WaterWired

CRS Report: 'East Palestine, OH, Train Derailment and Hazardous Materials Shipment by Rail: Frequently Asked Questions' And More!

Ben Goldman, a CRS Analyst in Transportation Policy, produced this brief (7 pages) but important report, 'East Palestine, OH, Train Derailment and Hazardous Materials Shipment by Rail: Frequently Asked Questions'.

Download CRS_Report_East_Palestine_OH_Hazmet_FAQ

The picture and video below are not from the CRS report.

Summary
On February 3, 2023, a freight train carrying hazardous materials operated by Norfolk Southern Railway Corporation derailed in the town of East Palestine, OH. The derailment involved a fire and damaged several railcars, but no deaths or injuries were initially reported. Emergency responders intentionally released a quantity of vinyl chloride, a flammable gas, from some of the damaged railcars to prevent them from exploding and then burned the gas to dispose of it. This action required the evacuation of many residents in and around East Palestine due to potential airborne exposure to toxic combustion byproducts. Once cleared to return to their homes, some residents complained of respiratory illnesses and the deaths of wild and domesticated animals.

The incident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. Cleanup efforts are being monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency. The derailment and the response to it have prompted calls for legislative and regulatory action related to the safe transportation of hazardous materials (hazmat) by rail. This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) report focuses on the federal safety standards, voluntary industry guidelines, railroad operating practices that may be considered in understanding how and why this derailment occurred, and how to prevent similar derailments in the future. It also provides a brief summary of past legislative responses to railroad safety issues.

Read on...

Here are a video and photo from USATODAY:

https://tinyurl.com/yxbaetxc

“The only presidents I want to see are dead presidents in my wallet. They’re using East Palestine like China and Russia and the U.S. are using Ukraine. It’s a proxy war.” - Joe Botinovch, East Palestine flower shop owner. (in Politico.

Enjoy!

CRS Insight Report: 'Hurricane Ian Recovery - Brief Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources'

Lauren R. Stienstra, Elizabeth M. Webster, Bruce R. Lindsay, William L. Painter and Diane P. Horn assembled the CRS Insight report (30 September 2022): 'Hurricane Ian Recovery: Brief Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources'

Download CRS_Insight_Report_Hurrican_Ian_FEMA_Resources_30Sept2022

Insight reports have embedded URLs that may not show up in text that is pasted in. I will paste the introduction.

Introduction
On September 28, 2022 Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 major hurricane near Cayo Costa, Florida. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the storm has caused an extremely dangerous storm surge, winds, and flooding across the Florida Peninsula, and later, the South Carolina coast. On September 25, 2022, President Joseph R. Biden issued an emergency declaration for Florida under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Stafford Act, P.L. 93-288, as amended; 42 U.S.C. §§5121 et seq.) to support state and local efforts to save lives, protect property, and avert the incident from becoming a major disaster. On September 29, 2022, the President signed a major disaster declaration for the incident and authorized a suite of disaster assistance programs, including Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, and Hazard Mitigation Assistance. Several counties have been authorized to receive Individual Assistance and Public Assistance—Category A (debris removal), and even more have been authorized to receive Public Assistance—Category B (emergency protective measures.) The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) has been made available statewide. The situation in Florida is still dynamic; additional declarations for other counties and designated areas (or additional forms of assistance for existing declarations) may be forthcoming if the President determines that federal assistance is necessary to support state and local recovery. Later that same day, the President additionally authorized an emergency declaration for South Carolina under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Stafford Act, P.L. 93-288, as amended; 42 U.S.C. §§5121 et seq.).

Information about state and county disaster assistance authorizations is published in FEMA’s declaration database.

The photo is from NPR:

FEMA’s Hurricane Ian webpage provides information on and directions to apply for disaster assistance.

Some of the links to CRS reprts are broken. In that case, search on the CRS Reports page.

Best of luck!

"When a butterfly flutters its wings in one part of the world, it can eventually cause a hurricane in another." ~ Edward Norton Lorenz

CRS InFocus Report: 'Recent Developments in Everglades Restoration'

Anna E. Normand and Pervaze A. Sheikh updated (30 August 2022) CRS InFocus report: 'Recent Developments in Everglades Restoration'. I have pasted the entire document below the graphic.

Download CRS_InFocus_Rpt_Recent_Devlpments_Everglades_Restor._30August2022

Here's a map - not from the CRS report. I believe it's from the National Park Service.

Overview
What Is the Everglades? The Everglades is a unique network of subtropical wetlands in South Florida. Due in part to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) water supply and flood control projects (as well as agricultural and urban runoff), the ecosystem was degraded and was approximately half its historical size by the end of the 20th century. The ecosystem is home to Everglades National Park and unique species, including 67 species listed under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. §§1531 et seq.).

