Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has been working to loosen up the Agency’s New Source Review (NSR) process. In the latest action, Pruitt has issued a memo that gives more weight to projected emissions decreases in what is known as Step 1 of the NSR. This policy change will potentially liberate some projects from moving on […]
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to rule on a January 2017 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which upheld EPA’s 2008 Water Transfers Rule ((WTR), June 13, 2008, Federal Register).
Analyses of the 2014 Flint, Michigan, drinking water crisis indicate that the high levels of lead in the public supply could have been prevented if the city had added phosphate corrosion inhibitors to its supply. Adding phosphate to domestic water makes it harder for lead compounds in pipes to dissolve and has been used to […]
The EPA is proposing to deny a June 2016 petition from the state of Connecticut, which asked that the Agency find that emissions from a power plant in Pennsylvania are significantly contributing to nonattainment and interfering with maintenance of the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in Connecticut in violation of the good […]
Operators Now Subject to EPA, Coast Guard, and States On December 18, 2017, a moratorium on Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting requirements for discharges incidental to the normal operation of commercial vessels under 79 feet long expired. (The moratorium did not apply to discharges of ballast water.) This would seem to mean that these vessels—numbering […]
In an action that parallels EPA’s rulemaking to write a new definition of the Clean Water Act (CWA) term waters of the United States (WOTUS), the Agency is soliciting comments on whether pollutant discharges into groundwater that has a hydrologic connection to WOTUS are subject to CWA regulation.
Stating its intention to lower costs and more effectively utilize limited resources, the EPA has proposed a budget for 2019 that would reduce its funding by 23% ($8.7 billion to $6.1 billion) and the number of staff from 15,408 to 12,250. The proposal would eliminate 34 discretionary programs and activities, slashing $598.5 million compared to […]
Taxpayers must compensate for shortfalls In December 2017, the EPA released a final rule stating that the Agency would not follow through on an Obama-era proposal to exercise its authority under Section 108(b) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) to require that the hard-rock mining industry establish and maintain […]
President Donald Trump’s Legislative Outline for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America includes several proposals with substantial environmental features, including expanding the use of federal funds for water infrastructure projects; expanding funding eligibility for revitalization projects under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund); streamlining reforms for federal environmental reviews and permitting; and […]
EPA’s just-released 2016 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) National Analysis paints an ambiguous picture of the electric utility sector. The good news is that all releases from the sector are down compared to numbers in the 2015 analysis. But what is also down is the number of facilities reporting. In the 2015 analysis, 554 facilities sent […]