The FY 2023 Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant Guidelines are now available (go to Open Solicitations). The application submission deadline is November 22, 2022.
Please see the link below for Multipurpose, Assessment, RLF, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Application Resources: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/multipurpose-assessment-rlf-and-cleanup-marc-grant-application-resources#Open%20Solicitations
From the official guidance:
SCS Engineers has a successful track record supporting communities interested in land recycling and obtaining EPA MARC Brownfields grants. Please visit our website for more information.
On Friday, September 9, SCS attended a meeting with CCLR and the State of Arizona on Land Reuse Grants. CCLR’s Ignacio Dayrit said that the guidance for EPA’s MARC Brownfields grants is expected to be released this week, opening the 60-day application period. If you plan to speak to any communities/non-profits about grant applications, now is the time to reach out to them. EPA Brownfield grants are often a significant funding source for assessing and cleaning sites with potential environmental contamination. This year, historical funding levels from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) mean more grants and significantly larger awards, making it a good investment to apply.
Although this information is subject to change before the guidance is finalized, here are the anticipated funding details:
SCS Engineers has a successful track record supporting communities interested in land recycling and obtaining EPA MARC Brownfields grants. Please visit our website for more information.
Designing environmental solutions. At SCS Engineers, we value our young professionals who bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to our teams. While learning the ropes as an intern, Jared Brown now works full-time as an associate professional in our Raleigh, North Carolina office.
Jared graduated from The Pennsylvania State University State College, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, this past May, earning his Bachelor of Science in Energy Engineering and a minor in Environmental Engineering.
Off to a fast start, he recently put to work his growing knowledge of landfill siting and landfill gas development by receiving his EIT License and Certification, a professional designation after passing the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, and an important part of the process to becoming a licensed professional engineer (P.E.).
Jared’s work is significant in addressing climate change, but not in the way he anticipated when he started his SCS internship. “During my internship, I got hooked,” says Jared.
He continues,
In my senior year, following my internship, I added multiple electives in landfill engineering and groundwater protection. My major focus at Penn State was renewable energy engineering, which SCS does, but landfill and landfill gas engineering captured my attention. It’s fulfilling to know my work significantly reduces greenhouse gas (GHG), and the work itself is interesting and challenging.
We work in teams to make the most of our different areas of expertise, but I get the chance to present my ideas and hear from my teammates while working independently. It’s not the kind of work where you do it repeatedly once you’ve created the design. Each site is unique, so I’m building on best practices and the combination of new technology and design that’s proven to work and is very effective.
Today’s modern landfills that reduce air emissions, recycle many by-products, and protect the groundwater are transformative. They use reduction, recycling, and reuse programs while turning methane into renewable energy. Advanced remote monitoring and control technology and data capture provide many efficiencies and insight to landfill operators and owners running larger and larger collections of plants and facilities on their landfills.
The trend to go larger necessitates more landfill design sophistication and master planning to recoup the growing capital investment upfront. That’s where Jared fits in!
At SCS Engineers, a leading environmental consulting and contracting firm, we bring local urgency to today’s global priorities. One hundred percent employee-owned, and with over a thousand industry leaders across 70 offices nationwide, we come to every job with a wealth of knowledge and implementation expertise—so even the most complex projects move forward with efficiency and speed. We address a full range of environmental issues for private and public entities, with a special focus on waste and greenhouse gas management. In fact, we have captured and eliminated more CO2e gasses for our clients than any other firm in the country. And with customer satisfaction scores 33 percent higher than the industry average, we’ve built a reputation for delivering on our promises.
Today’s modern landfills offset inflation and labor costs through transformative reduction, recycling, and reuse programs while turning methane into renewable energy. Advanced remote monitoring and control technology and data capture provide many efficiencies and insight to landfill operators and owners running larger and larger collections of plants and facilities on their landfills.
The trend to go larger necessitates more landfill design sophistication and master planning to recoup the growing capital investment upfront. During this month’s SCS Engineers webinar and open forum, our panel will discuss landfill design, focusing on optimizing your site layout and maximizing air space – a landfill’s golden egg.
Live on Thursday, September 29, 2022
2:00 pm Eastern Time for 1 hour
This educational, non-commercial webinar with a Q&A forum throughout is free and open to all who want to learn more about landfill design. We recommend this month’s discussion for landfill owners/operators, solid waste planners, environmental engineers, municipalities, and environmental agency staff.
Certificates of Attendance are available for attendees who registered on Zoom and attended the live session.
Quinn Bernier currently chairs the SCS Engineers Young Professional Group. We recently spent time with Quinn following her return from SCS’s Environmental College, a national training forum held annually.
What is your title at SCS Engineers? Please briefly describe your responsibilities at SCS.
I’m a Project Engineer, mostly working on landfill gas system design projects, odor mitigation, and air compliance reporting. I also participate in SMM (sustainable materials management) projects, such as waste characterization studies and convenience center design.
Why did you come to work here? What attracted you to SCS?
