20 Chemicals to Undergo Risk Evaluation under TSCA

On December 20, EPA announced the next 20 chemicals to undergo risk evaluation under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Finalizing this list of high-priority chemicals for risk evaluation represents the final step in the prioritization process outlined in TSCA and marks another major TSCA milestone for EPA in its efforts to ensure the safety of existing chemicals in the marketplace.

 

“Today we are continuing to deliver on the promise of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act to assess and review existing chemicals in the marketplace,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “EPA is committed to transparency and being open with the public as these chemicals move through this TSCA process to evaluate the risks these chemicals may pose to public health and the environment.”

 

The 20 chemicals that will undergo risk evaluation consist of seven chlorinated solvents, six phthalates, four flame retardants, formaldehyde, a fragrance additive, and a polymer precursor. It is important to note that being designated as a high-priority chemical does not mean that a chemical is high risk.

 

The next steps for these chemicals are outlined in TSCA’s process for risk evaluation. This first includes taking public comment on scoping documents for each of these 20 chemicals. By June 2020, EPA will finalize these scoping documents which will include the hazards, exposures, conditions of use, and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations EPA expects to consider during each chemical’s risk evaluation. The agency will also take public comments on the draft risk evaluations for these chemicals and will finalize them after considering the public input the agency receives.

 

EPA is still carefully reviewing public comments on the 20 low-priority chemicals proposed in August 2019. The agency will finalize the list of low-priority chemicals in early 2020. Additionally, EPA will soon release and take public comments on a draft list of manufacturers and importers of these chemicals to help determine the appropriate division of fees as required under the TSCA fees rule.

 

List of Next 20 Chemicals

 

4 o-Dichlorobenzene

 

For more information visit www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/chemical-substances-undergoing-prioritization.

 

 

Annual training is required by 40 CFR 262.17(a)(7).  Learn how to complete EPA’s new electronic hazardous waste manifest, and the more than 60 changes in EPA’s new Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule.  Environmental Resource Center’s Hazardous Waste Training is available at nationwide locations, and via live webcasts.  If you plan to also attend DOT hazardous materials training, call 800-537-2372 to find out how can get your course materials on an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet at no extra charge.

 

 

EPA has temporarily expanded its voluntary self-audit and disclosure program for upstream oil and natural gas facilities by giving existing owners the opportunity to find, correct, and self-disclose Clean Air Act violations. EPA believes this self-audit program will motivate facilities to participate and start making the necessary changes to their equipment to address violations and return to compliance, improving air quality in surrounding communities.

 

“Upstream oil and natural gas facilities sometimes can have numerous emission violations. By temporarily expanding our self-audit program to existing owners, we expect more facilities to return to environmental compliance. This incentive to identify, correct, and self-disclose violations will provide additional public health and environmental protection in the surrounding communities,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Susan Bodine.

 

EPA is making this self-audit program available to existing owners of oil and natural gas exploration and production facilities for a limited period of 12 months to accelerate compliance, as part of EPA’s National Compliance Initiative – Creating Cleaner Air for Communities by Reducing Excess Emissions of Harmful Pollutants. Many of these facilities are in areas that do not meet one of EPA’s national ambient air quality standards or are at risk of not meeting one of these standards and have demonstrated widespread noncompliance. Incentive programs like this one provide drivers, such as reduced penalties for a limited time, and are used in combination with other tools, such as traditional enforcement, to ensure that any opportunities for relief are bolstered by deterrence.

 

In March 2019, EPA announced a voluntary disclosure program for new owners of upstream oil and natural gas exploration and facilities. The program was developed to encourage new owners of these facilities to participate because it provided regulatory certainty and clearly defined civil penalty mitigation beyond what was offered by the EPA’s existing self-disclosure policies.

 

To learn more about the Existing Owner Audit Program for oil and natural gas production facilities, go to: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/existing-owner-clean-air-act-audit-program-oil-and-natural-gas-exploration-and

 

 

A federal grand jury in Seattle has returned a 36-count indictment charging Seattle Barrel and Cooperage Company, its owner, Louie Sanft, and its plant manager, John Sanft, with a ten-year scheme to illegally dump caustic waste into the King County sewer system, which ultimately empties into Puget Sound.  The company allegedly used a hidden drain and lied to regulators to carry out their illegal dumping.  The defendants are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle on the indictment on January 9, 2020.

