Pahoa LLC on
the Big Island all committed to closing their
remaining cesspools within two years.
EPA has funded sewer improvements on Saipan.
Protecting Outer-Island Waters
The Pacific island territories of Guam and
American Samoa and the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands have long been
plagued by wastewater and drinking water
issues, too often requiring some residents to boil
their tap water before drinking it.
In 2015, the Guam Waterworks Authority
received $9.2 million from EPAs State Revolving
Funds for design and construction of drinking
water and wastewater infrastructure. Another
$3 million was granted to Guam EPA to admin-
ister their programs, which include protecting
drinking water sources and funding watershed
restoration projects.
EPA also helped secure a congressional
appropriation of $106.4 million for drinking
water and wastewater improvements as the
Department of Defense builds capacity for its
planned expansion on Guam.
American Samoa received $11.5 million
from EPA, $9 million of which is for infrastruc-
ture to improve drinking water quality. EPA has
focused on reinforcing American Samoa's efforts
to secure a sustainable drinking water supply
and prepare for the impacts of climate change as
part of its Making a Visible Difference initiative
to support underserved communities.
CNMI was awarded $8.6 million, of which
$6.7 million is targeted for water infrastructure.
(See pages 12, 13 for more information.)
-------
-------
CLIMATE &
COMMUNITIES
Supporting Local Initiatives
EPA's partnership programs encourage local governments and orga-
nizations to take the initiative in solving environmental problems.
Food Recovery Takes Off
The largest category of waste going to landfills 21% is food.
Across the nation, almost 35 million tons of food worth more than
$161 billion goes to landfills annually. As it rots, food produces
methane, a greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.
To address this problem, EPA is promoting food recovery and
waste prevention with the Food Recovery Challenge, a program
where organizations and businesses pledge to prevent and reduce
their wasted food.
At UC Santa Cruz, students and food service staff cut food
waste by more than 750 tons in just one year. They reduced the
amount of food that became waste by 100 tons, donated 1,000
pounds of usable food to the needy, and diverted 650 tons from
landfills to composting.
Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif, diverted more than
3,500 tons of food scraps, donated more than 50 tons of usable
food, and converted more than 1,200 tons of used cooking oil
to biodiesel that fuels the park's railroad and riverboat, reducing
consumption of petroleum-based diesel by about 150,000 gallons
per year.
In Nevada, MGM Resorts' 13 Las Vegas resorts diverted a total
of 25,000 tons of food from landfill to compost, a 50% increase in
one year. In the individual hotel category, MGM Grand Las Vegas
received a national award for diverting more than 5,000 tons of
food scraps to compost, a 161% increase in one year.
Photo: Brandon Doran
-------
worth of food goes into
landfills each year
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
and Chumash Casino Resort received a Food
Recovery Challenge award for preventing more
than 13 tons of food waste from entering land-
fills, and increasing the amount of food scraps fed
to animals by more than 80 tons.
Nationally, Food Recovery Challenge partici-
pants have reduced over 606,000 tons of wasted
food, including over 88,500 tons donated to
organizations that help feed the needy.
www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food
Protecting Communities
EPA is taking action to protect people at work and
in their homes from hazards that are often unseen.
New Standard for Agricultural Workers
Each year, up to 3,000 pesticide exposure incidents
are reported from the farms, forests, nurseries and
greenhouses covered by existing rules to protect
workers. Many other incidents are never reported.
Recognizing that the 1992 Agricultural Worker
Protection Standard (WPS) was not working as
intended, EPA revised the regulation to better pro-
tect the nations two million agricultural workers
and their families from pesticide exposure.
These changes will reduce the risks of injury
or illness by providing farmworkers with health
New standards will better protect agricultural workers and their families from pesticide exposure. (Photo: CA DWR)
PRISCILLA TOM and AUTUMN ROE
Priscilla Tom is a community
^ involvement coordinator with
1 EPAsSuperfund program.
She works with communities
in eastern Navajo Nation to
raise awareness about EPAs
work cleaning up abandoned
uranium mines and potential public health risks
associated with the mines.
Tom joined EPA after working for the Navajo
Nation in Window Rock, Arizona. As a member of the
Nation herself, she has worked as a community liai
son with all 110 Navajo chapters (local governments)
on projects such as ensuring emergency prepared
ness for bio-terrorism incidents and helping chapter
leaders file claims for FEMA projects.
