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EPA Invites Projects in California, Arizona to Apply for WIFIA Water Infrastructure Loans

Loans will help make critical investments in communities to improve water quality for 22 million Americans

 

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting 12 projects in California and one project in Arizona to apply for Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans. A total of 39 projects have been invited to apply nationwide.

 

“Through WIFIA, EPA is playing an integral role in President Trump’s efforts to improve and upgrade our nation’s water infrastructure and ensure all Americans have access to clean and safe water,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This year, EPA will help finance over $10 billion in water infrastructure investments that will create up to 155,000 jobs, upgrade aging infrastructure, reduce lead exposure, and improve the lives of millions of Americans across the country.”

 

EPA’s WIFIA loans will allow large and small communities across the country to implement projects to address two national water priorities – providing for clean and safe drinking water, including reducing exposure to lead and other contaminants, and addressing aging water infrastructure.

 

EPA received 62 letters of interest from both public and private entities in response to the 2018 WIFIA Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). After a robust, statutorily required review process, the WIFIA Selection Committee chose the following 13 prospective borrowers’ projects to submit applications for loans in EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region:

 

  • City of Phoenix; Water Main Replacement Program; $49 million (Arizona)
  • San Mateo-Foster City Public Financing Authority; San Mateo Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade and Expansion Project; $277 million (California)
  • Coachella Valley Water District; Coachella Valley Stormwater Channel Improvement Project; $22 million (California)
  • Poseidon Resources (Channelside) LP; Carlsbad Intake Project; $32 million (California)
  • City of Stockton Public Financing Authority; Regional Wastewater Control Facility Modifications Project; $53 million (California)
  • Silicon Valley Clean Water; SVCW RESCU; $181 million (California)
  • City of Sunnyvale; Sunnyvale Cleanwater Program Phase 2; $166 million (California)
  • San Juan Water District; Hinkle and Kokila Reservoir Rehabilitation and Replacement; $12 million (California)
  • City of Los Angeles; Donald C. Tillman Advanced Water Purification Facility; $185 million (California)
  • Inland Empire Utilities Agency; RP-5 Expansion Project; $138 million (California)
  • Sanitation District No. 2 of Los Angeles County; Joint Water Pollution Control Plant Effluent Outfall Tunnel; $426 million (California)
  • City of Antioch; Brackish Water Desalination Project; $32 million (California)
  • Coachella Valley Water District; North Indio Regional Flood Control Project; $29 million (California)

 

Background
Established by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, the WIFIA program is a federal loan and guarantee program at EPA that aims to accelerate investment in the nation’s water infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental credit assistance for regionally and nationally significant projects. EPA’s WIFIA loans will allow large and small communities across the country to implement projects to address two national water priorities – providing for clean and safe drinking water including reducing exposure to lead and other contaminants and addressing aging water infrastructure.

 

To date, EPA has issued four loans totaling over $1 billion in WIFIA credit assistance. Combined, these four projects will create over 5,000 jobs.

 

According to EPA's estimate of national drinking water and wastewater needs, over $743 billion is needed for water infrastructure improvements. EPA’s WIFIA program plays an important part in fulfilling this need and in the President’s Infrastructure Plan, which calls for expanding project eligibility.

 

To learn more about the 39 projects that are invited to apply and about EPA’s WIFIA program, visit https://www.epa.gov/wifia/wifia-selected-projects.

 

Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.

U.S. EPA Honors California and Nevada Organizations for Water-Saving Innovations

 

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) WaterSense® program today honored six Pacific Southwest organizations for their national leadership in water-saving solutions. The winners include KB Home, Energy Inspectors Corp., Sacramento Suburban Water District, Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership, Hunter Industries and the San Diego County Water Authority.

 

These winners were among 20 organizations across the country, including water utilities, manufacturers and builders, honored for creating and promoting WaterSense-labeled fixtures, homes and programs.

 

“Water conservation is so important in the arid Southwest,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Mike Stoker. “These WaterSense winners are helping families and businesses throughout our region save money and water through innovative practices and technologies.”

 

Nationwide, these and other WaterSense partners have helped consumers and businesses save more than 2.7 trillion gallons of water and $63.8 billion in utility bills since the program started in 2006.