 

“At a time when we are searching for strategies to protect Puget Sound and improve water quality for fish and wildlife, we need companies to do their share – not scheme for ways to pollute in private,” said U. S. Attorney Brian T. Moran.  “I commend the investigators of the Environmental Protection Agency who investigated this assault on our natural resources.”

 

Seattle Barrel’s business involves collecting used industrial and commercial drums and reconditioning and reselling them.  Part of the reconditioning process involves washing the barrels in a highly-corrosive chemical solution.  The caustic solution has a very high pH level.  According to the indictment, since at least 2009, Seattle Barrel has operated under a discharge permit that prohibits it from dumping effluent with a pH exceeding 12 to the sewer system.  Effluent above pH 12 will corrode the sewer system and treatment plant, and potentially cause pass-through pollution to the Duwamish Waterway and Puget Sound.

 

In 2013, King County conducted covert monitoring of Seattle Barrel, and discovered the company was illegally dumping effluent with a pH above 12 in violation of its permit.  King County fined the company $55,250, but later agreed to reduce the fine when Seattle Barrel installed a pretreatment system for its wastewater.  Beginning in 2016, Louie Sanft represented to King County in written monthly certifications that the company had become a “zero discharge” facility and was not discharging any industrial wastewater to the sewer.

 

In fact, in 2018 and 2019 additional covert monitoring by the EPA inspectors revealed that SEATTLE BARREL was continuing to routinely dump wastewater with a pH above 12 into the sewer system.  EPA agents obtained a warrant to search Seattle Barrel.  Agents then installed real-time monitoring equipment that allowed them to determine when the dumping was taking place.

 

Early on the morning of March 8, 2019, the covert monitors indicated Seattle Barrel was dumping high-pH material into the sewer.  Agents then executed the warrant and entered the building.  Inside, they discovered a portable pump on the floor near the tank of caustic solution.  They then discovered that the pump was being used to pump solution to a nearby hidden drain that had never been disclosed to King County.  The drain led directly to the sewer system.

 

“Our nation’s environmental laws are designed to protect our communities and natural resources from hazardous pollutants, said Special Agent in Charge Jeanne Proctor of EPA’s criminal investigation program in Washington. “This indictment demonstrates that companies that intentionally violate those laws will be held responsible for their crimes.”

 

Defendants Louie Sanft, 53, of Seattle is the owner and operator of Seattle Barrel.  John Sanft, 51, of Issaquah, WA, is the plant manager.  The two defendants are cousins.  The defendants are charged with criminal conspiracy and 29 counts of violating the Clean Water Act for discharges in 2018 and 2019.  The men and the company are also charged with four counts of submitting false Clean Water Act Certifications.  Each defendant is also charged making false statements to special agents of the EPA.

 

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

Conspiracy is punishable by up to five years in prison.  Violation of the Clean Water Act is punishable by up to three years in prison per count. Making a false statement is punishable by up to five years in prison

 

The case is being investigated by the EPA.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Seth Wilkinson and Special Assistant United States Attorney Karla Perrin, an attorney with the Environmental Protection Agency.

 

 

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe announced the filing of two new Natural Resource Damage (NRD) lawsuits, one against The Sherwin Williams Company and the other against Handy & Harman Electronic Materials Corp.

 

The complaint against Sherwin Williams arises out of the company’s operations at sites in Gibbsboro, Voorhees Township and Lindenwold in Camden County. The State alleges that Sherwin Williams manufactured oil-based paints, lacquers and varnishes, and in the process discharged industrial wastes into the ground, into nearby Hilliards Creek and into other surrounding creeks and lakes.

 

The complaint against Handy & Harman arises out of its operations of an etching and surfacing facility in Montvale, Bergen County in the 1980s. During Handy & Harman’s ownership, the complaint alleges, hazardous substances – including the chemical TCE (trichloroethylene) – were discharged on the property, resulting in the contamination of groundwater and the closure of nearby drinking water wells.

