Tag: federal regulation

Court Orders Epa to Issue Ballast Rule

A federal court has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to start regulating the discharge of ballast water from ships. Rebecca Williams reports it’s the first time the agency has had to take responsibility for the problem:

Transcript

A federal court has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to start
regulating the discharge of ballast water from ships. Rebecca Williams
reports it’s the first time the agency has had to take responsibility for
the problem:


Ballast water helps stabilize ships, but it can also carry foreign invasive
species that might harm local waterways.


For 30 years, the EPA has exempted ballast water from the Clean Water Act.


Now, the judge has given the EPA two years to come up with rules to limit
the discharge of ballast water.


Tim Eichenberg is with The Ocean Conservancy. The group is one of three
environmental groups that sued the EPA.


“Within two years, EPA should come up with something, some approach, that
could phase in a series of controls that could eliminate invasive species in
ballast water over a period of time.”


The shipping industry is concerned about having enough time to comply with
any new federal regulations.


Shippers already face some new laws at the state level. States such as
Michigan and California have passed their own laws restricting what ships
can do with their ballast in local waters.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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African American Health Problems Tied to Air Pollution

A new study shows African Americans are disproportionately affected by power plant pollution. The study finds most African Americans are concentrated in urban areas, closer to power plants. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Annie MacDowell reports, health problems in the community such as asthma have been tied to air pollution:

Transcript

A new study shows African Americans are disproportionately affected by power plant pollution. The study finds most African Americans are concentrated in urban areas, closer to power plants. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Annie MacDowell reports, health problems in the community such as asthma have been tied to air pollution:


The study shows blacks are hospitalized for asthma attacks at more than three times the rate of whites, and their death rate from asthma is twice that of whites.


Brian Urbaszewski with the American Lung Association says there’s a direct link between air pollution and asthma, especially within the black community.


“African Americans just tend to have a higher rate of asthma, so you have the people who are more likely to be sick in an area where the air is more likely to trigger an asthma attack.”


In one Great Lakes state, 90 percent of blacks live in counties with air pollution levels that exceed federal health standards.


African-American babies are in greater danger of sudden infant death syndrome and respiratory mortality because they live in more polluted areas.


The groups that put out the study want stricter laws to reduce emissions from coal-burning power plants.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Annie MacDowell.