Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Q: Does the “cleanup” of diesel fuel and hydraulic fluid spills consisting of small amounts (about 500 lbs with about 3 gal of liquid) of soil and absorbents need to be handled as a special or hazardous waste?
The drinking water crisis that began in Flint, Michigan, in 2014 may go down in U.S. environmental history as the classic failure of all levels of government—local, state, and federal—to meet their responsibilities to provide the public with safe drinking water as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the federal Lead and […]
Volkswagen’s (VW) successful efforts to cheat the EPA’s emissions testing of light-duty vehicles with defeat devices became major public news in 2014 and continues to have repercussions today for those offices within the Agency that conduct vehicle testing and oversee compliance.
In a final rule, the EPA has promulgated amendments to its 2015 requirements for the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCRs) generated by electric utilities (April 17, 2015, Federal Register (FR)). The final amendments, which were included in a package of revisions the Agency proposed in early 2018 (March 15, 2018, FR), loosen the stringency […]
On July 9, 2018, his first day as Acting EPA Administrator, Andrew Wheeler denied a petition to reconsider the Agency’s residual risk and technology review (RTR) of its 2001 National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Chemical Recovery Combustion Sources at Kraft, Soda, Sulfite, and Stand-Alone Semi-Chemical Pulp Mills (October 11, 2107, Federal […]
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)). […]
In implementing major policies, it is unlikely that Andrew Wheeler, the EPA’s new acting administrator, will differ in any significant way from Scott Pruitt, the man he’s replacing to direct the activities of the Agency’s 14,000 employees (that number is a 20-year low).
In his 12 years as a justice on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Brett Kavanaugh has been a prolific author, writing nearly 300 opinions, including a handful addressing the legality of major EPA regulations. These writings have generally indicated Kavanaugh’s skepticism about EPA actions that do not strictly adhere to the […]
Brett Kavanaugh has been announced as President Donald Trump’s choice to replace Anthony Kennedy on the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s a brief summary of the judicial nominee’s decisions, rulings, and court opinions on various EHS-related cases in recent years on the D.C. Circuit.
Based on “additional information and analysis,” the EPA is proposing to determine that its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) Update for the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) (October 26, 2016, Federal Register (FR)) satisfies the Agency’s obligation to issue federal implementation plans (FIPs) for 20 states to address air pollution from those […]