 

Today’s NRD lawsuits mark another step in Attorney General Grewal and Commissioner McCabe’s efforts to revitalize New Jersey’s environmental enforcement program. After eight years in which the State did not file any new NRD actions, the State has now filed 12 NRD actions in two years. In 2019 alone, the State filed eight such actions, including the two filed today.

 

“As Attorney General, I have been committed to holding polluters accountable for the legacy of contamination they left in our state,” said Attorney General Grewal. “Too many companies have treated the public’s natural resources like private dumping grounds, despite the health risks to our residents and the harms to our environment. That is why we’ve spent the past two years making polluters pay for the damage they caused, efforts that continue with today’s lawsuits. I am proud of the twelve natural resource damage actions that we filed in just two years, and I know that we are only getting started.”

 

“Today’s two lawsuits continue DEP’s unwavering commitment to go beyond the cleanup of contaminated sites to requiring the restoration or compensation for the damage to our precious natural resources,” said DEP Commissioner McCabe. “Enforcing our state’s laws against past abuses helps put us on track toward a cleaner, healthier future for all New Jerseyans.”

 

The Sherwin Williams Company for decades operated a paint manufacturing plant and conducted related operations at multiple sites across Gibbsboro, Voorhees Township and Lindenwold. From the mid-1800s until the 1970s, Sherwin Williams and its predecessors manufactured a variety of paint products, including dry colorants, lacquers, varnishes, resins and both oil-based and water-based paints. As part of its operations, the company used and stored thousands of gallons of hazardous materials such as lead oxide, zinc oxide, lead chromate, and sulfuric acid.

 

According to today’s lawsuit, Sherwin Williams for many years discharged a “substantial amount of hazardous substances and industrial chemicals” into the ground and surface water. According to the complaint, the contaminants discharged include lead, arsenic and other heavy metals, as well as a variety of potentially harmful chemical compounds and waste paints. At one point in the plant’s history, the complaint notes, locals in and around Gibbsboro, Voorhees and Lindenwold rechristened Hilliards Creek as “Rainbow Creek,” because the water would take on different colors “depending on the color of the paint that Sherwin Williams was manufacturing and/or disposing of on a given day.”

 

The complaint alleges that Sherwin Williams spent decades knowingly contaminating the environment, and consistently “ignored orders” from DEP to address the pollution it had created. The complaint also asserts that the company “repeatedly issued misleading or inaccurate statements … to downplay its responsibility for the contamination.”

 

Given the company’s noncompliance with DEP orders, the complaint continues, DEP was forced to refer the sites over to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which placed two of the sites on the National Priorities List as Superfund sites decades ago. The EPA, working with DEP, is overseeing that remediation. DEP is now seeking damages for that prior pollution. The State’s seven-count complaint alleges violations of New Jersey’s Spill Act, Water Pollution Control Act, and Solid Waste Management Act, as well as common law claims involving public nuisance, trespass and negligence. As part of this filing, the State is seeking punitive damages.

 

From 1970 until 1986, Handy & Harman Electronic Materials Corp. and its predecessor conducted metal etching and surfacing operations at a three-acre property located at 20 Craig Road in Montvale, Bergen County. Operations included the cleaning of electrical components through a degreasing process that relied on the solvent TCE.

 

According to the complaint, TCE was stored in a pair of 500-gallon, above-ground storage tanks located behind the facility, with waste TCE stored in drums located throughout the property.

According to the lawsuit, “numerous” discharges of TCE occurred both inside and outside the plant during its operating years. As a result of the contamination, several drinking water wells operated by the Borough of Park Ridge were impacted, which led to these drinking wells’ closure decades ago.

 

In December 1986, Handy & Harman entered into an Administrative Consent Order with DEP requiring that the company investigate and remediate environmental contamination at the site. Since then, investigation and remediation activities have taken place both on the property and at impacted drinking water wells surrounding the property.

 

Through today’s action, DEP seeks to recover damages for the prior injuries to natural resources, as well as for the cleanup and removal costs that have been incurred by the State in the past and that are likely to be incurred going forward.

 

The six-count complaint alleges violations of the Spill Act, Water Pollution Control Act, and Solid Waste Management Act, and common law claims involving public nuisance, trespass and negligence. The complaint names other defendants as well, including Steel Partners Holdings, which acquired all outstanding shares of Handy & Harman.

