Guidance recently issued by the U.S. EPA details the Obama administration’s national strategy for encouraging municipalities to utilize existing and new green infrastructure to help alleviate climate change. The EPA guidance document, which was released on February 22 and can be read in its entirety here, encourages municipalities to review local ordinances and planning documents to encourage the use of green infrastructure techniques which mimic natural processes such as the use of vegetation to slow down the flow of stormwater and to capture runoff before undiluted pollutants from paved surfaces can enter stormwater and combined sewer sanitary systems. Such techniques… Read more
Tag: Phillip Hoover
EPA Sets Stricter NESHAP Standards for Off-Site Waste and Recovery Operations
Effective immediately, a new EPA rule (RIN 2060-AR47) updates the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for off-site waste and recovery operations. This rule implements more stringent toxic air pollutant requirements for process vents and tanks at facilities which treat, recover and/or dispose waste, used solvents, or used oil. The EPA rule will also enforce more stringent leak detection and repair requirements for valves and pumps. The rule requires new and existing affected sources to comply with 40 C.F.R. Part 63, Subpart H rather than 40 C.F.R. Part 61, Subpart V, including Subpart H requirements for connectors in… Read more
EPA Defends Standards for Air Toxics from Solid Waste Incinerators
The EPA is currently defending its process for establishing standards for emissions of hazardous air pollutants from solid waste incinerators before the D.C. Court of Appeals.[1] Historically, EPA takes a pollutant-by-pollutant approach when determining maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards for commercial and industrial solid waste incineration units. Industry groups have attacked the EPA’s approach which resulted in standards that cannot actually be achieved by existing industrial incinerators. These groups argue that the Clean Air Act requires EPA to set MACT standards based on average overall industry emissions, rather than selecting the best performing units for each individual pollutant. Conversely,… Read more
Federal Court: Manure From Dairy is Solid Waste Regulated by RCRA
In a first-time ruling, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington ruled in January that manure from a dairy is solid waste regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and that excessive spreading of manure on agricultural fields, and leachate from storage lagoons, present an imminent and substantial endangerment that can be enjoined through a citizen suit under RCRA. Community Association for Restoration of the Environment (CARE) v. Cow Palace, LLC, No. 13-CV-3016-TOR (E.D. Wash. 1/14/15). Judge Thomas Rice granted summary judgment to CARE, holding that when excessive manure is applied to crops without regard for… Read more
New Draft Guidance Proposed by CEQ Encourages Climate Change Evaluation in Environmental Impact Statements
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on December 19 proposed updated guidance for assessing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). CEQ has responsibility for providing guidance to federal agencies on compliance with NEPA’s environmental assessment requirements. The new proposed guidance updates CEQ’s 2010 draft guidance on how agencies should assess projects’ GHG impacts. The draft guidance for the first time includes guidance on the so-called “reverse environmental impact” assessment of the impacts of climate change on proposed projects. The draft also details how federal agencies should analyze and mitigate… Read more
EPA Proposes to Allow Biomass Energy as GHG Control
On November 19, EPA released a policy memo that allows states to rely on energy generated from “waste-derived and certain forest-derived industrial byproduct feedstocks” as tools for compliance with EPA’s proposed existing source performance standards (ESPS) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The memo announced that EPA will propose a rule exempting waste and “sustainably derived” biomass from best available control technology (BACT) requirements in stationary source permits, and will revise its prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) rules to “include an exemption from the [BACT] requirement for GHGs from waste-derived feedstocks and from non-waste biogenic feedstocks derived from sustainable forest or… Read more
Lifting of CSAPR Stay Could Reinstate Cap and Trade Air Pollution Rule
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted its stay of EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) on October 23, following the April 29 Supreme Court ruling affirming portions of the rule. The stay was lifted even though the D.C. Circuit is still considering challenges to CSAPR that were not addressed in its prior ruling, or in the Supreme Court case. Because the court did not also toll the January 1, 2015 compliance deadline for the first phase of CSAPR, there is uncertainty as to whether and how soon compliance must be achieved. CSAPR replaced the Bush-era Clean Air Interstate Rule… Read more
EPA Guidance on Vapor Intrusion is One Step Away From Publication
On September 25, EPA sent two draft guidance documents on vapor intrusion to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OMB review is the last step before publication of the guidance. One guidance generally addresses vapor intrusion issues for all compounds, and the other focuses on petroleum hydrocarbons released from underground storage tanks (USTs). The purpose of the guidance is “to provide technical and management guidance to field investigators when conducting vapor intrusion investigations and response actions.” Drafts of the guidance were issued for public comment in 2013. The guidance addressing all compounds, including chlorinated solvents, describes a framework for… Read more
EPA Plans to Increase Chemicals to be Monitored in CWA Permits
In response to a report of its Inspector General (IG), EPA has announced plans to require wastewater treatment plants to monitor additional chemical pollutants and notify regulators when limits are exceeded. Issued September 29, the final IG report, entitled “More Action is Needed to Protect Water Resources From Unmonitored Hazardous Chemicals”, identified a gap in monitoring and reporting on over 300 chemicals that would be considered hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), but are exempted from regulation because they are discharged to wastewater treatment plants. However, most publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) do not monitor for… Read more
EPA’s Proposed Carbon Dioxide Rule is Flexible but Complex
In June, the EPA proposed a rule designed to limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. The rule provides flexibility to states as to how to achieve the reduction goals; however, some states who will be charged with administering the program have expressed concern over the proposed rules’ frontloading of carbon emission reductions and the selection of a single year, 2012, for establishing each state’s baseline. In Georgia, for instance, the EPA has already taken into account two proposed nuclear facilities that have yet to be constructed. The State of Georgia asserts that if Georgia Power experiences delays or… Read more