March 2010 Highlights

ASSOCIATION OF STATE AND TERRITORIAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
OFFICIALS (ASTSWMO)
Stateside Contact: Mark Anderson at mda@stateside.com

ASTSWMO’s sustainability subcommittee released a publication outlining many of the components and issues that states are grappling with as they consider how to effectively implement product stewardship for a wide variety of products and materials. The document is meant to serve as guidance in the development of state policy that addresses the environmental impact of products particularly as states transition from a focus on individual products to a more comprehensive and consistent framework approach. The publication outlines criteria for identifying and selecting products, financial mechanisms, stewardship plans, performance goals, reporting and enforcement.

ASTSWMO will hold its Federal Facilities Managers Symposium March 10-11 in Jacksonville, Florida. The objectives of the symposium are: to provide a forum for major issues and elements associated with federal facilities cleanup programs, to provide an opportunity to address procedural and policy areas, to highlight and share program innovations and success stories and to train regulatory staff on new policies and developments that affect state programs. The agenda includes the following items:

• Construction Completion vs. Remedy in Place: Harmonization of State and Federal Performance Measures and Programs: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Defense (DoD) leaders will discuss recent collaborative work in “harmonizing” the measures and methods used by each agency to track the progress of federal facilities cleanups and will provide an update on each program’s current progress.
• What’s Next? Post-Construction Completion and Long-Term Protectiveness: Federal leaders will discuss current and future cleanup plans for long-term protectiveness at federal facilities cleanup sites.
• Munitions Response: How to Manage Risk and Remediation.
• Five Year Review: Lessons Learned: Presenters will provide a summary of five year review policies for CERCLA and RCRA cleanups and provide case studies.
• Post Removal and Land Use Issues at Munitions Response Sites.
• Addressing Emerging Issues After Construction Completion and Remedy and Place: Speakers will present on a range of emerging issues that will or could potentially impact federal facilities cleanups.
• Groundwater Remediation: This session examines current groundwater remediation policies, technical issues and monitoring strategies to measure remedy effectiveness and provide protective oversight until cleanup goals are met.
• Cost Effective Tools and Systems to make Long- Term Stewardship Work: This session will discuss land use control (LUC) tracking challenges at a federal facility BRAC redevelopment site, introduce a database for the tracking of LUCs and highlight a unique partnership between the state of Missouri and the Civil Air Patrol for the monitoring of LUCs at 164 missile sites.
• Long-Term Stewardship: Each speaker will provide an overview of his agency’s policies and practices for ensuring that long-term stewardship and LUCs are memorialized, implemented and effective.
 

NATIONAL LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION (NLGA)
Stateside Contact: Constance Campanella at cc@stateside.com

NLGA will hold its Federal-State Relations Meeting March 17-19 in Washington, DC. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele are scheduled to lead a political roundtable. The agenda includes the following items:
• State Budget Innovations
• Energy Efficiency
• Federal-State Public Health Information Sharing
• Health and the States
• Patient Centered Medical Home Concept
• Medical Liability Options
• Obesity Options for the States
• Pandemic Planning and Response
• North American Trade and Transit
• STEM Education
• Federal-State Transportation Safety

The following proposed policy resolutions have been introduced for consideration at the meeting:
• Resolution on Open Government Data Resolution
• Resolution on Ensuring Cyber Security as a National Priority
• Resolution in Support of Patient Centered Medical Homes
• Resolution on Supporting Military Children and Families by Reviewing and Distributing the “SOFAR Guide for Helping Children and Youth Cope with the Deployment and Return of a Parent in the National Guard or Other Military Reserves”
• Resolutions to Continue the Public Leadership in the Arts Award
• Resolution Establishing the Public Leadership in Sustainability Award
 

STATE LEGISLATIVE LEADERS FOUNDATION (SLLF)
Stateside Contact: Constance Campanella at cc@stateside.com

SLLF will hold its Energy and Environmental Summit of the States March 4-7 in Santa Barbara, California. The agenda includes the following sessions:
• The Economic Opportunities of Going Green with Dr. Hunter Lovins, Founder and President, Natural Capitalism Solutions.
• Public-Private Partnership Approach with Professor John Byrne, Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware.
• Market Based Approaches to Environmental Reform with Professor Paul Portney, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona.
• Voluntary Approaches to Environmental Reform with Professor Charles Kolstadt, University of California, Santa Barbara.
• Regulatory Approaches to Environmental Reform with Rob Sargant, Energy Program Director, Environment America Research and Policy Center.
• Where will the Green Jobs Come From? with Dr. Eban Goodstein, Director, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Bard College.
• Encouraging and Preparing for the Green Economy with Michele Tihami, IBM Global Policy and Regulatory Director, IBM Energy & Utility Industry; Rick Brandes, former Chief, Energy Recovery Branch, Office of Resource Conservation & Recovery, EPA; and Nate Hurst, Director of Sustainability, Walmart.
• The States as Environmental Innovators, Moneymakers and Worldchangers! with Margie Alt, Executive Director, Environment America Research and Policy Center.
 

For a Full Copy of The Groups Report, Please Contact Stateside Associates at stateside@stateside.com.