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RESCHEDULED - Opportunity to Provide Feedback | Drinking Water Program Virtual Meeting | Aug. 31, 2021, 8 – 10 a.m.

The following meeting, originally scheduled for August 5, has been rescheduled and will be held as follows. We apologize for any inconvenience. Small water systems can face unique financial and operational challenges in consistently providing drinking water that meets state and federal standards and requirements. ADEQ’s capacity development strategy is intended to assist public water systems overcome these challenges by acquiring and maintaining adequate technical, managerial and financial capacity. ADEQ is in the process of revising its current capacity development strategy and would like your input on the draft. We have held a series of virtual sessions to hear from our stakeholders (public water system owners, operators, other agencies, etc.) about:  challenges for Arizona public water systems, including insufficient rates, difficulty navigating the funding process and keeping track of regulatory requirements to name a few recommended solutions to challenges Please join us at the next virtual session to review the draft strategy and suggested improvements.   MEETING DETAILS Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021 8 – 10 a.m. Online via GoToWebinar | Register > After registering you will receive an email with the link for the meeting. This link will be specific to you, so please do not forward that link to others. View Event Web Page > View Agenda > View Notes from Previous Stakeholder Meetings > ADEQ welcomes and appreciates your participation and input.

Questions? Contact Reshet Gebremariam gebremariam.reshet@azdeq.gov 602-771-4220 About ADEQ Under the Environmental Quality Act of 1986, the Arizona State Legislature established the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality in 1987 as the state agency for protecting and enhancing public health and the environment of Arizona. For more information, visit azdeq.gov. ADEQ will take reasonable measures to provide access to department services to individuals with limited ability to speak, write or understand English and/or to those with disabilities. Requests for language translation, ASL interpretation, CART captioning services or disability accommodations must be made at least 48 hours in advance by contacting the Title VI Nondiscrimination Coordinator at 602-771-2215 or Communications@azdeq.gov. For a TTY or other device, Telecommunications Relay Services are available by calling 711. ADEQ tomará las medidas razonables para proveer acceso a los servicios del departamento a personas con capacidad limitada para hablar, escribir o entender inglés y/o para personas con discapacidades. Las solicitudes de servicios de traducción  de idiomas, interpretación ASL (lengua de signos americano), subtitulado de CART, o adaptaciones por discapacidad deben realizarse con al menos 48 horas de anticipación comunicándose con el Coordinador de Anti-Discriminación del Título VI al 602-771-2215 o Communications@azdeq.gov. Para un TTY u otro dispositivo, los servicios de retransmisión de telecomunicaciones están disponible llamando al 711.

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QUESTIONS? Contact Us

Facts USA > Multiple Headlines (if U haven't had enough ready, Where are the COVID-19 hotspots? )

25 states added jobs in June 

The US added 850,000 new jobs in June, bringing total employment to 145.8 million. The leisure and hospitality industry was the largest contributor to job growth. Government had the second-most growth, with the majority of it stemming from public education. USAFacts tracks the job gains in this report.
 

June earnings were the highest inflation-adjusted average since the first time they were tracked in 2006, reaching $30.40 an hour. This total surpasses the earnings in May by 10 cents.    Nearly 30% of states have a larger labor force than before the pandemic, with states such as South Dakota and Nebraska reporting lower unemployment rates than before the pandemic.    Over 40% of new jobs in June originated from leisure and hospitality sector.   Connecticut and New Mexico have the highest unemployment rates at 7.9%, while Utah reported an unemployment rate of just 2.7%. Learn more about your state’s unemployment rate in June right here.

Vaccinations and COVID-19 hotspots New coronavirus cases per 100,000 people increased 300% from the week ending June 18 to the week ending July 21. The Delta variant, the most common strain of COVID-19 in the US, has increased cases to levels similar to late April 2021. USAFacts has ongoing updates about national virus hotspots, including:   Every state except Nebraska, which stopped reporting cases in June, reported an increase in cases between June and July.

Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, and Louisiana account for 30% of the nation's total COVID-19 cases.   Despite the uptick in cases, deaths tolls are similar to early July, the lowest levels of the pandemic.   Since the beginning of the pandemic there have been 33.5 million COVID-19 cases nationwide, causing 603,069 deaths since the start of 2020.  Curious about how COVID-19 cases in your state compare to the rest of the US? Click here to learn more about hotspots and vaccination rates.

Data ahead of Black Women's Equal Pay Day  For over 40 years, more women have earned an income than men, but their income still falls $14,900 short of that of the average man. Although this gap has decreased from $17,300 in 1953, unequal compensation persists in the American workforce, and the gap worsens when accounting for race. With Black Women’s Equal Pay Day coming up on August 3, here's a look at data on pay, race, and gender. Between men and women of the same racial and ethnic group, Black women earned the closest to their male counterparts, falling $7,000 short of Black men.

Overall compensation for women relative to men is the most equal in healthcare support at 94 cents on the dollar. Legal positions had the greatest disparity, at 55 cents on the dollar. To learn more about the pay gap between racial, ethnic, and gender groups, follow this link. One last fact

Hispanic and Latino Americans report the highest levels of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic at a rate of 36%, while Asian Americans report the lowest levels at 25%. Click here for more information on the monthly breakdown on percentages by race

FYI: This Week in Federal Funding

Connecting state and local government leaders   This Week in Federal Funding August 3, 2021

Welcome to Route Fifty's This Week in Federal Funding! I'm Senior Editor Bill Lucia. One short programming note: I'll be on vacation this week, so there won't be a federal funding newsletter on Aug. 10. We'll pick things back up the following Tuesday, Aug. 17. From R50 This Week: The next round of federal funding targeting homelessness—nearly $5 billion for HOME Investment Partnership Programs—could jump-start long-term efforts to reduce homelessness, writes veteran policy reporter Jacob Fischler. Meanwhile, Kate Queram reports that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam hopes to spend $485 million in coronavirus relief money to shore up the state's behavioral health resources. She also writes about how localities and states can leverage federal funding to help small businesses in equitable ways. What we're watching: County-city cooperation. Going forward, it's going to be interesting to track how, and to what extent, overlapping counties and cities coordinate on American Rescue Plan Act spending. "All of the counties received funds," said Eryn Hurley, an associate legislative director with the National Association of Counties. "That opens up a lot of doors when we're talking about county-city collaboration of how to invest these funds, to make sure that there's no duplication of efforts or that gaps go unseen." There are good reasons why this type of coordination can make sense. But working across levels of government can be complicated and different places, while overlapping, might have priorities that don't necessarily align with what their neighbors want to do. Hurley noted that the U.S. Treasury Department recently clarified that it's okay for communities to pool or transfer ARPA dollars to fund regional projects. Leon County, Florida, where the state capital of Tallahassee is located, offers an example of a city and county working together to allocate a slice of federal funding. In mid-July, the city and county commissions jointly agreed to direct $6.2 million of ARPA spending towards programs focused on homelessness and housing. "With these funds we have the opportunity to make some significant inroads and help those struggling with homelessness," County Commission Chairman Rick Minor said at the time, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. Leon County received a total of about $57 million under ARPA, and Tallahassee about $46 million.  Many cities and counties, Hurley added, are still in the early stages of planning ARPA spending. "We definitely expect to see more examples of this type of collaboration," she said. Elsewhere… Guaranteed income pilot programs are getting attention lately and gaining traction across the country––including in California where state lawmakers in July approved the nation's first state-funded plan. Some local governments are turning to ARPA dollars for guaranteed income programs or other types of direct cash assistance.  For example, the Minneapolis council last month signed off on a nearly $102 million ARPA spending plan with $3 million to provide up to $500 per month for two years for about 200 households. And in allocating $128 million of federal recovery funding in June, the Seattle City Council and Mayor Jenny Durkan approved $25 million for providing direct cash payments to families. An earlier round of this program targeted immigrant and refugee families. It delivered a total of​​ $7.94 million in cash grants last year to 3,703 applicants, according to the city, with individual payments ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 depending on household size. The latest iteration will be broader in scope and the intent is that it will be open to all low-income families, with an emphasis on reaching people disproportionately affected by Covid-19. The National League of Cities had a recent rundown of some of the plans surfacing in cities that would involve using ARPA funds for different types of income support. Two of the mayors on hand at our Future Cities event last week discussed guaranteed income efforts––Daniel Biss of Evanston, Illinois and Lauren Poe of Gainesville, Florida. (Recordings of those discussions and others are archived here.) Evanston's work around guaranteed income is taking place in the context of a reparations program funded by marijuana tax revenue. The reparations initiative for now has $10 million committed to it, of which about $400,000 has been allotted for a housing-related program. It's possible that some of the remainder could go to an income program that gives cash payments, Biss said. Separately, $300,000 from Northwestern University will go toward a guaranteed income pilot. Biss said Evanston is exploring the potential of using some of its roughly $43 million ARPA allotment for income support programs. "It's important for us to name the provision of a reasonable, workable income, to give people the ability to live in dignity," he said, "as not only a great thing for somebody else to do, but a core responsibility of the public sector." There are of course counterpoints to that view. That's it for this week. In the meantime, if you have news tips or feedback on what we should be covering, if you want to share your community's story, or if you just want to say hello, please email us at: editor@routefifty.com. Thanks for reading!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | High Pollution Advisory issued for Ozone effective Aug. 5, 2021, in the Phoenix area

