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EPA has allocated $9 million to jump start cleanup activities at the Durham Meadows Superfund site in Durham, Conn. The funding will support the installation of an alternative water supply to the Superfund site area, serving over 100 residential and commercial structures, including Regional School District 13. Many of the homes and businesses to be connected have treatment systems or are being provided bottled water as a result of widespread groundwater contamination.

Lead poisoning is the number one environmental health threat in the U.S. for children under the age of seven. The long-term effects of lead exposure to a child can be severe and may include learning disabilities, decreased growth, behavior problems, impaired hearing, and even brain damage. Pregnant women should avoid exposure to lead because lead can pass through a woman’s body into the unborn baby

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is awarding loans and grants that will help more than 1,100 rural small businesses and agricultural producers reduce energy usage and costs in their operations. The funding is for energy efficiency improvements and/or renewable energy systems. USDA is financing projects in every state, as well as in the Virgin Islands, the Western Pacific and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews and Indonesian President Joko Widodo attended a ceremony today to recognize new business deals and commitments worth more than $20 billion between U.S. and Indonesian companies. A number of these projects will help more people benefit from clean electricity, while others will support transportation infrastructure and introduce new financial products

Sales of new single-family houses in September 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Census Bureau. This is 11.5 percent (±11.3%)* below the revised August rate of 529,000 and is 2.0 percent (±17.9%) above the September 2014 estimate of 459,000.

Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (KY-01) today announced his plans to introduce resolutions under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to disapprove of two final rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for new and existing power plants. Under the CRA, a rule disapproved by Congress shall have no force and effect and an agency may not issue the same or a substantially similar rule unless authorized by subsequent legislation.

The City of Sacramento used 26.5 percent less water in September compared to the same period in 2013, just over one percent shy from meeting the water conservation savings goal of 28%.  The City is pleased with the continued water conservation efforts of our customers, however, with the temperatures dropping and the days getting shorter, the City is encouraging a drought call to action – for customers to voluntarily water no more than one day per week starting now. 

Members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee expressed their strong support for mental health reform in a letter to Chairman Upton and Ranking Member Pallone. Committee members urged colleagues to support legislative reforms that prioritize the needs of patients and families experiencing mental illness

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and co-Chair of the Senate Climate Clearinghouse, released the following statement on and the Environmental Protection Agency and President Obama’s Clean Power Plan

The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) officially published in the Federal Register its 111(d) Rule, commonly referred to as the “Clean Power Plan.” The official publication of the rule has allowed Colorado, along with a bipartisan group of 23 other states, to formally challenge the rule in federal court. The legal challenge will clarify whether the EPA has authority under § 111(d) of the Clean Air Act to usurp the States’ control over their power grids, and to establish federal limits not just on existing power sources but on all carbon emissions from the States’ energy economies.

Mayor Kasim Reed joined U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Anthony Foxx, Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., Charleston, South Carolina, Mayor Steve Benjamin, Columbia, South Carolina, and North Carolina Department of Transportation Secretary Nick Tennyson on a panel discussion today about the region’s transportation system and its future.

Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) issued the following statement today after it was reported that Flint was required to pay up front from the city’s rainy day utility fund to reconnect to the Detroit water system and that the state of Michigan will only partially reimburse the city until next year

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) samples publicly accessible bodies of water for cyanobacteria, commonly called blue-green algae, when the agency is alerted to a potential algae bloom in Kansas lakes. KDHE, in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) and other lake managers where appropriate, responds by informing the public of harmful conditions.

The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) joined local officials and representatives of The Ingerman Group to celebrate the grand opening of Willows at Waretown, a 76-unit affordable rental community for seniors 55 and older in Ocean Township, Ocean County, which is one of the nine counties most impacted by Superstorm Sandy as determined by the federal government

Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos announced the roll-out of a new online voter registration system, "My Voter Page" online voter resource tool, and a new statewide voter checklist and elections management system to be used by all town and city clerks in Vermont.

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement after numerous states took legal action to block the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan, which sets nationwide limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants:

In an effort to help millions of low-income families and seniors on fixed incomes afford their energy bills this coming winter, a bipartisan group of 40 U.S. Senators, led by Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jack Reed (D-RI), are calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to quickly release as much federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) heating aid as possible.

Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (KY-01) today announced his plans to introduce resolutions under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to disapprove of two final rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for new and existing power plants. Under the CRA, a rule disapproved by Congress shall have no force and effect and an agency may not issue the same or a substantially similar rule unless authorized by subsequent legislation

Sebring will construct a new filter-to-waste treatment system for their drinking water plant helping to further purify local water supplies. The improvements are being funded with a low-interest loan from Ohio EPA.

Equilon Enterprises has received a covenant not to sue under Ohio EPA’s Voluntary Action Program (VAP) after investigating and remediating the former Shell Storage Terminal property in Mogadore.