Tom is from the small town of Crownpoint, Navajo
Nation, N.M., near the famed archeological sites of the
Chaco Culture National Historic Park.
Autumn Roe joined EPA in
late 2014 after working as a
contract specialist at the U.S.
General Services Administration
in Honolulu.
. / In her work as an EPA con
trading officer, Roe focuses on
the extensive activities to clean up abandoned uranium
mines on the Navajo Nation that are funded by a historic
legal settlement with Kerr-McGee. As part of the $4.4
billion settlement, EPA received nearly $1 billion to
address about 50 abandoned mines.
protections that workers in other industries already
have. For example, children under the age of 18
will be prohibited from handling pesticides.
Most of the revisions will be effective in
January 2017, giving growers, workers and state
agencies time to learn about the new rules. EPA
is supporting outreach efforts by state agencies to
the regulated community and organizations that
support farmworker health and safety.
Last year, EPA trained 169 promotores (com-
munity outreach/health workers) on pesticide
safety, the WPS, and information on where to
report pesticide exposures. These trusted members
of their communities will reach more than 14,500
-------
farmworkers and their family members in
California, as EPA continues to work with
promotores throughout the Pacific Southwest.
Addressing Dangers of Vapor Intrusion
The risk of exposure to toxics rising as vapor
from underground has only recently been
recognized. But EPA's Superfund program
in the Pacific Southwest has already made it
a priority, defining best practices for identi-
fying vapor intrusion, taking swift action to
protect occupants of homes and buildings,
and mitigating those risks for both the short
and long term.
Vapors can emanate from groundwater con-
taminated by industrial chemicals. If the vapors
move under a building, they can pass through
cracks and other openings in the foundation and
enter the indoor air. If the levels of the volatile
chemicals are high enough, they can cause
health problems.
Last year, EPA conducted vapor intrusion
investigations at 24 Superfund sites in eight
different communities in California. These
investigations required EPA staff to go door-
to-door to over 1,400 homes, commercial
buildings, and schools.
EPA staff talked with residents and business
owners in English, Spanish and Punjab, explaining
vapor intrusion and how air would be sampled in
their buildings. The agency developed fact sheets,
held community meetings, posted flyers around
neighborhoods and in schools, set up a mobile
information center, and provided real-time trans-
lation to share information with residents.
After analyzing air samples from more than 450
buildings, EPA has begun designing and installing
mitigation systems at 25 of them where vapor
intrusion had occurred, including a day care center,
a kindergarten and an elementary school.
Focus on Nevada
Nevada communities are benefiting from cleaner
air and rapid response to toxic threats.
Clean Air for Nevadans
EPA has redesignated Nevada's Reno-Sparks area
as attaining the national air quality standard for
coarse particulate matter (PM10). With that des-
ignation, the state of Nevada attained all existing
federal air quality standards for the first time, after
many years of work by Nevada agencies and EPA
to reduce air pollution.
In the Reno-Sparks area, the air district has ad-
opted controls reducing particulate emissions from
residential wood burning and dust from roads.
In southern Nevada, programs in Clark and Nye
Counties have significantly reduced particulate
emissions from vacant lots and construction sites.
Statewide programs for cleaner fuels and smog
checks for cars have also reduced emissions of
ozone precursors and carbon monoxide, maintain-
ing healthy air quality.
Over recent years, however, scientific evidence
has come to show that EPAs national air quality
standard for ozone (smog) was insufficient to
protect public health. So EPA set a stricter ozone
standard, which took effect in late 2015. EPA
staff are continuing to work with Nevada's state
and regional air quality regulators to meet the
new ozone standard.
EPA Leads Local Cleanups
EPA's Superfund Emergency Response Program
takes action quickly to remove imminent threats
to public health and the environment, wherever
they may be.
The Black Bear Patent Site, near the isolated
mining town of Searchlight, was an abandoned,
illegal operation that recovered usable copper
The Reno-Sparks area is enjoying cleaner air.
(Photo courtesy of University of Nevada, Reno)
from soils and ores from defunct mines. The
operators had left a toxic mess: cyanide heap
leach pads and ponds, acid leach tanks, over 300
55-gallon drums of partially processed ores, and
chemicals in unlabeled, deteriorating containers.
