Manager's Welcome
This is the June 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
H-GAC Wins Two Top Honors in Statewide Competition
Putting the Slam on Traffic Jams
Funding Available for Source Reduction, Pollution Prevention and Resource Conservation Activities
Texas General Land Office - Grants Available
Galveston Focus of Bike, Walk Project
Updating Community Information is Easy With the Earth 911 User Interface
Environmental Survey Rates 42% of U.S. Streams in Poor Condition H-GAC MEETING NOTICES
FY07 Solid Waste Implementation Grant Presentations and Scoring
Dioxin Total Maximum Daily Load Study for Houston Ship Channel and Upper Galveston Bay
Storm Debris: Debris Management
Solid Waste Management Committee OTHER MEETING NOTICES
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Workshops IN THIS ISSUE
H-GAC Wins Two Top Honors in Statewide Competition
Congratulations to H-GAC for winning two 1st place awards in the 2006 Keep Texas Beautiful Awards – Government Regional Category. The 2006 Houston-Galveston Regional Recycling and Conservation Guide took top honors in the project category. The Guide is a regional resource educating people about environmental issues in the H-GAC region. For more information or copies of the Guide visit www.h-gac.com/recycleguide or email gdelarosa@h-gac.com. The Storm Debris Management Education Program won 1st place in the competition's program category. H-GAC implemented this regional storm debris preparedness effort to improve the preparedness and coordination within county governments, as well as cooperation across jurisdictional boundaries. In the face of a major debris generating event, it is the cooperation and preparedness on the local level that will contribute most to recovery. For more information on the Storm Debris Workshops visit www.h-gac.com/sdworkshop or email kdoyle@h-gac.com.
Back to Top Putting the Slam on Traffic Jams
What's traffic like on the freeways you travel?Houston TranStar can tell you. We'll send free e-mails or messages to your mobile device—color Palm, pocket PC and some Blackberrys.Go to http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/trafficalert/ to sign up for e-mails, or enter the URL in your mobile device's Web browser. It's free! Choose the freeways, which days and the times you want the alerts. Houston TranStar can send maps of traffic,
construction sites and other delays to your mobile device.For questions about your service, or if you don't know how to set up a URL, check your owner's manual or call your service provider. With Houston TranStar, you're always ahead of the jam.
Back to Top Funding Available for Source Reduction, Pollution Prevention, and Resource Conservation Activities
Seven of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Regional Pollution Prevention (P2) Programs (Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10) are now accepting applications for funding for projects that support source reduction/pollution prevention and/or resource conservation activities through this request for proposals. The Source Reduction Assistance (SRA) Grants Program provides grants and cooperative agreements to fund pollution prevention (source reduction and resource conservation) activities. EPA is interested in funding projects which assist in reducing hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants entering waste streams or otherwise released into the environment (including fugitive emissions) prior to recycling, treatment, or disposal. For more information visit http://www.epa.gov/oppt/p2home/grants/srap06.htm
Back to Top Texas General Land Office - Grants Available
The Texas General Land Office will be accepting project nominations for funding through the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP). CIAP returns money to states that have been impacted by oil and gas operations and the program is for coastal counties only. There is no match required, but certain criteria must be met. To find out what types of projects are eligible and to view current criteria and more information on CIAP, go to the TGLO web site at http://www.glo.state.tx.us/coastal/ciap/ciap2005.html or contact TGLO Team Leader for CIAP Kathy Smartt at kathy.smartt@glo.state.tx.us or 512- 475-1552.
Back to Top Galveston Focus of Bike, Walk Project
Galveston this summer will be the focus of a project to make the community friendlier to pedestrians and bicycles. "This study is not aimed at creating hike and bike trails," said Dan Raine, the coordinator for the effort. The project is aimed instead at people who walk or ride a bike to school, to work and to shop. Raine and a team of consultants from The Lentz Group will study the community to come up with a list of projects strategically designed to make life easier for people trying to get around the island without a car. Raine and his team had two meetings where they listened to feedback from Galveston residents, many of them bicyclists. In the coming weeks, the team will accumulate more data and come back for another meeting in late June. The Galveston effort was a result of a regional study that identified 12 areas most in need of such projects. Two of the 12 areas are in Galveston, and as a result, Raine and his team are looking at a section of the city between 53rd Street and Ferry Road. The next round of public meetings will be held June 26th and 28th. For more information visit, http://www.walkbikegalveston.org/.
