This month, Arizona’s Department of Environmental Quality is rolling out an expanded version of an online map that shows permits in process throughout the state.
“This really was a reaction to comments that I heard from community members who were concerned that in order for them to know what was happening with the facility in their community,” said Deputy Director Karen Peters, “they had to do a public records request. And I thought, well, that's just not appropriate. They ought to be able to just look online.”
She said the tool is updated daily and accessible on mobile devices.
“The data is available, it's accurate, it's timely and we'll be able to see how people are using it,” Peters said. “I'm hopeful that it'll reflect in the input that we get regarding these permits and maybe fewer public records requests.”
While an online map of water permits has been available, Peters said they’ve expanded to include data on air quality and waste programs.
“Any member of the community can understand what's happening down the street or, you know, 5 miles away,” she said, adding that making the map user-friendly and available on mobile devices were also top priorities.
-
A nonprofit environmental conservation group in southern Arizona has had to stop some of its work because it lost more than a million federal dollars. -
While they’re not mining yet, Resolution Copper is slowly digging its way toward the lucrative ore. In fact, the site is already home to the deepest single-lift mine shaft in North America, and KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio goes thousands of feet underground to see it for himself. -
Discovered in Arizona’s Copper Triangle, Oak Flat is home to one of the richest copper deposits in the world. But the battle to mine there — about 60 miles east of Phoenix — has been bogged down by decades of politics. -
Raúl Grijalva chaired the House Natural Resources Committee and championed preservation across the Southwest. Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, worked alongside him on those issues throughout his career. -
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Arbor Day Foundation award the designation to cities that have actively worked toward improving their tree programs.