I wanted to make a big move after graduating college, and I was looking for practical, tangible work in environmental engineering. The interview really sold me, though – everyone at the office was so welcoming and approachable. I felt like I fit in right away.
What is your favorite part of working at SCS?
Everyone says this because it’s true – the people that work here. There are so many smart, awesome people at SCS that are a pleasure to work with.
What do you feel is your greatest achievement/contribution to date?
Being on the Young Professionals Planning Committee and helping the YP Program grow the past three years while we’ve really expanded the breadth of resources we provide despite COVID – from the leadership interview series, to providing professional licensing advice, and launching a company-wide mentoring program. It’s been a privilege to be a part of serving other young professionals at the company and a lot of fun.
What was your greatest challenge, and how have you overcome it?
I’m still working on it since this largely comes with experience, but gaining confidence in my professional work and opinions. It was hard coming straight out of school to think of myself as a consultant, but I think a big help for me is remembering that I am doing a good job when I am doing the best I can for a client.
Why do you believe you have been successful?
Just putting myself out there. SCS has a very choose-your-own adventure style, and I think being willing to jump headfirst into whatever comes my way has opened a lot of doors. I also owe a lot to my peers and mentors for encouraging me to learn and grow.
You recently became a Professional Engineer (P.E.). What advice do you have for someone that is studying for the P.E. exam?
This might only apply to the P.E. Environmental, but make sure you get to know the equation manual (even the tables and charts) and practice using the search function on it. It will save a lot of time on exam day.
What are your favorite hobbies?
I play competitive soccer, keep fish, and I’m always trying new crafts. I’ve been mostly pressing flowers and sewing lately.
Tell us your favorite aspect of the YP program. What is your role as YP Chair?
The best part about the YP Program is that it’s 100% run by YPs. As the current Chair, I lead the group in our biweekly calls, send out the Program emails, and serve as a Young Professionals representative at the SCS Board Meetings twice a year.
We thank Quinn and all of our remarkable YPs for dedicating their careers to helping businesses and their communities run cleaner and safer! Join one of the most award-winning and results-oriented environmental engineering and consulting firms in the nation.
Learn more about SCS Engineers.
2022 Organics Management Facility of the Year.
The National Waste & Recycling Association recently named Republic Services’ Otay Compost Facility the 2022 Organics Management Facility of the Year. The Otay facility in Chula Vista, Calif., is the first fully solar-powered compost facility in the state, recycling food and yard waste from throughout the San Diego region.
The solar-powered facility opened for business last October, helping communities in San Diego County meet the requirements of California’s SB1383 law mandating the diversion of organic waste from landfills. This unique facility, designed by SCS Engineers in collaboration with Sustainable Generation, operates completely off the grid. It can process 200 tons of food and yard waste daily from Chula Vista, Carlsbad, and customers throughout the San Diego region.
The design uses renewable energy to run 100 percent of the composting operations at the site. The facility design includes technologies to speed the maturation rates and reduce excessive odors. Blowers to aerate the organic material, oxygen and temperature sensors, and advanced compost cover technology produce a high-quality product.
“Republic Services took the goals of SB 1383 further to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants. They’re running a sustainable facility that enables residents, businesses, and government to easily reuse and recycle more organic materials within a smaller carbon footprint than ever expected,” says Vidhya Viswanathan, engineer and project director.
Additional Resources:
Composting and Organics Management
Renewable Energy for Landfills and Landfill Facilities
Reducing CO2 is essential for our planet to thrive. At SCS Engineers, we’ve been helping all industries, cities, and states do just that for over 50 years. We focus solely on environmental solutions; in the industry, it’s called pure environmental, along with industry rankings that consistently rank our results in the top tiers.
Our culture is one of sharing. Our professional staff are involved in their communities and global industry associations where we speak, publish and share what works openly with you. Our newest blog series will publish monthly, bringing you the latest papers, presentations, and case studies on reducing CO2.
SCS clients entrust us with managing more than 35 million metric tons of anthropogenic CO2e greenhouse gases annually. We collect and beneficially use or destroy enough to offset greenhouse gas emissions from 7.4 million passenger cars annually. That’s more than any other environmental firm in North America and proof of the results we can achieve for you.
A Call for Low Impact Development: the Time is Now, SWS 2022 Low impact developments profoundly impact stormwater management while providing more energy-efficient housing.
The Road Ahead: Carbon Sequestration This video features experts in sequestration and inventorying GHG. The sequestration of liquids is common, but gases may also be sequestered.
Potential Geochemical Effects of CO2 and Brine Leakage – Implications for CCUS Testing and Monitoring Live presentation at the National Carbon Capture Conference on November 8-9 in Des Moines, Iowa. Using an inverse thermodynamic modeling approach to simulate the effect of the progressive intrusion of CO2 and brines from the injection zone on the geochemical composition of the overlying dilute aquifer waters; we can infer which geochemical parameters are most likely to be affected by the potential intrusion of CO2 and brines.
