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Last month, the EPA announced a final rule designating two polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA): PFAS are a group of manufactured chemicals that are also referred to as “forever chemicals” because of their resistance to breaking down in the environment over time. They’ve […]
Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine how to control and prevent the growth of Legionella bacteria in your water systems. Legionellosis, which can lead to Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac Fever, is spread primarily through inhaling Legionella-contaminated, aerosolized water. […]
Chicago-area subcontractor K.L.F. Enterprises faces $392,002 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for exposing its employees and others to asbestos during the structural demolition of a Waukegan, Illinois, hospital, the agency announced May 15. Agency investigators observed K.L.F. employees not wearing protective equipment amid piles of debris and steel I-beams during the structural […]
With EHS Daily Advisor covering radiation safety this week, it brought to mind the fact that there are many songs about nuclear war and the resulting radioactive fallout. If you grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, that fear of global thermonuclear war was fairly pervasive, and it definitely extended to pop culture. The Song […]
Some people love their jobs, many hate them. Orrin Tyrel Mitchell is one of the former. He is grateful for the opportunities afforded him and lessons learned at his workplace, and he is filled with pride and passion for safety. Mitchell serves as the director of safety at Texas-based Modular Power Solutions (MPS). As its […]
On May 6, 2024, the EPA announced it issued its final Subpart W rule to strengthen, expand, and update methane emissions reporting requirements for petroleum and natural gas systems under its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), as required by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). “The final revisions will ensure greater transparency and accountability […]
In a letter dated April 16, 2024, the attorneys general (AGs) of 23 states, led by the state of Florida, demand that the EPA “amend its regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to bring them in line with the text of that statute and with the Equal Protection Clause of […]
The EPA recently released its annual Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (GHG Inventory), which presents a national-level overview of annual GHG emissions from 1990 to 2022 and includes a preliminary outlook on anticipated 2023 emissions. The inventory covers seven GHGs: “Net U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were 5,489 million metric tons of carbon […]
The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board meets May 16 to consider readopting the state’s emergency temporary standard (ETS) for occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica. The board adopted an ETS on December 14, 2023, which became effective December 29, to protect workers in the stone fabrication industry from silicosis. California’s permanent silica standard […]
The Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health unanimously recommended that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) move forward with a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for a federal heat exposure standard, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced May 8. In 2021, the agency issued an advance notice of proposal rulemaking (ANPRM) on heat […]