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In the first quarter (Q1), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized 188 settlement agreements with companies small and large across the United States. This represents a significant increase in enforcement actions—up from 71 penalties issued in Q4 for 2019. The actions taken resulted in $4.1 million in fines. Here are some of the highlights.
The EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) has issued two documents intended to assist managers in the Agency’s 10 regional offices on deciding if site cleanup and emergency response should begin or continue in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The temporary policy the EPA issued March 26, 2020, to explain noncompliance situations in which the Agency will exercise enforcement discretion during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a rush of letters from Democratic members of Congress who were concerned that the Agency intended to allow major sources of air pollution to violate their regulatory limits. Enforcement […]
According to the EPA and the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), ensuring that Americans can buy the types of cars and light trucks they prefer is at the heart of the EPA’s/NHTSA’s final rule amending and establishing carbon dioxide (CO2) and fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks.
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit found that an EPA directive that recast procedures for selecting members for the Agency’s 22 science committees violated federal law. Issued by former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in October 2017, the directive’s most controversial element prohibited committee membership to recipients of EPA grants. […]
According to the EPA, the Agency’s final rule amending the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) requirements under Section 8(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has three primary objectives.
With an estimated 738 facilities, the municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill sector is one of the largest industry sectors subject to the Clean air Act’s (CAA) National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP).
In its FY 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, the EPA listed the cleanup of contaminated properties and their return to productive economic and community use as one of its top three priorities. Among its goals, the Agency stated that it wants to make 255 additional Superfund sites and 3,420 additional brownfield sites ready for anticipated use by […]
Waste management can be a tricky business for hazardous waste generators and transporters and owners or operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs).
As federal health agencies pour all available resources into halting the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the EPA has stepped forward with a second proposal governing the Agency’s use of science at the Agency. The action supplements the EPA’s April 2018 proposal, Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science. That proposal would ensure that when developing […]