Another day and another danger and risk to public health.

LIVE CAM Superstition Mountains

Digital images from Web-based cameras are updated every 5 minutes.

That ADEQ quirky Spongy Bob logo has got to go - this is serious stuff to not confused about!

"As for air quality, the current calm conditions and strong high pressure have lead to exceeding ozone levels. There is also regional smoke over a plentiful amount of states. This smoke is staying elevated but can also assist in increasing our ozone levels. We have extended our High Pollution Advisory into tomorrow and still have the High Pollution Watch in place for Friday, Saturday, and now Sunday as well.

NOTICE THE CHANGE:

HIGH POLLUTION ADVISORY is a forecast.

HIGH POLLUTION WATCH is a potential

High Pollution Advisory (HPA) | Notifies the public that the level of an air pollutant is forecast to exceed the federal health standard FOR CLEAN AIR

High Pollution Watch (HPW) | Notifies the public when there is potential for a pollutant to exceed the federal health standard FOR CLEAN AIR

Under the Environmental Quality Act of 1986, the Arizona State Legislature established the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality in 1987 as the state agency for protecting and enhancing public health and the environment of Arizona.

 

Even though there are slight chances for storms/rain on Sunday, afternoon hours are still expected to be sunny where ozone can quickly ramp up. As for particulates, PM₁₀ (dust) and PM_2.5 (smoke) are being primarily driven by localized activity and stagnate conditions. Both are forecast to stay in the Good Air Quality Index range through Sunday.

Air Quality Hourly Forecast | Phoenix

Updated On: 8/4/2021 - 8:49 AM

Click on each day to view forecast.

Wednesday Forecast:

Alert: Ozone High Pollution Advisory in effect for Wednesday

 

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is issuing a High Pollution Advisory (HPA) for ozone effective Aug. 5, 2021, in the Phoenix area. ADEQ recommends that people limit outdoor activity while the HPA is in effect, especially children and adults with respiratory problems. Ground-level ozone forms when two types of pollutants — volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) — react in sunlight. These pollutants come primarily from automobiles, but also from other sources, including industries, power plants and products, such as solvents and paints. Generally, the highest levels of ozone occur in the afternoon.