Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Both the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the EPA have recently issued proposed rules aimed at reduced methane emissions from both new and existing oil and gas production sources. BLM The BLM’s proposed rule aimed at curbing flared, vented, or leaked methane waste on federal and tribal lands is similar to a 2016 Obama […]
A state appeals court has ruled that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) must provide documents utilized to revise its ethylene oxide (EtO) risk assessment to the Sierra Club. Background EtO is a flammable gas used to sterilize medial equipment and, when mixed with other chemicals, as a building block to make dish soap, […]
More than 130 air monitoring projects in 37 states will receive $53.4 million in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Of the funding, $20 million is provided by the ARP, with the rest coming from the IRA. The additional funding from the IRA allowed the EPA to deploy, […]
The EPA finalized its rule adding 12 chemicals to the list of chemicals subject to Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting, which provides important information about how these chemicals are being managed by facilities in a given community. “Available data show these chemicals have moderately high to high human health toxicity and/or are highly toxic to […]
The EPA recently announced major improvements in Clean Water Act (CWA) permit compliance over the last five years. In 2018, the Agency and 47 states agreed to work collaboratively toward achieving the target goal of reducing significant noncompliance among facilities permitted under the CWA by 50% over five years. The EPA announcement celebrates the achievement […]
Two of the nation’s largest professional safety organizations—the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) and the National Safety Council (NSC)—reacted to a December 16 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that fatal workplace injuries increased in 2021. There were 5,190 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2021—an 8.9% increase from 4,764 […]
On December 16, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it issued citations to Amazon for 14 recordkeeping violations at six warehouse facilities in five states for failing to properly record work-related injuries and illnesses. Investigations are ongoing, according to OSHA. The agency received referrals from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District […]
On December 15, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board adopted nonemergency COVID-19 prevention regulations. The state’s COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (ETSs) remain in effect while the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) reviews the nonemergency regulations. The OAL has 30 days to conduct its review, but once approved, the nonemergency rules remain in […]
Environment, health, and safety (EHS) software and mobile applications can enhance employers’ safety operations to prevent serious injuries and fatalities on the job, according to a new white paper released by the National Safety Council’s (NSC) Work to Zero initiative. The new report, “Managing Risks with EHS Software and Mobile Applications,” builds on the initiative’s […]
The Department of Defense (DoD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently proposed a rule to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a requirement to ensure certain federal contractors disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate-related financial risk and set science-based targets to reduce their […]