The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) program offers guidance how to use ventilation to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses in “indoor public spaces” including offices and commercial locations. As north America approaches winter months when more people spend more time indoors, it’s a good time to review these suggestions. The rest of this note summarizes EPA guidance.
Read MoreTags: EPA, clean air, workplace safety, Indoor Air Quality, Health and Safety Compliance, IAQ, Ventilation Strategies, Respiratory Virus Prevention
The Clean Air Act (CAA) directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to define “hazardous air pollutants (HAPs)” that may pose acute health hazards, and to impose regulations to reduce those hazards. Controls include permits for “major sources” of HAPs based on “Maximum Achievable Control Technologies (MACT),” and lesser controls for non-major “area sources.” Effective September 10, 2024 EPA has reinstated a policy that an emission source that met major source criteria at the time an applicable MACT became effective is “once in, always in” – even if a source makes binding changes reducing its “potential to emit” below the applicable major source threshold, it still cannot formally requalify as a less-regulated area source. This policy was in force from 1995 until EPA reversed it in January 2018 to allow full reclassification. EPA subsequently codified this approach in a rule issued in 2020. However, EPA has now revised that rule to reinstate “once in, always in.” The rest of this note summarizes CAA requirements for HAP sources, and the latest change.
Read MoreTags: Environmental risks, CAA, clean air, Air Toxics, Environment, Clean Air Act, environmental protection
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 7. 2024 its decision to tighten one the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter less than or equal to 2.5 microns; (PM-2.5; also call “fines” in contrast to larger particulates). This decision completes EPA’s reconsideration of a decision in 2020 not to adjust the PM-2.5 requirements (I wrote about that decision HERE); the change reflects in part the changed priorities between the Trump and Biden administrations. The rest of this note summarizes NAAQS issues as they apply to PM-2.5.
Read MoreTags: Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA, clean air, Air Toxics, Environment, Clean Air Act, Environmental Policy
On January 10, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Justice, and the California Air Resources Board (ARB) filed a settlement agreement with Cummins, Inc. covering nearly one million Ram vehicles for which Cummins supplied diesel engines with illegal software-based “defeat devices” that produced misleading emission certification results compared with significantly higher emissions while the vehicles are in actual use. Cummins will pay the largest CAA penalties ever ($1,675 million in federal and state penalties), will fund environmental mitigation projects to compensate for excess nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions ($175 million), and will also recall 630,000 vehicles (model years 2013-2019) to remove the defeat devices (estimated costs $150 million, including warranty extensions). Cummins will also implement corporate governance, organizational, and technical process reforms to minimize the likelihood of future violations.
Read MoreTags: Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA, clean air, Environment, Clean Air Act, Environmental Policy
Effective March 2, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued rules governing the agency’s administrative civil inspection procedures (40 CFR s. 31.1). These new rules meet a requirement created by President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 13892 (“Promoting the Rule of Law Through Transparency and Fairness in Civil Administrative Enforcement and Adjudication”), issued October 9, 2019 (I wrote about this EO HERE). The new rules apply to on-site civil inspections conducted by EPA personnel, and to federally credentialled contractors and Senior Environmental Employment (SEE) employees conducting inspections on EPA’s behalf; they do not apply to criminal investigations, nor to state and state-credentialled inspections.
Read MoreTags: Business & Legal, Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA, clean water, clean air
Effective March 12, 2020, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) prohibits its US attorneys from entering into settlements in which DOJ lowers penalties for defendants that agree to conduct “supplemental environmental projects (SEPs)”, if the SEP involves payments to a third party. This action is the latest in a series of DOJ moves against SEPs since President Trump took office. The first such step was a June 2017 DOJ management memorandum directing US attorneys NOT to agree to SEPs that include payments to third parties (I wrote about that memo HERE). The second was an August 2019 memorandum restricting use of SEPs in Clean Water Act (CWA) cases against state and local governments, in which DOJ rejected arguments that recent legislation allows them (I wrote about that memo HERE).
Read MoreTags: Business & Legal, Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA, clean water, clean air, DOJ, SEP, CWA, Environmental Projects