Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The Biden administration continues to take actions to advance its goals to elevate environmental justice (EJ) and address past injustices by enforcing pollution laws to create equity for overburdened communities. The latest action is the release of “EPA Legal Tools to Advance Environmental Justice (EJ Legal Tools), dated May 26, 2022, by the EPA Office […]
This week, regional Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offices in Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, urged employers in the Great Lakes region, Midwest, and Dakotas to protect indoor and outdoor workers from hazards posed by excessive heat. The agency pointed to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures showing reports of 344 […]
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) released its Draft 2022 Scoping Plan Update for public comment on May 10, 2022. These updates describe the state’s approach to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are required every 5 years under Assembly Bill 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The state’s current reduction goals […]
On June 6, 2022, the EPA issued the first Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) test orders to the Chemours Company, DuPont De Nemours Inc., National Foam Inc., and Johnson Controls Inc. The orders require the companies to conduct and submit testing on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In October 2021, the Agency announced its PFAS […]
The EPA recently announced the formation of a Water Reuse Interagency Working Group that is charged with creating and managing actions, tools, and resources to advance the reuse of water across the United States. The group was established under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. “Water is an essential resource that we must protect, especially in the […]
The signs are clear that federal and state occupational safety and health officials are intently focused on the risks of excessive heat and are responding with outreach, regulation, and enforcement: California issued another “Cal/OSHA Reminder: Protect Outdoor Workers from Heat Illness During Period of Excessive Heat in California” announcement. Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration […]
The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) declined to reinstate an order blocking the Biden administration from utilizing the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions (SC GHGs) as a key climate metric in Louisiana v. Biden on May 26, 2022. In February 2021, the U.S. Interagency Working Group (IWG) on the SC GHGs issued “Technical Support Document: […]
Since 1996, National Safety Month has been observed and promoted each June by the National Safety Council (NSC) to raise awareness of the importance of keeping each other safe, from the workplace to anyplace. There are increased unintentional injuries and fatalities during the summer months, and according to the most recent data available, more than 4,100 […]
State occupational safety and health regulators in California and Oregon reminded employers to protect workers from heat hazards and comply with their states’ heat illness prevention standards. On June 2, the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Oregon OSHA) announced the release of employer assistance resources for the state’s new heat illness prevention rule. The […]
On June 3, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced citations for two Dollar General stores for endangering employee safety by blocking and locking emergency exits. The agency cited the company for workplace safety violations nationwide. OSHA cited Dolgencorp, LLC, doing business as Dollar General Store, for four willful violations at its Baldwin, Wisconsin, […]