By Bob Perciasepe

Yesterday I participated in a ceremony at the White House honoring 11 community leaders as Champions of Change. With the help of grants and loans from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the honorees created jobs in their communities and used innovative techniques to develop projects aimed at improving America’s infrastructure and creating an economy built to last.

When most people think about infrastructure, the first things that come to mind are the roads and bridges that keep people and products moving across our country. But in today’s economy, infrastructure is also the broadband pathways that allow a mother in Memphis to talk online with her daughter in New York.  It’s the grid that carries our energy to homes and businesses. It’s also the pipes that bring clean water in and take wastewater out of homes and businesses in urban and rural communities.

For the EPA, our country’s aging water infrastructure is of particular concern. Some American communities have water treatment facilities that haven’t been upgraded in half a century, and others have worn-out pipes working harder than ever before to deliver water to growing numbers of people. Our communities deserve better than that.

EPA’s largest investment in the Recovery Act went towards improving aging clean water and drinking water infrastructure, and many of the men and women honored yesterday as Champions of Change were part of the effort to improve this critical part of our communities. Philip Guerin led a team that used Recovery Act funds to bring photovoltaic power to a Water Filtration Plant in Worcester, MA, helping 200,000 people get safe drinking water. Mayor Dave Norris of West Monroe, LA oversaw the development of a recycling plant that guarantees a safe and sustainable water source for his city and surrounding communities – while simultaneously protecting jobs and the environment. And Dr. Jana Davis, Chief Scientist of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, oversaw a number of successful grant programs that helped restore and protect a water body that touches the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans.

Each of yesterday’s winners has earned this great honor. They saw that infrastructure problems were holding back their communities, and they used Recovery Act funds to creatively and collaboratively develop solutions. Some of them made water safer and cleaner. Some of them made the Internet more accessible. And some of them made transportation easier. They all improved their communities, and they’re all Champions of Change.

Bob Perciasepe is the deputy administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Last week Administrator Jackson visited Mission Motors, an electric vehicle technology company based in San Francisco. The company, which recently doubled its workforce, is an example of how the revitalized auto industry is making an entire supply chain come alive with new innovations and jobs.

Watch the video:

by Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator for the EPA Office of Air and Radiation

In March 2011, EPA finalized rules to regulate emissions of air toxics, including mercury, from large industrial boilers and solid waste incinerators.  EPA decided to keep the standards from going into effect, however, because we wanted to make sure the rules reflected new information and additional public comments. In December 2011, EPA re-proposed the rules that reflect new information and we expect to finalize them later this year. EPA and the Obama Administration are committed to these standards and the significant health benefits for our children and our families.

Last week the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision that ended EPA’s stay of the original March 2011 rules. After an initial review of the court’s decision, EPA is not aware of any sources that might be adversely affected. In addition, the EPA will continue to examine the decision and work with permitting authorities and industry to address any issues that might arise.

Specifically, using our enforcement discretion, EPA will issue a no action assurance letter shortly, informing sources that EPA will not enforce any of the administrative notification requirements in the old rules for a period of time while EPA works to finalize the rules by spring of this year.

All this to say, EPA looks forward to finalizing the rules on an expedited basis later this year as they are projected to avoid up to 8,100 premature deaths, prevent 5,100 heart attacks and avert 52,000 asthma attacks per year in 2015.  They will keep the health benefits of the original rules, while significantly reducing the cost of compliance to industry. The standards would focus on the less than one percent of boilers that emit the majority of pollution from this sector and are based on currently available technologies that are in use by sources across the country.

Looking ahead, the final, rewritten rules will address the compliance date for existing boilers and incinerators. Though the final rules need to reflect comments received during the public comment process, it is EPA’s current intention to work toward final standards that give existing sources the full time allowed under the Clean Air Act –with a possibility that some sources could request an additional year from the States.

In the meantime, this Administration will oppose attempts to take away EPA’s ability to complete the standards and deliver overdue safeguards to the American public. The Obama Administration is fully committed to reducing mercury, dioxin and other harmful pollutants from boilers in our communities. The Court’s decision will not impact our ability to deliver on that promise.

Yesterday President Barack Obama stopped by EPA headquarters to deliver a message to the agency. His remarks were webcast to regional offices throughout the country, allowing the president to remind every EPA employee that “your mission is vital” and “you’ve got a President who is grateful for your work and will stand with you every inch of the way.”

You can watch President Obama’s full remarks and read the transcript below:

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