EHS On Tap E151: Complying with the Updated First Aid Kit Standard
On episode 151 of EHS On Tap, Todd VanHouten, Senior Director of Strategy & Innovation at Cintas First Aid & Safety, talks about updated requirements for first aid kits.
Category: Regulatory Developments
Shell Board Members Personally Sued Over Claims of Mismanaged Climate Strategy
ClientEarth filed suit in February 2023 in the Court of England and Wales against the board members of Shell PLC for failing to manage the material and foreseeable risks posed to the company by climate change. The lawsuit, the first known attempt to hold board members personally liable, “alleges Shell’s 11 directors have breached their […]
Air Products Wins Court Battle to Resume Louisiana Carbon Sequestration Project
A decision reached in a federal court in Air Products v. Livingston Parish is predicted to set precedence across the United States for carbon sequestration projects. In this matter, in 2021, Air Products Blue Energy LLC announced it was building a $4.5 billion clean energy complex that would span several parishes near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. […]
OIG Oversight Plan for Top Management Challenges
The EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued its Fiscal Year 2023 Oversight Plan, which details the projects the OIG intends to conduct through September 2023 and identifies top management challenges faced by both the EPA and the OIG. “Oversight is at the core of the EPA OIG’s mission,” said Inspector General Sean O’Donnell […]
EPA Updates Legal Guidance for Addressing Cumulative Impacts
The EPA recently released the “Cumulative Impacts Addendum to EPA Legal Tools to Advance Environmental Justice (EJ Legal Tools).” It provides a collection of examples of the Agency’s legal authorities to identify and address cumulative impacts through a range of actions, including permitting, regulations, and grants, in order to consider the lived experience of communities […]
OSHA’s Process Safety Standard: Requirements, Enforcement, Future
Improperly handling highly hazardous chemicals can result in chemical accidents, or unexpected releases of explosive, flammable, reactive, or toxic gases and liquids. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) process safety management (PSM) standard sets out industry requirements for preventing or minimizing catastrophic releases of chemicals, and it applies across many industries. Preventing chemical accidents […]
EPA Proposes PFAS SNUR
The EPA has proposed a Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) that would prevent companies from starting or resuming the manufacturing, processing, or use of an estimated 300 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have not been made or used for many years without a complete EPA review and risk determination. In the past, these chemicals, […]
EPA Reinstates Legal Footing for MATS Rule
On February 17, 2023, the EPA reaffirmed the scientific, economic, and legal underpinnings of the 2012 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for power plants, which required significant reductions of mercury, acid gases, and other harmful pollutants. This reinstates an Obama-era legal finding that affirmed the science behind clean air standards, and it reverses a […]
DOL Lists OSHA’s 6 Economically Significant Rulemakings
On February 22, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a list of the department’s economically significant rulemakings, including six at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (88 Fed. Reg. 11252). The six OSHA rulemakings include two in the prerule stage—process safety management (PSM) and prevention of major chemical accidents and prevention of workplace violence […]
New York’s Cumulative Impacts Law
On December 31, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a cumulative impacts bill (S.8830/A.2103D) into law for the state, which amends the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) to require the consideration of both long- and short-term effects of any proposed action “on disadvantaged communities, including whether the action may cause or increase a […]