Application of Advanced Characterization Techniques for Identification of Thermogenic and Biogenic Gases This paper discusses the identification of thermogenic and biogenic gases, the typical sources and characteristics of methane in the natural environment, and the methods of discriminating between different sources of methane for fingerprinting.
Roadmap for Sustainable Waste Management in Developing Countries, ISWA, 2022 An accomplished team of sustainability researchers deliver a concise insight into modern waste management practices that acts as a handbook for waste management professionals.
Mini-review of waste sector greenhouse gas and short-lived climate pollutant emissions in Tyre Caza, Lebanon, using the Solid Waste Emissions Estimation Tool (‘SWEET’) A completed a study of waste sector short-lived climate pollutants and other greenhouse gas emissions in Tyre Caza, Lebanon, using SWEET.
SCS respects your privacy – you may share these resources individually using social media and email icons on each page. You may share all of the resources by sharing this blog.
Look for our next Preventing and Reducing CO2 blog in September!
Establishing a site-specific groundwater monitoring protocol sensitive to changes in the groundwater chemistry related to potential leakage and also sensitive to natural variability will be imperative for developing cost-effective and robust testing and monitoring plans.
In CCUS projects, a site-specific testing and monitoring plan is mandatory to ensure the protection of underground sources of drinking water (USDWs) from Class VI injection well practices. As these projects have long durations with multiple phases, it is imperative for the groundwater monitoring program to be cost-effective with a robust sensitivity to detect any leakage.
Previously demonstrated changes in pH, carbonate chemistry, and certain trace elements (i.e., those that form strong-complexing anions) are geochemical indicators of initial CO2 leakage in relatively dilute aquifers. In this case study, SCS Engineers examine the sensitivity of dilute aquifer chemistry (major and minor cations and anions) to the leakage of CO2 and brines from the injection formation. We use an inverse thermodynamic modeling approach to simulate the effect of the progressive intrusion of CO2 and brines from the injection zone on the geochemical composition of the overlying dilute aquifer waters. From this, we can infer which geochemical parameters are most likely to be affected by the potential intrusion of CO2 and brines.
To attend this live presentation of Geochemical Effects of CO2, register for the upcoming National Carbon Capture Conference on November 8-9 in Des Moines, Iowa. Visit SCS Engineers at booth 120. Meet Kacey Garber.
EPA permit requirements for Class VI injection wells explicitly include incorporating a Testing and Monitoring Plan to optimize protection of USDWs – Underground Sources of Drinking Water. The regulatory requirement is for periodic monitoring of groundwater quality above the confining zone that may result from injection fluid movement through the confining zone. Testing and monitoring plans usually implement an antidegradation strategy. Take sufficient background data to characterize the statistical distributions of groundwater quality parameters before operation. Then the same water quality parameters are sampled periodically during and after injection and compared to the background. Any statistically significant increases over the background are investigated as a possible result of injectate migration above the confining zone.
To make the detection monitoring program more robust, there is a tendency to increase the number of well/parameter pairs in the monitoring network. This is done by adding additional wells to decrease well spacing and by adding monitoring parameters to make sure that nothing gets missed. Paradoxically, this tendency decreases the statistical power of the groundwater monitoring network by increasing the sitewide false positive rate (i.e., the number of false positive detections increases, often to an unreasonable degree). Each apparent statistically significant increase involves a costly investigation with greatly increased complexity. In this talk, we examine the sitewide false positive rate for sitewide groundwater monitoring networks and its relationship to the number of well/parameter pairs and discuss how hydrologic and geochemical knowledge and characterization can be used to build a more robust and cost-effective groundwater monitoring plan that is protective of USDWs near Class VI injection wells.
To attend this live presentation, register for the upcoming National Carbon Capture Conference November 8-9 in Des Moines, Iowa. Visit SCS Engineers at booth 120. Meet Charles Hostetler.
Cutting food loss and waste is widely recognized as one of the most powerful levers we have to address climate change and preserve our natural resources. In the United States alone, surplus food accounts for 4% of our greenhouse gas emissions, 14% of all freshwater use, and 18% of all cropland use. We’re wasting precious resources to produce and ship food only to have it end up in a landfill or rot in a field. [ReFED]
These are key action areas where the food system can focus its efforts over the next decade to prevent, rescue, and recycle food at risk of becoming waste. Strengthening food rescue and recycling anything remaining into compost or anaerobic digestion facilities creates beneficial by-products.
The USDA offers grants of up to $300,000 to composting and food waste reduction pilot projects benefiting community food waste and production programs.
Eligible projects can be in rural, urban, and suburban communities. The application deadline is fast approaching on September 1, 2022. USDA anticipates making selections by October 30, 2022, and executing the grant awards by February 8, 2023.
Visit SCS Engineers to learn more about this grant opportunity, check program qualifications, and sign up for free consulting supporting communities interested in this unique USDA grant program.
USDA GRANT for Composting | Food Waste Reduction ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA and RESOURCES
