February 13, 2012

1) EPA Releases Final Health Assessment for Tetrachloroethylene (Perc)
2) Feds Approve California Sewage Ban and Create Largest Coastal No-Discharge Zone in the Nation
3) Blog Spotlight: From Coast to Coast, Skills for American Workers
4) Success Spotlight: Roberts Bay, Florida—Retrofits in Bay Result in Removal of Nutrient Impairment

1) EPA Releases Final Health Assessment for Tetrachloroethylene (Perc)
EPA has posted the final health assessment for tetrachloroethylene – also known as perchloroethylene, or perc – to EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database. Perc is a chemical solvent widely used in the dry cleaning industry. It is also used in the cleaning of metal machinery and to manufacture some consumer products and other chemicals. Confirming longstanding scientific understanding and research, the final assessment characterizes perc as a "likely human carcinogen." The assessment provides estimates for both cancer and non-cancer effects associated with exposure to perc over a lifetime. EPA sets limits for the amount of perc allowed in drinking water. The toxicity values reported in the perc IRIS assessment will be considered in revising EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level for perc as part of the carcinogenic volatile organic compounds group in drinking water, as described in the agency's drinking water strategy.

More information on the perc IRIS assessment: http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0106.htm

More information on perc: http://epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/perchloroethylene_fact_sheet.html

More information on IRIS: http://www.epa.gov/IRIS

2) Feds Approve California Sewage Ban and Create Largest Coastal No-Discharge Zone in the Nation
EPA last week finalized a decision and approved a state proposal to ban all sewage discharges from large cruise ships and most other large ocean-going ships to state marine waters along California's 1,624 mile coast from Mexico to Oregon and surrounding major islands. This action establishes a new federal regulation banning even treated sewage from being discharged in California's marine waters. EPA estimates that the rule will prohibit the discharge of over 22 million of the 25 million gallons of treated vessel sewage generated by large vessels in California marine waters each year, which could greatly reduce the contribution of pollutants still found in treated vessel sewage.

For more information on this and other no-discharge zones in California, and Clean Water Act programs to address vessel discharges and marine debris, please visit EPA's website at:

http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/no-discharge
http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/regulatory/vesseldisch.html
http://www.epa.gov/region9/marine-debris

3) Blog Spotlight: From Coast to Coast, Skills for American Workers
Nancy Stoner, acting Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Water, blogged about her visits to Atlanta and San Francisco, where she toured environmental education and green building centers. In the blog, Ms. Stoner discusses the opportunities these centers provide for new skills and career possibilities. To read the blog, visit: http://blog.epa.gov/blog/2012/02/09/from-coast-to-coast-%e2%80%93-skills-for-american-workers/

4) Success Spotlight: Roberts Bay, Florida—Retrofits in Bay Result in Removal of Nutrient Impairment
EPA's Clean Water Act Section 319 Program provides funding for restoration of nonpoint source-impaired water bodies. Success stories are posted at: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/success319/.

This week's success spotlight shines on Roberts Bay in Florida. Roberts Bay is in the Sarasota Bay-Peace-Myakka River watershed in northwest Sarasota County. In 1998, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection included Roberts Bay on the state's impaired waters list, specifically for exceedances of the historical minimum chlorophyll-a value threshold, a measure of algal biomass. Project partners implemented numerous nonpoint source pollution management strategies, including installing nutrient-separating baffle boxes to contain and separate nutrient rich vegetation, litter, and sediment from stormwater, and promoting the "Florida-friendly landscaping" education program. Chlorophyll-a levels dropped as a result, prompting the state to remove Roberts Bay from the state's impaired waters list for nutrient impairment in 2010.

For more information on this story, visit: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/success319/fl_roberts.cfm