Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
There is strong support in the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) industry for a bill in the U.S. Congress that would significantly reduce the nation’s use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), one of the world’s most common refrigerants and a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG).
Certain employers are required to electronically submit data from injury and illness records to OSHA each year, and this year’s deadline is approaching (March 2). This infographic provides an overview of the requirements and answers to some frequently asked questions about electronic recordkeeping.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA) includes sections to specifically fund research to improve the scientific understanding of the health risks posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and to use existing statutory authorities to require regulated sectors to add information to that understanding. Among the new and major legal provisions […]
The ethanol industry, as well as the agricultural sectors that provide the raw materials for the production of ethanol, welcomed an opinion by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit that vacated decisions by the EPA to extend exemptions to renewable fuel obligations to three small refineries. The panel’s basic […]
In their just-released final rule, the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers (EPA/Corps) provide a definition of the Clean Water Act (CWA) term Waters of the United States (WOTUS) that, the agencies say, is based in the commerce clause of the Constitution.
In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court of Washington State upheld a ruling by a lower court that found that the state’s Department of Ecology (Ecology) exceeded its statutory authority by promulgating a regulation that imposed greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards on indirect emitters of those gases. According to the majority, the “plain language” of […]
By a vote of 247 to 159, the House passed the PFAS Action Act of 2019 (H.R. 535). The bill would amend five environmental statutes—the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund), Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Clean Air Act (CAA), and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)—by […]
In a live statement and backed by a coterie of industry leaders and agency heads, President Donald Trump unveiled the administration’s proposal to amend regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), commonly referred to as the NEPA process. Given that the announced action is a proposal and not a final rule and also […]
The EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently reported that the Agency failed to comply with two Clinton-era Executive Orders (EOs) when former Administrator Scott Pruitt decided to rush into publication the proposed repeal of an Obama-era rule intended to reduce air pollution generated by glider vehicles.
As of January 1, 2020, certain industrial facilities in California must provide the cities or counties in which they are located with proof that they are enrolled in the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) governing stormwater discharges before they can obtain or renew a business license. The cities/counties must then confirm on the business […]