 

2018 Sustained Excellence Award Winners

 

KB Home (Los Angeles, CA) earned its fourth Sustained Excellence Award for its continued commitment to building homes meeting WaterSense specifications. In addition to completing 170 WaterSense-labeled homes, the company installed WaterSense labeled plumbing fixtures in all homes it built in 2017.

 

Energy Inspectors Corporation (Las Vegas, NV) received its first Sustained Excellence Award. The licensed certification provider inspected and certified all the homes that WaterSense partner KB Home labeled in 2017. To increase its support for the WaterSense-labeled home market, the company trained 12 additional raters in 2017.

 

Sonoma-Marin (Sonoma-Marin CA) Saving Water Partnership (SMSWP) earned its second Sustained Excellence Award as a professional certifying organization for irrigation professionals looking to use water-efficient techniques. To date, SMSWP’s Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper program has certified more than 2,500 professionals.

 

2018 Promotional Partners of the Year, Excellence Awards

 

Sacramento (Sacramento, CA) Suburban Water District (SSWD)
Excellence in Education and Outreach
In 2017, SSWD made the promotion of WaterSense a priority in its conservation and communications campaigns. SSWD used a variety of channels to promote water conservation and WaterSense, including full-page ads in local newspapers, geo-targeted ads on Facebook and via its monthly bill insert distributed to more 40,000 customers. In addition, SSWD partnered with a local park district to develop and launch a new series of water-wise demonstration landscapes.

 

Sonoma-Marin (Santa Rosa, CA) Saving Water Partnership (SMSWP)
Excellence in Promoting WaterSense Labeled Products
SMSWP worked with the Sonoma County Green Business Program, which certifies local businesses for sustainable business practices, to distribute free WaterSense-labeled faucet aerators and showerheads during 115 commercial audits in 2017. The Partnership also provided free WaterSense-labeled showerheads and faucet aerators to more than 3,000 homes in 2017. SMSWP also makes DIY Home Energy and Water Savings Toolkits available at local libraries. Through its rebate program and direct installs, the Partnership encouraged replacement of more than 4,300 old, inefficient toilets with WaterSense-labeled models in 2017.

 

Hunter Industries (San Marcos, CA) 
Excellence in Labeled Products in the Marketplace
Hunter Industries became the first manufacturer to earn the WaterSense label for irrigation spray sprinkler bodies. These devices regulate pressure to minimize outdoor water waste in irrigation systems. Noticing that many contractors were reluctant to install Wi-Fi-enabled weather-based irrigation controllers, Hunter conducted extensive research to better understand the marketplace. Based on the results, Hunter developed a new weather-based controller that better meets the needs of contractors, including daily watering schedule modifications based on local conditions.

 

San Diego (San Diego, CA) County Water Authority 
Excellence in Certification Program Growth
The San Diego County Water Authority administers the WaterSense labeled Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper (QWEL) certification program in its 950,000-acre service area. As one of the first QWEL providers in Southern California, the Water Authority helped expand the program’s training goals. In 2017, the Water Authority offered 12 classes for more than 200 landscape professionals. Of these, 145 were QWEL certified, bringing the region’s total certifications to more than 470 since 2016.

 

About WaterSense
WaterSense, a partnership program sponsored by EPA, seeks to protect the future of the nation's water supply by offering Americans a simple way to use less water with water-efficient products, homes, and services. WaterSense labeled products, which are independently certified to use at least 20 percent less water and perform as well or better than standard models, have been on the market since 2007. Today there are more than 27,000 labeled models, including products used in residential and commercial bathrooms, commercial kitchens, and outdoor irrigation. EPA’s WaterSense program certifies homes with WaterSense labeled fixtures and features. To date more than 1,000 homes have earned the WaterSense label.

 

To learn more about the 2018 WaterSense award winners, please visit: www.epa.gov/watersense/watersense-awards

EPA Reaches Agreement with Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Over Damage to Wetlands

 

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized an administrative order with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) over federal Clean Water Act violations. Under the terms of the order, LADWP will purchase $5.3 million in mitigation credits for damaging wetlands on its Granada Hills property. LADWP will also pay a $94,000 penalty.

