New England Energy Team priorities

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New England Energy Team priorities

• Improve energy performance of buildings
• Promote clean energy technologies
• Expedite federal review of energy projects
• Educate the public about climate change

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Wind Power in Rhode Island

• Portsmouth Abbey School
• 660-kilowatt
• 164-foot-tall tower
• supplies 40 percent of the schools electricity
• Funded through states Renewable Energy Fund

Photo courtesy of Portsmouth Abbey School
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Energy Efficiency in Rhode Island

• Shaws Supermarket
• 2001 EnergyStar Partner of the Year
• Cut costs by up to 8 just through submetering
  equipment
• EnergyStar labeled stores in Barrington,
  Johnston, Warwick
• Has purchased renewable power for several stores
• Through the Partnership for Home Energy
  Efficiency, HUD, EPA and the Department of Energy
  are encouraging all homebuilders to incorporate
  energy efficiency measures in new home
  construction
• EPA and HUD are teaming together to ensure that
  new public housing built with HUD money in New
  Engalnd is built to the Energy Star Homes Standard

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Change a Light, Change The World

• National Campaign asking all Americans to change
  at least one light in their household to one with
  an ENERGY STAR label
• Changing 1 light in each New England household
  would save over 58 million while cutting
  greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking
  60,000 cars off the road

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Diesel Strategies

• New standards for new sources
• Heavy duty trucks and buses in 2007
• Nonroad diesel engines in 2008
• Ultra-low diesel fuel beginning October 2006
• Strategies for existing diesel sources
• Voluntary pollution controls and cleaner fuels
• Northeast Diesel Collaborative

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Northeast Diesel Collaborative

• EPA Regions 1 and 2, NESCAUM and the eight
  Northeast states established the Northeast Diesel
  Collaborative (NEDC) in 2005 to expand regional
  partnerships to reduce diesel emissions and
  protect public health
• Targets five sectors
• Municipal
• Transit
• Ports/Authorities
• Construction
• Freight
• Uses existing partnerships to
• Enhance regional and state initiatives
• Expand local partnerships
• Engage new stakeholders and new
• communities

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Reducing Diesel Exhaust in Rhode Island

• Anti-idling
• In July 2006, the state passed a law to restrict
  the unnecessary operation of diesel motor vehicle
  engines
• RI DEM has until July 1, 2007 to develop
  regulations to limit idling
• Rhode Island Department of Environmental
  Management teamed up with the Asthma Regional
  Council to promote Breathe Better Rhode Island
  no-idling campaign among school bus drivers
  statewide
• 17 School Districts have established voluntary
  No-Idling policies
• Trained more than 400 school bus drivers in idle
  reduction strategies
• Bus Retrofits
• Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) is
  adding diesel particulate matter filters to 50 of
  its diesel buses, reducing per-bus emissions by
  90
• With a grant from EPAs Clean School Bus USA
  program, the City of Warwick has equipped 62
  buses with diesel oxidation catalysts and
  crankcase controls to reduce in-cabin emissions
• Warwick has worked with Cranston to retrofit 38
  school buses

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Sustainable Infrastructure Initiative

• Better Management
• Full Cost Pricing
• Water Efficiency
• Watershed Approach to Protection

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What is Region 1 doing with SI?

• Asset Management Training Sept. 26 27th
• Performance Track
• Energy Star Focus on Water and Wastewater
  Utilities
• Infrastructure Web Page
• Environmental Management System training and
  pilots
• Integration into state SRF and Capacity programs

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Office of Environmental Measurement and
Evaluation or The Lab

• Protecting Our Environment through Sound Science

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Leading by Example with Green Building

• EPAs New England Regional Laboratory has won a
  LEED Gold Award in recognition of its
  state-of-the-art green design
• Energy efficient heating, cooling and lighting
• Active and passive solar power
• Wind-powered electricity
• Recycled materials, environmentally friendly
  landscaping

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Role of the LabSupport EPAs Programs

• Monitors the health of New Englands air,
• water and ecosystems, identifying trends
• and informing the public
• Collects and analyzes samples
• critical to regulatory decisions
• (e.g., clean-ups and permit)
• Assures compliance with environmental laws
  through inspections,
• air stack tests, and sample collection and
  analysis
• Assists in EPAs responses to disasters and
  terrorist incidents
• Ensures that all data relied upon by EPA is high
  quality

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Improve Understanding of Health of Regions Waters

• Multi-year assessment of New Englands waters and
  aquatic life, allowing us to
• Measure the biological health of lakes, rivers
  and streams
• Establish baselines by which we can measure our
  progress
• Improve federal-state coordination on monitoring
• Status
• New England Wadeable Streams Will be published
  shortly
• New England Lakes and Ponds Sampling ongoing

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Expand Volunteer Monitoring Capabilities

• Volunteer groups play invaluable role in
  supplementing available monitoring data in NE
• EPA NE has initiated a first-in-nation loan
  program of monitoring equipment to volunteer
  groups
• Round 1 23 groups are receiving equipment
• Round 2 Targeted to groups working on urban
  rivers

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Prepare to Provide Lab Support in Emergencies

• Expanded Capability Enhancing labs ability to
  analyze samples and provide critical information
  to responders to disasters or terrorist incidents
• Network of Labs Working with network of
  regional health and envl laboratories to provide
  mutual support
• Screening Samples In response to state labs
  request, piloting All Hazards Receipt Facility to
  screen unknown samples and protect lab workers

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For more information on EPA New Englands
Regional Laboratory, go towww.epa.gov/ne/lab
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Thank You