Back to Top Updating Community Information Is Easy With The Earth 911 User Interface
Whether it is recycling or household hazardous waste (HHW), municipal or commercial, curbside or drop-off, an ongoing program or a one-time event, Earth 911 helps you keep your residents informed with up-to-date, community-specific information. The free, Earth 911 online User Interface (UI) allows you to post/update your recycling and HHW program information 24-hours-a-day, seven days-a-week.Access the Earth 911 User Interface from the left menu bar of Earth 911 or here, http://www.earth911.org/dataentry/login.asp
Sign up for a Username and Password to access the Earth 911 UI, http://www.earth911.org/usa/master.asp?s=e911&a=contact/coord_update_info.asp
Back to Top Environmental Survey Rates 42% of U.S. Streams in Poor Condition
Forty-two percent of the shallow-stream miles in the United States are in poor condition, and only 28 percent are in good condition, according to a survey released May 5 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Wadeable Streams Assessment is the first statistically valid survey of the biological condition of streams throughout the country, according to the EPA. The survey was based on samples collected at 1,392 sites between 2000 and 2004. Wadeable streams are shallow bodies of water that feed rivers, lakes and coastal waters.The most widespread contaminants found were nitrogen, phosphorous and streambed sediments. Nitrogen and phosphorous contamination, which result from farming operations and fertilizer runoff, are nutrients that increase the growth of algae, decrease levels of dissolved oxygen and cloud the water. Streambed sediments smother aquatic habitat and degrade conditions for fish.
Stream conditions varied widely by geographic region. Western streams were in the best condition, with 45 percent of wadeable streams rated good. The worst conditions were in the Eastern Highlands - an area from New England through the Appalachian Mountains - where only 18 percent of the stream miles were in good condition.
Back to Top H-GAC MEETING NOTICES
FY07 Solid Waste Implementation Grant Presentations and Scoring
June 14-15
H-GAC Conference Room B,
3555 Timmons, Houston, TX 77027
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Contact Kelly Doyle at 713-993-4566 or kdoyle@h-gac.com for more information.
Back to Top
Dioxin Total Maximum Daily Load Study for Houston Ship Channel and Upper Galveston Bay
June 16, 2006
H-GAC Conference Room A
3555 Timmons, Houston, TX 77027
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Contact Carl Masterson for more information at 713-993-4561 or cmasterson@h-gac.com.
Back to Top Storm Debris: Debris Management
June 21, 2006
H-GAC Conference Room A
3555 Timmons, Houston, TX 77027
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Contact Kelly Doyle to RSVP or for more information Kelly Doyle at 713-993-4566 or kdoyle@h-gac.com.
Back to Top Solid Waste Management Committee
June 27, 2006
H-GAC Conference Room A
3555 Timmons, Houston, TX 77027
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Contact Cheryl Mergo cmergo@h-gac.com or 713-993-4520 for more information.
Back to Top OTHER MEETING NOTICES
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Workshops
To assist with understanding the record keeping and reporting requirements associated with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Small Business and Environmental Assistance Division will host seven training workshops. Each three-hour workshop will focus on the type, frequency, and retention of RCRA reports. A portion of each workshop will be dedicated to teaching attendees how to correctly complete the new EPA hazardous waste manifest going into effect September 2006. One workshop will be held in Houston at the University of Houston Small Business Center on June 22 from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm.
Target Audience: Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators (CESQGs) and Small Quantity Generators (SQGs)
Cost: $25 per person
For more information, or to register, visit http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/assistance/events/seminars/rcra.html. You may also call 512-239-3150 or email to events@tceq.state.tx.us.
To unsubscribe, add another subscriber or offer any comments on the e-newsletter, please e-mail cep_news@h-gac.com.
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