DEM, EPA ink 3-year, $7.9M partnership agreement

PROVIDENCE and BOSTON – The R.I. Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s New England regional office today announced a three-year performance partnership agreement that dedicates $7.9 million to local environmental efforts.
The agreement – the eighth such partnership between the DEM and EPA – includes $5.1 million in federal money, pledged by the EPA to help the state implement clear environmental goals, and $2.8 million in state matching funds.
“The agreement and associated funding are critical to maintaining our core programs for environmental protection in the state,” said DEM Director W. Michael Sullivan. “They include long-standing programs to protect … air and water resources, ensure the proper management of hazardous wastes and pesticides, and ensure the proper operation of underground storage tank systems.”
Specific goals of the agreement include:
• Conducting more than 900 inspections of regulated facilities, including underground storage tanks, pesticide users and vendors, solid waste management facilities, and facilities with discharge into bodies of water.
• Completing 37 studies aimed at identifying potential sources of water pollution in the state’s watersheds, and possible actions to correct those problems.
• Conducting 140 pre-application meetings with people who need assistance with environmental permits.
• Providing cities and towns with $700,000 to help retrofit diesel vehicles to reduce exhaust emissions.
• Providing $440,000 the control of non-point-source water pollution.
The document also calls for the DEM to continue to monitor water quality in the state’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters, including Narragansettt Bay; to revise state solid-waste regulations to promote the recycling of commercially-generated waste; and to improve the state plan for keeping ground-level ozone within the limits set by federal air-pollution standards.
“By reaching a three-year agreement on funding of these important environmental programs, we are better able to make strategic, long-term decisions that provide better protection for the health of citizens and our environment,” said Robert W. Varney, the EPA’s regional administrator.
Additional information about the latest three-year performance partnership agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the R.I. Department of Environmental Management is available from the DEM at www.dem.ri.gov pubs/index.htm.