Category: Regulatory Developments

Plant Biostimulants and FIFRA: Understanding the Regs

When deciding whether to manufacture a new agricultural chemical, companies need to determine if their product will be subject to registration under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Registration is a costly, technically demanding, and prolonged process that, in conjunction with the sales forecast, may result in the firm deciding not to manufacture […]

Coal burning

CCR Amendments Include Waiver of Groundwater Monitoring

In 2018, the EPA issued the first of two sets of amendments to the Agency’s 2015 regulations (April 17, 2015, Federal Register (FR)) governing the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR) generated by electric power plants. Among other things, the 2015 rule directed that the owners and operators (O/O) of CCR units (i.e., landfills and […]

Drinking water

Michigan Will Take Action on MCLs for PFAS

Michigan has joined a growing list of states that have lost patience with the EPA’s progress on setting a limit on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. The EPA’s lack of action, says Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, has compelled her to begin the process of completing a state maximum contaminant level (MCL) for PFAS […]

Drinking water

Some EPA Guidance on Applications for Water Revolving Fund

On October 23, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA). The law established the parameters and federal funding levels for many types of water infrastructure improvement projects, including work by the Army Corps of Engineers to upgrade navigation, expand the ability of FEMA to assist states in flood management, […]

EPA Headquarters

EHS on Tap: E42 A Patchwork of Regulations: Environmental Compliance in the Trump Era

Today’s regulatory landscape can be confusing to say the least for environment, health, and safety professionals, especially when it comes to environmental compliance. The Trump administration has pursued an overall deregulatory agenda at the federal level while emphasizing compliance assistance over enforcement; however, this is at the same time that more stringent regulations are being […]

Building window

‘Imminent and Substantial Harm’ Under RCRA Clarified by Court

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit disagreed with a district court on how much harm two citizens had to have suffered from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on their property to prevail in a citizen suit brought against the party responsible for the contamination.

Pesticide safety

Pesticide Registration Bill Signed into Law

On March 8, 2019, President Donald Trump signed legislation to extend the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA) through September 2023. An amendment to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the original PRIA, or PRIA 1, became law in 2004.

Wood building products

NESHAP: New Wood Coating Tech Isn’t a New ‘Development’

The EPA’s recent final rule based on its residual risk and technology review (RTR) of the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Surface Coating of Wood Building Products (Subpart QQQQ, Part 63) (March 4, 2019, Federal Register (FR)) provides an opportunity to consider how the Agency determines if […]