Manager's Welcome
This is the April issue of the Houston-Galveston Area Council's (H-GAC's) Community and Environmental Planning (C&E) E-newsletter. We hope this monthly newsletter will keep you up to date on the wide variety of community planning, economic development and environmental planning programs going on at H-GAC. We want this information to be useful and are very interested in your feedback! If you have any questions about any of our programs, please feel free to contact me at 713-993-4560 or Jeff.Taebel@h-gac.com. To unsubscribe, add another subscriber or offer any comments on the e-newsletter, please e-mail cep_news@h-gac.com. To view the current and past editions of the e-newsletter, please visit:
www.h-gac.com/CEeNewsletter Please click on the links below to view information regarding each topic. IN THIS ISSUE
Input Needed on Changes to HHW Chapter 30 Rules
Cutting Energy Bills in Texas: Developing an Energy Risk Management Stategy
Awards to Honor Counties and Cities
EPA Announces Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign
H-GAC Regional Hazard Mitigation Action Plan
Techno-Recycling: Beyond Bottles and Cans
H-GAC MEETING NOTICES
Houston Ship Channel/Upper Galveston Bay Dioxin TMDL Stakeholder Meeting
H-GAC Regional Flood Management Council Meeting
Texas Watch Certified Monitoring Training
IN THIS ISSUE Input Needed on Changes to HHW Chapter 30 Rules
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is requesting input from interested parties on what rule changes would be appropriate for hazardous household waste (HHW) programs. These rules are codified as Title 30 of the Texas Administrative Code Chapter 335, Subchapter N. The rules were promulgated as required by Texas Health and Safety Code §361.029. The TCEQ wants to receive input from interested parties before we draft any revisions to the current rules.There are multiple ways in which you can provide input on possible changes to the rules. There will be three stakeholder meetings held the first week of April:
- At TCEQ on April 2nd from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM in Room 2210 of Building F at the TCEQ main campus at 12100 Park 35 Circle, Austin (Austin_map_link )
- At University of Texas at Arlington on April 3rd from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM in Room E-200F of the CEWF Building at UTA, located at 140 West Mitchell St., Arlington (Arlington_map_link)
- At City of Houston on April 5th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM in the Auditorium (Room 100) at the City of Houston Environmental Health Division, 7411 Park Place Blvd., Houston ( Houston_map_link)
The meetings will provide a chance for all the various stakeholders to discuss issues that are important to them, as well as to provide input to TCEQ on possible rule changes. In addition to the meetings, TCEQ is also providing time for stakeholders to send written comments about the rules. You can provide written input until May 3, 2007. Please remember to provide input both on what works well in the current rules and what you think should be changed. Please send your comments to me in any of the following ways: Mail to: Joe Thomas
TCEQ/SBEA (MC-112)
P.O. Box 13087
Austin TX 78711-3087
E-mail to jothomas@tceq.state.tx.us
Fax to my attention at (512) 239-3165
Back to Top Cutting Energy Bills In Texas: Developing an Energy Risk Management Strategy
Texas A&M University workshops to help private companies, government and nonprofit organizations save money in today’s volatile energy markets will be held in April in Austin and Houston. Workshop dates and locations are: Wednesday, April 11 from 12:00pm to 5:00pm at The Commons Conference Center, JJ Pickle Research Campus of the University of Texas, Austin, Texas and Wednesday, April 25 from 12:00pm to 5:00pm at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. Titled "Cutting Energy Bills in Texas: Developing an Energy Risk Management Strategy," the workshops are sponsored by the office of Austin Mayor Will Wynn, the Austin electric utility – Austin Energy, and the office of Houston Mayor Bill White. Registration cost is $95. The fee covers the workshop, lunch and workshop materials. Additional details and registration are available online at http://archone.tamu.edu/conted/. Related workshop information can be found at http://cuttingenergybills.com. Workshops show attendees how to address financial risks and rewards associated with energy efficiency and pricing choices using a risk management process called Energy Budgets at Risk (EBaR)™ . EBaR evaluates energy cost saving options providing a strategy that recognizes each organization’s budget flexibility and risk tolerance. For further information contact:
Jerry Jackson, Ph.D.