 

 

The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission approved the first set of ambitious rules designed to minimize emissions from oil and gas operations state-wide yesterday. The rules will help reduce ozone pollution and protect the health of Coloradans and the air they breathe.

 

“Yesterday was a milestone, and we are already looking ahead to achieve further reductions of emissions at oil and gas sites through our next rulemaking. The department intends to build on this momentum,” said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

 

The commission’s Thursday vote came after a thorough rulemaking process in which the Air Pollution Control Division worked closely with local governments, the public, and other stakeholders to craft new rules that meet the needs of Colorado’s diverse communities. In addition, the Commission held meetings in Rifle, Durango, and Loveland at which commission members  heard hundreds of comments from the public. 

 

The rules approved by the Commission on Thursday include:

 

The division estimates that the new rules will reduce methane and volatile organic compound emissions by thousands of tons a year.

 

“The objective is simple-- minimize emissions at the source,” said Garry Kaufman, director of the Air Pollution Control Division. “These new rules represent months of hard work and communication with affected communities. They will slash emissions, make Colorado’s air cleaner and improve the quality of life for Coloradans across the state, including those citizens that live or work near oil and gas sites. They’re reasonable, cost effective, innovative, and absolutely necessary. And we’re just getting started.”

 

 

The Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP) will be providing assistance with NetDMR. NetDMR is a web-based tool that allows facilities to electronically sign and submit Louisiana Pollution Elimination System (LPDES) discharge monitoring reports (DMRs) to the LDEQ.

 

The CDX/NetDMR assistance sessions are offered around the state and will assist in two ways:

 

Go to https://deq.louisiana.gov/form/cdxnetdmr-assistance-signup to register for any of the following sessions.

 

Session 1:

Date: Jan. 7, 2020

Time: Time slots available between 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Location: Mathews Government Complex

4876 La. 1, Mathews, LA 70375

 

Session 2:

Date: Jan. 8, 2020

Time: Time slots available between 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Location: St. Tammany Parish Administration

520 Old Spanish Trail, Slidell, LA 70458

 

Session 3:

Date: Jan. 9, 2020

Time: Time slots available between 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Location: LSU/SU Ag Center

7101 Gulf Highway, Lake Charles, LA 70607

 

Session 4:

Date: Jan. 14, 2020

Time: Time slots available between 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Location: Tangipahoa Parish CVB (Tangi Tourism)

13143 Wardline Road, Hammond, LA 70401

 

Session 5 :

Date: Jan. 15, 2020

Time: Time slots available between 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Location: LDEQ Northeast Regional Office

508 Downing Pines Road, West Monroe, LA 71292

 

Session 6:

Date: Jan. 16, 2020

Time: Time slots available between 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Location: LDEQ Northwest Regional Office

1525 Fairfield, Room 520, Shreveport, LA 71101

 

Session 7:

Date: Jan. 22, 2020

Time: Time slots available between 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Location: Kees Park Community Center

2450 Highway 28, Pineville, LA 71360

 

Session 8:

Date: Jan. 23, 2020

Time: Time slots available between 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Location: LUS Training Center

1314 Walker Road, Lafayette, LA 70506 These assistance sessions are free and open to the public.

 

 

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) announced a $3.6 million enforcement action against CVS Health Corp. for failing to meet its obligation to redeem Californians’ deposits on recycled bottles and cans at stores throughout the state.

 

The action is part of the state’s broader effort to support recycling and ensure consumers have access to convenient recycling options as the recycling industry contends with changing global market conditions. State subsidies to recyclers have increased each of the last four years to cover the declining prices for scrap recyclables, resulting in $176 million in payments to recyclers in 2018.

 

Under California’s beverage container recycling law, retailers located in “convenience zones” that are not served by a recycling center must redeem California Redemption Value (CRV) beverage containers in store or pay a $100 a day fee.

 

An investigation by CalRecycle found that 81 of the CVS Pharmacy’s 848 retail stores in California refused to redeem CRV beverage containers in store, failed to pay the required $100 a day fee for not redeeming, or failed to submit an affidavit to CalRecycle stating how they would comply with in-store redemption standards.