For 25 days in May 2015, EPA directed a crew
who took samples from the tanks and containers
to determine the types of hazardous waste they
contained, and prepared them for removal to
licensed hazwaste disposal facilities. By May 29,
the hazardous materials had been removed.
In a less remote setting, EPA responders took
rapid action in February 2015 after a student
brought a salt shaker filled with toxic liquid mercury
to school, leaving trails of it down the hallways of
Winnemucca Junior High in northern Nevada.
School officials evacuated the students and
called the Nevada Division of Emergency Man-
agement. State environmental officials requested
assistance from EPA.
EPA-supported crews spent days monitoring
and decontaminating classrooms and homes to
ensure that children and their families were safe.
-------
-------
i
ENFORCEMENT &
STEWARDSHIP
A Broad Enforcement Presence
Enforcing federal environmental laws is a central mission of EPA's
regional offices.
Cases Span Multiple Environmental Statutes
EPA enforces federal environmental laws regulating air and water
pollution, pesticides, hazardous wastes, toxic substances, toxic clean-
ups, and inland oil spills. The agency also delegates authority to state
agencies and tribal governments to enforce some of these laws.
Last year EPA conducted 883 inspections of regulated facilities
in the Pacific Southwest and initiated 126 enforcement actions.
Penalties totaled $6.7 million. A sampling of recent cases:
At the Ports of Oakland, Long Beach and Los Angeles, ships off-
load thousands of imported ATVs, scooters and other fuel-burning
engines every month. If they're not certified by EPA to meet federal
emissions standards, they likely violate the Clean Air Act. These
small engines can add up to big emissions of carbon monoxide
and smog-forming pollutants.
EPA worked with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to
conduct 153 inspections. Illegally imported engines found at these
ports can be returned to their countries of origin or confiscated. Last
year EPA cited 17 violators, levied $95,000 in fines, and kept more
than 3,000 illegal engines from being sold, preventing the release of
an estimated 200 tons of air pollutants in the United States.
On Oahu, the City and County of Honolulu violated the
Clean Air Act by failing to operate a gas collection system for
11 years at its closed Kapaa Landfill, which released more than
271,000 tons of methane and 5,400 tons of hazardous air pollut-
ants and volatile compounds before a system was put into place.
Photo: California Dept. of Water Resources
-------
Spotlight
will be spent by two companies
in agreements to reduce air
pollution (see p. 5)
Honolulu agreed to install a $16.1 million
solar power system and pay an $875,000 penalty.
The project will install more than 250,000
square feet of photovoltaic panels at the city's
waste-to-energy facility by 2020, reducing reli-
ance on fossil fuels on Oahu.
In California, the Lehigh Cement facility near
Cupertino in Silicon Valley was discharging water
contaminated with selenium and other toxic metals
into Permanente Creek daily for years, violating
the Clean Water Act. The contaminants ultimately
flowed into San Francisco Bay.
Lehigh paid a $2.55 million penalty and
is spending more than $5 million to install an
advanced wastewater treatment system and reduce
sediment in its stormwater.
When pesticide labels are false or misleading,
they put people at risk. A subsidiary of The Clorox
Co. had been selling a hospital disinfectant that
EPA found was ineffective against tuberculosis
bacteria. The label's claim that it was effective was
therefore misleading, a violation of the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The
subsidiary removed the tuberculosis claim from
the product and paid a $250,000 penalty.
Lynx Enterprises, a metal finishing firm in
Tracy, Calif, violated federal hazardous waste
regulations under the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act. Lynx paid a $29,000 penalty and
is spending an additional $108,000 to develop
hazardous waste training materials for the metal
finishing industry, including a video summarizing
federal, state and local hazardous waste require-
ments for use by 83 local agencies in California.
Prioritizing Children's Health
Children are more sensitive to pollution. Tailored
strategies help protect kids and their families.
Reducing Risks to Kids at Home, School
Lead exposure is more dangerous to children
because their growing bodies absorb more lead,
which can cause behavior and learning prob-
lems, slowed growth and diminished IQ. Higher
levels of exposure have been found in low-income
families, those living in older housing, and children
of color, particularly African Americans.
Lead-based paint was banned in 1978, but
37 million homes in the U.S. still have it on their
walls. Contractors who disturb painted surfaces in
pre-1978 homes and child-occupied facilities must
inform residents about risks, be trained and certified,
and follow safe work practices. Last year, EPA levied
fines totaling more than $100,000 on residential
renovation and property management companies in
California for violations of lead paint rules.
