Josiah Frey
House Bill to Streamline NEPA Procedures
-March 25, 2014
House Bill 2641 passed the U.S. House of Representatives on March 6, 2014 and aims to streamline federal agency coordination on environmental permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Proponents of the bill point to a proposed wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts that has been in the permitting process for 12 years […]
EPA Declares Coal Ash “Non-Hazardous”
-February 11, 2014
On Friday, February 7th, the EPA announced a long-awaited decision to label coal ash as “non-hazardous.” The agency had opened the door to labeling the industrial byproduct as “hazardous” as recently as 2010, but eventually decided against that approach. This decision opens the door for increased use of the product in concrete, wallboard, and other building […]
GAO Calls For Water Regulations of Non-point Sources
-January 27, 2014
On Monday, January 13, 2014, the Government Accountability Office released a report on the National TMDL program calling for new EPA regulations and a Congressional revision of the Clean Water Act. The report specifically calls for new regulations of non-point source pollution which would impact stakeholders such as farmers and land developers. The Government Accountability […]
EPA Rules on Selenium Regulations
-November 22, 2013
On November 15th, the Kentucky Division of Water received notice that the EPA approved part of the proposed water quality standards for selenium put forth in May 2013. The EPA approved Kentucky’s chronic water criteria and the practice of fish tissue sampling to determine compliance. However, Kentucky’s acute water criteria was rejected by the EPA, […]
The Cloudy Future of Carbon Capture Technology
-September 27, 2013
It seems that as soon as one question is answered, another emerges in its wake, at least when it comes to the future of carbon capture technology. While the EPA announced new rules for future power plants that confirmed the reliance on the technology in future coal plants, the promise of this technology took a […]
Army Corps of Engineers Scope Defined
-August 29, 2013
Another precedent was set on Friday, August 23rd in the long running legal challenge to mountaintop mining. In his decision, U.S. District Senior Judge Thomas B. Russell of Louisville ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers does not have “to consider the cumulative effects of mining operations as a whole” when issuing a permit. Mr. […]
Global Natural Resource Supply and Demand
-August 23, 2013
This past Tuesday, August 20th was an annual milestone that most of us were probably unaware of – Earth Overshoot Day. On Monday analysts projected that we consumed more and produced more waste than our planet can replenish or reabsorb. The first day when this happened was December 29th in 1970, and Earth Overshoot Day […]
New Markets for Traditional Manufacturing With 3D Printing
-August 6, 2013
For a few years now the “next big thing” has been the emergence of 3D printing and how it was supposed to revolutionize how we view manufacturing. However, high costs and a lack of proficiency in technical programs have limited that adaptation, at least until now. It appears that 3D printing—the use of a desktop […]
Smart Garbage Cans
-July 30, 2013
As the list of “smart” devices grows, you may soon be able to add trash cans in your city to that list. Finland is one of the first countries to begin using smart trash cans to manage garbage collection efficiency. A small transmitter mounts to the bottom of the trash can lid and lets an […]
Obama’s Climate Change Plan-What Does It Mean?
-June 27, 2013
If you haven’t heard by now, the President has proposed a new climate change plan that aspires to make strides toward curbing America’s impact on carbon dioxide emissions. While the speech puts forth grand ideas of carbon dioxide emissions reductions and our obligation to meet them, it also provides some ambiguous language when it comes […]