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In 2025, many facilities that have never had to complete Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting will be required to submit reports on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This is because of the addition of more than 196 PFAS to the TRI list in 2024 and the elimination of the de minimis exemption, which allowed facilities […]
On January 7, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) issued a wildfire smoke alert in response to the Palisades Fire’s impact on air quality in Los Angeles County’s Pacific Palisades area. The state agency reminded California employers of their duty to protect workers from the health effects of wildfire smoke. Cal/OSHA’s wildfire […]
The EPA recently released a draft of the Interim Framework for Advancing Consideration of Cumulative Impacts, which is intended to provide EPA employees and decision-makers with tools and principles to consider cumulative impacts in their work. The EPA defines cumulative impacts scientifically by the totality of exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors and their effects […]
The EPA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced two settlements with energy operators located in Pennsylvania. XTO Energy Inc. (XTO) and Hilcorp Energy Company (Hilcorp) agreed to resolve alleged Clean Air Act (CAA) and Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act violations involving their oil and gas production operations in the state. Under the settlement, […]
The EPA recently announced a proposed regulation to strengthen limits on emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from most new, modified, and reconstructed fossil fuel-fired stationary combustion turbines. The regulation, if finalized, will “ensure that new turbines built at power plants or industrial facilities—especially large ones that could operate for decades—would be among the most efficient […]
The EPA recently released interim guidance and additional materials to support the regulatory community in implementing the requirements of the final rule for the Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ). An AEZ is defined as an area immediately surrounding pesticide application equipment during an outdoor pesticide application. The final rule defines additional […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced the successful EPA registration of the first antimicrobial product using the revised efficacy protocol for pre-harvest agricultural water. The registration of SANIDATE 12.0 is the result of a collaborative effort between government, academia, and industry. This marks the first-ever FDA approval of a treatment for use […]
A decision issued in November by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has created tremendous uncertainty for the future of regulating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In Marin Audubon Society v. Federal Aviation Administration, a divided D.C. Circuit Court ruled that the Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ) was never granted the authority to promulgate […]
On November 21, 2024, the EPA released the “National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution: Part Three of a Series on Building a Circular Economy for All,” which outlines opportunities for action to protect communities from the impacts of plastic production and waste and details how government agencies, businesses, nonprofits, and communities can take additional action […]
A federal grand jury has indicted Houston-based Phillips 66 on several charges related to alleged Clean Water Act (CWA) violations. Phillips is charged with two counts of negligently violating the CWA and four counts of knowingly violating the CWA in incidents that allegedly discharged thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater from the Phillips Carson oil […]