Children are also more sensitive to air pollu-
tion, which can aggravate asthma. In California's
Imperial Valley, EPA funded a home health worker
to educate low-income families on environmental
asthma triggers and prevention. This one person
made a big difference: Among the 46 families she
visited, there was a 94% reduction in hospital vis-
its. Based on these results, EPA provided training
on asthma triggers for 43 community health work-
ers and 35 medical providers in rural California.
New Publications Offer Guidance
At schools across the U.S., renovation activities
and busy nearby roadways can also release pol-
lutants that endanger children's health. EPA has
two new publications to help schools and parents
minimize exposures and protect kids' health.
JELANI SHAREEM
Jelani Shareem joined EPA
^^f "^| in 2011 as an intern with the
regional Environmental Justice
Team. He was the team's
communication lead, managing
Web content and helping plan a
\ Sustainable Fresno workshop.
He also worked in the hazard
ous waste enforcement group.
Since 2013, Shareem has been an underground
injection control (UIC) inspector and enforcement
officer - a job on the front line of protecting
groundwater supplies from toxic pollutants.
Using his knowledge of Geographic Information
Systems (GIS), Shareem has created unique target
ing tools to select regulated facilities for inspec
tions and enforcement, often leading to successful
enforcement actions against violators.
Shareem, who grew up in Oakland, has a bache
lor s degree in urban studies from UC Berkeley.
More than half of public schools nationwide
need to repair, renovate and modernize. Under-
standing the risks at the beginning of a project
can help schools avoid expensive, time-consuming
remediation, and improve children's health and
academic success.
The Sensible Guide to Healthier School Renova-
tions can help keep school environments healthy
while cleaning up contaminants like asbestos,
mold, mercury, lead and radon that are often
associated with renovations. This guide summarizes
potential hazards and best practices.
Nearly 17,000 U.S. schools are within l/10th
of a mile of a major roadway. In California, more
than 400,000 children attend schools where
heavy traffic may influence air quality.
EPA's Best Practices for Reducing Near-Road
Pollution Exposure at Schools offers strategies for
limiting exposure, including ventilation and filtra-
tion, school siting and layout, bus fleet upgrades,
anti-idling policies, sound walls, and more.
www.epa.gov/schools
-------
Focus on Arizona
Enforcement cases and partnerships work toward
the same goal - healthier communities.
Large Facilities Cut Air Emissions
The ASARCO copper smelter in the town of
Hayden is Arizona's largest source of sulfur diox-
ide (SO ) and a major source of nitrogen oxides
(NOx), particulate matter (PM), and hazardous
air pollutants such as lead and arsenic.
EPAs November 2015 settlement of an
enforcement case requires ASARCO to spend
$150 million on new equipment and pollution
controls to reduce emissions of toxic heavy metals.
ASARCO must also fund $8 million worth of
local environmental projects such as lead paint
abatement, replace a diesel locomotive with a
cleaner model, and pay a $4.5 million penalty.
Lead and arsenic emissions are expected to de-
crease by at least 8.5 tons per year, PM emissions
by 3,500 tons per year, and SO emissions by
19,000 tons per year - more than 90%.
In a second major case, several Arizona and
New Mexico-based utilities are now required to
install pollution controls to reduce harmful emis-
sions from their coal-fired Four Corners Power
Plant on the Navajo Nation near Shiprock, N.M.
The settlement requires an estimated $160
million in upgrades to the plant's SO and NOx
pollution controls. The owners must also pay
$6.7 million on three health and environmental
mitigation projects for tribal members, and a
$1.5 million penalty. The pollution controls are
expected to reduce harmful emissions by about
5,540 tons per year.
Working with Local Communities
EPA is working in several areas in Arizona to provide
Emissions of heavy metals will decrease at the 104-year-old ASARCO copper smelter in Hayden, Arizona.
funding, recognition or other assistance in improv-
ing public health and revitalizing communities.
School districts in the Tucson area have been
active partners. Last year, a $150,000 EPA
grant was combined with about $800,000 from
participating school districts to replace six diesel
school buses in the Tucson area with four new
compressed natural gas and two propane buses.
The new buses will reduce children's exposure to
diesel emissions, which can worsen symptoms of
asthma and bronchitis.
