News Archive 2009
ERG to Support Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Modeling and Strategy Development in Massachusetts (December 23, 2009)
ERG recently was awarded a one-year, $1.4-million contract to assist the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources with GHG modeling and strategy development. The effort will support an economywide, enforceable, statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emission limit for 2020 that is 10 to 25 percent below 1990 levels, and an emission limit for 2050 that is 80 percent below 1990 levels. For this project, ERG will use the Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) model, developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). The LEAP model is used in more than 85 countries for energy policy analysis and GHG mitigation scenarios.
ERG Will Continue to Support EPA’s Laboratories for the 21st Century (Labs21) Program (December 1, 2009)
ERG recently was awarded a five-year, $1.7-million contract to continue its support for EPA’s Labs21 program. ERG has supported this program for more than a decade—from before its inception, when it was a loosely based network of federal and private sector sustainable lab officials, through its growth as an EPA partnership program and its evolution as an internationally recognized network and annual conference.
ERG Provides Broad Support for EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding (December 2009)
ERG recently completed a series of tasks in support of EPA’s high-profile Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Endangerment Finding. In the finding, proposed on April 24, 2009, and finalized on December 7, 2009, the EPA Administrator makes a determination that the current and projected concentrations of the six key well-mixed GHGs—carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)—in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. In its support of the finding, ERG staff processed all comments received on the draft endangerment finding, which included over 20,000 different docketed documents. In addition, ERG set up and helped organize two public hearings on the finding, tracked and recorded all references cited in the comments, and edited and conducted QA/QC on the 11 volumes of response to comments, among many other smaller tasks.
Boston Globe Names ERG One of 100 Top Places To Work (November 8, 2009)
The Boston Globe recently designated ERG as one of the 100 top employers in Massachusetts in 2009. ERG was ranked 27th on the overall list and also was listed as 10th on the small employer list. The Globe selected ERG based on responses to employee surveys covering such topics as career development opportunities, working conditions, and pay and benefits. ERG has always placed a strong emphasis on creating a workplace atmosphere in which all employees, at every level of the organization, are treated with respect, and this award affirms a solid connection between ERG’s core values and employees’ satisfaction. For more information about the award, see our press release, or check out opportunities for careers at ERG.
ERG To Conduct Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Audits Under a $3.4-Million EPA Contract (November 6, 2009)
ERG was recently awarded a second five-year, $3.4-million contract with EPA’s Safety, Health and Environmental Management Division (SHEMD) to conduct monthly safety, health, and environmental management (SHEM) program audits at EPA offices and laboratories across the nation. We also will be conducting dive safety audits and SHEM audits of EPA’s maritime vessels. These audits will verify compliance with regulatory requirements, evaluate the effectiveness of SHEM systems, identify workplace hazards and their root causes, confirm previous audit findings have been corrected, and assess risks resulting from both regulated and unregulated materials and work practices.
ERG Wins Contract in the Buckeye State (November 5, 2009)
ERG recently won a new contract with Ohio’s Department of Development to support fleet owners and operators in retrofitting engines with clean diesel technologies. ERG will provide technical and administrative assistance to these parties, who were selected by Ohio to receive funding from EPA’s National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. ERG staff from Austin, Sacramento, Boston, Lexington (Mass.), Cincinnati, Research Triangle Park, and Gainesville (Florida) will collaborate on this project to verify technologies, track project implementation, and report back to Ohio and EPA on progress and impacts.
ERG Designs and Builds EPA’s GHG Reporting Rule “Applicability Tool” (November 4, 2009)
On September 22, 2009, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson signed the first federal rule that requires comprehensive reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Under the new rule, sources of GHGs that are covered by the rule must begin monitoring GHG emissions on January 1, 2010, and submit their first annual reports by March 31, 2011. EPA estimates that approximately 10,000 facilities will be subject to the rule, and numerous industrial and other facilities need to quickly determine whether they are required to report. To respond to this need, ERG helped EPA develop a Web-based tool for the extremely varied audience to help facility owners and operators determine if their facility will be subject to the rule. The tool was posted on EPA’s Web site shortly after rule signature.
ERG Will Help Protect EPA’s Office of Research and Development Employees for Five More Years (November 3, 2009)
ERG was recently awarded a second five-year contract with the EPA Office of Research and Development’s (ORD’s) Safety, Health and Environmental Management (SHEM) office at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. ERG will continue to provide onsite technical support in the areas of environmental compliance and management and occupational health and safety, such as providing SHEM training to new employees, conducting radiation safety audits, conducting ergonomic assessments, maintaining chemical inventories, conducting weekly inspections of hazardous waste accumulation areas, and investigating indoor air quality issues.
ERG Wins EPA Office of Civil Enforcement Recompete (October 2, 2009)
ERG has won a five-year, $14-million recompete contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Civil Enforcement. ERG has been providing support to this office for many years. To support EPA’s enforcement of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and other initiatives, we will continue conducting multimedia investigations and analyses, including inspections, field sampling, process evaluation, and engineering analysis.
NOAA Joins ERG’s Client List (September 24, 2009)
ERG has won its first contract with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a five-year $10-million mission-support contract with the agency’s Coastal Services Center. The center supports the environmental, social, and economic well-being of the U.S. coast by linking people, information, and technology. The center works closely with other federal agencies, state environmental agencies, academia, nonprofits, and stakeholder groups. ERG has already begun work on a survey and evaluation of geospatial analytical capability in the United States for coastal planning.
