Tag: EPA

When to Update Your SWPPP

Like many other EHS plans, the SWPPP is a living document that should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis. Whenever you find the need to change a procedure that is described in your SWPPP or to modify a control measure described in the plan, you must update the SWPPP to reflect those changes. […]

Putting Together a Good Stormwater Pollution Prevention Team

This team is responsible for assisting the facility manager in developing the facility’s SWPPP as well as implementing and maintaining stormwater control measures. The team will be taking corrective action where necessary to address permit violations or to improve the performance of control measures, and modifying the SWPPP to reflect changes made to the control […]

What to Do with Old Cell Phones

Got a new iPhone or Blackberry for Christmas and wondering what to do with your old model? Don’t stick it in a drawer, and definitely don’t throw it in the trash. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to recycle your old cell phone. Cell phones and PDAs are made of precious metals, copper, […]

Want More US Jobs? Recycle.

Recycling = US Jobs More than 56,000 recycling and reuse establishments in the United States employ approximately 1.1 million people, and generate an annual payroll of $37 billion, and gross $236 billion in annual revenues. The number of workers in the recycling industry is comparable to the automobile and truck manufacturing industry and is significantly […]

MATS Rule Overview

In this Environmental Daily Advisor video, Advisor editor Kelly Lagana talks with Tim Fagan about EPA’s Final Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for Power Plants. Tim Fagan is the editor for air topics for BLR’s environmental compliance content.

Most Misunderstood Regs: The Mercury ‘Beyond-the-Floor’ Standard

Under the CAA’s maximum achievable control technology (MACT) approach to reducing emissions of air toxics, the MACT floor must be at least as stringent as the average emission limitation achieved by the best performing 12 percent of existing sources in the category (for which EPA has emissions information) or the best performing 5 sources for […]

What to Expect from Multimedia Inspections

What is a multimedia inspection? In multimedia inspections, the regulatory authority evaluates a facility’s overall compliance with environmental control or safety programs, rather than assess facility compliance on a media-specific basis. Multimedia inspections may also address environmental or safety performance issues, such as pollution prevention, that offer safety or environmental benefits beyond what is required […]

EPA Inspection Cheat Sheet

Know the Answers Typically, an inspector will assess the effectiveness of your facility’s environmental and safety programs by asking environmental, operations, and maintenance staff to answer a series of general questions. Know the answers to these questions to stay ahead of the game. Need an answer fast? Relax. Our editors guarantee a personalized response to […]

What is Antidegradation?

Simply put, antidegradation means that no pollutant discharges or activities will be permitted if these may cause surface waters already meeting water quality standards to drop below those standards. But the various colorations within that general meaning provide states with many opportunities to permit activities that do in fact degrade surface waters. As EPA notes […]

The Cost of Clean Water

EPA estimates that there are 156,000 water systems in the United States, with more than 94 percent serving fewer than 3,300 persons. Obtaining a representative financial picture for such a large universe of regulated entities is a complex undertaking. However, the Agency periodically attempts to do so in its Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and […]