Superior Environmental Performance. 3.1.1 Tier 1: Is the Project Equivalent?
Superior Environmental Performance. The City of Xxxxxx intends to utilize the flexibility granted by the XL Project to develop a watershed protection program for Pecan Creek. The ultimate goal of an effective watershed program is the protection of the aquatic habitat to sustain the life cycle of the indigenous organisms and ecosystem. The accomplishment of this goal would also result in the improvement and protection of a primary source of drinking water in the region. The initial project will focus on establishing baseline ambient conditions of Pecan Creek with monitoring designed to assess the impact of pollution control measures. The information learned in the Pecan Creek watershed can be transferred to Hickory, Xxxxxx, and Clear Creeks. These creeks are all tributaries of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. This watershed drains into Lake Lewisville, a major water supply reservoir for the cities of Denton and Dallas and several surrounding cities. The XL project will enable the City of Xxxxxx to develop the watershed protection program years earlier than would have normally occurred. The ultimate goal of this project is to investigate the possibility of developing an efficient and economically feasible approach to watershed protection for communities of population <100,000. This will require the identification and prioritization of pollutants which pose the greatest threat to aquatic and human health. Once the pollutants are identified, the next step will be attempts to identify the sources and implement site-specific BMPs to control the pollutants at their source. As stated in section V, Baseline Assessment of Ambient Water Quality, City of Xxxxxx has been monitoring Pecan Creek for ten (10) years. City of Xxxxxx will focus on Pecan Creek to develop and test the initial stages of the watershed monitoring program. Various technologies will be tested to determine most effective, least costly, and most efficient equipment: automatic samplers, remote water quality detection equipment, solar power technology, placement and installation of equipment, and data transfer. Aerial photography of county-wide development will provide visual reference upon which to focus and correlate remote monitoring of storm event runoff to land use. GIS will be used to manage the anticipated large volume of water quality and rainfall data. This data will be layered onto maps of the watershed, tributaries, location of water level gauging stations, and sampling stations. The concentrations of site-specific contamina...
Superior Environmental Performance. For convenience the various aspects of superior environmental performance are summarized in Table 6. The benefits to Yolo County are potentially greater energy revenue from the anaerobic operation which could result from more electricity generation or other energy uses, and landfill life extension. Present landfill capacity is sufficient until the year 2040, and the County would like to see its ability to landfill waste extended farther into the future. The County is also very interested in reducing the anticipated post-closure expenses and liabilities that are presently associated with conventional landfilling.
Superior Environmental Performance. MSD proposes to better manage its pretreatment program through a holistic watershed approach, leading to improved pollutant loading trends in the watershed. MSD will develop a specific strategy to achieve SEP which includes additional monitoring and pollutant source identification, pollution prevention outreach, education and technical assistance, and reinvestment of cost-savings in watershed based improvements. Specifically, MSD will establish a baseline for pollutant loadings using existing pollutant data and data collected during the first phase of the project. MSD is not requesting regulatory flexibility until an agreed upon baseline has been developed. Once the baseline is established, MSD will develop loading projections and reductions, performance measures, and redevelop its pretreatment program. EPA will work with MSD to develop and articulate more specifically the environmental benefits associated with the flexibility considered in MSD’s proposal (e.g., pollution prevention measures, and other environmental improvements). The final phase of the project will be the new pretreatment program implementation and evaluation. MSD’s strategy for SEP will provide the basis for: • a premise for prioritizing resources according to environmental benefits; • a more holistic understanding of the environmental stressors on the watershed; • opportunities for expanded and meaningful pollution prevention; • potential opportunities to partner with industry to focus on water quality improvements; • permanent flow monitoring in the sewer collection system which will enhance planning and operations; and • stream sampling information which MSD can use to determine WWTP impact to the stream.
Superior Environmental Performance. 1. As part of Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxx’x application for a Tier 2 Contract, Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxx has demonstrated a history of superior environmental performance. This demonstration is attached as Appendix 1.
Superior Environmental Performance. 1. History: MGE has demonstrated a history of superior environmental performance through its performance under the ECA.
Superior Environmental Performance. Through Phase 1 and Phase 2 of this project, MSD has already begun to better manage its pretreatment program through a holistic watershed approach. It is expected that this approach will, lead to improved pollutant loading trends in the watershed. MSD has developed a specific strategy to achieve SEP which includes additional monitoring and pollutant source identification, pollution prevention outreach, education and technical assistance, and reinvestment of cost-savings in watershed based improvements. Specifically, MSD has established a baseline for pollutant loadings using existing pollutant data and data collected during the first phase of the project. Using this information, MSD has developed loading projections, performance measures, and an initial proposal to redevelop its pretreatment program. MSD believes that reductions in pollutant loadings to the watershed will occur with enhanced sewershed and watershed management, environmental targeting of resources, and pollution control.
