Minnesota Environmental Permit Streamlining Executive Order

Governor Mark Dayton has signed an executive order directing the Minnesota Department Natural Resources and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to take actions to streamline environmental permitting processes used by the agencies and to better align environmental requirements with adjoining States and States within EPA Region 5.

The order requires:

“1. The Commissioners shall accelerate and simplify environmental review and permitting by enabling environmental review and permit applications to be submitted electronically.
2. The Commissioners shall establish a goal for each of their agencies to decide, within 150 days after the agency determines that an environmental or natural resource permit application is complete, whether to issue the permit. The Commissioners shall, within six months after the effective date of this order, submit to the Governor a progress report on meeting the goal and any additional administrative recommendations to further reduce decision times.
3. The Commissioners shall establish a goal for each of their agencies to decide, within 30 days after an environmental impact statement is finally approved, whether to issue the permit. The Commissioners shall promptly report to the Governor any decisions that do not meet the goal. 4. The Commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency shall, within 60 days after the effective date of this order, evaluate and report to the Governor any recommendations the Commissioner deems appropriate to amend Minnesota Statutes, section 115.07, and applicable Minnesota Rules, to be more consistent with federal regulations that, under certain conditions, permit construction to commence before a water discharge permit is issued.
5. The Commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency shall include, in any statement of need and reasonableness for rules to adopt air quality or hazardous waste or water quality standards, an analysis of proposed standards that are more stringent than similar federal standards including justification for why the standards are needed to protect public health and the environment, and a comparison to similar standards in border states and states within Environmental Protection Agency region 5”


The Executive Order will become effective 15 days after publication in the State Register and filing with the Secretary of State.

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the evaluation environmental rules, developing EH&S compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective EH&S management programs.

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Environmental Regulatory Overview Course, Minneapolis, April 2011

The ACHMM-NSC EH&S Regulatory / CHMM Overview Workshop provides a comprehensive overview of the major regulatory programs, topics and concerns in environmental, health & safety management. Although some participants attend the course to prepare to take the Certified Hazardous Material Manager (CHMM) exam, many environmental professionals take the Regulatory / CHMM Overview Workshop to enhance their breadth of competence in their professions and/or to get up-to-date.

Course Dates: April 19 through April 21, 2011
Course Location: Bloomington, Minnesota

For registration information, go to:

http://www.ahmp-nsc.org/course.php

Course highlights include...

Federal Statutes Overview

Liability and Compliance

Clean Water Act

Clean Air Act

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)

Community Right-to-Know (SARA Title III - EPCRA)

Chemistry of Hazardous Materials

Toxicology

Geology

Radiation Principles for Hazardous Materials Managers

Asbestos

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)

OSHA

Accident Scenario

Environmental Management Systems

Environmental Considerations in Real Estate/ Due Diligence Assessments

Underground Storage Tanks

Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA)

Waste Analysis

Hazardous Waste Treatment Technologies

Waste Reduction/Minimization and Pollution Prevention

Compliance Audits

Motivation of Employees with Respect to Environmental Matters

CHMM Code of Ethics

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the evaluation environmental rules, developing EH&S compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective EH&S management programs.

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Extension Granted For Final Boiler MACT

A federal District Court judge in Washington D.C. issued an order extending EPA’s deadline to issue emission standards for large and small boilers and solid waste and sewage sludge incinerators by 30 days.

Once issued, the standards, commonly referred to as the Boiler MACT, will be significantly different than those proposed in April 2010. The agency expects to solicit further comment on the revised rules. The rules would become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the evaluation environmental rules, developing EH&S compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective EH&S management programs.

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Air Emission Monitoring Data For Animal Feeding Operations

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released data from a two-year study of air emissions from animal feeding operations (AFOs). AFOs, which house large numbers of animals for production of meat, dairy products and eggs, were monitored for four air pollutants: ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds.

The data are from the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study, which resulted from a 2005 voluntary compliance agreement between EPA and the AFO industry. The study was funded by industry and conducted by Purdue University researchers with EPA oversight. The study monitored emissions at AFOs that raise pigs and broiler chickens, at egg-laying operations, and at dairies, with a total of 24 monitoring sites in nine states.

EPA will use data from the studies to help develop improved methodologies for estimating AFO emissions. Such methodologies are commonly used to estimate emissions from industries where site-specific monitoring data are not available. EPA expects to make draft methodologies available for public review and comment on a rolling basis, beginning in spring 2011.

EPA also is issuing a Call for Information seeking data from other monitoring studies of AFO emissions, especially from operations that raise pigs, chickens, turkeys and beef cattle, and for egg-laying and dairy cattle operations. EPA is requesting quality-assured data on emissions of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds, along with information about how animals are housed or managed, and how manure is stored and treated at the monitored operations.

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the evaluation environmental rules, developing EH&S compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective EH&S management programs.

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Deferal of GHG Permit Requirements For Biomass Fired Sources

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a plan to defer for three years green house gas (GHG) permitting requirements for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from biomass-fired and other biogenic sources. EPA intends to use this time to seek further independent scientific analysis and then to develop a rulemaking on how these emissions should be treated in determining whether a Clean Air Act permit is required.

By July 2011, EPA plans to complete a rulemaking that will defer permitting requirements for CO2 emissions from biomass-fired and other biogenic sources for three years. During the three-year period, the agency will seek input on scientific issues. EPA will also further consider the comments it received from its July 2010 Call for Information, including comments noting that burning certain types of biomass may emit the same amount of CO2 emissions that would be emitted if they were not burned as fuel, while others may result in a net increase in CO2 emissions. Before the end of the three-year period, the agency intends to issue a second rulemaking that determines how these emissions should be treated or counted under GHG permitting requirements.

The agency also plans to issue guidance that will provide a basis that state or local permitting authorities may use to conclude that the use of biomass as fuel is the best available control technology for GHG emissions until the agency can complete an action on the three-year deferral in July.

EPA has also notified the National Alliance of Forest Owners that it will grant its petition to reconsider the portion of the May 2010 tailoring rule that addresses the same issue.

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the evaluation environmental rules, developing EH&S compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective EH&S management programs.

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Risk and Technology Review RTR For Secondary Lead Smelters

In December 2010, US EPA initiated its Risk and Technology Review (RTR) for Secondary Lead Smelters. The review will address both EPA's obligation under Clean Air Act (CAA) section 112(f)(2) and 112(d)(6) to conduct a residual risk review and to conduct a technology review.

Under the "technology review" provision of CAA section 112, EPA is required to review maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards and to revise them "as necessary (taking into account developments in practices, processes and control technologies)" no less frequently than every 8 years. Under the "residual risk" provision of CAA section 112, EPA must evaluate the MACT standards within 8 years after promulgation and promulgate standards if required to provide an ample margin of safety to protect public health or prevent an adverse environmental effect. These reviews will address possible residual risks, technology advancements, and technical deficiencies in the existing MACT.

The MACT standards for Secondary Lead Smelters, also known as the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Secondary Lead Smelters, were promulgated in 1995 under Clean Air Act Section 112(d). The standards establish emission limitations and work practice standards for all new and existing secondary lead smelters that produce refined lead from lead scrap, mainly recycled spent lead acid batteries.

EPA anticipates the RTR for Secondary Lead Smelters will be published in the Federal Register in May 2011.

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the evaluation environmental rules, developing EH&S compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective EH&S management programs.

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IUR Report Deadline - When Are Inventory Update Rule Reports Due?

[Note: IUR Rule has been revised in August 2011. Click here to review summary of new rule]

Calender year 2010 was a reporting year under the TSCA Inventory Update Rule (IUR), and operations subject to IUR reporting will need to submit reports in 2011. Under Section 8(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), every five years companies that either manufacture or import chemicals or mixtures of chemicals on the “TSCA List” must report their activities. The reporting requirement, referred to as the “Inventory Update Rule”, or IUR, is only one of several requirements in TSCA. The IUR requirements are the most broadly applicable of all the TSCA requirements.

When are 2011 IUR reports due?

According to the Chemical Control Division at the Environmental Protection Agency the submission period for 2011 TSCA IUR reporting is from June 1 - September 1, 2011. However, there are proposed changes to what is required for submittal. These were drafted last July, but these changes have not yet been approved. EPA expects that the submittal requirements will be finalized by at least 30 days prior to the beginning of the reporting period (by May 1, 2011).

If approved as drafted, the majority of information required will be from 2010, however, there will also be additional production data required from the years 2006 - 2010.

Caltha LLP provides technical support to clients nationwide in the preparation of IUR reports, TSCA compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective chemical tracking and reporting programs.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at

info@calthacompany.com or Caltha LLP Website