The European Union (EU) has adopted a rule designed to protect people from the adverse effects of chemicals found in everyday products by requiring companies to prove that the substances they market are safe. REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals) requires chemical manufacturers to register and report on the health effects of approximately 30,000 substances produced or imported in the EU. Chemicals of high concern will be removed from commerce or replaced with a safer alternative. REACH enters into force June 1, 2007. Pre-registration will take place June 1 – November 30, 2008. The registration process will take 11 years at an estimated cost of EUR 2.3 billion. Chemicals produced in the largest quantities and the most harmful chemicals will be required to be registered first.
U.S. EPA approved a rule which will allow more industries to use the shorter, simpler Form A, and favors recycling and treatment over disposal and other releases. Under current rules, facilities can only use the form A if they have releases of a reportable chemical less than 500 pounds. Form A cannot be used for persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) substances. Under the new rules, facilities may use a Form A if they manage less than 5,000 pounds annually of a waste (including releases, recycling, energy recovery, and treatment for destruction) as long as the release or disposal of the chemical does not exceed 2,000 pounds. The new rule also allows the use of Form A for PBT chemicals (excluding dioxins and dioxin-like compounds) as long as annual releases are zero, and the annual amount of the chemical recycled, combusted for energy, or treated for destruction does not exceed 500 pounds. The new rule is effective for reports due on or before July 2, 2007. For more information, see the Federal Register notice, or contact Sheri Bussard at (800) 229-7495.
EQ developed an inventory of native desert, disturbed stable vacant land, disturbed unstable vacant land, and private unpaved roads in Clark County, Nevada. This project was performed to meet the environmental commitment of the PM10 State Implementation Plan (SIP) to update the vacant land inventory using satellite or remote sensing imagery and ground truthing. The methodology for developing this inventory used multispectral imagery (from satellite high resolution imagery and aerial photography) and ground truthing to develop spectral signatures of the above land use types. These signatures were used to develop soil stability GIS layers that are compatible with Clark County’s Geographic Information Systems (i.e., ESRI data format and Nevada State Plane Coordinate system). For more information on this project, contact Fred Hall at (800) 229-7495.
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