To Death I Say, Nay! - Sierra

I'm posting quite late for this (last) week, but I had a murderously hectic week! A new surge of work combined with a bad case of phlegm and headache wasn't exactly ideal, but it seems I'm springing back. First, I've been working on a draft of a contextual overview of the environmental issues going on in Tucson, which has involved a bit of looking at old Tucson newspapers and such in order to finalize my outline. I am also, as of this last week, officially responsible for two sections of an Environmental Assessment - Hazardous Materials & Solid Waste, and Sustainability & Greening. This means that I will be researching the implications of a project proposed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in these contexts. The project is based in California and involves the improvement of three access roads that will allow for CBP to bring materials to a border fence for further improvement (which requires a separate EA). In terms of hazardous waste, there won't be much to report, but sustainability can include everything from the fuel and efficiency of the machinery used to improve the roads to the percentage of post-consumer recycled material used in the paper the project's various reports and proposals are printed on. So far, it's a bit scary (it's an OFFICIAL report!) but stupendously fun and interesting, and should give me good material that I can use in my editorial on the efficiency of environmental assessments and compliance reports. This week, I'll be continuing to work on my EA sections and will also finalize outlines of both a basic history report of environmental policy on the federal and state levels as well as a more in-depth outline of the workings of HEG and the NEPA process. (These should be easier/quicker since the research is already completed.) I will also be getting written responses to a survey I sent out at the end of last Friday to the employees of HEG, which included questions about each employee's specific role in HEG and what they each see as the most gratifying parts of the NEPA process and the most frustrating parts. These answers will be crucial to my final editorial, so I'm feeling rather giddy with anticipation for the responses. Until a healthier time, Sierra