Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
With a new proposal, the EPA is seeking to introduce regulatory reforms intended to smooth over conflicts that have developed in the Agency’s relationship with states submitting state implementation plans (SIPs) to improve visibility in federal Class I areas as specified by Section 169A of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Most of the conflicts between […]
The EPA has promulgated a federal implementation plan (FIP) to control emissions of nine pollutants from existing sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs), that is, those for which construction began on or before October 14, 2010. The intent of the FIP is to implement EPA’s March 21, 2011, emissions guidelines (EGs) for the existing SSIs. According to […]
The National Institute for Storage Tank Management (NISTM) recently held the 18th International Aboveground Storage Tank Conference and Trade Show in Orlando, Florida. The 4-day conference provides the regulated community forecasted energy outlooks and a variety of advanced technological solutions and products. Each year the conference attracts tank owners and operators with an EPA-hosted practical […]
Following the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf Coast, the Department of the Interior (DOI) bureau in charge of issuing and enforcing environmental and safety regulations acted relatively quickly to release its drilling safety rule (August 2012).
The air regulatory agencies and industries of many states have been frustrated by EPA’s decision to revise its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone in 2015. One of the major complaints is that the 2008 ozone NAAQS are still in effect. Therefore, states now face the prospect of implementing two different ozone standards […]
The next several months should be eventful in the promulgation of both international and U.S. standards for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from commercial aircraft. In February 2016, the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP), a body of 170 international experts, convened by the United Nations’ (U.N.) International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), unanimously recommended new CO2 […]
Amendments issued following a March 2014 judicial settlement addressing EPA’s construction and demolition (C&D) rule have been included in the Agency’s draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for stormwater discharges from construction activities (CGP). General permits under the Clean Water Act (CWA) are typically issued for 5 years; the current CGP is […]
Following through on an August 2015 proposal, the EPA has issued a Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) for trichloroethylene (TCE) when manufactured or processed for use in a consumer product (exceptions apply).
Applying what it calls the “latest scientific information,” the EPA has updated its recommended aquatic life water quality criteria for cadmium. This is the fifth time—and the first time since 2001—that the Agency has changed the recommended criteria for cadmium since they were first issued 1980. There are four recommended criteria—two each (acute and chronic) […]
In a final action taken largely in response to a petition it received in 2008, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued a final rule establishing a new section (49 CFR 173.157) in its hazardous materials regulations (HMRs) covering reverse logistics highway shipments of certain hazardous materials hazardous materials.