TOP STORIES
Save the Date for the 2020 National Tribal Forum on Air Quality (NTFAQ)!
This year’s annual conference will be held on May 27-29, 2020 in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the River Spirit Hotel and Casino. The 2020 NTFAQ host Tribe is the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The NTFAQ provides environmental professionals from tribes, EPA, and other organizations an opportunity to meet and discuss current policies, regulatory initiatives, and technical topics in air quality. The NTFAQ is a cooperative endeavor co-sponsored by The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) and the National Tribal Air Association (NTAA), made possible by funding from US EPA and our generous sponsors. Online registration will start in February so check back on ITEP’s website!
NTAA Chairman Discusses Indoor Air Quality on Native America Calling
In case you missed Tuesday’s broadcast of the radio show, Native America Calling, NTAA Chairman Wilfred J. Nabahe was joined by EPA’s Dave Rowson and former EPA staff and IAQ expert Priyanka Pathak were all on the hour-long show to speak about IAQ in Indian Country. You can listen to the broadcast on the Native America Calling home page.
Federal Register Publication Notice: EPA’s Cleaner Trucks Initiative — Advance Notice of Proposed Rule
The EPA’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rule (ANPR) titled “Control of Air Pollution from New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine Standards” has been published in the Federal Register. Please note that the 30-day comment period for this ANPR began Monday, January 21, 2020, and all comments must be submitted on or before February 20, 2020. The EPA websites, ANPR: Control of Air Pollution from New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine Standards
and Cleaner Trucks Initiative will be updated, replacing the earlier “pre-publication” version of the ANPR with the official version in the link above. The NTAA will be submitting a request for comment extension as well as developing a Policy Resource Kit.
HEADLINES
Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes
NPR – Elk Raise Tensions Between Tribes And Farmers In Washington’s Skagit Valley
EPA – EPA Grant Will Support Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma’s Environmental Programs
Native Sun News – Town okays water for KXL: tribes hold out
Phys.org – Chemists find fungal shrapnel in the air
Illinois News Bureau – New study examines mortality costs of air pollution in US
National Association of Clean Air Agencies – Washington Update
Climate Change/Energy
AZ Central – APS will eliminate carbon emissions by 2050 and close coal plant ahead of schedule, CEO says
Utility Dive – Proposed 2.2 GW storage project plans to use Navajo coal station power-lines
Indian Country Today – Beyond coal: Building out solar
Native News Online – Navajo Nation Announces Solar Partnership With Salt River Project
Rolling Stone – America’s Radioactive Secret
E&E News – Regulator nixes NEPA reviews for plutonium production
NPR – Microsoft Pledges to Remove From the Atmosphere All the Carbon It Has Ever Emitted
NPR – Kids’ Climate Case ‘Reluctantly’ Dismissed By Appeals Court
E&E News – Closing the ozone hole helped slow polar warming
E&E News – Land battles threaten wind, solar build-out – report
E&E News – LNG plant explosion raises concerns about federal oversight
Indian Country Today – ‘Climate change is happening now, and we are seeing the effects of it’
NY Times – Climate Change Takes Center Stage in Davos
Utility Dive – 2020 Outlook: Renewables, resilience and reliability needs will drive storage
The Guardian – Study finds shock rise in levels of potent greenhouse gas
Toxics/Mobile Sources
NY Times – China Says It Will Ban Plastics That Pollute Its Land and Water
NY Times – I Quit Cars
AZ Daily Sun – Why cutting car and truck emissions is so hard
Ogden Standard Examiner – Utah doctors’ group sues another vehicle business over air pollution
Indoor Air Quality
Science Daily – School indoor air quality cannot be reliably assessed based on pupils’ symptoms
Fatherly – The Air in Your Home Is Making Your Family Sick. Here’s what to do about it.
KVOE – Attorney General wants to add vaping provisions to Clean Indoor Air Act
Be sure to subscribe to EPA’s IAQ Bulletins
