Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
With an estimated 738 facilities, the municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill sector is one of the largest industry sectors subject to the Clean air Act’s (CAA) National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP).
In its FY 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, the EPA listed the cleanup of contaminated properties and their return to productive economic and community use as one of its top three priorities. Among its goals, the Agency stated that it wants to make 255 additional Superfund sites and 3,420 additional brownfield sites ready for anticipated use by […]
Environmental protection has not proven to be a significant issue as the world grapples with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. One unexpected positive development is an improvement in air quality. At some point in the future, agencies, advocacy groups, and industrial organizations will likely make some use of data from satellite imagery showing less air pollution […]
As federal health agencies pour all available resources into halting the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the EPA has stepped forward with a second proposal governing the Agency’s use of science at the Agency. The action supplements the EPA’s April 2018 proposal, Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science. That proposal would ensure that when developing […]
Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the EPA is required to conduct biological evaluations (BEs) of pesticides to determine their effects on endangered and threatened species (listed species) and their critical habitats. The Agency has now issued a nonregulatory method for conducting BEs.
More than 2 years after China instituted its National Sword policy, which banned the import of most forms of plastic waste for recycling, the United States has yet to implement environmentally friendly approaches to managing these materials.
Attempts by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin to invalidate a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 (dredge and fill) permit the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) granted Aquila Resources Inc. for a mining project on a portion of the Menominee River were unsuccessful in both a federal district court and the U.S. Court […]
It is a common (and somewhat unfounded) stereotype that industry abhors regulation, and words like “burdensome” and “unreasonable” frequently come into play in discussions of labor and environmental law. In the last several months, however, this impression has been challenged by big industry players that have come out in support of various environmental regulations—and, in […]
Concerns about instructions in a draft memorandum from EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler about which proposed documents the Agency’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) reviews were raised in a letter Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-D) sent to Wheeler. According to Johnson, the draft memo directed that the chair of the SAB, “in consultation with EPA,” would determine […]
In a comment letter, Illinois Attorney General (AG) Kwame Raoul and 10 other state AGs have urged the U.S. EPA to propose regulatory revisions that will adequately protect the public and the environment from the risks posed by emissions of ethylene oxide (EtO) from commercial sterilization and fumigation operations. High on the list of requested […]