Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
After failing the day before to collect the votes needed to approve a bill to force the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers (EPA/Corps) to rewrite their embattled June 29, 2015, Clean Water Rule (also called WOTUS for waters of the United States), Senate opponents of the rule gained the simple majority needed to pass […]
It appears that the U.S. Senate will approve the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S. 697) before the end of 2015. The bill, which has the general support of the chemical industry and some major environmental groups, would amend many provisions of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Under […]
Promptly upon EPA’s publication of its Clean Power Plan (CPP) in the Federal Register, a coalition of 23 states requested that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stay the rule and consider its petition for review. The CPP requires that states take actions to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from existing […]
In the November 5, 2015 Federal Register (FR), the EPA officially extended the public comment period by 30 days for both the proposed hazardous waste pharmaceuticals rule and the proposed hazardous waste generators improvements rule.
In a proposal, the EPA is seeking to extend its Clean Air Act (CAA) Refrigerant Management Program covering air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment to non-ozone-depleting substances (ODS) that are Green House Gasses (GHGs). Specifically, the proposal would add hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a non-ODS that contributes to climate change, to the list of regulated refrigerants. HFC-134a, the most […]
OSHA’s Confined Spaces in Construction standard was published in May 2015 and took effect in August. A temporary enforcement policy was in effect for all covered employers through October 2. OSHA has now extended that temporary enforcement policy through January 8, 2016, but only for employers engaged in residential construction work. Nonresidential construction employers please […]
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (Court) recently issued a stay nationwide against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) from enforcing the revised definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), also known as the Clean Water Rule.
