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Subject Guides: Environmental Resources
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"Yet nature's charms-the hills and
woods-
The sweeping vales and foaming floods-
Are free alike to all."
-Robert Burns, from the poem
"To Chloris"
General
Environmental Reference Sources/Catalogs/Directories
These links point to websites that are good starting
points for general research. Included in this section are catalog
sites (organized by topic), all-in-one search sites, directories,
and basic reference tools.
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EPA Homepage
http://www.epa.gov
The EPA homepage is a great place to start. There are
links to current events, newsletters, speeches,
regulatory updates. Links are also organized by intended
audience: kids, teachers, business, citizens and
scientists. A much improved site!
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Data
Sources/Query Forms
There is lots of hard environmental data available out there.
Links have been provided to the data that is most requested.
Often, more than one site provides links to the same data. In
such cases, I have linked to the sites that have the easiest
interfaces. There are a number of websites that let you search
for hazardous sites, then generate a map that shows poverty
levels, minority populations, schools, etc. in the surrounding
area.
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AIRWeb (EPA)
Air Pollution Data
http://www.epa.gov/air/data/index.html
AIRWeb gives you access to air pollution data for
the entire United States. Want to know the highest ozone
level measured in your state last year? Ever wonder where
air pollution monitoring sites are located? Are there
sources of air pollution in your town? This is the place
to find out! AIRWeb creates custom reports using
criteria that you specify, displays standard maps of the
United States, and provides names of people to contact.
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Chemical Score
Card
http://www.scorecard.org/
Another simple database that allows you to search by
zip code. Created by the Environmental Defense Fund, this
site neatly ties together EPA data, makes it easy to
search, and presents it in a user-friendly, yet detailed
and powerful format. A MUST SEE.
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National
Environmental Scorecard
http://www.lcv.org/scorecard/
The League of Conservation Voters has compiled this
scorecard since 1970 and now it is available to you via
the Internet. The Scorecard provides a score for all
members of Congress based on their voting record on
environmental legislation. You can search for legislators
who represent you or those who represent your state, or
view all Senators and Representatives. The Scorecard also
allows you to search by various criteria such as gender,
party affiliation and region or state a Congressman comes
from.
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RTK NET
http://www.rtknet.org/
RTK NET was started in 1989 in support of the
Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act
(EPCRA), which mandated public access to the Toxic
Release Inventory. It is operated by two nonprofit
organizations--OMB Watch and The Unison Institute--and
funded by various government agencies and foundations.
Good general links, as well as excellent
links to data sources.
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Selected
Topical Sites
These links are to web pages that deal with broad but specific
environmental topics such as solid waste, pollution prevention
and air quality. They are good places to start if you know are
researching a particular subject.
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BrownFields
(EPA) Homepage
http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/
Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used
industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or
redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived
environmental contamination. This website is maintained
by the EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency response,
and has many useful links to Brownfields information.
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Water (EPA) Homepage
http://www.epa.gov/OW/
The EPA Office of Water Homepage. Links to various
information services including newsletters and listservs.
Also has links to laws and regulations, water quality data,
policy guidance, and available trainings and conferences.
One of the better EPA pages.
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Usenet/Listservs
Listservs and newsgroups are a great way to stay
current and have discussions with others who are interested in
similar topics. Both listservs and newsgroups are invaluable
forums for gathering information and networking with peers and
experts.
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EPA
Documents and Library Holdings: Searching and Ordering
The EPA generates an amazing amount of publicly
available data and information. Many documents and reports are
available from from NCEPI. Others are available free from EPA
offices. In addition, EPA libraries all across the country
will interlibrary loan materials to you. Use OLS (the EPA's
online catalog) to search for materials.
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NCEPI
http://www.epa.gov/ncepihom/
Environmental Protection Agency's National Center for
Environmental Publications and Information. Provides over
5000 EPA publications available in hardcopy and
multimedia product, free of charge. You can browse the
National EPA Publications Catalog and order documents
online.
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US
EPA Online Library System (OLS)
http://www.epa.gov/natlibra/ols.htm
OLS is a web-based library catalog for the
libraries of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
You can search OLS for materials held in EPA Libraries.
Once you have identified a document, you should search
the NSCEP
site to see if it is available free of charge. If NSCEP can't provide it, you can request the item through
interlibrary loan.
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Environmental
Organizations
Environmental organizations can also be a great source
of information. These links don't always point to the best web pages, per se. But these
organizations are at the forefront of
environmental science and public policy.
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Americans for the
Environment (AFE)
http://www.undueinfluence.com/afe.htm
AFE is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping
citizen activists use the political process to solve
environmental problems, providing Americans concerned
about the environment with the knowledge and skills
needed to participate effectively in the electoral
process.
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Environmental Defense
Fund
http://www.edf.org
EDF is dedicated to protecting the environmental rights
of all people, including future generations. Among these
rights are clean air, clean water, healthy, nourishing
food, and a flourishing ecosystem. Website is good for
current articles and information.
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Environmental Hazards
Management Institute
http://www.ehmi.org
EHMI is a global organization of environmental, health and
safety experts with more than 110 locations in Asia,
Australia, Europe, North America and South America.
Together they total 2,400 professionally qualified staff.
They have built their international team using a set of
common principals: technical excellence, professional
integrity and a commitment to providing quality service.
They work with clients to create sound environmental,
health and safety programs.
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The Nature Conservancy
http://nature.org/
The mission of Nature Conservancy is to preserve plants,
animals and natural communities that represent the
diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and
waters they need to survive. The Nature Conservancy
operates the largest private system of nature sanctuaries
in the world--more than 1,500 preserves in the United
States alone.
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The Sierra Club
http://www.sierraclub.org
The Sierra Club is a non-profit, member-supported, public
interest organization that promotes conservation of the
natural environment by influencing public policy
decisions: legislative, administrative, legal and
electoral. Links to general news and an online version of
Sierra Magazine.
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World Resources Institute
http://www.wri.org
The World Resources Institute's mission is to move
human society to live in ways that protect Earth's
environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and
aspirations of current and future generations. Because
people are inspired by ideas, empowered by knowledge, and
moved to change by greater understanding, WRI provides -
and helps other institutions provide - objective
information and practical proposals for policy and
institutional change that will foster environmentally
sound, socially equitable development.
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Government
Regulations/Laws and Decisions
Links to government statutes and regulations, both
current and proposed. There are also links to Environmental
Appeals Board decisions, and the EPA docket which contains the
records of all civil cases and EPA administrative actions.
Records of Decision (RODS) are documents that summarize the
condition of Superfund sites, and specify what the polluters need
to do to clean the site up.
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DOCKET
-- EPA Civil Court Cases and Administrative Actions
http://www.epa.gov/dockets/
Sponsored by RTK net. EPA's Civil Docket database
(DOCKET) contains records about all civil cases filed by
the Department of Justice on behalf of EPA. It contains
records about all cases starting from the beginning of
EPA until now. However, it doesn't contain records of
criminal cases (which are more serious than civil cases)
or records of EPA administrative actions and penalties
(which are less serious).
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Records
of Decisions (RODS) Abstracts
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/rods/index.htm
The ROD is a public document signed by the
appropriate Regional Administrator which details cleanup,
cost estimates, and EPA's responsiveness to the public
comment summary. The purpose of an EPA Record of Decision
is to evaluate a Superfund Site with the goal of
protecting human health and the environment while
ensuring consistency of evaluations in contamination and
clean-up of all Superfund sites.
Back to Subject
Guides
Revised 2/11
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