Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
On April 7, 2021, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Environmental Health filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the EPA due to missed deadlines in reviewing nonattainment state implementation plans (SIPs) in California and Chicago. The suit names Michael […]
The EPA recently released its annual air quality report, which concluded that air quality nationwide continues to improve. Our nation’s air quality is 77% cleaner today than it was in 1970, according to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
In a petition filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 19, 2020, 23 advocacy groups represented by Earthjustice sued the EPA and asked the court to overturn the current administration’s updated benefit-cost analysis (BCA) for limits on coal-fired power plants’ mercury emissions. The existing Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) regulations took […]
In response to public requests, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is extending the comment period on its draft National Environmental Policy Act Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Comments on the draft will now be accepted by the CEQ until August 26, 2019.
Industry struck out swinging on all five parts of its petitions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to invalidate requirements in the EPA’s National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Brick and Structural Clay Products Manufacturing; and the NESHAP for Clay Ceramics Manufacturing (October 26, 2015, Federal Register (FR)). […]
Are you close? You must have more than a threshold amount of a listed substance in process at your facility for the Risk Management Program requirements of the Clean Air Act Section 112(r) to apply. If your facility’s source is close to the threshold for a particular substance, you may be able to limit the […]
It’s hard to swallow a huge fine for what might have happened. But, as part of its efforts to comply with the president’s EO to improve safety and security at chemical facilities, the EPA is hunting down companies that are required to develop RMPs but have not even though there has not been a release […]
A refrigerant formulator was recently fined $300,000 by the EPA and the Department of Justice for violations of SNAP regulations. First, let’s look at what the pertinent regulations say, then at what the company allegedly did, and finally what the fix will be. Note: Under SNAP, a “producer” is any person who manufactures, formulates, or […]
Many refrigerants have been determined to be ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and have been targeted for phaseout under the Montreal Protocol. Chemicals used in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning industrial sector is one group for which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reviewed and identified substitutes under the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) Significant New Alternatives Policy […]
Acronyms and Definitions Before we list the tips, let’s take a minute to define some asbestos terms that are applicable in demolition/renovation projects. ACM—asbestos-containing material, i.e., any material that contains more than 1% asbestos. Sometimes it is best to leave ACM in place. ACWM—asbestos-containing waste material, i.e., waste that contains commercial asbestos and is generated […]