College of Architecture
3137 TAMU
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
979-845-2532
Email: jerryrjackson@tamu.edu
Back to Top Awards to Honor Counties, Cities
The Texas Association of Counties Leadership Foundation County Best Practices Awards recognize counties and county leaders for accomplishments in various areas such as safety and corrections, health and human services, finance and management, community improvement and technology. Nominated programs must have been completed during 2006, and must be replicable in other counties. Nomination forms, due May 15, are available online at www.county.org/cms/leader/practices.asp or by contacting Kali O'Neill at 800-456- 5974 or kalio@county.org. TAC will also join the Texas Municipal League to present the City-County Cooperation Awards, which honor programs in which cities and counties worked together to meet the challenges of local government. Nominated programs must have shown significant results between Nov. 1, 2005 and May 1, 2007. These nominations are due by May 4. More information is available on the TML Web site, http://www.tml.org, or by calling Karla Vining, 512-231-7400.
Back to Top EPA Announces Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign
In a national kickoff, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign to help schools prevent chemical accidents. Under this program, EPA, working with the U.S. Department of Education and industry, will help schools safely manage chemicals. Across the country, EPA estimates that about 33,000 middle and high schools have laboratory and other chemicals that could cause accidents and injure students. The Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign is an effort to help schools safely manage their chemicals and avoid costly and possibly dangerous accidents. Through the campaign, schools are connected with local chemical management experts and a web-based toolkit. The Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign aims to ensure that all schools are free from hazards associated with mismanaged chemicals. The campaign gives K-12 schools information and tools to responsibly manage chemicals and its partners offer a broad range of services from conducting chemical inventories to training school personnel in responsible chemical management.Information about Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign: http://www.epa.gov/sc3
Back to Top H-GAC Regional Hazard Mitigation Action Plan
Sixteen more communities adopted the H-GAC Regional Hazard Mitigation Action Plan (Plan), maintaining their eligibility for funding through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program. The total number of Hazard Mitigation planning partners is now 78. A list of participating communities can be found on H-GAC’s Web Site at www.h-gac.com\hazmap.
Back to Top Techno-Recycling: Beyond Bottles and Cans
Electronic waste (e-waste) is the fastest growing segment of the municipal waste stream and includes electronic products such as TVs, computers, cell phones, VCRs, and stereos. These products may contain toxic materials such as lead, barium, mercury, and cadmium which are harmful to the environment. Many of us know that electronics such as TVs and computers can be recycled at area facilities, but did you know you can also recycle smaller items such as printer cartridges, rechargeable batteries, used CDs and diskettes, and many other smaller items? These items may not seem like much, but they can add up quickly and often contain some of the same toxins found in larger electronics.
There are multiple services available to make recycling these items easy, convenient and inexpensive - or even free! Some even offer custom containers that you can fill at your leisure and then mail back to the company for recycling.
To find a service offered in your area, or a nationwide service provider that provides recycling through a mail-in program, visit www.cleanup.org.
Back to Top H-GAC MEETING NOTICES Houston Ship Channel/Upper Galveston Bay Dioxin TMDL Stakeholder Meeting
April 5, 2007
H-GAC Conference Room A
3555 Timmons, 2nd Floor
Houston, TX 77027
1:00 p.m. -4:00 p.m.
For more information contact Carl Masterson @ 713-993-4561 or cmasterson@h-gac.com
Back to Top H-GAC Regional Flood Management Council Meeting
April 18, 2007
H-GAC Conference Room A
3555 Timmons, 2nd Floor
Houston, TX 77027
1:30 p.m. -3:30 p.m.
For more information contact Carl Masterson @ 713-993-4561 or cmasterson@h-gac.com
Back to Top Texas Watch Certified Monitoring Training
Phase I and Phase II
for interested volunteers
April 28, 2007 9:00am to 4:00pm
Jones Forest on FM 1488
located in Montgomery County
Texas Watch Training is free
You MUST Pre-Register
Call: 832-681-2516 or Email: gayla.stock@h-gac.com
What Is TEXAS WATCH?
Texas Watch is a network of trained volunteers and supportive partners working together to gather information about the natural resources of Texas and to ensure the information is available to all Texans. Volunteers are trained to collect quality-assured information that can be used to make environmentally sound decisions. Established in 1991, Texas Watch is administered through a cooperative partnership between Texas State University, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Currently, over 400 Texas Watch volunteers collect water quality data on lakes, rivers, and streams. Volunteers complete three phases of training using a test kit that measures physical and chemical parameters in water.
Volunteers are asked to monitor their site(s) monthly at the same time of day each month, for a two year commitment. Monitoring takes approximately one to two hours.
Phase I Training is a hands-on in a classroom setting.
Phase II Training provides the volunteers the opportunity to conduct the monitoring procedures in the field.
Phase III Training is conducted as a one-on-one session with a Trainer and each volunteer at their monitoring site.
Back to Top
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