During the agency’s 11th annual Environmental Awards Ceremony in San Francisco, U.S. EPA acting Regional Administrator Laura Yoshii recognized Grades of Green, a Southern California organization in recognition of their efforts to protect and preserve the environment in 2008. “It is a great pleasure and honor that we can recognize the innovative and important environmental work achieved by this year’s impressive group of organizations and individuals, and the example they set for all of us to follow,” Yoshii said. “This year’s winners and nominees have made superb efforts to protect and preserve our air, water and land, and increased awareness of the environmental challenges we all face.”