April 17, 2015 – The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality held the annual Environmental Update in two locations in Nebraska:

April 14 – Lincoln, at the Country Inn and Suites, Beacon Hill – 5353 N. 27th Street

April 16 – North Platte, at the West Central Research and Extension Center – 402 West State Farm Road

Presentations
Below are PDF vesions of the presentations that were made at the Environmental Updates, listed in order of presentations at the Lincoln workshop.

April 29, 2015 -- The Environmental Quality Council (EQC) will meet June 4, 2015 at the Embassy Suites in La Vista. Hearings will be conducted on the proposed 2016 State Revolving Fund Intended Use Plan, amendments to Title 129 -- Nebraska Air Regulations and amendments to Title 195 -- Chemigation Regulations.

Below is a link to the June 4 agenda and a link to the items that will be heard before the EQC. Copies of the proposed amendments, the draft 2016 Intended Use Plan and related documents can be found on the Proposed Rules and Regulations web page.
 

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) proposes issuance of a new General Permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) to prevent discharges to surface waters. CAFOs within the State of Nebraska that confine only cattle, either in open lots or under roof, are eligible for coverage.

The Public Notice period will run from May 27, 2015 through June 26, 2015
 

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) has completed the draft mitigation plan for Nebraska’s portion of funds from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust (VW Trust) and is making it available online for public review. Comments are being accepted through Dec. 31, 2017.

May 28, 2015 -- The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) will host a second outreach meeting to discuss a proposal to amend Title 132 – Integrated Solid Waste Management Regulations. The meeting will be held at 2 p.m. June 17 at the second floor of the Atrium building, 1200 ‘N’ St., Lincoln, Suite 206. Those who are not able to attend the meeting in person may participate by telephone conference call at (888) 820-1398. Please connect prior to 2 p.m. and enter attendee code 9932065# when prompted.

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality Director Jim Macy announced today that the state is awarding $2.01 million to support 126 tire recycling and cleanup projects across the state.

Nebraskans generate more than one and a half million scrap tires each year, about one tire for every person in the state. The grants are part of NDEQ’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Grants program, and are funded by a $1 fee on new tires purchased in Nebraska.

NDEQ is restructuring and standardizing Conditions I and II in air quality construction permits (CP), and air quality operating permits (OP). These changes are intended to unify permit conditions and streamline the CP and OP permitting processes.

NDEQ had solicited comments from interested parties in November and has drafted revisions based on those comments. The revised drafts are located at the bottom of this page.

June 17, 2015 – The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) has announced that the deadline for submitting 2015 Litter Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grant applications is 4:00 p.m. CDT August 5, 2015. Below is a link to the online application process:

Litter Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grant Application Process

LINCOLN – Today, Governor Ricketts applauded news that the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) and the City of Lincoln have developed an integrated online system to streamline the process for Lincoln applicants to apply for and receive construction stormwater permits.

The state has issued a health alert for toxic blue-green algae at Sutherland Reservoir in Lincoln County. This is the first health alert issued in the 2015 recreational season. Weekly sampling has been conducted at 50 public lakes in Nebraska since the beginning of May.