ENVIRONMENT, REGULATIONS, AND TRANSPARENCY
A healthy environment is good for everyone.      Individual voluntary efforts are very important but often not enough. Conditions affecting environment do not recognize fences and manmade boundaries. Government regulation is needed to promote actions that will result in the healthy environment we all value.
To find out more about environmental rules and regulations, go to the Environmental Protection Agency website (EPA) www.epa.gov/lawsregs. At this site, you can link to information about Title 40, the section of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that deals with the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment. The links will direct you to the e-CFR. The e-CFR is not an official edition of the CFR, which is printed annually by the Government Printing Office (GPO) – www.gpo.gov.  However, GPO updates the e-CFR daily, making it a more current, if unofficial, version.
The EPA website explains how you can get involved:
Comment: go to www.regulations.gov that serves as a clearinghouse for materials related to EPA rulemakings and is EPA’s official on-line comment system; or go to the Federal Register site, www.gpoaccess.gov, where Proposed regulations typically contain instructions about how to submit comments to EPA. Look for a section called “Adresses” in a rule’s preamble.
Comply: EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) explains how businesses, federal facilities, local governments, and tribes comply with EPA rules; how EPA monitors compliance; and EPA’s incentives to encourage compliance.
Get updates on regulations: You can view monthly updates to priority rulemakings via the Rulemaking Gateway, http://yosemite.epa.gov/opei/RuleGate.nsf/;  receive email notifications from Regulations.gov when EPA adds a document to a rule’s docket; or get related RSS feeds.
You can also search state specific regulations, read EPA agendas and plans, and examine information related to and comments about regulations. Both hard copy and electronic materials are available in the docket centers’ public reading room. You may also submit comments to the docket centers, in addition to submitting them via Regulations.gov.
Details about what’s being done nationwide, statewide, and locally on behalf of our environment are available at USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/; Illinois NRCS, www.il.nrcs.usda.gov/; Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts, www.aiswcd.org; and Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District, www.stephensonswcd.org.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources and many nonprofit environmental groups have websites that highlight all the efforts related to preserving a healthy environment. You can find their presence on social networks as well.
The Internet has made it possible for every citizen to become informed about the issues that face environmental health. The rules and regulations of our government related to our environment are definitely “transparent” with a little effort on our part. Spending some time searching environmental information from some well-researched sources will leave you better informed about what you can do.

Della Moen, Earth Team Volunteer, NRCS/Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District, an equal opportunity provider and employer, 03/03/10 (for publication on 03/06/10 in the Journal-Standard, Freeport, Illinois) Della can be reached at info@stephensonswcd.org