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On October 1, 2020, the EPA finalized a rule under the Clean Air Act (CAA) giving sources of major hazardous air pollution (HAP) a route to reclassify themselves as area sources subject to much less stringent requirements.
On September 17, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted an administrative stay on the EPA’s implementation of its rollback of oil and gas methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions limits.
The EPA has assessed approximately $84 million in hazardous waste material violations in the last 5 years, according to the Agency’s ECHO database. Risk managers are tasked with understanding and ensuring compliance with numerous EPA regulations. Failure to adhere to these regulations can result in expensive penalties and, in some cases, prison time.
The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the EPA announced a draft report critical of some of the Agency’s proposed changes to its cost-benefit analysis procedures under its Clean Air Act (CAA) program.
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s remarks at the September 12, 2020, G20 Agriculture and Water Ministers Meeting stressed that water issues are the biggest environmental challenges facing the world now. He emphasized the lack of access to safe drinking water by approximately 2 billion people globally.
In response to complaints by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), on August 25, 2020, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced it would open a review of the penalties the EPA has assessed against San Francisco due to sewer overflows.
The EPA announced final revisions to specific effluent guidelines and standards for “steam electric” power plants on August 31, 2020. The final rule leverages improved and less expensive pollution-control technologies and provides a more flexible implementation approach.
In a letter dated August 13, 2020, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici, all of Oregon, requested that the EPA investigate the impact of tear gas use on people, air, land, and bodies of water.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are also known as forever chemicals due to their near-indestructible nature. They were used in everything from firefighting foam to nonstick cookware and food packaging to furniture.
On August 24, 2020, the EPA published proposed rules that, if enacted, will amend the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the control of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) at major sources from new and existing industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) boilers and process heaters.