 

EPA, along with the Army Corps of Engineers and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, conducted an inspection in 2016 and found extensive vegetation clearing and soil displacement on the property, located in the San Fernando Detention Basin. Inspectors concluded that between 2013 and 2016, almost eight acres of open water and adjacent wetlands in the basin had been graded, filled and channelized without a proper permit.

 

“Wetlands have a unique ecological niche in the arid West and must be protected,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Mike Stoker. “Healthy wetlands help filter stormwater, create sustainable habitats and buffer communities from flooding,”

 

LADWP will purchase $5.3 million in mitigation credits at the Peterson Ranch Mitigation Bank. Mitigation banking is used to preserve, enhance, restore or create a wetland to compensate for adverse impacts to similar nearby ecosystems.

 

Under the Clean Water Act, companies must obtain a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers before discharging pollutants including dredge and fill materials into waters of the United States, which include wetlands.

 

The proposed penalty is subject to a 30-day public comment period and can be found at: www.epa.gov/publicnotices/los-angeles-department-water-and-power-van-norman-complex-granada-hills-california

 

For more information on the importance of wetlands, please visit: www.epa.gov/wetlands/wetlands-factsheet-series

Late ‘Batman’ Star Adam West Used Yellow Pages to Prank Caped Crusader Fans

by Christopher Boyle

 

NEW YORK - Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 50 years or so, it’s safe to say that almost everyone knows of the infamously campy 1960’s Batman television show. Unlike modern portrayals of the Caped Crusader, the 60’s Batman was a much lighter, humorous, and family-friendly take on the DC Comics superhero that later went on to achieve cult status and catapult star Adam West into the status of a true pop culture icon.

 

Over the years, the popularity of the 60’s Batman show has continued unabated, thanks to widespread television syndication and especially the willingness of Adam West to embrace the silliness of his most well-known role, often appearing at fan conventions and in guest roles on TV shows poking fun at his time under the mask and cape. But, much like Batman’s arch-enemy The Joker, West himself was a bit of a prankster at heart as well, and it was discovered after his 2017 passing that he had used his local Sun Valley, California phone book – West and his wife Marcelle maintained homes in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, but spent most of their time at their ranch in Ketchum, Idaho – as a way to play an innocent-yet-ingenious practical joke on anyone who may have decided to try and track down the late star’s home address for an unannounced visit.

 

It all starts with a causal glance through the Sun Valley Telephone Pages directory; when opening up the book and flipping to the “W’s” to look up the name “Adam West,” the reader will notice that, in lieu of a corresponding phone number, the listing would instead note, "See Wayne, Bruce (Millionaire)." Of course, most people would simple get a good chuckle at the ingenuity of Mr. West, realize that they’ve been had, close the book, and move on. But for those that were undeterred and willing to press on, they would soon realize that the joke goes a wee bit deeper.

 

Taking the second step and going on to look up "Wayne, Bruce (Millionaire)" in the Sun Valley Telephone directory then takes you a listing that instructs you to "Please consult Crime Fighters in the Yellow Pages." From there, of course, you would need a copy of the Sun Valley Yellow Pages directory to proceed; for those in possession of it, a quick scan to the “Crime Fighters” category page leads to a single listing that, in turn, tells readers to simply "See Batman.” And for those who continue from there – and, after all of that intrigue and effort, who wouldn’t? – they will discover, shockingly enough, that the “Batman” listing tells readers to refer back to – you guessed it – Adam West’s original listing, and the circle is now complete.

 

While the print telephone directories and the Yellow Pages in particular have been getting a great deal of flack in recent years for their many shortcomings when compared to their digital/online counterparts – including their negative environmental impact and inefficient, out-of-date information – it’s nice to see that they’re still getting some positive use while they’re still in circulation. Plus, it would be much harder – practically impossible – to pull off a practical joke of this caliber using the Internet, as given the number of options users have when it comes to phone directories, it would be difficult to get them to consult the right ones each time. So kudos to Batman himself, the late, great Adam West, for taking full advantage of the print medium to relay a fantastic prank upon the unwary and giving his many fans a fond farewell along with a final, lighthearted chuckle.

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