Outdated gas tanks face D-day ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday will begin enforcing nationwide guidelines for upgrading underground storage tanks that are old and sometimes leaky. About 20,000 stations are expected to miss the 12:01 a.m. ET Wednesday deadline and must shut down their pumps, said Andrew Tschampa, chief of the underground storage tank program in the EPA's regional office in Chicago. The EPA estimates slightly more than 1 million gas station tanks are active. The regulations affect all businesses and institutions with underground fuel tanks, and are aimed at preventing spills and leaks that can poison groundwater. Those who don't upgrade their tanks have three options: Stop selling gas, face fines of up to $11,000 a day or close their tanks until the work is completed Forest Services seek logging reform WASHINGTON (AP) - The Forest Service wants to change the 90-year-old method for handing out millions of dollars in logging proceeds to rural counties - and that has some county officials worried. The annual payments, nearly $220 million to 41 states this year, are the counties' 25% share of federal revenue from national forests. Most of the money comes from logging, although some comes from recreation and other fees. The government doles out the checks to help pay for roads and schools near national forests, which cannot be taxed by local governments. The Forest Service wants to freeze the payments and no longer link them to the number of logs it sells. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557716551-8bc> *** Sidebar: Estimated Forest Service payments, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557719322-0d8>
