On March 27, 2008, U.S. EPA published final revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone. The new primary and secondary 8-hour ozone standards are now 0.075 parts per million (ppm), which replaces the existing standard of 0.08 ppm set in 1997. These new standards are not as stringent as recommended by U.S. EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, which has resulted in criticism on some fronts. This group unanimously recommended a standard of between .060 and .070 ppm in 2007.
The revised standards will set off a number of U.S. EPA and state requirements and actions – first and foremost, the revised standards will affect the designation of areas as attainment or nonattainment. The U.S. EPA has published a list of 345 U.S. counties that, based on 2004-2006 data, would violate the new standards. This is roughly three times as many counties as violate the current standards (based on the same years). Final nonattainment designations will be based on 2006-2008 or later data, which should improve the projected number nonattainment areas.
States have until June 2009 to make area attainment/nonattainment designation recommendations to U.S. EPA, and U.S. EPA has until June 2010 to issue final area designations. Nonattainment areas will be subject to more stringent New Source Review requirements for major new or modified sources of ozone precursors (e.g., emission offsets). States will be asked to submit, no earlier than 2013, State Implementation Plans (SIPs) describing the control measures needed to attain the new standards. U.S. EPA will publish separate rules that outline the SIP submittal deadline, as well as deadlines for areas to come into compliance with the new standards, based on the severity of the nonattainment.
For more information, see the Federal Register notice or contact EQ’s Kent Berry at 800-229-5299 or Jeff Slayback at 800-229-7495.
By the end of June 2008, the State of California must prepare a "draft scoping plan" indicating how it proposes to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 (as required by Assembly Bill 32 passed in September 2006). The State has identified the total in-state emissions in 1990 and has identified the current quantities of GHG by sector. Expressed in metric tons/year of CO2 equivalents, the transportation sector accounts for 38% of emissions, electrical power generation is 25%, industry is 20%, and agriculture and forestry combined is less than 7%. The draft scoping plan will propose how the state will regulate and/or provide incentives for each sector, including direct regulations, alternative compliance mechanisms (such as car pool lanes, mass transit, etc.), monetary and non-monetary incentives, voluntary actions, and market-based mechanisms such as a cap-and-trade system. The final scoping plan will be submitted to the California Air Resources Board in November 2008.
Assembly Bill 32 also required the State to identify "discrete early action" measures by June 30, 2007, which could be adopted and enforced by 2010 for easy, early measures to reduce GHGs. Such measures include: setting a standard for low carbon fuels; landfill methane capture; restrictions on high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants; perfluorocarbon (PFC) reduction from semiconductor manufacturing; sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) reductions in the non-electric sector; reduction of high GWP GHGs in consumer products; aerodynamic efficiencies in truck design; and mandatory checks of tire inflation at auto service shops. The State is now in the process of developing enforceable regulations.
For more information, contact EQ’s Tom Robertson at 800-229-5299.
On March 3, 2008, Ohio EPA’s Division of Hazardous Waste Management (DHWM) issued a revised version of the Closure Plan Review Guidance (CPRG) for RCRA Facilities. The CPRG indicates how Ohio EPA generally expects to exercise its discretion in implementing the hazardous waste closure program. It is primarily used to assist technical staff with their evaluation of closure plans for hazardous waste management facilities. Facility owners and/or operators may also find it helpful in preparing closure plans for DHWM review.
The major revisions to the document include the following: information in Chapter 1 which reflects internal administrative changes (this will not change how closure plans should be submitted); additional information in Chapter 3 concerning decontamination efforts, confirmation sampling, composite vs. discrete sampling, and use of historical data; and removal of certain appendices containing historical documents or documents that DHWM is not revising and can be found on-line.
For more information, visit the Ohio EPA website or contact EQ’s Judy Stroeh at 800-229-7495.
On April 25, 2008, a new Ohio law will become effective that prohibits the disposal of lead acid batteries in solid or hazardous waste landfills. The law is intended to ensure that all spent lead acid batteries are recycled in Ohio. The law also requires wholesalers and retailers of lead acid batteries to take old batteries for recycling when new batteries are purchased. Batteries that are covered by the law include batteries used in vehicles, motorcycles, wheelchairs, boats, or other forms of motive power. The law exempts batteries used in consumer products such as computers, electronic games, telephones, radios, and similar electronics.
