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The Horinko Group's Newsletter: Sustainabulletin

Second Quarter 2014 — In this quarter's bulletin...

leafWRRDA Signed into Law — Focus on Reform Opens Door to Innovation

leafTHG Welcomes Beth Termini to Extended Team

CESU Network National Meeting

Crude Oil Transportation and Federal Regulation


LATEST HEADLINESleaf

spacerWRRDA Signed into Law — Focus on Reform Opens Door to Innovation

President Obama signs H.R. 3080

President Obama signs H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform & Development Act of 2014. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

President Obama signed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) into law on June 10, 2014.  WRRDA enacts significant reforms including a review of current federal project delivery processes, an evaluation of the opportunity to successfully secure private capital investment in much needed waterway infrastructure improvements, and the formulation and launch of a Water Infrastructure Public-Private Partnership Pilot Program.

In anticipation of the new challenges and opportunities reform driven legislation presents, The Horinko Group, on behalf of the U.S. Soybean Export Council and in collaboration with the Soy Transportation Coalition, developed the recently released report, entitled Proposed Public–Private Partnership Projects for U.S. Inland Waterways Infrastructure Financing, Operations, and Governance.  The report examines the case for an alternative financing strategy to encourage greater private participation in the operations, repair, and maintenance of the inland waterway system.  THG’s effort reviews the existing financing mechanisms, funding levels, operating practices, and governance arrangement and explores practical solutions offered by public–private partnerships (P3s).  This analysis, funded by the National Soybean Checkoff program, should contribute to informing and shaping the Non-Federal Project Implementation Pilot Program provisions of WRRDA.

The report provides a regional perspective focused on a critical segment of the inland waterway system. The contribution of locks on the lower Illinois River and the Upper Mississippi River to agricultural interests, including soybean growers-exporters, is well documented and central to the report’s findings and recommendations.

To read the THG press release, visit http://bit.ly/1jRgPUc.

To read the full report, visit http://bit.ly/1x8kqHu.

spacerTHG Welcomes Beth Termini to Extended Team

Description: Beth Termini

Beth Termini

The Horinko Group is pleased to welcome Beth Termini to its extended team as Senior Advisor for Sustainable Strategies & Execution.

Beth recently retired from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after 22 years of service, most recently as a Senior Advisor for Sustainability in the Office of Policy.  While working for the Office of Policy in the Administrator's Office, Ms. Termini focused on the development and implementation of EPA’s sustainability strategy, recently captured in EPA’s 2014–2018 Strategic Plan, organizing outreach to stakeholders on the Agency’s sustainability planning, analyzing the range of sustainability activity across all of EPA’s regional and national program offices, organizing and facilitating cross–office collaboration efforts, serving as regional liaison for sustainability, and organizing outreach to state and local government networks.

Marianne Horinko, President of The Horinko Group, notes, "Beth's experience with sustainability strategy and follow–through is both unique and essential in today's world and will be a wonderful asset to The Horinko Group's efforts. Beth has an intimate understanding of EPA both at the Headquarters and Regional levels and has done great work on collaborative initiatives with the states and the private sector.  We look forward to having her as a member of our extended team." 

To read the full announcement, visit http://bit.ly/1lkzGvD.

spacerJoin THG at Upcoming Wine to Water Event

   July 25, 2014 | 6:00 – 8:00pm Eastern | Washington, DC

Description: Wine to Water Event

The Horinko Group is pleased to highlight the important work of Wine to Water, a non–profit organization focused on providing clean water to people in need around the world. Join THG and others working on the shared goal of water stewardship at a rooftop happy hour to honor the efforts of Wine to Water.  The event will take place on July 25 in Washington, DC. See the invitation for more details on the event and how to RSVP.  Hope to see you there!

For more information, visit http://bit.ly/1jivzj6.

spacerInterview: The Weekly Roundtable Talk Radio Show

Description: The Weekly Roundtable Talk Radio Show

On May 18, 2014, “The Weekly Roundtable,” a talk radio show on 1170 AM KFAQ in Tulsa, Oklahoma hosted by Mark Stansberry, energy leader and author of America Needs America’s Energy: Creating Together the People’s Energy Plan, featured an interview with THG President Marianne Horinko.  The interview touched on the latest public resources released by THG and provided insights on pressing issues impacting the future direction of U.S. policy on energy and the environment.

To listen to the interview, visit http://bit.ly/UcePBs.

spacerTHG Partners with BNA on Green and Sustainable Remediation Webinar

On May 15, 2014, THG presented a webinar on the rise and future of green and sustainable remediation (GSR) sponsored by Bloomberg BNA.  The webinar featured presentations by Buddy Bealer, regional manager for policy and advocacy at Shell Oil Products U.S., Stephanie Fiorenza, a technology specialist for BP North America Inc.’s Remediation Engineering and Technology group in Houston, Karin Holland, senior sustainability specialist at the management consulting firm Haley & Aldrich Inc., and was facilitated by Marianne Horinko, President, The Horinko Group.

