One of the Dodd-Frank Act’s many directives to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was to require annual disclosures by publicly listed “resource extraction issuers” of payments they make to the U.S. federal government or foreign governments, related to commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals. SEC thought it met this directive when it issued Rule 13q-1 and associated Form SD in August 2012. However, on July 2, 2013 a federal judge decided that SEC misapplied its authority, and so vacated these provisions and remanded the issue to SEC to try again (American Petroleum Institute v. SEC). Since Dodd-Frank required issuer reporting to begin no less than one year after SEC issued rules, the issuer reporting requirement is now on hold—but the statutory requirement remains in place so further rulemaking should be expected.
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Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
SEC,
International,
Health & Safety,
Environmental,
Greenhouse Gas,
ghg,
fracking,
hydraulic fracking
Partisan divides in Washington are preventing legislative action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and climate change, but President Obama recently announced administrative initiatives to advance these efforts even without Congressional action. His new Climate Action Plan reaffirms domestic initiatives led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and international GHG emission reduction and climate change efforts. The Plan has the following three main “pillars”:
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Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EPA,
Greenhouse Gas,
ghg,
climate change
Organizations increasingly need specialized guidance in order to self-audit and show efforts to comply with legislation, and demonstrate due diligence.
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Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Audit Standards,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EHS,
mact
July 1 was the deadline for subject facilities to file their annual toxic chemical release inventory (TRI) reports with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and their state, on one of two EPA-mandated forms, Form R or Form A. These TRI reports are mandated by Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA), which was adopted as the first Congressional response to the December 1984 toxic gas disaster in Bhopal, India.
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Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Health & Safety,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EHS,
Hazcom
California Revises Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Certification Rules
The latest State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) regulatory tweaks broaden coverage but also give wastewater treatment plant owners some welcome wiggle room. Effective April 1, 2013, the SWRCB has revised its regulations regarding wastewater treatment plant classification, operator certification, and contractor registration. The rules have been expanded to cover privately owned wastewater treatment plants. However, they also establish a provisional operator certification. This means owners of Class I wastewater treatment plants who are finding it hard to recruit certified operators may employ provisional operators while conducting their search. In addition, the definition of wastewater treatment plant has been revised to clearly state that water recycling treatment plants are included within the definition. Numerous other key changes affecting California CCR compliance have been made to these regulations.
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Corporate Governance,
Employer Best Practices,
Health & Safety,
California Legislation,
Training,
Environmental risks,
Environmental
PSD Rules Rescinded In Part
Recent court decisions rescind portions of EPA Clean Air Act rules governing Prevention of Serious Deterioration (PSD) and renewable fuels. For example, in October 2010, EPA adopted rules allowing for significant impact levels (SILs) and significant monitoring concentrations (SMCs) for sources of PM-2.5. However, in January of this year the D.C. Circuit upheld most elements of the 2012 standards, but vacated and remanded provisions establishing and applying projections of cellulosic biofuel use. American Petroleum Institute v. EPA, ___ F.3d ___ (D.C. Cir. 2013).
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Health & Safety,
OSHA,
Environmental risks,
Environmental,
EPA,
ghg
Organizations with a well-established ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) are discovering a new advantage as the issue of “social responsibility” becomes more widespread throughout business communities. EMS managers are finding that techniques and methodology from their EMS can be used to identify and prioritize social responsibility issues and efficiently integrate them into their organization. Furthermore, managers building an EMS system are able to develop it in concert with social responsibility initiatives.
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Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
Employer Best Practices,
Environmental,
EHS,
EPA
On May 28 Walmart bundled guilty pleas in a number of pending federal cases alleging environmental compliance violations at some of the company’s 4600+ stores in the U.S. These arose because Walmart had not implemented a corporate hazardous waste management program until January 2006, leaving locations to manage—or mismanage—such wastes.
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Corporate Governance,
Business & Legal,
California Legislation,
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Environmental,
EPA,
Hazcom
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer provides the international framework for protecting the earth’s stratospheric ozone layer, by identifying and minimizing emissions of ozone depleting substances (ODSs). The original Montreal Protocol was initialed in September 1987. The U.S. was an original signatory, ratified in 1988, and became subject to agreed-upon provisions on January 1, 1989. Title VI of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments incorporates these international commitments into U.S. law, and assigns the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fine-tune and enforce domestic requirements.
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Environmental,
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climate change
Various changes were made to environmental legislation during 2012, both in the US and internationally. Here follows a summary of some of the headlines.
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International,
California Legislation,
Environmental,
EPA,
Greenhouse Gas,
ghg,
Stormwater
