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Does Your Hazmat Shipment Qualify for a Special Permit?

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recently issued a final rule codifying the provisions of nine special permits for companies that transport certain bulk explosives. What are special permits and what kind of flexibility do they offer for transporting hazardous materials? How is training handled under special permits? How is PHMSA moving toward […]

Power plant

Massachusetts Supreme Court Affirms Power Sector GHG Regs

Shortly after the Trump EPA proposed to replace the Obama EPA’s Clean Power Plan with its more industry-friendly Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, the Massachusetts Supreme Court went in the opposite direction by denying a petition to overturn a state regulation imposing a progressive cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the power sector.

Safe Driving for Older Workers

You know that older workers bring skills, experience, and a respect for the rules to the workplace. But what about the driving? According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), “older drivers are more likely than their younger counterparts to adopt safe behaviors such as wearing a seatbelt and complying with speed […]

Are You Leakproof? 12 Tips for Avoiding Equipment Leak Fines—Part 2

5 Additional Best Practices for LDAR Programs These best management practices for LDAR programs follow up on the 7 we discussed yesterday. Maintain a “Delay of Repair” list. Any component that cannot be repaired during the specified repair interval must be placed on a “Delay of Repair” list to be repaired during the next shutdown […]

Washington State

Washington State’s Indirect Emitter Regulation Found Invalid

In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court of Washington State upheld a ruling by a lower court that found that the state’s Department of Ecology (Ecology) exceeded its statutory authority by promulgating a regulation that imposed greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards on indirect emitters of those gases. According to the majority, the “plain language” of […]

A Closer Look: What Are the Aquatic and Reproductive Toxins Slated for EPA Review?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the first 10 chemicals it will evaluate for potential risks to human health and the environment under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform. The chemicals were drawn from EPA’s 2014 TSCA Work Plan, a list of 90 chemicals selected based on their potential for high hazard and […]

EPA May Take Over Idaho UIC Class II Wells

Oil and gas (O&G) companies may get an opportunity to expand development operations in Idaho if the EPA finalizes a proposal to take over the state’s Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program for Class II wells. Currently, the state and its Department of Water Resources (IDWR) have not received approval from the EPA to issue Class […]

A Green Power Primer

What defines “green power”? According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)  Green Power Partnership, “green power” is electricity that provides the highest environmental benefit and is produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources. Green power suppliers produce no fossil-fuel emissions and must have been built within the past 15 […]

Conclusions from the TSCA Assessment of Dichloromethane

Conclusions from the TSCA Assessment of Dichloromethane According to the EPA, the use of products containing DCM for paint stripping poses some of the highest exposure risks compared to all uses of DCM. The chemical is a volatile organic compound (VOC) and is also considered to have “likely carcinogenic properties.” In 2012, 261.5 million pounds […]