The discussion covered GSR best management practices and looked at a case study illustrating the means by which using green and sustainable remediation to clean up hazardous waste sites can maximize environmental benefits, minimize costs, and balance the goals of a community.

To read BNA’s summary of the webinar, visit http://bit.ly/1n4Sv4K.

spacerTCE—Rising Risks and Business Challenges Webinar Recording Available

Description: Mentoring Environment & Energy Together (MEET)

TCE—Rising Risks and Business Challenges

The Horinko Group in partnership with AlterEcho hosted a webinar on April 30, 2014 focused on Trichloroethylene (TCE), a dual threat chemical used in varied manufacturing, degreasing, and cleaning operations which may be the most pervasive and challenging contaminant associated with soil and groundwater pollution at remediation sites across the country.

The webinar’s featured presenter, Travis Kline, Senior Toxicologist for AlterEcho, looked at current issues and science related to the TCE Reference Concentration for Chronic Inhalation Exposure (RfC), issued in 2011 as part of EPA’s Final Assessment for TCE in its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database, and provided an update on its current regulatory status.  Interim approaches to addressing potential TCE risks in the absence of updated regulations and guidance were also discussed.

To view the webinar or download a PDF of the presentation, visit http://bit.ly/1pRHy8w.

 

IN THE SPOTLIGHTleaf

CESU Network National Meeting

Dr. Dick Warner

Dr. Dick Warner provides Keynote Remarks

On June 3-5, the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units National Meeting was held at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, WV.

The CESU Network is a national consortium of federal agencies, tribes, academic institutions, state and local governments, NGOs, and other partners working together to support informed public trust resource stewardship.

The CESU Network, along with its 17 eco-regional units, is well positioned to support natural system platforms for research, technical assistance, education and capacity building that are responsive to long-standing and contemporary science and resource management priorities.

On June 4, Patrick McGinnis, THG Senior Advisor for Water Resources Policy & Practice, accompanied Dr. Richard Warner, Senior Scientist at the National Great Rivers Research & Education Center (NGRREC), as Dr. Warner provided keynote remarks highlighting NGRREC’s role as a leading convener, educator, and research organization located near the confluence of the Mississippi, Illinois, and Missouri Rivers, as well as thumbnailing NGRREC’s participation in the Great Rivers CEDU Unit and the significant impact and opportunity the CESU Network provides for critical research deployment for universities, researchers, and other non-governmental institutions to provide technical capacity and expertise to the Federal family of resource managing agencies.

THG’s Pat McGinnis has been an ardent fan of the CESU process and Dr. Tom Fish’s leadership of the program.  “Under Tom Fish’s leadership, CESU has proven to be a very nimble, effective tool for Federal program managers, providing them access to our nation’s best research universities, labs, and field stations.  Furthermore, CESU is fostering a necessary dialogue between Federal program managers and research scientists that should prove sustainable.  CESU research products are also extending the program managers’ buying power which in turn is driving greater efficiency into the procurement of good science which promotes better decision making.”

For more information on the CESU National Network, click here: http://bit.ly/1sj4wdw.

The National Meeting Agenda can be accessed here: http://bit.ly/1oxg4IJ.


FEATURED COLUMN

Crude Oil Transportation and Federal Regulation (EXCERPT)

Description: Cathryn Courtin

Cathryn Courtin

By: Cathryn Courtin, The Horinko Group

Recent months have seen a number of accidents resulting from crude oil shipment by rail.  On April 30, a train loaded with crude derailed in Lynchburg, VA, causing three tankers to burst into flames.  Nearby residences and businesses had to be evacuated, and 30,000 gallons of oil were spilled into the James River.  On December 30, a train derailed and exploded near Casselton, ND, spilling 400,000 gallons of crude.  Last year, a series of rail accidents in the U.S. and Canada culminated with a major derailment in Lac Mégantic, Quebec, which resulted in an explosion killing 47 people and wiping out a large part of the town’s business district.

Shipments of crude oil by rail have dramatically increased in recent years.  This influx has in part been caused by the rapidly increasing oil and gas development in the Bakken formation in North Dakota and Montana, the Eagle Ford and Permian Basins in Texas, and in the Canadian oil sands.  Routes from new production fields to refineries often do not have pipelines or where pipelines exist, they are operating at maximum capacity.  Given the standstill on new pipeline project approvals, companies have moved to rail and trucks to transport crude oil and other fluids associated with oil and gas development.  This has resulted in a staggering increase in the amount of crude shipped by rail, up from 9,500 carloads of crude oil in 2008 to 400,000 in 2013.

TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THE FEATURED COLUMN, VISIT http://bit.ly/THG2014Q2FC.