What Is CERP? Congress approved the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (WRDA 2000; P.L. 106-541). CERP is a framework under which the federal government, with the State of Florida, is attempting to restore the Everglades and improve the timing, distribution, and quality of the water flowing south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades. Under CERP, the federal government, through USACE and the Department of the Interior (DOI), is to fund half the costs of restoration; the State of Florida is to contribute the other half. Several tribal and local agencies also are involved in this restoration effort. Originally, CERP was to include 60 projects to be completed over 30 years at a cost of $8.2 billion in 2000 dollars (equivalent to $13.2 billion in 2021 by accounting for inflation). Subsequent reports to Congress projected CERP would take approximately 50 years from its authorization to implement at a total cost of $23.2 billion (in FY2020 dollars) due to inflation, changes in project scope and schedule, and new project authorizations. As of FY2022, the federal government has provided $3.5 billion and the State of Florida has spent an estimated $5.3 billion on CERP in nominal dollars (some of Florida’s funding has not been officially credited toward its cost share).

CERP is expected to cost $23.2 billion (FY2020 dollars) and take until 2050 to complete.

Outside of CERP, USACE has performed complementary efforts to restore the Everglades (most of which predate CERP). Construction of a major project, Kissimmee River Restoration, was completed in July 2021 after 22 years. The federal government has spent over $3.8 billion (nominal dollars) on these non-CERP projects.

CERP Projects Must Be Authorized by Congress
WRDA 2000 approved CERP and the process for its implementation. The law also authorized several pilot projects. Subsequent projects require USACE to study and produce a project implementation report (PIR) and obtain congressional authorization before they can receive federal appropriations for construction, including credit or reimbursement for nonfederal work undertaken in advance.

Several laws subsequent to WRDA 2000 authorized projects contemplated under CERP. Some projects received appropriations and are under construction. Studies for other CERP projects are in progress (see Table 1).

Selected USACE Authorizations
Central Everglades Planning Project. The Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) is a CERP project that Congress authorized in WRDA 2016 (Title I of P.L. 114- 322). CEPP prioritizes restoration projects (e.g., CEPP South, CEPP North, and CEPP New Water) in the central portion of the Everglades and aims to address issues associated with the quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of freshwater flows south of Lake Okeechobee into the central Everglades and Everglades National Park. Congress initiated construction for CEPP with FY2020 appropriations.

Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir Storage Project. WRDA 2018 (Title I of P.L. 115-270) authorized the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir Storage Project (EAA Storage), which nonfederal sponsors proposed as an addendum to CEPP. EAA Storage aims to provide capacity to store around 350,000 acre-feet of water coming from Lake Okeechobee and a stormwater treatment area (i.e., a wetland area that removes excess nutrients to improve water quality).

WRDA 2020. WRDA 2020 (Division AA of P.L. 116-260) authorized two CERP projects―Loxahatchee River Watershed Restoration Project for construction and modifications to the Caloosahatchee River West Basin Storage Reservoir. It also authorized two non-CERP activities―Canal 111 South Dade Project and a study at Shingle Creek and Kissimmee River. It combined CEPP and EAA Storage into one project. It authorized USACE to enter into an agreement for a nonfederal sponsor to pursue construction of one CERP project on its own.

Congressional Interest
Appropriations. Following project authorization, the timing and level of federal and nonfederal funding affect project implementation and completion. In FY2022 annual appropriations, Congress provided USACE with $350.6 million for CERP and $2.0 million for non-CERP Everglades study and construction activities. FY2022 annual appropriations also included $9.0 million for USACE operation and maintenance (O&M) activities in the Everglades. In FY2022, USACE also allocated $1.1 billion to Everglades restoration activities out of the $1.9 billion that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58) provided for USACE aquatic ecosystem restoration construction. For FY2023, the Administration’s USACE budget request included $405.4 million for CERP, $14.3 million for non-CERP Everglades study and construction activities, and $10.7 million for Everglades O&M activities.

DOI implements CERP, conducts science to support restoration, and manages and restores wildlife habitat in the ecosystem. In FY2022, Congress provided $8.2 million and $56.0 million for DOI CERP and non-CERP Everglades activities, respectively. The Administration’s DOI FY2023 budget request included $8.3 million for CERP and $60.6 million for non-CERP Everglades activities

Lake Okeechobee/Herbert Hoover Dike. Water storage and discharges from Lake Okeechobee, managed by USACE, affect the Everglades ecosystem. According to a regulation schedule, USACE may discharge water at certain times and quantities east and west to estuaries and south to the EAA and greater Everglades ecosystem. The Herbert Hoover Dike (HH Dike) is an earthen dam that surrounds Lake Okeechobee. Since 2001, USACE has conducted modification on HH Dike to address structural issues associated with the dike. HH Dike repairs are not categorized as Everglades restoration, but many stakeholders consider them essential to broader restoration efforts in the Everglades ecosystem. HH Dike repairs required USACE to alter discharge regulations and increased discharges from the lake during high-water events. Higher releases of nutrient-rich water from Lake Okeechobee to canals flowing to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries have contributed to harmful algal blooms and have increased sediment in the estuaries and surrounding coastlines. According to USACE, following modification of HH Dike, increased capacity to store water in Lake Okeechobee and changes to regulating discharges from the lake could aid in addressing water quality in canals flowing to the estuaries.

