Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Congressional authorization and funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program is once again nearing expiration. That means there will almost certainly be a new authorizing law carrying a fresh set of program amendments. While there is no meaningful opposition to the CFATS as a whole, there is also […]
Green chemistry and its close relative, sustainable chemistry, are concepts and practices that would seem to have no detractors, not within industry, not among environmental and public health groups, and not throughout the federal and state governments. And yet, while no one appears to publicly oppose these types of chemistry, their integration into the manufacturing […]
Since January 2011, the Preparedness Unit in the EPA’s Region 8 Office has published a quarterly newsletter that provides the public with “information on any and all aspects of preparedness.” One general goal of the newsletter is to educate the public and industry about federal programs specifically intended to prevent releases of hazardous substances that […]
Effective August 15, 2019, the EPA will no longer notify companies that they have not met the requirements to substantiate claims that information about their chemicals provided to that Agency is entitled to confidentiality, and they have 30 days to submit complete substantiations.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) released new guidance for determining the level of hazards for substances with no occupational exposure limit (OEL) established by a government agency, by a standard-setting body, or in peer-reviewed literature.
A “chain of failures” in emergency response and process safety management led to the November 2014 deaths of four workers following a methyl mercaptan release at the DuPont Plant in La Porte, Texas, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).
Chemical exposure is a big safety and environmental hazard. But for a lot of facilities, the only chemicals they regularly use are cleaning supplies. However, only some employees (such as janitorial or facilities management staff) may be using stronger solvents, while other materials are being used by all employees throughout the entire workforce. So, who […]
As summer nears, environmental compliance efforts turn toward Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reports, which are due July 1. So far in 2019, the EPA has issued multiple five-digit fines to companies that submitted TRI reports but overlooked a chemical that should have been reported but wasn’t.
In its latest action to implement the 2016 amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the EPA has proposed regulations under which it will review claims by businesses that information about chemical substances on the confidential portion of the TSCA Inventory must be protected from disclosure to the public.
According to a rare Management Alert from the EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), information reported to the Agency on chemicals released to the environment by publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) conflicted with information the OIG obtained separately from the Agency.