Based on a limited survey of the Certified Unified Program Agencies (CUPAs) of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA), the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) found the following top eight violations:
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Tags: Corporate Governance, Health & Safety, Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA
Do you ever wonder whether auditing of greenhouse gas emissions is working? It may be a bit early in the game to say for sure, given that GHG emission tracking standards are a recent phenomenon. But an annual report compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may be a good gauge of trends in emission reductions, judging by its latest installment.
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Tags: Corporate Governance, Business & Legal, Health & Safety, Environmental risks, Environmental, EHS, EPA, Greenhouse Gas, ghg
Most laws include penalty provisions, for assessment against people who fail to comply with legal responsibilities created by the laws. Back in 1996, Congress noticed that inflation was steadily reducing the deterrent effects of the penalties set forth in statutes, and that Congress itself was not reliably adjusting the maximum penalties assessable by enforcement personnel. Rather than burden itself with a responsibility to amend laws to keep up with inflation, Congress enacted the passed Debt Collection Improvement Act (DCIA) of 1996 to assign that responsibility to administrative agencies. DCIA requires most federal agencies to issue rules at least every 4 years, adjusting most penalties for inflation. In the ensuing 17 years, most agencies have made these periodic adjustments—larger in times of high inflation and lower in times of low inflation.
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Tags: Corporate Governance, Business & Legal, Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA
On October 28, British Columbia, California, Oregon and Washington signed the Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy, committing themselves to align efforts to control greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions to combat climate change, and to promote clean energy. The Action Plan is adopted under the aegis of the Pacific Coast Collaborative, which encompasses these four jurisdictions plus Alaska.
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Tags: California Legislation, Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA, Greenhouse Gas, ghg, climate change, Canadian
It’s common knowledge now that lead is a systemic poison. Overexposure to it can damage our blood-forming, nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. In the past, lead was commonly added to industrial paints because of its characteristic corrosion resistance and color enhancement. Lead Poisoning Prevention Week takes place from October 20–26. Sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this year’s event focuses on protecting children from exposure to lead. EPA and partner agencies such as HUD are helping raise awareness among parents of ways to combat lead poisoning, from monitoring children’s consumption of certain types of imported candy to screening those most liable to be exposed to lead in the home.
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Tags: Business & Legal, California Legislation, Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA
The greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program overseen by California’s Air Resources Board (ARB), which began earlier this year, not only allows for use of approved offsets to meet a portion of an entity’s emission reduction requirements. Entities will soon also be able to comply with the program by participating in its counterpart in the Canadian province of Quebec. By January 1, 2014, ARB’s cap-and-trade program will be linked with Quebec’s. A press release from ARB sums up key features of the linkage:
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Tags: Health & Safety, Environmental risks, Environmental, EPA, Greenhouse Gas, ghg
Do you know what's in the chemical products you buy and use, and whether they're "safe?" Effective October 1, 2013, California regulations provide criteria and procedures for state-level identification and listing of likely-hazardous chemicals of concern. Manufacturers and importers will be required to evaluate chemicals of concern in consumer products, their potential alternatives, and how best to limit exposure or reduce hazards. Assemblers and retailers will have related responsibilities. Although these requirements apply directly only within California, any reviews and reformulations are likely to affect global production and distribution decisions.
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Tags: Health & Safety, California Legislation, Environmental, EHS, EPA, Hazcom
One small but critically important sub-category of chemical incidents consists of those that can produce mass casualties, usually when a cloud of toxic or superheated gases are spewed out by a fire or explosion. Given America’s fragmented approach to hazardous materials regulation, it’s no surprise that separate regulatory programs have grown up to address these concerns—leading inevitably to overlaps and gaps in coverage.
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Tags: Corporate Governance, Business & Legal, Health & Safety, OSHA, Environmental risks, Environmental, EHS, EPA, Greenhouse Gas, Hazcom
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Tags: Business & Legal, Employer Best Practices, Health & Safety, Environmental risks, Environmental, EHS, EPA, RCRA
If government provided a unified approach to chemical regulation, then each chemical might be subject to a single set of requirements, which ideally would be tailored to reflect chemical-specific hazards throughout its life cycle. Instead, each chemical is subject to its own loosely connected (some would say haphazard) collection of environmental, health and safety (EH&S) requirements. Some are federal, some are state (or provincial if you’re in Canada), and others are regional and even local. You may need to refer to agencies at all three levels (federal, state and local) to identify your regulators and their requirements – although many organizations only deal with the agency responsible for permitting and inspecting day-to-day activities.
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Tags: Audit Standards, Environmental risks, Environmental, EHS, EPA, Hazcom, MSDS, mact