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In a memo, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has informed his regional administrators that he has directed the Office of Water to begin rulemaking to curtail the Agency’s regulations for implementing Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act. Pruitt states that the proposal should, at a minimum, seek to eliminate the EPA 404(c) authority to prohibit […]
Citing evidence that no level of lead in the blood of children is safe, the EPA has proposed to lower its current dust-lead hazard standards for floors and windowsills. Specifically, the Agency is seeking to lower the current dust-lead hazard standards, which was established in 2001, from 40 micrograms per square foot (µg/ft2) and 250 […]
Section 8(b)(10) of the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) directs the EPA to develop an inventory of mercury supply, use, and trade in the United States and, based on that inventory, recommend actions, including proposed revisions of federal law or regulations, “to achieve further reductions in mercury use.” To create the inventory, the section […]
The EPA has announced the user fees that will be in effect from June 30, 2018 (the launch date of the new e-Manifest system) through September 30, 2019.
Many handlers of hazardous waste manifests have been struggling to get up to speed to be in compliance with the new requirements for e-manifests by its June 30th launch date. This has been especially true for receiving facilities, many of whom have not yet completed the steps necessary to modify their software systems and to […]
In response to a settlement with environmental groups and a court order, the EPA has taken the first step to fulfill its obligation under Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 311(j)(1)(C) to issue regulations regarding discharges of hazardous substances from non-transportation-related onshore facilities. Specifically, the EPA is proposing to take no action, that is, promulgate no […]
Be prepared for the Cal/OSHA standards board’s July 1, 2018 regulation requiring hotels, lodging establishments, resorts, and bed-and-breakfast inns to implement new protection from musculoskeletal injury for all employees performing housekeeping tasks.
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) recently invited public comment on potential revisions to regulations implementing the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (June 20, 2018, Federal Register (FR)).
As part of its efforts to improve implementation of the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) has updated its guidance document, Points to Consider When Preparing TSCA New Chemical Notifications. The EPA notes that it has incorporated comments from a December 2017 public meeting and feedback received […]
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied an industry petition that sought to compel the EPA to issue nationally uniform regulations to resolve differences created by inconsistent decisions by regional federal circuit courts. Generally, the panel found that the Clean Air Act (CAA) section the petitioners relied on to […]