Meanwhile, the Tucson Unified School Dis-
trict was named an EPA Green Power Partner of
the Year for installing the nation's largest on-site
solar generating facility at a K-12 school system.
Their project placed solar arrays at 43 sites with
a capacity of more than 11 megawatts. These solar
arrays produce nearly 20 million kilowatt-hours of
green power per year about 20% of the district's
annual electricity use.
In Tucson, Phoenix and Yuma, EPAs Brown-
fields program provided $1.2 million in funding
for assessing and cleaning up contaminated urban
and industrial properties and restoring them to
productive use.
Pima County's $400,000 grant will encourage
economic development in one of Tucson's oldest
neighborhoods, the Southside. Phoenix is using
its $400,000 grant to assess industrial areas for
immediate reuse, and potential sites for commu-
nity gardens. Yuma's $400,000 grant will go to
assessments in Old Town South, where hazardous
and petroleum contamination from historic land
uses may remain.
www.epa.gov/brownfields
-------
EPA Funding for FY2015 for the Pacific Southwest Region
Contracts
15%
$110
Payroll and
Support
r-Miuii American
Other *T Samoa
$11 Guam
$12
Hawaii
$30
Total Regional Budget
(in millions)
Geographic Distribution
of Grants Awarded in FY2015
(in millions)
Nevada
$33
Arizona
$59
About 82% of the $714 million budget
appropriated by Congress for EPA's Pacific
Southwest Region flows to state and tribal
agencies, local governments, nonprofit orga-
nizations and private-sector companies in the
form of grants and contracts.
This funding pays for drinking water and
wastewater infrastructure, clean air programs,
Superfund site cleanups, rehabilitation of
contaminated lands, and many other activities
supporting communities and public health.
For more information on grants, visit
www.epa.gov/grants.
Regional Funding by Strategic Goal
All told, more than half of regional funding is applied toward the goal of Protecting
Americas Waters. Most of the $369 million in grants awarded under this goal goes
to the State Revolving Fund, which supports drinking water and wastewater infra-
structure as well as nonpoint source pollution and estuary protection programs.
Improving Air Protecting
Quality/ America's
Climate Waters
Change
Cleaning Up Ensuring Enforcing
Commu- Safety of Environment-
nities/ Chemicals al Laws
Advancing and Prevent-
Sustainable ing Pollution
Development
Distribution of Grant Funding
The majority of EPAs grant funding goes to state and tribal agencies
for environmental work. (In the Pacific islands, all of EPAs financial
support goes to government agencies.) The charts show who receives
funding in each of four major geographic areas.
*
California
($300 million)
Arizona
($59 million)
Nevada
($33 million)
Hawaii
($30 million)
State Agencies &
Special Districts
| Tribes
I Local Government
Nonprofits
Universities
-------
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency I Pacific Southwest/Region 9 Contacts
EPA Pacific Southwest Region
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA94105
415.947.8000
EPA Pacific Islands Contact Office
300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 5-152
Honolulu, HI 96850
808.541.2710
EPA San Diego Border Office
610 West Ash St., Suite 905
San Diego, CA 92101
619.235.4765
EPA Southern California Field Office
600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1460
Los Angeles, CA90017
213.244.1800
Phone Inquiries
415.947.8000
or 866.EPAWEST
(toll-free)
Email Inquiries
r9.info@epa.gov
EPA Website
wwwr.epa.gov
Follow Pacific Southwest Issues
www.epa.gov/region9
facebook.com/EPAregion9 «i
twitter.com/EPAregion9 ₯
Contact us for additional copies
or view in English and Spanish on
the Web at
www.epa.gov/region9/annualreport
Keep up with EPA's work in the Pacific Southwest and other environmental stories by
subscribing to our monthly e-newsletter at www.epa.gov/region9/newrsletter
Mention of individuals, organizations or companies in this report is not intended to imply endorsement by EPA or the U.S. Government.
©EPA
Printed on 100% recycled paper, 100% post-
consumer contentprocess chlorine-free
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 2016-671 -141
-------
We printed 2,700 copies of this report using soy-based inks on paper made with 100% postconsumer recycled fiber,
processed chlorine-free. By using this paper, we saved:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Pacific Southwest/Region 9
EPA-909-R-16-001
5 trees
2,556 gallons
of water
2.5 million
BTUs of energy
162 IDS of
solid waste
566 Ibs of
greenhouse gases
------- |