New San Francisco Law Will Make Property Owners Pay For Trash Removal

Courtesy of yourgreenfriend.com

SAN FRANCISCO- Already with some of the strongest environmental laws in the country, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has passed a new ordinance that will make it mandatory for all city occupants to separate recyclables, compostables, and regular landfill trash. In addition, they will have to pay for it to be picked up.

Mayor Gavin Newsom signed the Ordinance 081404 last week, according to his office, and it will go into effect in late September of this year.

The ordinance will affect both the residential and commercial sectors of the city, requiring the separation of garbage into blue for recyclables, green for compostables, and black for landfill trash.

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Long Island Wastewater Project Gets $4 Million in Economic Recovery Funding

The Lower Long Island Sound Drainage Basin. This map was created by the Westchester County Department of Planning.

NEW YORK- The Village of Greenport has been designated to receive $4 million to install “state-of-the-art” modifications to its local water treatment facility, with the goal of reducing the introduction of pollutants into the Long Island Sound, as well as creating and retaining an estimated 186 jobs, according to a coordinated announcement by Gov. David A. Paterson, Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), and the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation.

The New York Clean Water State Revolving Fund will disperse the $4 million grant designated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

In addition to the stimulus funding, the Greenport project has also received grants from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, including a $1.1 million Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act grant, and a $400,000 Long Island Sound Restoration Program grant.

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Environmental Groups Set New York State Agenda for Upcoming Earth Day Lobby Day

New York State Wetlands. Photo courtesy of geocities.comALBANY- Environmental advocacy groups from around the state have just finalized the agenda for this year’s annual Earth Day lobbying pilgrimage to Albany on May 5.

“There are a couple of dozen environmental groups that will be taking part in the day. The Sierra Club, Audubon Society, Environmental Advocates of New York, and the New York Public Interest Research Group, just to name a few,” said Bill Mahoney, legislative operations coordinator for the Albany office of NYPIRG.

“All the groups came together to come up with the agenda of what issues we are working on,” he added. The major focus of the groups during the day will be the following four bills:

• Wetlands Protection (A.6363/S.848)
• Global Warming Pollution Control Act (A.7572)
• Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act (A.7571/S/2512)
• Environmental Access to Justice (A.3423/S.1635)

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EPA Says, Show the World Your Earth Day Videos and Photos

Photo courtesy of Library@Kendriya Vidyalaya Pattom.

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Aspiring video producers and photographers get ready! Earth Day will be here on April 22. In anticipation and celebration, the Environmental Protection Agency has launched two projects that will allow members of the public to share how they protect and enjoy the environment.

The EPA is asking filmmakers and photographers around the world to submit their own videos and photos documenting what steps they take to protect the water they drink, the air they breathe, and the overall environmental health of their communities.

EPA officials will select videos and photos to feature on their website from now through the end of April. Participants can submit their video entries to the agency’s Earth Day Video Project group on You Tube. Photo entries should be submitted to the Earth Day Photo project through Flickr.com.

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FEMA Offers States Extension Option for Katrina/Rita Direct Housing Assistance Program

FEMA temporary housing trailer community. Photo courtesy of OhMyGov.com.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s temporary housing program for families and individuals affected by the Katrina and Rita disasters may be extended until May 1, 2009 at the request of affected individual states to the agency. Otherwise, the program is scheduled to end on March 1, 2009.

At the time of this posting, only Louisiana and Mississippi have requested the extensions. Each state has until the March 1, 2009 deadline to request an extension, otherwise that will be the date on which the program is terminated for that state, according to Ashley Small, public affairs specialist for FEMA.

Families and individuals that are still residing in the temporary housing “will be receiving letters, if they have not already received them, notifying them of the extension,” said Ms. Small.

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