Join us for an Iowa Strategic Goals Program series of weekly webinars on June 11, 18 & 25, 2020!

Without question, COVID-19 is having an impact on every single one of us and life is going to look different on the other side. One very sad reality that has hit the IWRC during this pandemic is that we won’t see Abby Palmer around the office anymore. 

Abby has been a student intern with us since her very first semester at UNI, believe it or not, she actually has more seniority than three of our full time staff members. She has become an integral part of our team and the idea of not seeing her around the office when we come back is hard to fathom. 

We are excited to congratulate Big Grove Brewery & Taproom, out of Iowa City, IA, for achieving the Iowa Green Brewery Certification's Platinum award! This month, Big Grove surpassed their gold-level certification by furthering their environmental efforts! The brewery celebrated by hosting an event on March 13, 2020, to officially be awarded the certification by the IGBC program. The day was filled with great beer and great talk of sustainability!

Bring on 2020! As we look back at the last year, one word keeps coming to mind…GROWTH. The IWRC has been and continues to be in growth mode. Our programs are growing, our staff is growing and I couldn’t be more excited. 2020 is going to be an exceptional year for the IWRC!

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has created an online option for businesses to complete air quality construction and operating (Title V) permit applications, called Iowa EASY Air (Environmental Application System). The DNR will notify businesses in December when the system will be available for use. 

We are excited to congratulate Peace Tree Brewing Co., out of Knoxville, IA, on joining the ranks of the Iowa Green Brewery Certification! This month, Peace Tree received a gold-level certification at their Knoxville location for outstanding resource management and energy efficiency.  In addition to their original taproom in Knoxville, Peace Tree also has branches located in Des Moines and Grinnell. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently finalized its standards for managing hazardous waste (HW) pharmaceuticals. The goals of these standards are to create cost-saving, streamlined regulations that better fit the operations of the healthcare sector and maintain protection of human health and the environment. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on Feb. 22, 2019, and will become fully effective in Iowa on Aug. 21, 2019.

On Saturday, June 15th, we were excited to attend and be a sponsor at the Iowa Craft Brew Festival in downtown Des Moines. This year was the Iowa Brewers Guild’s 9th annual festival where craft breweries from all over Iowa got the opportunity to showcase some of their best beers. Over 70 craft breweries and cideries were featured at this year’s festival and around 20 of them had been certified through our Iowa Green Brewery Certification Program.

If your facility or business generates any hazardous waste, it's important to conduct periodic inspections of the storage and storage areas. For Small and Large Quantity Generators of hazardous waste, it’s a regulatory requirement that these inspections be done weekly.  Performing weekly inspections of hazardous waste storage will not only help manage waste streams and minimize the risk of state and federal fines, but it will also help identify any small problems within the storage areas and prevent them from turning into big, costly problems.

Tom Elsbernd and Keith Gerebics were awarded STAR4D Instructors of the Year this past Monday in recognition of their outstanding efforts and continued support for the STAR4Defense Training program at Fort Rucker.