ECOS Presents Award to ERG Vice President (September 22, 2009)
Arleen O’Donnell, vice president of ERG and former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, received an Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) Founders’ Award. ECOS is a nonprofit organization of state environmental commissioners that works to improve the capability of state environmental agencies and their leaders to protect and improve human health and the environment. The Founders’ Award honors ECOS alumni for their past contributions to the organization and its mission. O’Donnell played key roles as chairman of the ECOS Cross-Media Committee, which addresses multimedia environmental concerns, and its Quicksilver Caucus, an affiliation of state agency organizations whose purpose is to develop holistic approaches for reducing mercury in the environment.
ERG Wins Two Minerals Management Service Contracts (September 11 and 24, 2009)
ERG won a duo of two-year contracts with U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS). These are “sister” contracts to upgrade, expand, build, and repair a socioeconomic impact model that tracks how money and jobs flow to U.S. coastal communities and the rest of the United States from expenditures by the oil and gas industry operating in federal outer continental shelf (OCS) waters. ERG is the prime for the first contract, for which are utilizing our expertise in the offshore oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico and providing economics and IT support. We are a subcontractor on the second contract, which focuses on the Alaska OCS regions, and we’ll be working with Northern Economics Inc. (NEI) of Anchorage, Alaska. While ERG’s IT team is fixing the software that serves both regions, ERG and NEI economists are updating and building content to reflect new technologies in use or likely to be used in the near future in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.
ERG Scientists Support Update of Major EPA Tool (June 24, 2009)
ERG recently completed work on portions of EPA’s most recent National-scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA)—a state-of-the-science tool that provides a comprehensive evaluation of air toxics in the United States. ERG supported EPA in preparing the entire point sources component and portions of the mobile sources component (aircraft, rail, and ships) for the NATA. ERG is also already at work on developing and refining data for the next NATA, which will be released in 2010.
ERG Launches New Web Site
Welcome to ERG’s new and improved Web site! Be sure to explore our expanded Markets and Services pages, learn about our project work, and see samples from our graphic design portfolio.
ERG Wins Five-Year Contract With EPA's Oceans and Coastal Protection Division
ERG recently won a five-year, $12 million contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Oceans and Coastal Protection Division. Under this contract, ERG will provide technical support to EPA in several program areas, including the National Estuary Program, coastal watersheds, ocean disposal, pollution control, technology transfer, smart growth, marine debris, coral reefs, invasive species, and impact assessments and monitoring of marine discharges/coastal waters and impacts of climate change on coastal resources.
ERG Supports EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program
Drawing on more than 30 years of air rulemaking experience, ERG is supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the development and implementation of a fast-paced rulemaking action (Part 98) that will require facilities in many industrial sectors to report their emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). ERG assisted EPA by developing issue papers (e.g., affected sources, reporting thresholds, types of emissions that must be reported, GHG emission calculation protocols, and reporting requirements) and developing technical background information to support Part 98. ERG is also providing outreach, training, database development, and meeting support for the program.
ERG Supports EPA’s Proposal for Endangerment Finding for Greenhouse Gases
In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts vs. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the EPA Administrator must determine if greenhouse gases (GHGs) endanger public health and welfare. EPA responded by issuing a proposed finding in April 2009 that GHGs endanger public health and welfare, and that GHG emissions from motor vehicles contribute to this threat. The Agency has received thousands of public comments in response to the proposal, including testimony at two public hearings. ERG is providing process, public hearing, and communications support to the Agency on this high-profile, fast-paced proposal.
ERG to Support Major Data Reporting and Exchange Tool
ERG is a key member of the team that won a three-year, $67 million contract to support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in operating, maintaining, and improving the Central Data Exchange (CDX). The regulated community uses CDX to electronically report required environmental data, and EPA along with state, local, and tribal governments use it to exchange information. ERG will assist with developing and deploying nodes, managing databases and data flows, upgrading data exchanges, providing end user support, and communicating with stakeholders.
ERG Coordinates WaterSense Fix a Leak Week Campaign, Designs Widget
During the Week of March 16 to 20, WaterSense, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) voluntary program, encouraged households across the country to fix or replace leaky plumbing fixtures, such as faucets, showers, and toilets, as well as irrigation systems. ERG helped coordinate this major campaign, which reminded people that fixing leaks is an easy way to save thousands of gallons of water each year. ERG also recently designed a WaterSense widget that partners, stakeholders, and consumers can post to their Web sites, blogs, wikis, or profile pages. The WaterSense widget regularly displays new tips on water efficiency and links to the WaterSense Web site for more information. Distribution of the widget has resulted in significant additional traffic to the WaterSense Web site: 15 percent of people viewing the WaterSense widget click on it to visit www.epa.gov/watersense.
ERG Earns Science Achievement Award
An ERG project to advance motor vehicle emissions characterization recently won a Science Achievement award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The award recognizes scientists for outstanding contributions in specific technical fields. “Your selection as a recipient of this award recognizes your impressive achievements in air quality,” according to Fred Dimmick, chair of the Air Quality Award Panel. “Your work has significantly advanced in-use measurements and characterization of gasoline particulate matter emissions from light-duty vehicles as a member of the Kansas City Emissions Testing Program Team.”
Transportation Research Board Recognizes ERG CD-Rom
ERG was a finalist in the Transportation Research Board's 2008 International Competition, “Communicating with John and Jane Q Public: Focus on Global Climate Change,” for creating a CD-Rom entitled “Best Workplaces for Commuters and Climate Change: Making the Connection.” The CD-Rom presents a basic overview of the science of climate change and provides state-specific data and messaging to help transportation professionals frame their commuter-related programs as climate solutions.