Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
On January 12, 2023, the EPA announced updates to the Safer Chemicals Ingredients List (SCIL), which “is a list of chemical ingredients, arranged by functional-use class, that the Safer Choice Program has evaluated and determined to be safer than traditional chemical ingredients. This list is designed to help manufacturers find safer chemical alternatives that meet […]
Industry will need to stay on its toes to remain in compliance with the shifting and complex reporting requirement for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the regulatory pipeline for 2023, 2024, and beyond. And some states, such as Maine, are bringing rules into effect to ban these chemicals. These requirements are negatively impacting consumer […]
A Manchester, Connecticut, construction firm and a Kansas City, Kansas, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) contractor face six-figure Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties following worker fatalities. OSHA cited U.S. Engineering Services of Kansas City, Kansas, with serious and repeat serious violations, proposing penalties totaling $197,642, the agency announced January 31. On August 24, […]
Following up on a 2021 request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has filed suit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for failing to release public records about the agency’s spending on energy-related projects and assistance to help communities rebuild […]
On January 26, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued new enforcement guidance, allowing “instance-by-instance” citations for “high-gravity” serious violations of several agency standards. Regional administrators and area office directors will have the authority to issue instance-by-instance citations for violations of fall protection, lockout/tagout, machine guarding, permit-required confined space, respiratory protection, and trenching standards, […]
An Alabama plastics manufacturing company has pleaded guilty in federal court to violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety requirements that led to a worker’s death, the agency announced January 24. ABC Polymer Industries LLC agreed to pay $242,928 in restitution, plus funeral expenses, to the worker’s estate. The company also must pay […]
Discount retailer Dollar General is facing $395,717 in new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for five repeat workplace safety violations, the agency announced January 23. In an inspection of a West Lafayette, Ohio, location, federal investigators found workers exposed to blocked emergency exits and electrical panels and boxes of merchandise stacked at unsafe […]
Six safety lapses led to an April 2018 refinery explosion and fire at the Husky Superior Refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, that injured 36 workers, caused roughly $550 million in damage to the facility, and released 39,000 pounds of flammable hydrocarbon vapor into the air, according to a final report released December 29 by the U.S. […]
The EPA announced a proposal to strengthen the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate pollution (PM-2.5) on January 6, 2023. The pre-publication version of the proposed rule calls for a revision to the primary annual PM-2.5 standard by lowering the level from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to a level between 9 […]
On January 9, 2023, the EPA announced it entered into an agreement with TC Oil Pipeline Operations Inc., whose parent company is TC Energy, to clean up the oil discharge that occurred December 7, 2022, in Washington County, Kansas, resulting from a rupture in a section of the Keystone Pipeline. The EPA reports an estimated […]