U.S. EPA is looking for research proposals to address behavioral, technical, and practical aspects of interventions and communication strategies to reduce exposures and/or health risks of wildland fire smoke. The agency is also seeking research proposals that will provide the best available science needed to support states, municipalities, and utilities in determining potential risk from pollutants found in biosolids and developing standards and policies for biosolids management.
Federal and State Partners Launch PFAS Technical Challenge
U.S. EPA on Tuesday announced its Innovative Ways to Destroy PFAS Challenge, which seeks innovative plans for non-thermal technologies to destroy PFAS in firefighting foam. The challenge is partnership between federal and state environmental agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP); ECOS/ERIS; the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy; and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. EPA is offering up to $50,000 for the best concept(s), with added potential opportunity for field testing of the winning plan(s). The partners will help advertise and offer input on challenge concepts as needed.The challenge opens today and closes on November 23. Winners are expected to be announced in early 2021.
EPA’s Office of Research and Development will host an informational webinar on September 16 at 2 p.m. Eastern. See more information on the challenge here.
NOAA Seeking Input on HABs and Ocean Acidification Virtual Workshop, August 2020
Both Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and Ocean Acidification (OA) are threats to marine ecosystems and human communities in the coastal zone. Although many areas of research have provided insights into the factors that govern HAB dynamics, toxicity and impacts, only a few of these have included OA. Similarly, OA studies have examined ocean biogeochemistry and impacts to marine resources and economies, and have started to expand into multiple stressor studies (e.g. with hypoxia and warming). Less is known about the influences of OA – HAB interactions and cascading impacts to coastal ecosystems, communities and economies.
Workshop: NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program and Centers for Coastal Ocean Science are planning a virtual workshop in August 2020 to identify research needs at the intersection of OA and HABs. Are OA and HAB dynamics linked? Does OA influence growth and/or toxicity of HABs? What are food web impacts of combining OA and HABs? Are some marine species more vulnerable/resilient to combined OA and HAB impacts? What are the resulting impacts to fisheries and coastal economies? Can we make projections about future conditions? How can we encapsulate information about combined OA and HAB impacts into useful information for management and policy makers? What are the major gaps in our understanding?
NOAA wants the workshop to be inclusive of both the HAB and OA communities across the United States. To that end, the Agency is seeking more researchers from the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and the Great Lakes who can contribute to the topics listed above. The workshop format will be 3 – half days, with background presentations and group discussions. An outcome of the workshop will be identification and prioritization of major research needs that can move the field forward in the next 5 years.
If you are a researcher in the Great Lakes, Alaska, or Gulf of Mexico with expertise in OA or HABs, please fill out the following google form to apply to attend the workshop.
Online Trainings for State Regulators
Upcoming Events
Title | Date/ Time (Eastern) | Owner |
TPH Risk Evaluation at Petroleum-Contaminated Sites | June 9 at 1 p.m. | ITRC |
Remediation Management of Complex Sites | June 11 at 1 p.m. | ITRC |
Ongoing Events
Title | Owner |
Water Research Webinar Series (Bi-Monthly, 2-3 p.m. Eastern) | EPA |
EPA Tools and Resources Webinar (Third Wednesday monthly, 3-4 p.m. Eastern) | EPA |
Small Systems Webinar Series (Last Tuesday monthly, 2-3 p.m. Eastern) | EPA |
Past Trainings & Recorded Webinars
Water
Title | Owner |
NPDES Training | EPA |
NPDES E-Reporting Rule* | EPA NETI |
Water Quality Standards Academy | EPA |
Watershed Academy | EPA |
Water Efficacy Training | Fed Center |
Drinking Water Training | Fed Center |
How To: Groundwater Sampling for a Shallow Well | WA ECY |
Stormwater Training | Fed Center |
Stormwater Sampling: A Field Guide | CA SWRCB |
Wastewater Training | Fed Center |
Basics of the Clean Water Act (Summer School Series 2019) | ELI |
SDWA Enforcement Response Policy* | EPA NETI |
Wastewater and Stormwater Online Education | WEF |
Coronavirus Research Update (March) and Followup Update (April) Webinars | WRF |
Air
Title | Owner |
Air Emissions Training | Fed Center |
Air Academy Online Training – multiple sessions relevant to all state agencies | CARB |
Air Quality Training Program – sessions on pollution controls among others | CARB |
Basics of the Clean Air Act (Summer School Series 2019) | ELI |
Clean Air Act: It’s Not Necessarily Gone With the Wind* | EPA NETI |
Visible Emissions Evaluation – some modules provide generally applicable for evaluation of visible plumes | CARB |
Waste
Chemicals, PFAS
Title | Owner |
Toxic Substances Training | Fed Center |
Green Chemistry 101 | Fed Center |
PFAS Webinars (Various) | SERDP/ ESTCP |
