Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
On August 5, 2021, the EPA and the U.S. Department of the Army announced upcoming community engagement opportunities for public input into their efforts to revise the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) definition. Redefining WOTUS is a two-part process for the agencies. The first rulemaking will restore the WOTUS definition to the version in […]
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 […]
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 […]
Chicago may be the latest city to join other cities that have enacted cumulative pollution impact ordinances that address the impact of additional pollution from industrial operations seeking to open or expand operations “in already burdened low-income communities of color,” says the Chicago Sun Times.
U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the Southern District of Texas denied Megasand Enterprise Inc.’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by its insurer Everest National Insurance Company. In its lawsuit, Everest seeks a decision relieving it from having to defend Megasand from claims that its discharges worsened flooding following Hurricane Harvey.
On November 25, 2020, the EPA finalized rulemaking that determined that the electric power generation; transmission and distribution; petroleum and coal products manufacturing; and chemical manufacturing industries will not be required to have additional insurance to cover accidents and major spills.
In Q3, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized 158 settlement agreements with companies small and large across the United States. There was a definitive increase in enforcement actions, with only 106 penalties issued in the previous quarter. Here we highlight some of the biggest fines.
The air pollution in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska (Fairbanks), is among the worst in the nation, and the EPA is doing nothing about it. That’s the view of several citizen groups that with the assistance of major U.S. environmental organizations are now suing the Agency for inaction for the third time in 2 years. […]
Recent enforcement statistics from the EPA show that during fiscal year (FY) 2014, enforcement actions required companies to invest more than $9.7 billion in actions and equipment to control pollution and clean up contaminated sites. Companies paid $63 million in combined administrative, civil, and criminal fines. And that’s just on the federal level! Follow these […]
While it is our contention that in this day and age most facilities are engaged in some sort of P2 to reduce chemical use and waste production, as we reported in yesterday’s Advisor, only 16% of all TRI facilities reported their P2 activities for reporting year 2013. The EPA would like to up that percentage […]