As of September 2021, USACE anticipated completing dike repairs by the end of 2022. Section 1106 of WRDA 2018 directed USACE to expedite the update of the Lake Okeechobee regulation schedule to coincide with completion of HH Dike and to consider all relevant aspects of CERP, including projects not yet constructed (e.g., EAA Storage) in its operating procedures. WRDA 2020 provided further direction to USACE on water management efforts within Lake Okeechobee and authorized a national harmful algal bloom demonstration program with the lake as a focus area (FY2022 appropriations provided the first funding for the program). USACE expects to finalize new discharge regulations for the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) by January 2023 to account for the completed HH dike construction. In August 2021, USACE announced a preferred alternative for the new schedule. In July 2022, USACE released a draft environmental impact statement for LOSOM identifying a preferred alternative, with public comments due in mid-September 2022.

WRDA 2022. In 2022, the House and Senate passed different versions of WRDA 2022 (H.R. 7776). The House- passed version would authorize a comprehensive plan for restoring, preserving, and protecting the Everglade’s northern estuaries. Both chambers’ versions would authorize a study for resiliency improvements to existing projects in central and southern Florida. These provisions include limitations on how these activities may impact CERP progress. The House-passed version also would require an update on CERP, LOSOM, and other Everglades activities to be sent to the authorizing committees. Both chambers’ versions would require future accounting updates to CERP nonfederal sponsors and alter how CERP nonfederal cash contributions are calculated and their payment timeline (provisions in the two versions vary). The Senate version also would increase the authorization of appropriations amount for the Indian River Lagoon project.

Enjoy!

"In Florida, it's not the winter that coming. It's the ocean." - @weswolfe in Florida Politics 

John Waldman Opines: 'Restoring Retired Rivers'

Although I am an Easterner by birth and childhood (New York City and its Long Island suburbs) I "learned my water" in the arid West (AZ, NV, NM) for the last 16 years in the wet Pacific Northwest (OR and northern CA). When someone mentions taking out dams to 'free' spawning fish (salmon) I don't think of rivers like the Peconic, Penobscot and fish like herring and Atlantic salmon. And European streams - really?

So I  have enjoyed our recent issue of Water Resources IMPACT that just hit the streets. Its theme is: 'Dams: Past, Present and Future' guest-edited by Lisa Beutler. The articles by Francisco Campos-López and Pao Fernández Garrido (Europe) and George Jackman (New York) exposed me to some new territory. But I missed the last article by John Waldman of Queens College of the City University of New York in NYC.

Here is a PDF of his article, 'Restoring Retired Rivers':

Download Restoring_Retired_Rivers_IMPACT_May_June_2022

Professor Waldman also authored the book, Running Silver: Restoring Atlantic Rivers And Their Great Fish Migrations. 

Enjoy!

"We didn’t hire you to discover the truth, find meaning, or make the world a better place with your research. We hired you to get grants with overhead that returns to the college!" - @ass_deans

George Jackman Opines: 'The Three Princes of Dam Removal'

Here is another gem from the latest issue of AWRA's excellent (Note: I am Editor-in-Chief) bimonthly magazine Water Resources IMPACT that just hit the streets. Its theme is: 'Dams: Past, Present and Future'. Lisa Beutler served as the editor of this issue and contributed a great article on the failure of
St. Francis Dam that doomed the career of the
legendary William Mulholland. 

Today we're taking a trip to the Eastern USA.

George Jackman is a superb senior habitat restoration manger with Riverkeeper in Ossining, NY, He's even got the literary thing down. (I will cut him lots of slack on that since he is a retired NYPD lieutenant.) He is now a PhD ecologist who's doing great work on the Hudson River system.

Here are the introductory paragraphs of his article:     

The word serendipity is typically as the occurrence of events by chance on a happy or beneficial way. In 1754 the English writer Horace Walpole coined the word based on the Persian fairy tale “The Three Princes of Serendip” Serendip was the classical Persian name for Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. The princes were always making discoveries, either by accident or ingenuity, for things they weren’t seeking. “Serendipity” has since inserted itself into the lexicon of scientists and naturalists who, in their pursuit of knowledge, occasionally incur surprising discoveries.

What does dam removal have to do with the etymology of “serendipity”? This story began a number of years ago with the recognition that the Hudson’s most iconic migratory species were in deep decline. We at Riverkeeper, a non-profit organization designed to protect and restore the Hudson River, realized that we needed a fundamentally new approach to how our rivers are perceived and managed: in particular, we needed people to understand that the Hudson’s tributaries are pathways to critical habitat for our depleted species. Obsolete dams—remnants from bygone days—should be removed in order to restore populations of river herring and American eels. And as we embarked on our incipient dam removal campaign, pleasant surprises awaited.

Here is the entire article, The Three Princes of Dam Removal:

Download Princes_Dam_Removal_IMPACT May_June2022

Enjoy!

"A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain upon the affections." - George Eliot