The Toxic Substances Control Act* | EPA NETI |
PCB, Asbestos, Residential Lead Paint, Nanotechnology and Green Chemistry* | EPA NETI |
First Line of Defense Tool for Chemical Hazard Assessment | WA ECY |
Compliance & Enforcement
Title | Owner |
Compliance and Enforcement Training | Fed Center |
Project EnCriPT – Environmental Enforcement Training Program | Sam Houston State University (Under EPA Grant) |
Fundamental Inspector Course (Includes general training on topics like health and safety, as well as California-specific training on enforcement) | CARB |
Overview of EPA’s Enforcement Program* | EPA NETI |
The Enforcement and Compliance History of Online* | EPA NETI |
Overview of OECA & The Criminal Enforcement Program* | EPA NETI |
EPA Compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)* | EPA NETI |
Suspension & Debarment: An Administrative Tool for Addressing Non-Compliance* | EPA NETI |
Financial Assurances: An Introduction to OECA’s Web Tool* | EPA NETI |
Sustainability & Green Infrastructure
Title | Owner |
Green Infrastructure Webcast Series | EPA |
Sustainability Series Webinars | MI EGLE |
Pollution Prevention Training | Fed Center |
Sustainability Training | Fed Center |
Grants & Funding
Title | Owner |
Grants Training and Management Courses | U.S. Department of Education |
Federal and Non-Profit Training | Fed Center |
Grant Writing | Nonprofit Ready |
Financial Modeling Training* | EPA NETI |
Other
*For all NETI trainings, follow the link and expand the box of the desired webinar to watch. If you have a NETI login, you may be able to access other trainings as well.
Submit Abstracts to Present at EPA’s 17th Annual Drinking Water Workshop
U.S. EPA and the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) will jointly host the agency’s 17th Annual EPA Drinking Water Workshop on small drinking water system challenges on September 1-3, 2020 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Kentucky (Greater Cincinnati, Ohio Area). The workshop is free and designed for state regulatory and other personnel responsible for drinking water regulations and compliance and treatment technologies permitting.
Instructions for submitting abstracts for posters and presentations at the workshop can be found here. The deadline is March 26. The workshop planning committee will review abstract proposals and send notifications by April 23.
Call for Applications for 2020 ROCS-Net Program
*June 24 Update: Due to the continued uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, ORD has decided to postpone the October 2020 ROCS-Net event to the spring/summer of 2021. ORD’s ROCS-Net planning team will work with the Regional Science Liaisons to reach out to regional, state and tribal participants and others who are directly involved with the program to inform them about the postponement and coordinate some interim virtual interactions this fall and winter to frame preliminary discussions on the science topics identified by each region.*
This week, U.S. EPA announced the call for applications for its Office of Research and Development’s (ORD) 2020 Regional/ORD Community of Science Networking (ROCS-Net) Program to the EPA Regions. The program provides an opportunity for region, state and tribal scientists and engineers to visit an ORD research facility for discussions with ORD scientists about collaborative research opportunities, regional and state priorities and cross-cutting issues. This year, the ROCS-Net event will be held during the week of October 19, 2020, at the EPA facility in Cincinnati, OH, and will focus on research related to water quality, land remediation, homeland security and materials management.
ROCS-Net is designed as an orientation program for scientists who have had limited engagement with ORD and would benefit from a greater understanding of ORD capabilities and expertise. An important goal of the program is to develop a community of science between ORD and its partners and strengthen science across the Agency and beyond by establishing new connections and providing a path to future collaborative opportunities (see attached program overview). To further enhance this goal, this year 11 tribal scientists (one per region plus one from Alaskan Native Villages) will be invited to join 20 state scientists (two per region) and 10 regional scientists (one per region) in the ROCS-Net Program.
To optimize the application and selection process and ensure consistency among the regions, ORD has asked that the EPA Regions first identify their regional participant and science issue. Once regional participants and their science issues have been identified, EPA’s Deputy Regional Administrators will work with states in their region to identify the process for selecting the two state participants. Concurrently with the state outreach, each Regional Science Liaison (RSL) will work together with regional tribal contacts to select a tribal participant for their region. Each EPA Region is asked to ensure that the regional, state and tribal participants have similar or complementary science interests. Once selected, regional, state and tribal participants will work together to develop an issue paper on the selected science issue and provide that paper to ORD in advance of the ROCS-Net event. The deadline for submitting selected regional, state and tribal candidates to ORD is April 6, 2020.