EPA has begun promulgating regulations to implement the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act of 2016 (Act), legislation that makes significant changes to the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). EPA...more
Companies operating ammonia refrigeration systems are easy targets for EPA under a number of environmental programs. Recent history suggests release reporting under Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and under the...more
7/10/2017
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Corporate Financing ,
Emergency Response ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Manufacturers ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management
On June 1, 2017, President Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement (“Paris Agreement”). The Paris Agreement was signed by 195 countries in December of 2015. The goal of the...more
7/10/2017
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Landfills ,
Methane ,
Paris Agreement ,
Pesticides ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Superfund ,
Trump Administration
The Clean Power Plan (“CPP”), and its companion new source review rule, is the Obama Administration’s signature regulation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Among other things, it requires states to put...more
5/17/2017
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Waste ,
NRDC ,
Presidential Memorandum ,
Trump Administration ,
Two For One Rule
Earlier this year, EPA released revised guidance for remediation of contaminated sediments at sites being addressed by EPA under CERCLA (the “New Sediment Guidance”). The guidance identifies six key clarifications to EPA...more
As we reported in the April issue of Environmental Notes, the Trump administration issued a final rule on March 16, 2017 that delayed the effective date of regulations making significant changes to requirements applicable to...more
EPA is proposing significant use restrictions and recordkeeping requirements on those facilities using or distributing trichloroethylene (TCE), a widely used industrial solvent. The agency proposed two rules in a month’s time...more
Title VI of the Toxic Substances Control Act authorizes EPA to reduce formaldehyde exposures from composite wood products, and EPA recently did so by promulgating its long-anticipated Formaldehyde Emission Standards for...more
President Trump has wasted no time in acting on his environmental agenda. On January 24, his second working day in office, the President signed two Executive Orders giving the green light to construction of the Keystone and...more
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) has clarified its approach to issuing “no further action” letters (“NFAs”) for sites with both petroleum and non-petroleum contamination. This clarified approach will...more
12/15/2016
/ CERCLA ,
Common Stock ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
General Permit ,
NESHAP ,
New Guidance ,
Pesticides ,
Remediation ,
Solar Energy ,
Superfund ,
Underground Storage Tanks
EPA is proposing to add Nonylphenol Ethoxylates (NPEs) to the list of Toxic Chemicals under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Comments on the proposal must be received on or...more
EPA has promulgated a final rule revising the Pesticide General Permit (the “2016 PGP”). The 2016 PGP is applicable only in four states (Idaho, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Mexico) and at federal facilities, but the...more
EPA has revised its procedures for making certain changes to its “Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods,” also known as SW-846. The test method and its compendium of guidance documents provide...more
EPA has revised its procedures for making certain changes to its “Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods,” also known as SW-846. The test method and its compendium of guidance documents provide...more
This is the second installment of frequently asked questions regarding Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning with Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
As noted in our first...more
CONGRESS FINDS THE FORMULA TO REFORM CHEMICAL REGULATION -
The Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) is the primary federal law by which the manufacture, import and use of chemical substances are regulated in the United...more
7/20/2016
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Air Pollution ,
Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Comment Period ,
Construction Industry ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Final Action ,
Final Rules ,
Hawkes Co v United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
Jurisdictional Determination (JD) ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Manufacturers ,
MATS ,
Mining ,
Occupational Exposure ,
OSHA ,
Power Plants ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Sackett ,
SCOTUS ,
Shipbuilding ,
Silica ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-know Act (EPCRA) requires Form R reports to be filed with EPA each July 1 for each listed “toxic chemical” a facility manufactures or processes in excess of 25,000 lbs., or...more
The news has been full of stories and articles concerning Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR), also referred to as coal ash. CCR became a hot topic in 2008 when a coal ash pond at a utility plant in Tennessee spilled more than 5...more
5/20/2016
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Coal Ash ,
Consent Decrees ,
Deepwater Horizon ,
Department of Environmental Quality ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Environmental Crimes ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Communication Standard ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Individual Accountability ,
OSHA ,
RCRA ,
Safety Data Sheets ,
Sierra Club ,
Solid Waste ,
SSM Periods ,
Superfund ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Training Requirements ,
Utilities Sector ,
Workplace Safety ,
Yates Memorandum
EPA has tentatively denied a petition to expand the test for the hazardous waste characteristic of corrosivity to cover more wastes. In so doing, however, EPA left the door open to reconsider the decision based on public...more
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance recently proposed changes to its National Program Manager (NMP) Guidance that, in part, would revise EPA’s National Enforcement Initiatives (“NEIs”) for federal fiscal...more
4/27/2016
/ Air Pollution ,
Chemical Spills ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Confidential Information ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FOIA ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Obama Administration ,
OSHA ,
Penalties ,
Power Plants ,
Wastewater ,
Workplace Hazards
Dominion Virginia Power (Dominion) operates a coalfired power plant in Chesapeake, Virginia. It maintains permits for its operations, including a Virginia solid waste management permit and a Virginia Pollutant Discharge...more
The Regulatory Reform Act of 2015 (the “Act”), passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in September and signed by Governor McCrory on October 22, made a number of significant changes to the state’s environmental laws. ...more
Section 112(d) of the Clean Air Act requires EPA to set emission standards for hazardous air pollutants emitted by sources in certain specified source categories and subcategories. EPA recently published final maximum...more
In a significant setback for the Obama Administration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has temporarily blocked implementation of the Clean Water Rule issued jointly by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...more
10/28/2015
/ Barack Obama ,
CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Rule ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Importers ,
Imports ,
Proposed Amendments ,
RCRA ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ,
U.S. Customs ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waste Management ,
Waters of the United States
EPA has issued a proposed rule and a supplemental proposal to a July 14, 2015 proposed rule that are designed to achieve additional reductions of landfill gas (LFG) and its components, including methane, by lowering the...more