Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a June 14, 2021, report that says continued delays by the EPA on State Implementation Plan (SIP) actions “increase the risk that state or local air agencies are not implementing plans sufficient to achieve or maintain the [National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)]” under the Clean Air […]
In response to the EPA’s request for comments on the Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations and related goals, on June 16, 2021, former EPA Administrator and New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, retired generals Russel Honoré and Randy Manner, former EPA Official Robert Bostock, and former National Security Council and Senate Intelligence Committee staff member […]
In a settlement agreement announced June 7, 2021, the EPA said it will require reporting on asbestos usage under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), according to San Francisco CBS. The legal battle over this decision was preceded by the 2017 EPA refusal to consider a petition to close some asbestos reporting “loopholes.” “The EPA […]
On June 11, 2021, the EPA published advance notice of proposed rulemaking to add 1-bromopropane (1-BP) to the Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP) list. This addition is historical as it will mark the first time an air toxin has been added to the HAP list through a petition and it “is the first time that a […]
In a report dated May 24, 2021, the EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) determined that the Agency “deviated from typical procedures in its 2018 Dicamba pesticide registration decision.” The watchdog report found required internal peer reviews were not conducted for three dicamba pesticide products. “While division-level management review is part of the typical operating […]