Category: EPA

Landfill with blue sky and cumulus clouds
EPA / Food Waste
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Food Waste, Methane Gas, and the EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency on Oct. 19 released new reports regarding the impact of methane emissions from food waste. As previously discussed in this space[i], many states have passed regulations to address methane emissions. These regulations include — among other things — waste collection programs so food waste does not end up in landfills. 

Over one-third of the food produced in the United States is not consumed. When the food waste is sent to landfills, it generates methane gas. Methane gas is a major contributor …

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Chemical hazard pictograms Toxic focus
CERCLA / EPA / PFAS
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CERCLA’n the Wagons: Even as it Seeks to Expand PFAS Regulations, EPA Will Not Enforce Rules Against Certain Groups

Since early 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency has pursued authority to establish a rule designating PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) as “hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund Act. 

On August 12, 2022, the CERCLA PFAS designation effort advanced significantly when the Office of Management and Budget approved the EPA’s plan to designate PFOA and PFOS — perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluoroctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) — as hazards. This opened the door for the EPA …

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EPA Offices, Washington DC
Emissions / EPA
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Lawsuits Claim EPA’s EtO Rules are Too Little, Too Late

Following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2016 finding that ethylene oxide (EtO), a highly effective chemical routinely used to sterilize medical devices and equipment, was significantly more hazardous than previously understood, individuals and shareholders began filing lawsuits against various EtO-using entities throughout the United States with no end in sight. At the end of last month, however, it was the EPA that became the legal target of furious environmental justice and health advocates acting on behalf of the communities the EPA is tasked to …

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on an flat roof there cooling air conditioning
Emerging Issues / EPA
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EPA Announces Latest Actions to Address Hydrofluorocarbons

Nearly one year after ratifying the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Environmental Protection Agency announced two additional actions to further this initiative under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM).  The Kigali Amendment is an international agreement aimed at phasing down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (“HFCs”) by 80-85 percent by 2047. It also seeks to avoid up to .5 °C of global warming by 2100.

By way of background, HFCs are used in applications …

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EPA Offices, Washington DC
Emerging Issues / EPA
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EPA Updates FOIA Regs to Promote Transparency and Affordability of Information Concerning Environmental Justice Issues

On September 7, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it was updating its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations through its Phase II FOIA final rule. This “modernization,” is part of EPA’s continued efforts to advance transparency – here, by improving the EPA’s FOIA program through a renewed focus on accountability, affordability, and better access to information for communities of color with environmental justice concerns. The final rule is a wider part of the Biden Administration’s general promise to prioritize consideration of communities …

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EPA / WOTUS
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EPA Redefines ‘Waters of the United States’ to Conform with Supreme Court Decision

On August 29, the Environmental Protection Agency announced its final rule amending its definition of “waters of the United States.”  This new definition was written to conform with the Supreme Court’s May 24, 2023 ruling in Sackett v. EPA 598 U.S. _____(2023) (discussed in a previous blog here).  

The Sackett decision held in favor of the Sacketts, who wanted to build a home on an empty lot near a lake in Idaho. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the couple and held …

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View of world from 40000 feet, clouds and blue sea.
EPA
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The Good, the Bad, the Ozone

Pop quiz: What is the naturally occurring gas that forms a life-sustaining, protective barrier when in the Earth’s stratosphere (15-30km above the surface), blocking harmful ultra-violet radiation reaching the planet from the sun?

Ozone!

Round two: What is the noxious gas that can cause wheezing, shortness of breath, and even permanent lung damage when produced by low-to-the ground industrial pollution?

Also, Ozone!

Yes, that same gas that we were all motivated and mobilized to restore into the sky back in the 80’s and 90’s has …

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EPA Offices, Washington DC
Emerging Issues / EPA
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FDA to EPA: Pump the Brakes on New EtO Rules During Supply Chain Shortage

With COVID diagnoses spiking across the United States this summer, we cannot yet claim that the pandemic is behind us. In fact, we are still experiencing residual medical device and equipment shortages, which has caused medical providers to spend billions on alternative sterile medical products and even implementing rations in some cases. Complicating the issue is the fact that, typically, only a handful of manufacturers and suppliers distribute these life-saving products, so alternatives can be difficult to procure. Shortages appear to be endangering other …

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greenhouse-gas-emissions
Emissions / EPA
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Environmental Protection Agency Proposes New Air Emissions Reporting Requirements

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced July 25 proposed updates to its Air Emissions Reporting Requirements (AERR), including a proposal to require the reporting of hazardous air pollutants, or “air toxics” (substances known or suspected to cause cancer and other serious health effects). This update seeks to provide the EPA with accessible data allowing it to identify locations in need of solutions for people exposed to harmful air pollution, which communities can use to understand sources of air pollution that may be affecting them ­– …

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workers in a cement factory work outdoors with a tablet planning their work and checking concrete structures
Emerging Issues / EPA
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EPA Revises Carbon Tetrachloride Risk Determination to Protect Worker Health and Fenceline Communities

Carbon tetrachloride (CTC) is a solvent used as a raw material in commercial settings to produce chemicals such as hydrofluoroolefins for refrigerants, aerosol propellants, foam-blowing agents, chlorinated compounds, and agricultural products.

Notably, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of CTC in consumer products in 1970. Additionally, in 1996, CTC was phased out from production in the United States for most domestic uses that did not involve manufacturing other chemicals as a result of requirements under the Montreal Protocol and the Clean Air …

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