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EPA Levies Second Largest Civil Penalty for Alleged CWA Violations In a joint enforcement action announced in September 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) settled with a West Virginia-based oil and natural gas company for multiple violations of the CWA. […]
EPA’s Corrective Actions to Tighten Control of Unmonitored Chemical Releases In September 2014, the OIG released its report titled, More Action Is Needed to Protect Water Resources From Unmonitored Hazardous Chemicals, which provided a look at how, despite current regulations, hazardous chemicals continue to be discharged from publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). The OIG investigations […]
10 Things to Know about the Proposed Dental Amalgam Rule—Part 2 6. New Category—Dental Industrial Users. When the EPA promulgates categorical industrial pretreatment standards, the affected dischargers are called, in general, “Categorical Industrial Users (CIUs).” For the proposed new rule, the EPA is establishing a new CIU tailored to the dental offices covered, which is […]
10 Things to Know about the Proposed Dental Amalgam Rule—Part 1 1. The problem with amalgam discharges. Mercury is a toxic metal that can have serious neurological and developmental effects on animals and humans. Elemental mercury in dental amalgam is highly concentrated and when discharged to a POTW is generally separated with about 10 percent […]
GreenChill Partnership Achievements—Industry Steps Up The GreenChill Partnership provides food retailers, as well as advanced refrigeration system manufacturers and retrofit chemical and secondary fluid manufacturers, with assistance with preventing costly refrigerant leaks and emissions and meeting strict performance criteria under the GreenChill Store Certification Program. During the first year in the program, Partners average an […]
Value-Added Benefits from Biogas As discussed yesterday, a fully developed biogas industry could provide both renewable energy and reduced emissions of the GHG methane, two valuable assets for combating climate change. But the recent report, Biogas Opportunities Roadmap, also makes the case for biogas as an economic driver that can generate capital investments, jobs, and […]
U.S. Biogas Energy Potential The process of creating energy through anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic materials (aka “biogas”) is not a new concept, but in light of climate change, it may be one with a lot of unrealized potential for both renewable energy and reducing emissions of the potent GHG methane. In the report titled […]
Four RMP Documentation Violations to Avoid 1) Failure to include all the required documentation for the alternative release scenarios for the chemical pipe leak and natural gasoline vapor cloud fire as required by 40 CFR 68.39(b). 40 CFR 68.39(b) establishes the offsite consequences analysis documentation requirements for alternative release scenarios that include a description of […]
Recent RMP Settlements Underscore Compliance Pitfalls On September 24 and 29, 2014 the EPA announced settlements with three different companies in two states for violations of to RMP regulations. The first two settlements were at facilities in Idaho, one a corn-based ethanol production facility in Burley and the other a manufacturer of agricultural chemicals in […]
Curbing GHGs with Cap–and–Trade —How It’s Working The RGGI held its first CO2 allowance auction on September 25, 2008 and will hold its 26th auction on December 3, 2014. Along the way, the RGGI has evolved and in 2013, made changes to its Model Rule to further reduce CO2 emissions and help to ensure the […]