EPA Highlights

EPA Announces Winners of Climate Leadership Awards EPA Administrator Acting on Climate Change The Year Ahead at EPA New Stormwater Climate Change Tool Available Taking Action to Protect Clean Water EPA Announces Winners of Climate Leadership Awards EPA recently announced the winners of the Climate Leadership Awards to recognize progress made in taking action on climate. The winners include sixteen organizations and one individual representing a wide array of industries from finance and manufacturing to retail and technology. These leaders have shown that innovative actions to combat climate change are smart business decisions and demonstrate that a healthy environment and a strong economy go hand in hand. EPA co-sponsors the Climate Leadership Awards with three non-governmental partners. Each year, the awards honor and highlight leadership in addressing climate change by reducing carbon pollution and implementing adaptation planning initiatives. Read more about this year's winners here.http://go.usa.gov/3cQ7d

EPA Administrator Acting on Climate Change EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy continues to play an essential role in climate change policy as the agency prepares to release new greenhouse gas regulations for power plants this summer. EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan is a commonsense plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants. States, cities and businesses across the country are already taking action to address the risks of climate change and EPA's proposal builds on those actions. This proposal will maintain an affordable, reliable energy system, while cutting pollution and protecting human health and the environment. Read a profile piece by Politico on Administrator McCarthy's role as the face of the President's Climate Action Plan  here. http://politi.co/1BvcANi Read a blog post by EPA Associate Administrator Tom Reynolds on how the Clean Power Plan protects human health while safeguarding affordable, reliable electricityhere. http://go.usa.gov/3cEhF The Year Ahead at EPA Public health is critical to a strong economy. Since EPA's founding, the agency has cut air pollution by 70%, cleaned up waterways, and redeveloped Brownfields sites; meanwhile the economy has tripled. This year, EPA will be finalizing the Clean Power Plan and Clean Water Plan, setting up the new Water Infrastructure Finance Center, launching a "Safer Choice" logo for household chemical products, and ensuring that science remains the backbone of protecting public health and the environment.  Administrator McCarthy created a video for EPA staff where she walks through the agency's plans and priorities for 2015. We wanted to give you a special look, too. Watch it here. http://youtu.be/ph5frEX6mPs New Stormwater Climate Change Tool Available EPA recently announced the release of the Climate Adjustment Tool for the Stormwater Management Model as part of the President's Virtual Climate Resilience Tooklit. This new tool helps engineers and planners to evaluate the performance of water infrastructure, while taking into consideration future effects of climate change, such as more frequent high-intensity storms and changes in evaporation rates of seasonal precipitation. The Stormwater Management Model is a downloadable, online stormwater simulation model. Learn more about the new toolhere. http://go.usa.gov/3c9Ze Taking Action to Protect Clean Water 60% of America's streams and millions of acres of wetlands across the US are not clearly protected. Streams and wetlands benefit communities, help drive the economy, and provide drinking water for 17 million people. EPA is taking action to protect clean water. In April 2014, EPA released a proposed rule to reduce confusion about Clean Water Act protections, clarify the types of water covered under the Act, and help states to protect their waters. Learn more about the proposed rule here. http://go.usa.gov/3cUwJ Read an op-ed by Administrator McCarthy in the Huffington Post on how clean water drives economic growth here. http://huff.to/1vtRMz9