Tag: EPA

Can Your Clothes Make You Sick? GAO Looking at Formaldehyde in Clothing

While there are no federal limits on formaldehyde in clothing, a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) may cause Congress and advocacy groups to put pressure on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to revisit the feasibility of imposing such limits. Formaldehyde is a heavily regulated substance and one of a handful of […]

Air Permitting FAQs Roundup

How can I calculate emissions based on an inventory of stationary fuel burning equipment on my campus? Using emissions data provided by the equipment manufacturer or a stack test is the most accurate way to quantify emissions, other than direct measurement. However, in most cases, this information is not available or does not exist. In […]

Green Buildings for Better IAQ

However, he explains that energy efficiency is not the only reason. “Roughly a third of all energy use is associated with buildings, so you’ve seen green become associated with energy efficiency,” he explains. “But for a large employer, the largest expense is personnel.” As a result, IAQ and occupant health and safety issues have “ratcheted […]

Developing a Good Laboratory Management Plan

The problem is so prevalent at colleges and universities that EPA developed a regulatory option (new RCRA Subpart K), intended to encourage officials in charge of thousands of academic labs to periodically collect old, unneeded, or expired chemicals (legacy chemicals), determine whether these chemicals are hazardous, and properly manage their disposal. If you are an […]

EPA’s Proposed Policy on Registering Nano-Pesticides

While EPA has yet to issue formal definitions for terms such as nanotechnology or nanoscale materials under any statute, the Agency understands those terms in the context of three conditions or elements: The material’s particle size measures typically between approximately 1 and 100 nanometers in at least one dimension. The material exhibits unique or novel […]

What You Can Do to Prevent and Control IAQ Problems

According to OSHA, “Management needs to be receptive to potential concerns and complaints and train workers on how to identify and report air quality concerns.” If employees have issues, it’s the job of leaders to assess the situation and take corrective action. Building owners and managers should develop and implement an IAQ management plan to […]

IAQ and Your Workplace

What are the causes of unhealthful air? What are the effects on worker health and productivity? What can you do to reduce the risk? Would cleaner, greener building might also save you money? What Is IAQ? IAQ is the quality of the air inside buildings as represented by concentrations of pollutants and thermal conditions like […]

Automatic Tank Gauging Systems: Getting Your Money’s Worth

Get to know your ATGS. Get clear instructions from the installer on how to use your ATGS. Check that your ATGS is always on and plugged in to a power source. The ATGS cannot monitor leaks if it’s off. Believe it or not, EPA says, plenty of citations have been handed out after inspectors found […]

Key Elements of EPA’s Academic Lab Rule

Note that the rule is not regarded by EPA as more stringent than existing regulations. This means that states authorized to run the federal RCRA program are not required to adopt the rule. In fact, while some states have adopted it since promulgation, others have expressed their opposition to it, and the rule may not […]

TSCA and the Intent to Manufacture

If you need to determine if a specific carbon nanotube is on the TSCA confidential inventory, you can submit a Bona Fide Intent to Manufacture or Import. The required contents of bona fide intents are listed at 40 CFR 720.25 and are intended to substantiate that a company genuinely intends to manufacture the substance and […]