Phase I Environmental Site Assessment

*North Texas power company to issue vouchers for electric lawn mowers *Texas Municipal Power Agency to complete project as part of settlement with EPA

(Dallas, Texas - May 22, 2008) Texas Municipal Power Agency (TMPA) will pay a $26,250 penalty and issue $78,750 in vouchers for electric lawn mowers to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

The violations involve operations at the power provider’s Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station in Grimes County. TMPA has since corrected the infractions and is in compliance with the Clean Air Act.
“It is imperative that business and industry do their part to help protect human health and the environment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. “EPA will continue to ensure that companies make every effort to follow environmental laws, so that our communities have cleaner, healthier air to breathe.”
TMPA is a municipal power company serving the cities of Bryan, Denton, Garland and Greenville. The company violated the Clean Air Act by exceeding opacity emissions limits at its facility, failing to report in writing that its continuous opacity monitoring system was out of service for 397 hours, and not submitting required emissions reports to EPA.

Under a settlement with EPA, the company will pay a civil penalty and complete a supplemental environmental project that involves issuing vouchers worth $150.00 each to designated retailers in its service area. TMPA customers and city residents can use the vouchers to purchase electric lawn mowers.
The project is aimed at helping reduce air pollution in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which currently does not meet federal requirements for ozone. Ground-level ozone, or smog, is created when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides react with sunlight. Traditional lawn mowers emit carbon monoxide, VOCs and nitrogen oxides, while electric lawn mowers produce essentially no pollution.

The TMPA vouchers are expected to help replace 525 gasoline-powered lawn mowers, which has the potential to reduce 37 tons of greenhouse gases and other pollutants per year, or the equivalent emissions of more than 22,500 new cars, each being driven 12,000 miles.

To learn more about enforcement activities in EPA Region 6, please visit

http://www.epa.gov/region6

An EPA audio file is available at http://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/audio.htm#audio052208_tmpa.
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For more information, media may contact Dave Bary or Tressa Tillman at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

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*Architecture Firms Build Energy Efficiency *Projects for 4 New Mexico schools and businesses will save money and emissions

(Dallas, Texas - May 15, 2008) Four schools and businesses in New Mexico can look forward to reducing their energy use and costs thanks to the innovative designs of the Dekker/Perich/Sabatini architecture firm.

The firm will receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Design to Earn the Energy Star designation at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) convention on May 15 in Boston.

The firm’s designs for the buildings meet strict EPA standards for energy efficiency and for preventing greenhouse gas emissions. Together, Sandia Vista and Cielo Azul schools in Rio Rancho, APS Design-Build Middle School in Albuquerque and Thornburg Campus in Santa Fe will prevent over 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year with their new energy-efficient designs.

“Thanks to the ingenuity of these architecture firms, New Mexico schools and businesses will enjoy significant savings in their energy costs,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. “The firms have proved that designing with the environment in mind can benefit their clients as well.”

The AIA convention will recognize 46 projects in 19 states as achieving Design to Earn the Energy Star. The designs will result in yearly projected savings of 120 million pounds of carbon dioxide and $5 million in energy costs for clients.

Additional information on the Energy Star program is available at http://www.energystar.gov/.
To learn more about activities in EPA Region 6, please visit http://www.epa.gov/region6.

Sent by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW . Washington DC 20460 . 202-564-4355

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(Dallas, Texas - May 8, 2008) An Arkansas nanotechnology company has been awarded $224,997 from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to develop a green alternative to fluorescent lighting.

Nanomaterials and Nanofabrication Laboratories, LLC (NN-Labs) of Fayetteville is one of seven small businesses to receive a total of $1.6 million in funding to commercialize green technologies that promise to deliver BIG results.

“These companies are showing how innovative ideas can translate into both economic and environmental success,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. “Together, EPA and small businesses are advancing research, creating jobs, and protecting the environment at the same time.”

NN-Labs was awarded a Phase II SBIR contract, which is given to small businesses that successfully complete Phase I contracts. The company received a Phase I award for $69,988 in 2007.
Approximately 25 million small businesses in the United States employ more than 50 percent of the American workforce and develop most of the country’s new technologies. SBIR was established to ensure that new technologies are developed to solve priority environmental problems, and is just one example of EPA’s commitment to achieving real world environmental results through the use of innovative technology.

Since its inception in 1982, EPA’s SBIR program has helped fund more than 600 small businesses through its two-phased approach. Phase I awards are used to investigate the scientific merit and technical feasibility of a proposed concept. If the results of this phase are successful, businesses can submit proposals for Phase II contracts, which can reach amounts up to $225,000.
EPA will be accepting submissions for the next year’s Phase I SBIR awards until May 21, 2008. To participate in SBIR, a small business must have fewer than 500 employees, and at least 51 percent of the business must be owned by U.S. citizens.

Additional information on the SBIR program is available at http://www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir.

More on the Phase II projects: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/sbir/08awards/index_state.html

About activities in EPA Region 6: http://www.epa.gov/region6.

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For more information, media may contact Dave Bary or Tressa Tillman at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov
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