A new NPDES Industrial Storm Water General Permit was signed June 30 and is in effect for all applications submitted to NDEQ after July 1, 2011. This general permit, also known as the Industrial Storm Water General Permit, or ISW-GP, NPDES NER900000, is an industrial storm water permit that authorizes discharges of storm water associated with industrial activities to: Waters of the State, Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems, or Combined Sewer Systems.

A health alert for toxic blue-green algae continues to be in effect at Willow Creek Lake in Pierce County. The alert went into effect last week, and is the only toxic algae health alert in the state. Weekly sampling has been conducted at 49 public lakes in Nebraska since the beginning of May.

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality Director Mike Linder today announced the awarding of $1,140,883 in grants for waste reduction and recycling projects. The grants are available through the Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grant Fund. This fund is generated by a fee on solid waste disposed of in landfills (disposal fee), an annual retail business sales fee (business fee), and a fee assessed on the sale of new tires for motor vehicles (tire fee). Tire fee grants totaling $1.15 million for projects related to tire recycling were previously announced in June.

The artwork of 13 Nebraska students will be featured in the 2012 “Nebraska: Don’t Waste It!” environmental calendar. The statewide contest is sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) and focuses on the importance of waste reduction, recycling and litter cleanup.

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality has approved a Class III Underground Injection Control Permit submitted by Crow Butte Resources Inc. This permit is associated with an expansion area for the Crow Butte uranium mining facility, in an area north of Crawford that is referred to as the North Trend Expansion Area (see map below).

Aug. 30, 2011 -- Nebraska's 2011 Ambient Air Monitoring Network Plan is available for public comment. The Network Plan was developed to comply with new Federal regulation 40 CFR Part 58.10.

A new general permit for pesticides, which was recently finalized by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and became effective November 1, 2011, provides coverage for specific types of applications of pesticides to, over or near waters of the state.

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality is inviting applications to the Nebraska Clean Diesel Rebate Program, which provides assistance to trucking companies and independent diesel owner-operators to purchase equipment to reduce engine idling, which reduces air pollution and fuel costs. Over $189,000 in grant funds are available, and applications will be accepted if received at the NDEQ Lincoln office by December 19, 2011.

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality today announced the areas that it considers to be Nebraska Sandhills, based on an analysis of a variety of existing data. This information will be conveyed to TransCanada for their reference as the company develops a proposed new route for the Nebraska portion of the Keystone XL pipeline.

NDEQ Director Mike Linder said this was an important step resulting from legislation which was passed in November relating to the development of an alternative route that avoids the Nebraska Sandhills.

Submissions Accepted Until March 31, 2012