Environmental Justice Guidance Document

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released interim guidance to help agency staff incorporate environmental justice into the agency’s rulemaking process.

The guidance document, “Interim Guidance on Considering Environmental Justice During the Development of an Action”, seeks to advance environmental justice for low-income, minority and indigenous communities and tribal governments who have been historically underrepresented in the regulatory decision-making process. The guidance also outlines the multiple steps that EPA program offices can take to incorporate the needs of overburdened neighborhoods into the agency’s decision-making, scientific analysis, and rule development.

EPA is also seeking public feedback on how to best implement and improve the guide for agency staff to further advance efforts toward environmental justice.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address Environmental Review and Environmental Impact Assessment.

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TSCA Amendment proposed - Compound 1080 and Sodium Cyanide Elimination Act

A bill has been introduced in the US House of Representatives to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)to prohibit the use, production, sale, importation or exportation of the poison sodium fluoroacetate (known as "Compound 1080") and to prohibit the use of sodium cyanide for predator control.

This bill would add sodium fluoroacetate to polychlorinated biphenyls and mercury as substances banned by Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2605. In addition, the bill would prohibit the use of sodium cyanide in a predator control device, a defined term in the bill.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address Environmental Review and Environmental Impact Assessment.

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Chemicals of High Concern List Under Toxic Free Kids Act

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has published a list of almost 1,800 chemicals, and materials, such as diesel engine exhaust, soots, tars, and mineral oils, it has determined to be Chemicals of High Concern.

The Minnesota Toxic Free Kids Act of 2009 required that the MDH, after consultation with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), generate a list of Chemicals of High Concern by July 1, 2010. The chemicals on the list must meet these criteria identified in Minn. Stat. 2009 116.9401:

"Chemical of high concern" means a chemical identified on the basis of credible
scientific evidence by a state, federal, or international agency as being known or suspected with a high degree of probability to:

• harm the normal development of a fetus or child or cause other developmental
  toxicity;
• cause cancer, genetic damage, or reproductive harm;
• disrupt the endocrine or hormone system;
• damage the nervous system, immune system, or organs, or cause other systemic toxicity;
• be persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic; or
• be very persistent and very bioaccumulative
  

The law also instructed MDH to “consider chemicals listed as a suspected carcinogen, reproductive or developmental toxicant, or as being persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic, or very persistent and very bioaccumulative by a state, federal, or international agency. These agencies included the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Washington Department of Ecology, US Department of Health, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the United Nation's World Health Organization, and European Parliament Annex XIV concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)

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Revised BLM NEPA Handbook

The US Department of the Interior – Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released a revised BLM NEPA Handbook for use by BLM personnel in the field. The handbook provides supplemental information, guidance, and examples to assure consistency with the Department of the Interior’s Departmental Manual (DOI DM) and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA regulations. The BLM NEPA Handbook (H–1790–1) was last updated in 1988 and revisions are necessary to update the information and to reflect current NEPA guidance.

The handbook revisions focus on helping the BLM improve analysis to support decision making. The revisions to the NEPA Handbook are also designed to make the NEPA process more efficient, avoiding redundant or unnecessary documentation. The revisions include updates to clarify definitions and incorporate new Departmental requirements.

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ASTM Guide for Green and Sustainable Site Assessment and Cleanup

ASTM International Committee E50 on Environmental Assessment, Risk Management and Corrective Action is developing a proposed standard guide in response to requests to minimize greenhouse gases and resource use during site cleanup. Proposed standard WK23495, Guide for Green and Sustainable Site Assessment and Cleanup, is an effort to help the regulated community to develop more sustainable ways to balance the social, environmental and economic aspects of a cleanup operation. Work on the new standard is being guided by a task group on green and sustainable corrective action within Subcommittee E50.04 on Corrective Action, a part of ASTM International Committee E50 on Environmental Assessment, Risk Management and Corrective Action.

The effort to develop a new standard began in 2009 when the U.S. EPA requested a guide incorporating best management practices that minimize energy and water usage, the consumption of materials that emit greenhouse gases, waste generation and impacts on water resources, land and ecosystems.

The Standard is expected to include sections covering planning and scoping requirements for green and sustainable corrective actions, as well as elements that characterize greener, more sustainable approaches to remediation; the proposed standard includes a scalable, three-tiered decision process similar to ASTM’s risk-based corrective action guides.

The three-tiered process consists of a matrix where users can choose from screening, qualitative and quantitative evaluations, or tiers, and environmental, societal and economic categories. The proposed standard will also describe processes for monitoring, tracking and documentation. Finally, the proposed standard will include appendices with examples of the decision-making process, information about off-the-shelf technologies for green cleanup and references, and information from state programs about green and sustainable processes.

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Review of Pulp - Paper Industry NESHAP and NSPS

EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) has initiated an integrated NESHAP Risk and Technology Review for Pulp and Paper Industry and Chemical Recovery Combustion Sources, and a NSPS review for Kraft Pulp Mills. Section 112(f)(2) of the Clean Air Act directs EPA to conduct risk assessments on each source category subject to maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards, and to determine if additional standards are needed to reduce residual risks, to be completed 8 years after promulgation. Section 112(d)(6) of the CAA requires EPA to review and revise the MACT standards, as necessary, taking into account developments in practices, processes and control technologies, to be done at least every 8 years.

The NESHAP for Chemical Recovery Combustion Sources at Kraft, Soda, Sulfite, and Stand-Alone Semichemical Pulp Mills (Subpart MM) was promulgated in 2001 and has not been reviewed. Similarly, the NESHAP for the Pulp and Paper Industry (Subpart S) was promulgated in 1998 and also has not been reviewed. Section 111(b)(1)(B) of the Clean Air Act mandates that EPA review and, if appropriate, revise existing NSPS at least every 8 years. The Kraft Pulp Mill NSPS was promulgated in 1978 and is in need of review. This NSPS component of the review will include evaluating existing emission limits for particulate matter, total reduced sulfur, and opacity and evaluating the appropriateness of developing emission limits for other pollutants such as sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxide, and carbon dioxide.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address Environmental Review and Environmental Impact Assessment.

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