For more information, visit the Ohio EPA website or contact EQ’s Judy Stroeh at 800-229-7495.
On February 28, 2008, China's national legislature passed a major new law that holds companies and company officials financially liable for water pollution and toxic spills. The new law shifts economic liability for actual damage and cleanup costs to corporate polluters for the first time.
Companies will now be held liable for 30% of any direct economic losses caused by industrial pollution in “serious” cases, and for 20% of damages in “medium” cases of water pollution, according to a notice posted by the Ministry of Water Resources.
In the past, company officials faced only administrative penalties largely unrelated to the severity of the pollution caused by their companies. Industrial polluters were typically fined with little bearing to the size of the damage or cost of cleanup required.
Industrial pollution in China affects many of the country's waterways and lakes and much of its coastline, according to a February 2007 World Bank report, Cost of Pollution in China: Economic Estimates of Physical Damages.
Despite a December 1, 2008 deadline to preregister chemicals under the European Union’s Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) regulation, awareness of REACH is low, especially among North American companies, according to a survey released March 11 by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Under REACH, all manufacturers and importers that conduct business with the European Union and produce or import 1 tonne or more per year per substance per company must register their chemicals with the European Chemicals Agency and provide health and safety data on each substance. Special focus is being placed on substances of very high concern (e.g., carcinogens, mutagens, endocrine disruptors, and reproductive toxins). These chemicals may require further evaluation and ultimately authorization for use, if a suitable alternative cannot be found.
If a company fails to pre-register, it cannot continue manufacturing, supplying or importing until it has submitted a full REACH registration.
Following on the heels of recent public concern over industrial stormwater discharges into Lake Michigan, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) is considering revising its state antidegradation rule to help applicants and the public better understand the permitting process.
IDEM’s new Antidegradation Rulemaking Workgroup held a kickoff meeting on March 7 to provide information about the federal framework and the state process and to discuss the next steps for the development of an antidegradation rule.
This potential change was recommended in an independent review of the BP Whiting Refinery’s stormwater permit, undertaken at the request of Indiana Governor Mitchell Daniels in December 2007 by a law professor at the Indiana University School for Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA).
The independent review recommends that IDEM revise the regulation to clarify:
For more information, visit the IDEM website.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) does not have the resources to investigate every major chemical accident.
CSB will not be investigating the February 17 explosion at Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Co., a subsidiary of McWane Inc., that injured 11 people in South Provo, Utah, nor will it be investigating the February 18 explosion at the Alon USA Energy Inc. refinery in Big Spring, Texas, that injured four workers, according to a board spokesperson.
CSB currently has nine open investigations, including the Imperial Sugar Co. explosion on February 7 in Port Wentworth, Ga., which killed 12 workers, and the T2 Laboratories Inc. explosion on December 19, 2007 in Jacksonville, Fla., which killed four.
CSB currently has about 20 investigators. It has requested funding of $10.6 million in fiscal year 2009 – an increase of $1.3 million over its fiscal 2008 budget. The request would allow the board to hire three new accident investigators and to continue the board’s safety video program.
In 2007, there were more than 30 accidents that could have warranted a CSB investigation, but the board only had resources to investigate eight incidents.
Legislation introduced March 4 in the U.S. House of Representatives would force the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible dust within 90 days.
The Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008 (H.R. 5522) was introduced by Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.) and John Barrow (D-Ga.) in response to the February 7 Imperial Sugar Co. refinery explosion in Georgia where 12 workers died and several more were hospitalized.
Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, plans to convene a full committee hearing March 12 on the risks of dust explosions in work sites and the lack of a federal standard.
In November 2006, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board issued a report on combustible dust incidents recommending that OSHA issue a combustible dust standard for general industry. Instead of issuing a standard, however, the agency created a national emphasis program for dust in October 2007.
EQ Participating in Go Green ChallengeEQ is participating in the “Go Green Challenge” program sponsored by the Hamilton County (Ohio) Solid Waste Management District and partners Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the University of Cincinnati, Christ Hospital, and Keep Cincinnati Beautiful. The mission of this group is to encourage organizations, large and small, to reduce their environmental impact. To participate, EQ must develop at least one environmental goal. Our first long-term metric is to reduce our calendar year 2012 carbon footprint relative to 2007 by 8 percent by reducing energy use, paper consumption, and employee travel.
For more information, visit the Go Green Challenge website or contact EQ’s Tom Robertson at 800-229-5299.
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