Wyoming’s Mike Morris (center in blue) with the ECOS staff in Washington, DC. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is marking Air Quality Awareness month with the publication of a report on winter ozone strategy and the rollout of a new Hamilton-inspired rap on air regulation performed for Wyoming elementary school students and…
News and Updates
Texas CEQ Makes Forbes List of Best Places to Work
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has been recognized as one of the top mid-sized employers in the nation by Forbes Magazine. Each year, Forbes hires a market research company to conduct an anonymous survey of 30,000 Americans in companies with more than 1,000 employees. Respondents rank their likelihood of recommending their employer to…
Texas Enlists Country Music Artist for PSA
Take Care of Texas, a program of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, has tapped rising country music star Cody Johnson to perform on public service announcements (PSAs) that began airing on Texas television stations this week. An accomplished songwriter and native Texan, Johnson donated his time to write and perform the new tune for…
New Mexico Encourages Drought Planning
Last week, New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) sent a message to public water systems and community leaders and released a public bulletin encouraging action now to prevent water shortages or outages this summer. Low snowpack levels and lack of precipitation in the state are causing increases in drought severity indicators. NMED’s Drinking Water Bureau offered…
Missouri Releases Annual Census of Public Water Systems
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources recently announced the availability of the 2018 Annual Census of Missouri Public Water Systems. The report defines the quality and safety of drinking water provided by Missouri’s 2,732 public water systems for 2017. Of the 6.1 million people living in Missouri, 5.3 million people rely on water from public…
Louisiana Reaches Compliance with Federal Ozone Standards
Last week, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced that his entire state had reached attainment with U.S. EPA’s ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard. EPA set the standard at 70 parts per billion in 2015. When the amendments to the Clean Air Act were set in 1990, the state had 20 parishes in the nonattainment…
Rhode Island Preserves 101 Acres of Open Space
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announced last week its permanent protection for public recreational use of 101 acres in the northern region of the state. The property abuts DEM’s Durfee Hill Management Area, which, with the George Washington Management Area, encompasses 5,200 acres of state-owned protected lands. In its press release, DEM…
Delaware Nears Completion of Wetland on Former Facility Site
On April 25, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) staff spent a cool, damp morning planting native wetland plants at the NVF Wetland Project near Yorklyn, Delaware. Teams from the Division of Watershed Stewardship’s Delaware Wetlands group and the Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances Site Investigation and Remediation Section spent…
Maryland Takes Step in Advancing Comprehensive Strategy for Chesapeake Bay
On April 27, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) issued a Water Quality Certification with special conditions for the proposed relicensing of the Conowingo Dam as part of a comprehensive strategy for Chesapeake Bay restoration. The certification requires the applicant, Exelon Generation Company LLC, to reduce water pollution that flows from the dam to the…
Iowa Marks Soil and Water Conservation Week
Iowans working together in their communities and backyards to improve soil and water quality, many with Department of Natural Resources (DNR) assistance and funding, are marking Soil and Water Conservation week April 29-May 5 to celebrate their achievements and inspire others to begin work on their own land. Projects that focus on reducing stormwater runoff…
