Category: Environmental

Montana Supreme Court Upholds Right to Stable Climate

Last month, the Montana Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding a lower court’s decision that the Montana State Constitution provides a “fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment [that] includes climate as part of the environmental life support system.” “The 70-page decision, authored by Chief Justice Mike McGrath, comes 16 months after Lewis […]

Back to Basics: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine how businesses can reduce their carbon footprint. As more businesses get up to speed with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, one of the basic steps involved in working on the […]

Looking Ahead to EHS Enviro, Social, & Governance Week

Join us February 10-14 for a full week of online events and digital resources around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives. Register for events today. Learn how to incorporate ESG into your organization for 2025 and beyond. Monday, February 10 Panel Session | What’s the Future of ESG? Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT Sponsored by: Dakota Software, KPA Moderator: Jay Kumar, Editor-in-Chief, EHS Daily Advisor […]

EPA Finalizes Interim Decision on Worker Protection for Ethylene Oxide Pollution

On January 14, 2025, the EPA announced it released the Interim Decision for Ethylene Oxide (EtO), which is a pesticide used on 50% of all sterilized medical devices in the United States and on approximately 30% of dried herbs and spices. “EtO is known to cause cancer, including lymphocytic leukemia, breast cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and […]

Are California’s Clean Vehicle Waivers in Jeopardy Under the Trump Administration?

In a letter dated January 13, 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) withdrew its request for a Clean Air Act (CAA) waiver for its Advanced Clean Fleet Regulation. The original request sought a waiver to allow the state to enact rules to require all medium- and heavy-duty trucks operating within the Golden State to […]

Outgoing Administration Awards $1.6 Billion in Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants

In sunset actions before leaving office, the Biden administration announced the selection of 105 applications for the Community Change Grants Program, totaling nearly $1.6 billion in awards, to advance local, on-the-ground projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity. Funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Community Change Grants Program […]

Cal/OSHA Updates Fire Cleanup Guidelines

Employers performing cleanup work following the recent Los Angeles and Ventura County fires are subject to California’s workplace safety and health regulations, according to the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). The state workplace safety and health agency recently updated its guidelines for fire cleanup. The safety hazards of fire cleanup include demolition, […]

Examining the Environmental Impacts of the LA Fires

Exacerbated by strong, dry Santa Ana winds; low humidity; dry vegetation; and a long period with scarce rainfall, to date, the recent fires in the Los Angeles area of California have resulted in at least 28 fatalities; consumed more than 40,000 acres; and damaged more than 17,000 structures. Approximately 200,000 people were ordered to evacuate, […]

Cal/OSHA Raises Workplace Safety, Health Penalties

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) raised its maximum penalties for regulatory, general, willful, or repeat safety and health violations, the agency announced January 27. Cal/OSHA is a division of the state’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). The state workplace safety and health agency set the following maximum penalties: The agency is […]

Stormwater discharges, runoff

EPA Issues $50K Fine for NPDES Construction Permit Violations

In a news release, the EPA recently announced it fined The Cliff Corp. and Grupo Caribe, LLC, a total of $50,000 for violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) relating to their ongoing construction project for an 86-villa development in the Borinquen Ward of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. “The companies failed to comply with a water […]