On November 13, 2008, the U.S. EPA Environmental Appeals Board required U.S. EPA to reconsider and better explain its decision not to require a Best Available Control Technology (BACT) analysis for a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit it issued for a coal-fired power plant in Utah. U.S. EPA’s Region 8 office had determined that CO2 was not a regulated pollutant under the PSD program and thus a BACT analysis was not required. The Appeals Board determined that the permitting record did not support that decision. The Appeals Board decision does not require sources to do a BACT analysis for CO2 ; however, it does increase the pressure on U.S. EPA and the new administration to develop a comprehensive national CO2 control plan rather than to fight environmental groups using “back door” approaches to regulating CO2 under the current Clean Air Act.
For more information, contact EQ’s Jeff Slayback at (800) 229-7495 or Kent Berry at (800) 229-5299.
In late November, the U.S. EPA made two significant changes and proposed a new change to the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule.
The first change, published in the Federal Register on November 26, 2008, regards the definition of “navigable waters.” The second change, expected to be published in the Federal Register in early December 2008 affects requirements for particular industry sectors. The third change, also published in the Federal Register on November 26, 2008, is a proposed amendment to the dates by which facilities must prepare and implement their SPCC Plans. The public has 30 days to comment on this proposal.
A brief description of each change is described below:
Definition of “Navigable Waters”
The U.S. EPA vacated and remanded the 2002 amendments to the SPCC regulatory definition of the term “navigable waters” on procedural grounds under the Administrative Procedure Act. The previous (1973) definition of “navigable waters” was restored. The 1973 regulatory definition of “navigable waters” for the SPCC rule was published in the Federal Register on December 11, 1973 (see 38 FR 34165) and reads as follows:
The term “navigable waters” of the United States means “navigable waters” as defined in section 502(7) of the FWPCA, and includes:
- all navigable waters of the United States, as defined in judicial decisions prior to the passage of the 1972 Amendments of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, (FWPCA) (Pub. L. 92-500) also known as the Clean Water Act (CWA), and tributaries of such waters as;
- interstate waters;
- intrastate lakes, rivers, and streams which are utilized by interstate travelers for recreational or other purposes; and
- intrastate lakes, rivers, and streams from which fish or shellfish are taken and sold in interstate commerce.
Requirements for Particular Industry Sectors
The U.S. EPA amended the SPCC rule to provide clarity, tailor requirements to particular industry sectors, and streamline certain requirements while maintaining protection of human health and the environment. The revised rule exempts hot-mix asphalt and hot-mix asphalt containers, as well as several other operations. The revised rule also streamlines and adds flexibility for all regulated facilities by:
- providing a Plan template for certain qualified facilities to complete and self-certify
- defining “loading/unloading rack” to clarify the equipment subject to the provisions for facility tank car and tank truck loading/unloading racks
- amending the general secondary containment requirement
- amending integrity testing requirements for bulk storage containers to allow greater flexibility in the use of industry standards at all facilities
There are also sector-specific changes finalized for Agriculture, Oil Production Facilities, Animal Fats and Vegetable Oils, and Qualified Facilities.
Proposed Compliance Date Amendments
The U.S. EPA is proposing to amend the dates by which facilities must prepare or amend SPCC Plans, and implement those Plans. Two additional extension dates are proposed for farms and production facilities that meet the qualified facilities criteria in §112.3(g). The proposed compliance dates for all facilities (other than qualified farms or production facilities) are detailed in the following table:
A facility (other than a qualified farm or production facility) starting operation… Must… On or before August 16, 2002 Maintain its existing SPCC Plan
Amend and implement the SPCC Plan no later than November 20, 2009After August 16, 2002 through
November 20, 2009Amend and implement the SPCC Plan no later than November 20, 2009 After November 20, 2009 Prepare and implement the SPCC Plan before beginning operations
For more information on the Navigable Waters definition, see the Federal Register. For more information on the proposed compliance date changes, see the Federal Register. For more information on the Requirements for Particular Industry Sectors, visit the U.S. EPA Website or contact EQ’s Mike Arozarena or Ken Hardesty at (800) 229-7495.
On November 18, 2008, President-Elect Barack Obama pledged to set national greenhouse gas emissions limits, establish a carbon dioxide cap-and-trade program, be involved in international climate talks, and promote clean energy technologies.
In videotaped remarks delivered during the two-day Governors' Global Climate Summit in California, Obama stated that his presidency will “mark a new chapter in America's leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process.” The two-day summit was convened by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the governors of Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Wisconsin.
Obama pledged to establish strong annual targets to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them an additional 80 percent by 2050. His remarks support a new proposal for climate change legislation released on October 7, 2008 by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA). Their draft bill would cover about 88 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and includes restrictions on electric utilities, petroleum producers and importers, large industrial plants, producers and importers of bulk gases, natural gas and local distribution companies and geologic sequestration sites.
Obama also said his administration will invest $15 billion each year to encourage the development of clean energy technologies such as solar power, wind power, and a new generation of biofuels. Obama also said the nation would develop clean coal technologies and safe nuclear power.
On October 27, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security released draft guidance on chemical security risk-based performance standards aimed at helping high-risk chemical plants select and implement protective measures and practices.
The guidance describes the general level of performance that facilities in each “risk-based tier” created by the chemical facility anti-terrorism standard (CFATS) should strive to achieve.
It also seeks to help facilities comply with the CFATS by describing in greater detail the 18 risk-based performance standards, and by providing examples of various security measures and practices that facilities could consider to achieve the desired level of performance.
The standards include restricting the area's perimeter; screening and controlling access; measures to deter, detect, and delay an adversary; measures and considerations for shipping, receipt, and storage; and cyber security.
Other measures include addressing theft or diversion, and performing appropriate background checks on and ensuring appropriate credentials for facility personnel and visitors with access to restricted areas.
If changes are made to the draft guidance, the Department of Homeland Security will publish a revised publication.
For more information, see the Federal Register notice, review the draft guidance or contact EQ’s Laurie Buckman at (800) 229-7495.
The U.S. EPA completed construction at 30 Superfund sites in fiscal year 2008, an increase from 24 sites in 2007, according to the agency's annual progress report. Construction complete is the agency’s term for sites where physical construction work is complete, regardless of whether final cleanup levels or other benchmarks have been met.
Since the beginning of the program, construction has been completed at 1,060 sites, or approximately 67 percent of the sites on the National Priorities List (NPL), according to the U.S. EPA.
The agency also reported that it conducted or oversaw 372 emergency response and removal actions in fiscal year 2008 that addressed immediate threats to communities and cleaned up spills and accidental releases of hazardous material.
All identified unacceptable human exposures were controlled at a total of 24 sites, bringing the program's cumulative total to 1,306 sites under control, according to the report. The agency's stated goal for the year was to bring exposures under control at 10 sites.
For more information, visit the U.S. EPA's Superfund website.
The deadline for preregistration of chemicals under the European Union’s registration, evaluation, and authorization of chemicals (REACH) regulation was December 1, 2008.
All companies producing or importing chemicals into the European Union were required to preregister these chemicals by December 1 with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). After December 1, substances that were not preregistered are illegally on the EU market if companies continue to manufacture or import them without a full registration.
Member states will begin enforcement action against non-compliant companies in 2009.
More information on REACH is available at the ECHA website.
At the close of the 2008 ozone season, monitors in all parts of Indiana measured ozone levels under the current U.S. EPA standard of 0.08 parts per million (ppm) for the first time since the standard was established in 1997.
A new, more stringent federal standard of 0.75 ppm was established this past spring. In 2007, 25 Indiana counties measured ozone levels above 0.75 ppm. In 2008, the number of non-compliant counties dropped to 12.
In June 2010, U.S. EPA will publish final attainment/nonattainment designations with respect to the new standard.
811 is the new federally mandated national number to call before beginning any digging project, whether it’s planting a tree, working on a sewer, or putting in a foundation for a new building. 811 was created to help protect you from unintentionally hitting underground utility lines while working on a digging project. Every digging job requires a call – even small projects like planting trees or shrubs. If you hit an underground utility line while digging, you can harm yourself or those around you, disrupt service to an entire neighborhood, and potentially be responsible for fines and repair costs.
When you call 811, your call will be routed to your local One Call Center. Local operators will ask you for the location of your digging job and route you to affected utilities that will send a free professional locator to mark the location of underground lines within a few days of your call. You should call at least a few days before you need to begin digging. In Ohio, you must call at least 48 hours but no more than 10 days prior to the start of the project.
For more information, please visit the campaign web site.
EQ is helping remediate one of the world’s largest pit mines, an abandoned copper mining, milling, and processing facility near Yerington, Nevada.
The project, conducted for U.S. EPA Region 9, involved closing five leach ponds and relining/repairing two others. The closures included removing sediment and pond liners, excavating contaminated sediment, and in some cases backfilling the pond. The contaminated soils will be bioremediated on site.
This $1.2 million removal action was initiated in September 2008 and completed in November 2008 as part of EQ’s Emergency and Rapid Responses Services (ERRS) contract with U.S. EPA Region 9.
EQ has conducted three prior removal actions at this nearly 3,500-acre site since February 2006. They included the removal and disposal of PCB-containing transformers, placement of a soil cap over about 75 acres of exposed sulfide tailing to reduce fugitive dust at the site, and similar work on other leach ponds. EQ also conducted a radiological assessment on a process area and subsurface assessment on the heap leach ponds.
For more information, contact EQ’s Joe Ficek at (425) 673-2900.
EQ’s corporate headquarters in Cincinnati has launched a new and expanded recycling program for employees. The office now recycles the following types of materials: paper and cardboard, plastics, metals, glass, used batteries, fluorescent bulbs, and computer parts. Recycling bins have been placed in several locations throughout the office building. In just the short time the program has existed, the recycling bins have been actively used. This means each week as much as 2 yards of solid waste is recycled rather than deposited to a landfill. The Cincinnati office plans to continue this early trend and expand it in the future.
The expanded recycling program is an important component of EQ’s Sustainability and Global Climate Change Program, which is expected to reduce our company’s carbon footprint by 8 percent by 2012 when compared to the 2007 calendar year baseline. The recycling program also contributes to EQ’s participation in Hamilton County’s “Go Green” Challenge.
For more information on EQ’s Sustainability and Global Climate Change program, visit our website or contact EQ’s Tom Robertson at (800) 229-5299.
Did you know it is estimated that between Thanksgiving and the New Year an extra million tons of waste are generated nationwide each week? Over 38,000 miles of ribbon are thrown away each year - enough to tie a bow around the Earth!
Here are some easy green tips to contribute less waste this holiday season:
Source: California Integrated Waste Management Board
Gifts:
Trees:
There are many other ways to be creative and greener this holiday season. You can do your small part to make a collective difference!
Visit the California Integrated Waste Management Board website for more ideas on how to green your holidays!
For more information about reducing your carbon footprint or to learn more about EQ’s Sustainability Program, visit our website or contact EQ’s Tom Robertson at (800) 229-5299.
For your engineering needs, please contact EQ Engineers at 219-844-3500, or email Ron Hawks
For questions about EQ's capabilities, please contact
Bob McCullough or Laurie Buckman, or call (800) 229-7495.
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