Safe Drinking Water Act : Selected Regulatory and Legislative Issues

Congressional Research Service
http://opencrs.com/document/RL34201/
[Abstract] Russian oil and natural gas industries have become key players in the global energy market, particularly in Europe and Eurasia. Another trend has been the concentration of these industries in the hands of the Russian government. This latter phenomenon has been accompanied by an authoritarian political system, in which former intelligence officers play [...]

Frontiers in Soil Science Research : Report of a Workshop

National Research Council
http://tinyurl.com/m824gn
Free with registration
[Description] There has been renewed interest in soil and soil science in recent years as the recognition that biogeochemical processes that occur at the Earth’s surface influence global climate change, land degradation and remediation, the fate and transport of nutrients and contaminants, soil and water conservation, soil and water quality, food [...]

Fixing the Delta : How Will We Pay for It?

Public Policy Institute of California / by Dean Misczynski
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_809DMR.pdf
[From Greenwire article by Colin Sullivan, subscription required] The Public Policy Institute of California argues in the paper released yesterday that the state is stymied by questions about how to bankroll new canals, levees, dams or other water infrastructure…
Solutions to water problems…were difficult enough before the [...]

Nutrient Control Actions for Improving Water Quality in the Mississippi River Basin and Northern Gulf of Mexico

National Research Council
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12544&utm_source=feeds&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new_from_nap_rss
[Description] A large area of coastal waters in the northern Gulf of Mexico experiences seasonal conditions of low levels of dissolved oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia. Excess discharge of nutrients into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers causes nutrient overenrichment in the gulf’s coastal waters and stimulates the [...]

U.S.-China Memorandum of Understanding to Enhance Cooperation on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment

US Dept. of State
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/126802.pdf
This Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and China provides for both countries to pursue areas of cooperation where joint expertise, resources, research capacity and combined market size can accelerate progress towards mutual goals. These include, but are not limited to:
1) Energy conservation and energy efficiency
2) Renewable energy
3) Cleaner uses of coal, [...]

Eutrophication : Sources and Drivers of Nutrient Pollution

World Resources Institute / by Mindy Selman and Suzie Greenhalgh
http://www.wri.org/publication/eutrophication-sources-and-drivers
[Summary] This report…argues that nutrient over-enrichment of freshwater and coastal ecosystems, or eutrophication, is a rapidly growing environmental crisis.
Worldwide, the number of coastal areas impacted by eutrophication stands at over 500. In coastal areas, occurrences of dead zones, which are caused by eutrophic conditions, have increased [...]

Environmental Protection Agency : Major Management Challenges

Government Accountability Office
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09434.pdf?source=ra
[From summary]  GAO was asked to identify challenges at EPA that hinder its ability to implement its programs effectively, based on prior GAO work. These challenges include (1) improving agencywide management, (2) transforming EPA’s processes for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals, (3) improving implementation of the Clean Air Act, (4) reducing pollutionin the [...]

Water Quality Issues in the 111th Congress : Oversight and Implementation

Congressional Research Service
http://secure.wikileaks.org/leak/crs/R40098.pdf
[Abstract] In the 111th Congress, growing interest in increased investment in public works infrastructure-including wastewater-in order to stimulate the faltering U.S. economy is likely to bring greater attention to water infrastructure issues. Also likely to be of interest are programs that regulate activities in wetlands, especially CWA Section 404, which has been criticized [...]

Determining the Extent of Market and Extent of Resource for Stated Preference Survey Design Using Mapping Methods

National Center for Environmental Economics, US EPA / by Shalini P. Vajjhala, Anna Mische John and David A. Evans
http://yosemite.epa.gov/EE/epa/eed.nsf/WPNumber/2008-09?OpenDocument
[Abstract]  Determining the appropriate survey population and the commodity to be valued are among the most fundamental design decisions for stated preference (SP) surveys. However, often little information is available about who in the population holds measurable [...]

Columbia River Basin : State of the River Report for Toxics

US EPA
www.epa.gov/region10/columbia/sorr.html (loads very slowly)
(Press release) http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/1195a5a05cbeaa968525753f00648b22!OpenDocument
[From press release] The first comprehensive look at toxic contamination throughout the Columbia River Basin has been released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Issued today, the Columbia River Basin State of the River Report for Toxics compiles currently available data about four widespread contaminants in the Basin and [...]