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On January 19, 2023, the EPA announced its proposed 2024–2027 National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives (NECIs). Every 4 years, the Agency selects national initiatives to focus resources on serious and widespread environmental problems where federal enforcement can make a difference. The primary objective of these initiatives is to protect human health and the environment by […]
On January 12, 2023, the EPA announced updates to the Safer Chemicals Ingredients List (SCIL), which “is a list of chemical ingredients, arranged by functional-use class, that the Safer Choice Program has evaluated and determined to be safer than traditional chemical ingredients. This list is designed to help manufacturers find safer chemical alternatives that meet […]
On January 18, 2023, the long-awaited final “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States (WOTUS)’” rule was published in the Federal Register. It is set to go into effect March 20, 2023. The definition of WOTUS is the key to determining the EPA’s authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA). This final rule repeals […]
The EPA has approved the use of the SnifferDRONE, an environmental technology product produced by Sniffer Robotics LLC, as an alternative for monitoring methane emissions from landfills. Certain landfills are required to perform surface emissions monitoring (SEM) procedures on a quarterly basis to demonstrate compliance with the 500 parts per million (ppm) above background concentration […]
The EPA unveiled new website tools, the PFAS Analytic Tools, this month. Designed to help the “public, researchers, and other stakeholders better understand potential PFAS sources in their communities,” the tools provide “multiple sources of information in one spot with mapping, charting, and filtering functions,” which allows the public to see where testing has been […]
The EPA announced a proposal to strengthen the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate pollution (PM-2.5) on January 6, 2023. The pre-publication version of the proposed rule calls for a revision to the primary annual PM-2.5 standard by lowering the level from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to a level between 9 […]
On January 9, 2023, the EPA announced it entered into an agreement with TC Oil Pipeline Operations Inc., whose parent company is TC Energy, to clean up the oil discharge that occurred December 7, 2022, in Washington County, Kansas, resulting from a rupture in a section of the Keystone Pipeline. The EPA reports an estimated […]
Nearly a decade after the EPA called for additional soil sampling at the Vertac Inc. Superfund Site in Jacksonville, Arkansas, tests have not yet been performed, reports a December 18, 2021, Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article. Superfund is the more commonly known name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), a law enacted […]
Last month, the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) announced fiscal year (FY) 2022 enforcement and compliance accomplishments, which included an increase in inspections of more than 78% over FY 2021, particularly in overburdened environmental justice communities. “Taken together, OECA’s criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement cases reduced, treated or eliminated pollutants by 95 […]
After a year of uncertainty, on December 15, 2022, the EPA published a final rule amending the All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) Rule to reference ASTM International’s E1527-21, “Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process,” and allow for its use to satisfy the requirements for conducting AAIs under the Comprehensive Environmental […]