EPA awards $1 million to the District of Columbia to control polluted runoff, restore water quality

From an EPA news release

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a $1,024,000 grant to the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment to improve water quality in rivers and streams throughout the District.

The grant is part of EPA’s Nonpoint Source Implementation Grant Program, as outlines in Section 319 of the Clean Water Act to control water pollution.

“This grant supports preserving and protecting the District of Columbia’s water resources and ensuring communities have clean water,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “By working in partnership with the District, we can help implement necessary best management practices to reduce nonpoint source pollution in communities throughout the District.”

Nonpoint source pollution is caused when rainfall or snowmelt, moving over and through the ground, picks up and carries natural and human-made pollutants, depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and groundwater.

Controlling nonpoint source pollution is especially important since one in three Americans get their drinking water from public systems that rely on seasonal and rain-dependent streams.

Funding will support projects and best management practices in the areas of conservation planning, nutrient management, nutrient load reductions, watershed plan implementation, and restoration of streams and wetlands. This will include improvements to Alger Park, a project that used regenerative stream restoration techniques and added more than half an acre of wetlands to the stream corridor. 

Learn more about successful nonpoint source reduction projects at: https://www.epa.gov/nps

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Environmental law expert Brenda Mallory will head White House Council on Environmental Quality

“She is caring and thoughtful, but she also gets things done, and that’s a really rare combination at this level of politics,” one former colleague says.

By Brady Dennis, Washington Post

President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Brenda Mallory, a longtime expert in environmental law and regulation, to head the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality, according to several people familiar with the decision who spoke anonymously because the appointment has not been publicly announced.

The nomination would place a veteran government official and conservation advocate in a key administration post, one who works closely with agencies to shape federal environmental and energy policy and to ensure individual communities have a voice in the construction of pipelines, roads and other potentially polluting projects.

Christy Goldfuss, who led the CEQ under President Barack Obama and worked closely alongside Mallory, said she was “ecstatic” about her nomination.

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“She has the perfect personality and skill set to navigate these really difficult times,” said Goldfuss, now senior vice president for energy and environment policy at the Center for American Progress. “It really takes someone who knows how to collaborate and build consensus to get things accomplished. She is caring and thoughtful, but she also gets things done, and that’s a really rare combination at this level of politics.”

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Mallory, if confirmed by the Senate, would be part of growing team of top administration officials who have long records of prioritizing climate and environmental issues.

Biden has tapped Gina McCarthy, who ran the Environmental Protection Agency under Obama and now leads a major advocacy group, to coordinate the new administration’s domestic climate agenda. He has named former secretary of state John F. Kerry as McCarthy’s counterpart, focusing on international climate policy. And he plans to nominate former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, a strong proponent for zero-emissions vehicles, as energy secretary.

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Maryland governor’s former chief of staff pleads the fifth 170 times as lawmakers question a six-figure payout he received from a state environmental job.

Roy C. McGrath, right, testifies at the Joint Committee on Fair Practices & State Personnel Oversight about his severance payout.

By PAMELA WOOD, Baltimore Sun

Members of a General Assembly oversight committee tried for months to get McGrath to answer their questions. While the subpoena compelled his appearance, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at least 170 times. In dozens of other responses, he said he couldn’t recall what legislators wanted to know.

Legislative leaders said it’s clear to them McGrath spent money lavishly and negotiated a significant payout despite transferring from one state position to another. They’ve reviewed hundreds of pages of documents and interviewed other witnesses, publicly and privately.

“We’ve had a lot of evidence about a large, unwarranted, unprecedented payout for a lateral move within state government,” said Del. Erek Barron, co-chair of the committee. “That evidence, I haven’t heard much, if any, opposition to.”

For the better part of four hours, Ward B. Coe, an attorney for the lawmakers, grilled McGrath via video. McGrath’s attorney, Bruce Marcus, appeared at his side.

Coe attempted to get McGrath to describe how he got the Maryland Environmental Service’s board of directors to approve the payout at the end of May, when he left to become Hogan’s chief of staff. It represented a year’s salary of $233,647, plus $5,250 in tuition reimbursement.

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Extending Solar Tax Credits Tentatively Linked to Covid Aid Deal

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By Ari Natter and Laura Davison, Bloomberg

  • Package of tax credits eyed for must-pass spending bill
  • Agreement reached among House and Senate tax committees

U.S. congressional leaders have tentatively agreed to a package of tax incentives including extension of credits for wind and solar projects that would be incorporated into a must pass-government funding bill if a deal on Covid stimulus can be reached, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who asked not to be identified.

The package renewing tax breaks, which could also provide tax cuts for beer-brewers and the storage of carbon dioxide, has been the subject of bipartisan talks that have yielded agreement on the House and Senate tax writing committees, according to a congressional aide, who also asked not to be identified.

An extenders deal hinges on leaders in the House, Senate, and White House agreeing on a broad spectrum of largely unrelated issues and a breakthrough on an economic relief bill, which has eluded lawmakers for months.

An agreement to extend these tax breaks for multiple years last year fell apart after he White House balked at some of the clean energy incentives and Congress instead passed a narrow one-year extension of some non-controversial tax breaks.

There is support for the inclusion of a one-year extension of lucrative tax credits for the wind and solar industries at their current level as well as the multiyear extension and expansion of a tax credit for the underground storage of carbon dioxide backed by both environmental groups and oil companies. Also being pushed are credits for energy storage and offshore wind.

In all, more than 30 tax breaks for energy-efficient equipment, movie producers and race-car tracks and other targeted industries expire at the end of the year. Also among the expiring tax breaks is a special write-off for race horses, a favorite provision of the senior senator from Kentucky: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who will have large say over whether extenders end up in a final version of the legislation.

Several solar stocks including SunPower Corp. and Sunrun Inc. were up sharply Tuesday, though it was unclear whether the bill was a catalyst.

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Three former executives of Bucks County engineering firm arrested for allegedly thieving clients of more than $2 million

BY PAT RALPH
PhillyVoice Staff

Three former executives of Boucher & James, Inc., a Doylestown-based engineering firm, have been arrested after allegedly stealing approximately $2.1 million from clients across Pennsylvania.

The three defendants have been charged with Theft by Deception, Theft by Receiving Stolen Property, Deceptive Business Practices, Corrupt Organizations and Conspiracy, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Former owner and board member Ross Boucher, as well as former managing directors Mark Eisold and David Jones, allegedly repeatedly overbilled clients for time spent on the job, resulting in bonuses for the three individuals that they would not have earned otherwisenull

The fraud scheme was uncovered by another managing director in 2018, when it was discovered that Eisold had consistently put additional work hours into invoices. One such bill stated that one employee had worked 34 hours in a single day for a client.

The alleged scheme took place from 2009-2018, according to a review conducted by Shapiro’s office and forensic accountants. 

More than 100 entities across the state, several of which are located in the Philly region, suffered substantial financial losses. Among those to lose money included Lower Makefield Township, Springfield Township, the Richland Township Board of Supervisors, the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, Souderton Borough, Cheltenham Township and Ivyland Borough.

“These company executives took advantage of their municipal clients’ trust by routinely overbilling for work that never happened,” Shapiro said. 

“Let’s be clear about what this means: when you bill for time that you didn’t work, you are stealing — and these former Boucher & James executives will be held accountable for their crimes.”

As a result of the investigation, the three defendants have resigned from their positions at Boucher & James. The overbilling scheme has since ceased, and the company has agreed to repay more than $851,000 in funds to clients dating back to 2015. The company itself is not being charged with any crimes.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/bucks-county-engineering-firm-theft-pennsylvania-attorney-general/

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