Category: Regulatory Developments

EPA’s eDisclosure Portal has Launched!

Effective December 9, 2015, the EPA launched a new tool that allows regulated entities to electronically report self-discovered violations. The tool, called eDisclosure, will function under the Agency’s two self-policing incentive policies—the 2000 Incentives for Self-Policing Discovery, Disclosure, Correction and Prevention of Violations and the 2000 Small Business Compliance Policy.

Changes Issued to Simplify Exceptional Events Rule

EPA’s 2007 Exceptional Events Rule (EER) was intended to give state and local agencies an avenue to remove data about certain types of monitored air pollution from area attainment/nonattainment designations under the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). However, the EER required states to support their applications for data exclusion with analyses that were so […]

House Passes Joint Resolution to Block CPP

The U.S. House welcomed President Obama’s return from the Paris climate change conference by passing a joint resolution to block the EPA from implementing its Clean Power Plan (CPP) to regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants.

Compliance with the Final Hazmat Rule is January 1, 2016 – Or is It?

By Elizabeth Dickinson, JD The “Hazardous Materials: Harmonization with International Standards (RRR)” final rule was issued on January 8, 2015. Voluntary compliance with the new rule began January 1, 2015, with mandatory compliance delayed until January 1, 2016, unless otherwise specified (as it is for numerous provisions).

Final Amendments for Boiler MACT

The EPA’s January 2013 amendments to its maximum achievable control technology standards for industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and process heaters (Boiler MACT) was a highly consequential action that prompted both industry and environmental groups to submit 13 petitions asking the Agency to reconsider certain provisions. In a final rule, the Agency has responded to […]

Widely Used Pesticide… Canceled!

Following through on a court ruling, the EPA has issued a final cancellation order for sulfoxaflor, a widely used pesticide active ingredient manufactured by Dow AgroSciences and registered by the EPA in May 2013.

Fall 2015 Regulatory Agenda: OSHA Prioritizes Silica, Recordkeeping Updates

OSHA’s recently released fall 2015 regulatory agenda outlines the status of the agency’s currently pending prerules, proposed rules, and final rules. While most of the items on the fall 2015 list are holdovers from previous regulatory agendas, the Department of Labor (DOL) identified two major rulemaking efforts, both in the final rule stage, as top […]

Interstate Pollution FIP Proposed

The EPA has released a preproposal for a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) to carry out its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) in states that do not have approved state implementation plans (SIP) showing how they will comply with the CSAPR.

Emergency Generator Amendments Proposed

Explaining that owners of regulated stationary emergency generators supplying lifesaving power in emergency situations need more flexibility to bypass emissions controls, the EPA is proposing to allow manufacturers to design the engines in these generators with the means to allow operators to override emissions-control inducements. The Agency is also proposing to redefine remote areas of […]

WOTUS, WOTUS Everywhere, and Not a Drop in the Senate!

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 […]