Tag: EPA enforcement

EHSDA Song of the Day: Fall On Me

Environmental pollution is a problem that has been around for centuries. The Environmental Protection Agency has its hands full focusing on the release of toxic chemicals and other pollutants. This week’s EHSDA Song of the Week, R.E.M.’s “Fall On Me,” came out in 1986 and while its initial focus was on acid rain, its ecological […]

EPA Takes First CWA Enforcement Action Over PFAS

The EPA has ordered chemical company Chemours to take corrective measures to address pollution from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in stormwater and effluent discharges from the Washington Works facility near Parkersburg, West Virginia. The order on consent also directs Chemours to characterize the extent of PFAS contamination from discharges. This action marks the first […]

EPA Reports Rising Compliance Inspections

Last month, the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) announced fiscal year (FY) 2022 enforcement and compliance accomplishments, which included an increase in inspections of more than 78% over FY 2021, particularly in overburdened environmental justice communities. “Taken together, OECA’s criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement cases reduced, treated or eliminated pollutants by 95 […]

Enforcement Focus On RMP

On August 22, 2022, the EPA announced Smith Frozen Foods Inc. of Weston, Oregon, agreed to pay a $100,000 fine for Clean Air Act (CAA) violations. During a 2016 inspection, the EPA found the company failed to maintain and implement its required Risk Management Plan (RMP) when using and storing anhydrous ammonia, which is used […]

Avoiding Lead Paint Renovation Fines

The EPA is serious about compliance, especially when it comes to home renovations containing lead-based paint. “Reducing childhood lead exposure and the associated health impacts is a top priority for EPA,” states an EPA news release. “That’s why EPA inspectors will be working actively in overburdened communities … to encourage greater compliance with the federal […]

EPA website

EPA Announces Annual Increases for Civil Penalties

Each year, the EPA publishes annual inflationary increases to the fine amounts for civil penalties assessed under its authority. Since 1996, federal agencies have been required to issue regulations adjusting for inflation the statutory civil monetary penalties that can be imposed under the laws administered by that agency. Adjustments to the penalty amounts are regulated […]

EPA Publishes Proposed Amendments to Aerosol Coatings Rule

On September 17, 2021, the EPA proposed amendments to the National Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Emission Standards for Aerosol Coatings, which establish reactivity-based emissions standards for the aerosol coatings category under the Clean Air Act (CAA). “In this action, the EPA is proposing to update coating category product-weighted reactivity limits for aerosol coatings categories; add […]

EPA on-site inspection

More Allegations That EPA Scientists Are Pressured To Alter Reports

Whistleblowers responsible for completing chemical risk assessments have come forward with allegations that their reports have been and continue to be “improperly altered to completely eliminate or minimize risk calculations,” according to a complaint filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) on behalf of four scientists who work in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety […]

Colorado Whistleblower Complaint Launches Air Permitting Investigation

On July 1, 2021, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced that attorneys at Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP have been appointed as special assistant attorneys general to conduct an independent investigation into “allegations regarding alleged improper non-enforcement of air quality standards as alleged by certain Air Pollution Control Division staff at the Colorado Department of […]

Navajo Nation Sees Relief in Lawsuit Over Navigable Waters Definition

New Mexico is known as the “Land of Enchantment,” but it is also a state without a lot of bodies of water. When the Trump administration changed the “navigable waters” definition to include only waters that flowed year-round, both New Mexico and Arizona were particularly hard hit, as the majority of their waterways don’t have […]