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.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at

info@calthacompany.com

or

Caltha LLP Website

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.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at

info@calthacompany.com

or

Caltha LLP Website

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.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at

info@calthacompany.com

or

Caltha LLP Website

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.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at

info@calthacompany.com

or

Caltha LLP Website

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.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at

info@calthacompany.com

or

Caltha LLP Website

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

Greenhouse Gas Permiting in AZ, AR, ID, KS, OR, WY & TX

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed the final series of actions that will ensure that the largest industrial facilities can get Clean Air Act permits that cover greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions beginning in January 2011. The first set of actions will give EPA authority to permit GHGs in seven states (Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Oregon, and Wyoming) until the state or local agencies can revise their permitting regulations to cover these emissions. EPA is taking additional steps to disapprove part of Texas' Clean Air Act permitting program and the agency will also issue GHG permits to facilities in the state. These actions will ensure that large industrial facilities will be able to receive permits for greenhouse gas emissions regardless of where they are located.

In the second set of actions, EPA has issued final rules that will ensure that there are no federal laws in place that require any state to issue a permit for GHG emissions below levels outlined in the tailoring rule.

Beginning in January 2011, industries that are large emitters of GHGs, and are planning to build new facilities or make major modifications to existing ones, must obtain air permits and implement energy efficiency measures or, where available, cost-effective technology to reduce their GHGs emissions. EPA will propose standards for power plants in July 2011 and for refineries in December 2011 and will issue final standards in May 2012 and November 2012, respectively.

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.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at

info@calthacompany.com

or

Caltha LLP Website