Category: EHS Administration

CCUS Permitting Faces Stiff Challenges

While the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) creates opportunities for investors to fund carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration/storage (CCUS) projects and provides Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Section 45Q tax credits at a rate of $85 per ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) captured and stored, the regulatory red tape for permitting in the sector remains daunting. The […]

FMCSA Seeks Input on Bus, Truck Electronic IDs

On September 23, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) asked for stakeholder input on a plan to require commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to be equipped with electronic identification (ID) technology capable of wirelessly communicating a unique ID number to the agency (87 Federal Register (FR) 58049).   The FMCSA said it is considering regulatory […]

OSHA Cites New Jersey Facility, Seeking $574K Penalty

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced October 6 it cited Pennsylvania-based metal coatings manufacturer Regal Industrial Corp. for 5 willful, 15 serious, and 1 other-than-serious violation at its Millvale, New Jersey, facility, seeking $573,681 in proposed penalties. The willful citations relate to respirator, written hazard communication program, safety data sheet (SDS), fall protection, […]

Judge Nixes Louisiana Formosa Plant’s Air Permits

Baton Rouge District Judge Trudy White recently vacated air permits for the Formosa Petrochemical Corp.’s proposed plastic and petrochemical plant in Louisiana’s infamous industrialized “Cancer Alley,” so named because of the high rates of cancer suffered by the predominantly African-American residents. Environmental and citizen advocacy groups challenged the permit approval decision for Formosa’s controversial Sunshine […]

Funding Announced for 18 State Water Systems

The EPA announced the first 18 states to receive Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding for water infrastructure improvements. The BIL allocates more than $50 billion to the EPA for repairing the nation’s essential water infrastructure, which helps communities access clean, safe, and reliable drinking water; increase resilience; collect and treat wastewater to protect public health; […]

Oregon OSHA Issues $144,000 in Fall Protection Fines

On September 22, the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Oregon OSHA) announced fines totaling more than $144,000 issued to 2 contractors for violations, including repeat offenses, of state fall protection rules at worksites in Salem and Woodburn. The violations put multiple workers at risk of serious injury or death from falls to lower levels, […]

NIOSH Alerts Employers to CDC Monkeypox Guidance

On October 3, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) called employers’ and workers’ attention to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) toolkit for monkeypox vaccination in the institute’s October eNews. Monkeypox is caused by infection with the monkeypox virus, which is part of the same family of viruses as the […]

Petition to Eliminate SSM ‘Loopholes’

On September 13, 2022, a group of environmental and community advocacy organizations petitioned the EPA to close “loopholes” in the regulations implementing the Clean Air Act (CAA) that “allow facilities like oil refineries, chemical plants, and incinerators to disregard emission standards, stop reporting their pollution, and avoid fines or other consequences for excess pollution they […]

EPA Watchdog Investigates Water Crisis in Jackson, Miss.

The EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a press statement on September 13, 2022, announcing it will begin an investigation into the Jackson, Mississippi, severe water crisis. The city’s water system has been plagued with issues for years, having been the subject of many EPA enforcement actions, including emergency orders and notices of noncompliance. […]