Superior Environmental Performance. While the company has not yet directly measured environmental impacts, if consumers respond to the increased per mile cost of driving resulting from converting automotive insurance from a fixed to variable cost the same way they do to the increased per mile cost of driving resulting from fuel price increases, a significant reduction in driving would be expected. Initial cost figures appear to show that significant savings are accruing, and that drivers are paying close attention to their driving patterns and the information supplied to them by the company, in order to minimize their insurance costs. Drivers in urban areas appear to accrue the greatest savings, as they see the largest reductions in theft premiums and tend to have short commutes. The focus of this XL Project is an analytical study, which will determine the extent to which the Progressive Program has an effect on the environment. EPA, in partnership with USDOT and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, is developing a study methodology to determine if indeed the anecdotal evidence is accurate, and drivers are driving less as a result of their participation in the program. EPA’s interest in the program derives from the possibility that insurance pricing plans like Autograph might alter driving habits, as well as distinguish existing differences in habits, as drivers learn how their driving habits affect their costs. Recognizing that some factors which contribute to increased crash risk, such as total driving and driving during congested traffic periods, can also affect air quality, EPA is interested in whether people who sign up for a voluntary program like Autograph will reduce their total driving or their driving during congested periods. A brief description of factors to be monitored in the study is included in the “monitoring, reporting, and evaluation” section of this document. Reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is essential to promoting many of EPA’s environmental objectives. Despite years of progress in improving vehicle technology to reduce automotive emissions, cars and light trucks continue to be major contributors to a host of national environmental challenges, in part due to large and continuous increases in VMT. For example, according to EPA’s Indicators of the Environmental Impacts of Transportation report (October 1999), U.S. travel is responsible for a substantial portion of U.S. ozone precursor emissions (31% of volatile organic compounds and 36% of nitrogen oxides) 61...
Superior Environmental Performance. There are a number of environmental benefits contemplated by this project. Some of the environmental benefits involve direct reductions of air emissions by replacing high-emission vehicles with low-emission vehicles. For example, this project will reduce emissions of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and toxics (mainly VOCs). Even if the vehicles were run on gasoline, ALL pollutants would be reduced significantly (see Appendix A for estimates). Other benefits are more difficult to measure--for example, building the infrastructure for alternative fuel vehicles. The environmental benefits of the project are summarized as follows: ▪ Introduction of approximately 810 FFVs within the Denver metropolitan area. ▪ A significant decrease in USPS’s contribution to mobile source emissions within the Denver metropolitan area. The model year 2000 vehicle engines are inherently cleaner burning and more fuel-efficient than the older model year vehicle engines they would replace. For example, each of the vehicles to be scrapped emits 250 pounds per year more carbon monoxide than each of the replacement FFVs. The net emissions reduction over a 20-year life cycle is estimated to be 432 tons of carbon monoxide, 24 tons of hydrocarbons, and 10 tons of nitrogen oxides. ▪ Expedited removal of 000 0000-0000 model year delivery vehicles from the Denver/Boulder non-attainment area. Vehicles will be removed from service and sold as scrap. USPS estimates that the vehicles to be scrapped under this project travel over 1.6 million vehicle miles per year in the Denver area. ▪ Reduction in evaporative emissions of hazardous chemical constituents (e.g., benzene) associated with unleaded fuel dispensing. ▪ Increased market demand for E-85 fuel, both through the USPS’s addition of the approximately 810 vehicles and the publicity that the project will provide regarding alternative fuel vehicles. These two factors will provide economic incentive to encourage retail fuel providers to convert existing gasoline storage tanks to E-85 storage tanks. As the commercial availability of E-85 increases, the purchase of dedicated alternative fuel vehicles, including FFVs and those that meet LEV or cleaner emissions standards, by vehicle fleets and private individuals will increase, thereby reducing mobile source emissions further. ▪ Creation of a model USPS alternative fuel vehicle metropolitan area that could be expanded to other areas. ▪ The ethanol ...
Superior Environmental Performance. The main goal of this project is to develop information regarding the degree to which different methodologies for liquids introduction could bring about the environmental benefits listed below which are typically associated with use of bioreactor techniques. If the pilot project in Subcell 8-4 is successful, the County hopes to expand the use of successful bioreactor techniques to other subcells in Cell 8 and Cell 9 at the Facility. (As noted above, such broader use of bioreactor techniques at the Facility is beyond the scope of this Agreement, and would require further regulatory amendment.) Environmental benefits of bioreactor techniques generally include:
