On August 18, 2009, the U.S. EPA sent the draft final Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reporting Rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. U.S. EPA anticipates publishing the final GHG Reporting Rule in October 2009. U.S. EPA continues to be pressured by Congress and environmental groups to maintain the January 1, 2010 effective date for the rule.
For more information, contact EQ’s Tom Robertson at (800) 229-5299.
On August 5, 2009, the U.S. EPA proposed a rule that would require small chemical preparations facilities to reduce emissions of particulate matter containing toxic metals by 95%.
The proposal would set national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for new and existing chemical preparations facilities that are considered “area sources” of air toxics. Area sources emit less than 10 tons annually of a single air toxic or less than 25 tons per year of any combination of hazardous pollutants. Chemical preparations facilities perform milling, blending, or extruding of industrial chemicals.
Section 112(d) of the Clean Air Act requires U.S. EPA to identify industrial sources that emit one or more of 187 listed toxic air pollutants and establish appropriate emissions standards. Area sources are required to meet the generally available control technology (GACT) standard. Larger sources must meet the more stringent maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standard.
U.S. EPA was sued in 2005 by the Sierra Club for missing statutory deadlines to issue air toxics standards for 55 categories of area sources of hazardous air pollutants.
The proposed standards, which would constitute GACT for chemical preparations facilities, would limit emissions of particulate matter that contain chromium, lead, manganese, or nickel compounds.
The proposed rule would also exempt chemical preparations facilities from the need to obtain a Title V operating permit.
For more information, see the Federal Register notice or contact EQ’s Jeff Slayback at (800) 229-7495 or Tom Robertson at (800) 229-5299.
On August 18, 2009, the U.S. EPA published raw data, without any analysis, from the 2008 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data for the first time to ensure an open and transparent flow of information to the public. U.S. EPA is analyzing the data and will publish the national analysis once it is completed.
TRI is a database that contains detailed information on nearly 650 chemicals and chemical categories that more than 23,000 industrial and other facilities manage through disposal or other releases, recycling, energy recovery, or treatment. Facilities must report their data by July 1 of each year.
The preliminary data account for approximately 80 to 85 percent of the data to be collected. U.S. EPA will continue to process paper submissions, late submissions, and to resolve issues with the electronic submissions. The agency will update the dataset in September and again in October so citizens will have complete access to the information.
For more information, visit the U.S. EPA TRI website or contact EQ’s Sheri Bussard at (800) 229-7495.
On August 19, 2009, the U.S. EPA proposed a new rule that would require more “environmentally friendly” deicing practices on aircraft and at airport runways.
Deicing operations include the removal of ice from aircraft, application of chemicals to prevent initial icing or further icing, and actions to remove ice from airfield pavements, including runways, taxiways, aprons, and ramps or to prevent ice buildup.
Under the proposed rule, airports with more than 1,000 annual jet departures and more than 10,000 annual departures of all aircraft would have to use the best available technology to capture 60% of the available fluid if they discharge more than 460,000 gallons. Airports would have to capture 20% if they discharge less than 460,000 gallons.
Airports must then treat wastewater to meet the effluent limit for chemical oxygen demand and certify the use of nonurea-based pavement deicers or meet effluent limits for ammonia.
Airports with more than 1,000 annual jet departures and fewer than 10,000 annual departures would have to certify the use of nonurea-based pavement deicers or meet the effluent limit for ammonia.
Although the agency said the requirements apply to 218 airports, U.S. EPA estimated that 148 already are in compliance and that only 70 would incur additional costs to meet the performance standards.
In the proposal, which is expected to be published soon in the Federal Register, technology-based effluent limitation guidelines and new source performance standards under the Clean Water Act generally would apply to wastewater associated with the deicing of aircraft and airfield pavement at primary commercial airports.
The guidelines would be incorporated into National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued by U.S. EPA, states, or tribes.
For more information, visit the U.S. EPA website or contact EQ’s Mike Arozarena at (800) 229-7495.
The European Commission has published the final list of “notified” substances that are expected to be deemed registered under the registration, evaluation, and authorization of chemicals (REACH) regulation.
The final European List of Notified Chemical Substances (ELINCS) consists of 5,287 new chemicals that were evaluated under the pre-REACH regulatory system in the European Union.
The final ELINCS list contains chemicals that had been notified as of May 31, 2008.
As of June 1, 2008, any company wanting to introduce a new chemical into the European Union was required to submit a registration dossier in accordance with REACH.
For more information, contact EQ’s Laurie Buckman at (800) 229-7495.
On July 28, 2009, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a one-year pilot national emphasis program that will target workplaces that release highly hazardous chemicals that could result in toxic fire or explosion hazards.
The intent of this national emphasis program is to conduct quick inspections at a large number of facilities. OSHA said it would randomly select facilities from a list of worksites likely to have highly hazardous chemicals in amounts at or greater than threshold quantities.
Programmed inspections will take place in Regions 1, 7, and 10 in facilities that are known to OSHA as having a risk of catastrophic releases but not prompted by an accident, complaint, or referral.
In all other OSHA regions not covered by the pilot, the chemical emphasis program will be used for unprogrammed inspections of process safety management-related complaints, referrals, or catastrophes.
After one year, the pilot emphasis program will be evaluated and considered for renewal and expansion to other regions, according to OSHA.
The national emphasis program allows OSHA inspectors to verify that employers are complying with requirements of the process safety management standard.
The topic of combustible dust has received considerable attention during the summer of 2009.
On July 28, 2009, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released a safety video called Combustible Dust: An Insidious Hazard. The half-hour video includes computer animations of three dust explosions investigated by the CSB and news footage and still photographs from the February 2008 explosion at the Imperial Sugar Co. in Port Wentworth, Ga. that killed 14 workers. The video dissects the anatomy of an explosion and says employers can help to prevent combustible dust explosions by following standards promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association.
On June 30, 2009, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a guidance document on combustible dust hazards. The 21-page guidance document, Hazard Communication Guidance for Combustible Dusts, explains OSHA's hazard communication standard, describes how to identify and control hazardous dusts, how to prepare material safety data sheets and product labels, and how to train workers to detect and control hazardous chemicals.
In spring 2009, OSHA announced plans to issue an advance notice of proposed rulemaking regarding combustible dust in August 2009.
Combustible dusts include organic or metal dusts, finely ground into very small particles, fibers, fines, chips, chunks, flakes, or a mixture thereof, with an effective diameter of less than 420 microns.
On August 26, 2009, the U.S. EPA announced a series of steps to protect citizens against exposures to lead-based products in our environment. They included:
U.S. EPA will undertake at least three separate rulemakings to expand coverage and strengthen requirements of the 2008 Renovation, Repair and Painting rule.
U.S. EPA will propose to expand lead safe work practices and other protective requirements for renovation and painting work involving lead paint to most buildings built before 1978, when lead-based paint was banned for residential use. Under the proposed requirements, renovation firms would have to conduct tests to ensure that lead levels in dust comply with U.S. EPA’s regulatory standards after certain renovation, repair, and painting activities are performed and provide information to building occupants on the lead safe work practices utilized during renovations.
The agency is proposing that lead safe work practices be required at the vast majority of residential buildings and public and commercial buildings undergoing exterior renovations that involve lead-based paint. U.S. EPA will determine whether renovations in the interior of public and commercial buildings create hazardous levels of lead dust.
The additional requirements sought by U.S. EPA are the result of a settlement of litigation brought by the Sierra Club, the New York City Coalition to End Lead Poisoning, and other stakeholder groups in 2008.
U.S. EPA will also pursue a ban on the manufacture and distribution of lead tire weights in response to a 2009 petition from the Ecology Center, the Sierra Club and other non-government organizations (NGOs) requesting that the agency establish regulations prohibiting the manufacture, processing, and distribution of lead tire weights. Lead weights are used predominately in the tire replacement market to balance tires of autos and light trucks in the United States. They can fall off tires and then break down and contaminate soil, wash into sewers, or end up being transported to municipal landfills or incinerators. U.S. EPA estimates that 2,000 tons of lead from tire weights are lost from vehicles and ultimately end up in the environment each year. Tire weights without lead are already being used and can be effectively substituted.
For more information, visit the U.S. EPA’s website.
Whether you are sending a kindergartner or college senior back to school this year, help make the experience greener by trying these tips:
To learn more about EQ’s Sustainability Program, visit our website or contact EQ’s Tom Robertson at (800) 229-5299.
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