Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The next several months should be eventful in the promulgation of both international and U.S. standards for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from commercial aircraft. In February 2016, the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP), a body of 170 international experts, convened by the United Nations’ (U.N.) International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), unanimously recommended new CO2 […]
Amendments issued following a March 2014 judicial settlement addressing EPA’s construction and demolition (C&D) rule have been included in the Agency’s draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for stormwater discharges from construction activities (CGP). General permits under the Clean Water Act (CWA) are typically issued for 5 years; the current CGP is […]
If you are planning a small construction project now or in the future, did you know that you may qualify for a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or your state permitting authority? Projects that qualify for the waiver are exempt from the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) […]
Applying what it calls the “latest scientific information,” the EPA has updated its recommended aquatic life water quality criteria for cadmium. This is the fifth time—and the first time since 2001—that the Agency has changed the recommended criteria for cadmium since they were first issued 1980. There are four recommended criteria—two each (acute and chronic) […]
Four of the wealthiest and most influential tech companies in the world have jointly submitted an amicus brief supporting the EPA in the Agency’s defense in June 2016 of its Clean Power Plan (CPP) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Consistent with President Obama’s June 2013 Climate Action Plan, the EPA is using its Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) to propose restrictions on the end uses of certain hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), approve new alternatives to substances with high global warming potential (GWP), and change the status of other substances already on the SNAP list.
As part of their Clean Air Act (CAA) responsibilities to implement the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), state and local air agencies must monitor for the presence of NAAQS pollutants (formally, criteria air pollutants) in the ambient air and report the monitored data to the EPA. The relevant regulations at 40 CFR Part 58 […]
Taking enforcement action against violating small community water systems (SCWSs) can be a complete waste of time, which makes it clear that other approaches are needed to bring the thousands of such systems into compliance with their Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) obligations.
Several EPA offices involved in reviewing toxic chemicals for commercial use have been moving to approve alternatives to using live animals—called in vivo testing—as part of their regulatory testing requirements. In the latest development, the Agency’s Office of Pesticide Program (OPP) has issued a document describing a process for evaluating and implementing alternative approaches to […]
A spill or release of a chemical just occurred at your facility. What do you do? Does it need to be reported? What information needs to be reported, to whom, and how soon?