In a rare demonstration of continuity between administrations, the EPA announced that in early 2020, it would propose regulations to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) from on-road heavy-duty trucks and engines.

TransCanada’s plans to construct the Keystone XL Pipeline and the U.S. Department of State’s (DOS) approval of those plans ran into another wall when a U.S. District Court judge in Montana found that the DOS had not met its statutory requirements in analyzing the effects of the project on climate change and on species protected by the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

With all of the high-tech stormwater control gadgets on the market these days, facilities often overlook one of the most important best management practices (BMPs): employee training. When facilities do remember to train, they often find that it is difficult to get employees to care about stormwater in the first place. This article explores how to solve these problems and develop an effective stormwater training program.

With the midterm elections switching control of the House to the Democrats, there will also be changes in the leadership of House committees in January 2019. The Committee on Energy and Commerce typically takes the lead on environmental issues in the House, and it is expected that the committee’s current Ranking Member, Democrat Frank Pallone of New Jersey, will move into the chairman seat now occupied by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR).

The EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) has stepped away from an earlier policy that created an expectation that in settlements with violators of environmental law and regulation, Agency case teams are expected to make use of “innovative enforcement” tools. The Agency now states that while such tools have proven useful, case teams are not required to “routinely” make use of them in settlements.

Responding to requests from manufacturers and Third-Party Certifiers (TPCs) for additional regulatory clarity, the EPA is proposing a suite of technical amendments to its regulations to control formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products.

The White House’s dim view of CNN’s news reporting has spilled over to the EPA, which last week issued a news release that purported to fact-check a CNN article on an August 31, 2018, EPA memo regarding cross-state air pollution.

A trick question? No. A container that seems empty of its hazardous waste contents needs to be empty enough to avoid management as a hazardous waste. Review these "RCRA" empty standards to ensure compliance.

A spill or release of a chemical just occurred at your facility. What do you do? Does it need to be reported? What information needs to be reported, to whom, and how soon?  These are the questions that need to be answered any time there is a spill or release at your facility.

This EPA fact sheet explains how, through the e-Manifest system, receiving facility Site Managers can receive and pay invoices for user fees.

This EPA fact sheet provides general information on the option available for emergency response and cleanup personnel (or their contractors) to create and sign manifests electronically.

This EPA fact sheet explains how, through the e-Manifest system, receiving facility Site Managers can receive and pay invoices for user fees.

This EPA fact sheet provides general information on the option available for emergency response and cleanup personnel (or their contractors) to create and sign manifests electronically.

This consolidated list has been prepared to help facilities handling chemicals determine whether they need to submit reports under sections 302 and 313 of EPCRA and determine if releases of chemicals are reportable under section 102 and 103 of CERCLA and section 304 of EPCRA. It can also help facilities determine whether they will be subject to accident prevention regulations under CAA section 112(r). This list does not include all hazardous chemicals subject to the reporting requirements in EPCRA sections 311 and 312, for which safety data sheets (SDS) must be developed under the Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) as these hazardous chemicals are identified by broad criteria, rather than by enumeration.

On May 30, 2017, the U.S. EPA final Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule (New Rule) went into effect in states and territories without a RCRA-authorized hazardous waste program (Alaska, Iowa, the Indian Nations, and the territories Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands). RCRA-authorized states must adopt the more stringent provisions of the New Rule by July 1, 2019, at the latest.

Appropriate changes have been made to the BLR federal regulatory analysis for this and other topics affected by the New Rule. Changes to parallel state regulatory analyses will be made as states revise their regulations to comply with the New Rule. Until then, RCRA-authorized states will follow their current state hazardous waste regulations. The Critical 2017/2018 Hazardous Waste Generator Information in this national topic provides essential guidance on the currently applicable state regulations.