As a broader part of an effort to improve the state’s regulatory climate, the R.I. Department of Environmental Management has initiated “Lean” training in its programs with the help of Exceeda Consulting Inc. more

Lots of Hope, an environmental initiative to transform vacant city-owned lots in Providence into urban farms, was awarded a combined $100,000 by The Rhode Island Foundation and Florida-based Local Sustainability Matching Fund. more

Volunteers for the Rhode Island Audubon Society’s Osprey Monitoring Program reported 178 successfully fledged young in 2012, the highest number in the program’s 35 year history. more

The Natural Resource Damages Trustee Council for the Bouchard Barge 120 oil spill has released a final restoration plan and environmental assessment for state and federally threatened piping plovers impacted by the 2003 spill in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. more

Cold storage and ice manufacturing company JP Lillis Enterprises, which does business under the trade name Cape Cod Ice, has agreed to pay penalties of $225,000 to settle claims by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over unmet requirements at its East Providence and Sandwich, Mass.-based facilities. more

The town of Westerly will receive more than $1.1 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant funding to acquire flood-damaged properties on Canal Street, Rhode Island lawmakers announced Wednesday. more

The Rhode Island-based nonprofit Clean the Bay has a new name – Clean Bays. The group removes marine debris from the shores and waterways of southern New England. more

BOSTON – The Westport Land Conservation Trust last month received an $85,000 grant to protect 32.5 acres of land tied to Noquochoke River Conservation Project. more

BOSTON – Chevron USA Inc. and Texaco Downstream Properties Inc. will pay $1.7 million to resolve allegations they received reimbursement payments from a state fund for gas-station cleanup projects even though both sought and received payments from their insurers, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced last week. These false claims allegedly involved service stations across Massachusetts, Coakley said in a statement. more

(Updated, 4:41 p.m.) Environment Northeast and the National Consumer Law Center have filed a complaint to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over the “skyrocketing” costs of transmission in the New England region. more