If your facility handles sufficient quantities of hazardous materials (“hazmat”), then federal laws and regulations—specifically the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA)—requires you to compile and submit an annual inventory of qualifying hazmats to state and local agencies. Although EPCRA allows for abbreviated reporting (“Tier 1”) and full reporting (“Tier 2”), all states presently require Tier 2 reporting. Most agencies require facilities to use EPA’s “Tier 2” reporting forms and/or “Tier2/Submit” software, but some states have promulgated their own variants. Inventory reports are due on March 1 for the preceding calendar year, so January is a great time to confirm that your facility has collected and stored the appropriate data.
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Tags:
Health & Safety,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EHS,
EPA,
Hazcom
SEC activities during 2012 have been dominated by its efforts to issue rules required by two major pieces of recent legislation:
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Tags:
Corporate Governance,
SEC,
Audit Standards,
JOBS Act
Do you ever discuss work with co-worker friends on Facebook or other social media sites? Or, if you’re an employer, do you worry about what your employees may post about work on their Facebook pages—even when they do so from home after hours?
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Business & Legal,
Employer Best Practices,
Employee Rights,
Internet,
NLRB
2012 has been a relatively quiet one for environmental health and safety (EH&S) compliance personnel. Fewer new laws are enacted in election years, because some or all of the lawmakers are busy running for election or re-election.
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Tags:
Health & Safety,
OSHA,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EHS,
EPA,
Greenhouse Gas,
ghg,
Hazcom
Response to Criminal Violations in the Deepwater Horizon Disaster
On November 28, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it was temporarily suspending BP from all new contracts with the U.S. government. EPA acted two weeks after BP agreed to plead guilty to 14 criminal counts, including manslaughter, obstruction of Congress and other criminal charges stemming from the 2012 Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill. BP also agreed to pay $4.5 billion in penalties. Federal agencies have authority to issue temporary suspensions and longer-term “debarments” to parties that violate criminal laws (over three thousand were issued in the last fiscal year). EPA is the lead agency doing so for violations of national water and air laws. The effects on BP could be significant: BP is currently the largest lease-holder in deep water portions of the Gulf of Mexico, and in 2011 was the largest supplier of fuels to the U.S. military. Its existing contracts are not affected, but it is ineligible for new ones (for example, the company has already had to skip a round of deep water leasing by the Department of the Interior).
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International,
Health & Safety,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EPA,
Hazcom
While we watch negotiators in Doha, Qatar continue to struggle to find international agreement on effective climate change minimization measures, it's useful to look at one part of the planet where aggressive actions are underway. No, not the U.S. federal government, which took time out of preparations for “fiscal cliff” negotiations to pass a law on November 27 empowering the Department of Transportation to prohibit U.S. airlines from participation in the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (Public Law No. 112-200). This month's prime example of action is California, which just held its first auction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission allowances to inaugurate a statewide cap-and-trade program.
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Tags:
California Legislation,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
Greenhouse Gas,
ghg,
climate change
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 prohibits U.S. companies from making bribes or other “corrupt payments” to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Concerns that this U.S. attempt to mediate its companies’ overseas activities might prove quixotic—and potentially disadvantaging—to American competitiveness have abated (although not disappeared) since the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) promulgated its “Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.” As of November 2012 the OECD Convention has been ratified by all 34 OECD member countries, and five others as well.
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Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
SEC,
Employer Best Practices,
International
Domestic violence is a widespread problem with serious consequences for the victims, their families and their workplaces as well. In 2005 a national telephone survey by the Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence found that 44% of the employed U.S. adults surveyed reported having personally experienced the effects of domestic violence in their workplace, and 21% identified themselves as victims. The same survey reported that 38% of respondents were “somewhat” to “extremely” concerned for their own safety when they learned that one of their co-workers was being victimized.
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Tags:
Business & Legal,
Employer Best Practices,
Health & Safety,
OSHA,
Employee Rights,
Workplace violence
The presence of “hazardous” materials in your workplace can trigger a wide variety of environmental health and safety requirements and hazardous waste regulations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and state worker protection agencies issue standards to protect workers during occupational handling and storage. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state environmental agencies issue requirements governing the management of hazardous wastes, and emissions to a variety of environmental media (air, water and land).
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Tags:
Employer Best Practices,
Health & Safety,
OSHA,
Employee Rights,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EPA,
Hazcom
Do you know what happened to any paints, coatings and surface preparation materials left over after the last project at your facility?
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Tags:
Business & Legal,
Audit Standards,
Health & Safety,
California Legislation,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
Hazcom
