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Public comment on the EPA’s proposed Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule closed October 30, 2018, and, as expected, the thousands of responses highlighted the radically diverse opinions on coal-fired energy and climate change held by Americans and industry stakeholders. The ACE proposal (August 31, 2018, Federal Register (FR)) comprised revisions of three existing regulations contained […]
The EPA’s implementation of Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I), also known as the Good Neighbor Provision, has been a source of conflict among the Agency, the states, industry stakeholders, and public health and environmental interest groups. That trend is continuing with the Agency’s latest action, a final rule that establishes that 20 eastern states […]
Responding to petitions for review from the National Association of Home Builders and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the EPA is proposing modifications to its 2017 Construction General Permit (CGP). The CGP comprises National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requirements for construction site operators disturbing 1 or more acres of land or less than 1 acre […]
The EPA has proposed a set of amendments to regulations governing the protection of human research subjects. These regulations at 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 26 comprise multiple subparts that can be divided into two groups—Subpart A is the Common Rule federal agencies have adopted to ensure the protection of human subjects involved […]
OSHA’s proposed amendments to its 2017 revised standard to protect workers in general industry exposed to beryllium would not amend the two central parts of that rule—a new permissible exposure limit (PEL) for beryllium of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) of air averaged over 8 hours and a new short-term exposure limit for beryllium […]
Signed by the EPA Administrator on December 11, 2018, EPA announced on December 13 that it is issuing the long-awaited final rule to manage hazardous waste pharmaceuticals generated by healthcare facilities (including hospitals, clinics, and retail stores with pharmacies) and reverse distributors.
With the release of their proposed redefinition of the Clean Water Act (CWA) term waters of the United States (WOTUS), the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are, technically at least, midway in their journey toward replacing the Obama administration’s 2015 WOTUS definition. The prepublication version of the proposal is available here.
OSHA has announced a proposed rule to revise the beryllium standard for general industry. According to the agency, the proposed changes are designed to clarify the standard and to simplify or improve compliance with the standard. The proposal is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on December 11.
After grumbling that it intended to resist implementing the revised National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone it issued in 2015, in August 2018, the EPA informed a federal court that it had decided to uphold and defend the NAAQS as they had been promulgated. That decision set in motion the Agency’s responsibility to […]
In mid-November 2018, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) introduced legislation that would set a deadline for OSHA to issue the first national standard requiring that healthcare and social service employers develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce; the legislation has 22 […]