Compliance Topics - Environmental
11/10/2015
EPA Ocean Dumping Permits Explained
In the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (MPRSA), Congress empowered the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to "regulate the dumping of all types of materials into ocean waters and to prevent or strictly limit the dumping into ocean waters of any material which would adversely affect" either human health or the marine environment...
10/22/2015
EPA’s Electronic NPDES Reporting Final Rule
In the October 22, 2015, Federal Register, US EPA posted a Final Rule to require electronic reporting and sharing of data under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES. The rule was finalized on September 24 of this year. The Final Rule is effective starting December 21, 2015...
10/13/2015
EPA National Compliance Enforcement Initiatives
Every three years, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required by law to set National Enforcement Initiatives (NEIs). These NEIs drive EPA's environmental compliance inspection and enforcement actions. NEIs are sometimes court-mandated, but more often result from input from State and tribal governments, EPA regional offices, environmental associations, environmental advocacy and justice groups, and the general public...
10/12/2015
EPA’s Waters of the US Rule “Blocked” Nationwide
On October 9, 2015, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an Order of Stay, which granted a petition and effectively blocked EPA’s new Clean Water regulation nationwide. The rule is now Stayed nationwide pending the result of legal challenges to EPA’s water authority...
9/29/2015
EPA Revises Farm Worker Protection Standards
On September 28, 2015, US EPA announced revised worker protection standards for farm workers exposed to pesticides on the job. The new standards will apply to agricultural workers who perform certain labor tasks in pesticide-treated crops and pesticide handlers who mix, load, and apply pesticides. According to US EPA, the rulemaking will affect about two million US workers...
9/8/2015
EPA's Proposed TSCA Rules for Nanoscale Materials
On April 6, 2015, the US Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new reporting/recordkeeping rule regarding nanoscale materials that are already in commerce. If finalized, the rule will require companies that manufacture or process chemicals at the nanoscale level to electronically report to US EPA information about the materials' chemical identity, production volume, methods of manufacture and processing, uses, exposure, and release data and available health and safety data...
9/1/2015
Know Your Safety Agency: The CSB
The US Chemical and Hazard Investigation Board, or CSB, made headlines this year when its chairman resigned amid controversy. President Obama appointed, and the US Senate confirmed, a new chairperson in March. As the new Chair-former Chief Counsel for PHMSA, Vanessa Sutherland-begins her term, the time is right to ask: What exactly is the CSB, and what does it do?
8/26/2015
EPA’s New Methane Emissions Rules for Oil and Gas
On August 18, 2015, US EPA proposed new standards under the Clean Air Act that aim to reduce methane and VOC emissions from the oil and gas industry. The long-term goal of the proposal is to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industry sector by 40 to 45 percent (from 2012 levels) by 2025...
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