 

“Today’s action sends a message that we will hold retailers accountable for refunding consumers their nickel and dime recycling deposits,” said Jared Blumenfeld, California Secretary for Environmental Protection. “Everyone must do their part as we work to protect our environment and ensure that all Californians have convenient access to recycling.”

 

The enforcement action seeks to recover $1.8 million in $100-a-day fees that the 81 stores had failed to pay as of October 31 and an additional $1.8 million in $100-a-day civil penalties. The action also seeks to recover CalRecycle’s administrative costs of investigating and pursuing the action.

 

CalRecycle filed the enforcement action against the retail chain on Dec. 5, 2019. As part of the administrative law process, CVS is entitled to an evidentiary hearing presided over by a hearing officer or administrative law judge.

 

“California has one of the highest recycling rates in the nation because of our shared commitment to the environment,” said CalRecycle Director Scott Smithline. “Retailers face financial consequences if they do not fulfill their legal takeback requirements. This $3.6 million action is part of our ongoing enforcement of the bottles and cans program that includes intensified inspection efforts and ongoing recycling fraud crackdowns.”

 

CalRecycle has increased enforcement against retailers that are obligated to redeem the recycling deposit (CRV) for beverage containers in store, resulting in an additional 2,180 inspections and prioritized enforcement on retailers with the largest number of violations and penalties owed.

 

Through the budget and legislative processes, the state has also allocated an additional $15 million in the past six months to support recycling centers and innovative redemption projects such as mobile redemption in areas with high rents and community resistance to recycling centers.

 

Since the state’s Bottle Bill was enacted in 1986, Californians have recycled nearly 400 billion beverage containers. Last year Californians recycled 18 billion beverage containers, the second highest ever, accounting for 76 percent of the 24 billion CRV beverages sold in California. The state is on track to recycle 18 billion bottles and cans in 2019.

 

 

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources issued a final hazardous waste permit to Safety-Kleen Systems Inc., allowing the company to continue operating at its Independence facility. Safety-Kleen operates a commercial hazardous waste storage facility at 901 S. Yuma Ave. in Independence. The facility is an accumulation point for spent solvents, paint wastes and waste oil generated by Safety-Kleen customers. The facility also accumulates and stores additional wastes on a 10-day transfer basis.  

Safety-Kleen has been operating at the site under a department-issued Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Facility Part I Permit and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-issued Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments Part II Permit. On March 22, 2017, Safety-Kleen submitted a permit application to the department and EPA to renew its existing hazardous waste permits. After a thorough technical review of the permit applications and opportunity for public comment on the draft permit, the department issued a final Part I Permit. The final permit allows the company to continue storing waste, as specified in the application.

 

EPA decided not to reissue a Part II Permit, since EPA has no site-specific conditions for the facility and Missouri is fully authorized for all permitting activities at the facility. EPA intends to terminate the current Part II Permit upon issuance of the Part I Permit.

 

No comments were made on the draft Part I Permit during the public comment period. Any parties adversely affected or aggrieved by department’s decision to approve the permit request and issue the final Part I Permit, or specific conditions of the final Part I Permit, may be entitled to pursue an appeal before the Administrative Hearing Commission by filing a written petition by Jan. 21, 2020, as described on pages 5 and 6 of the final Part I Permit.

 

The final Part I Permit and additional information are available on the department’s website at https://dnr.mo.gov/env/hwp/permits/notices.htm or at the Mid-Continent Public Library’s North Independence Branch at 317 W. Hwy 25 in Independence.

 

For more information about the final Part I Permit, or to obtain a written copy of the final Part I Permit for review, contact Nathan Kraus in the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Waste Management Program at P.O. Box 176, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176, by telephone at 573-751-3154 or 800-361-4827, or by email at nathan.kraus@dnr.mo.gov. Hearing- and speech-impaired individuals may reach Kraus through Relay Missouri at 800-735-2966.

 

 

EPA issued a “Stop Sale” order to online marketplace Bonanza.com requiring the company to immediately halt sales of a dozen imported pesticide products not legal -- or safe -- for sale in the United States.

 

Among the unregistered, illegal pesticides targeted by the order is “Miraculous Insecticide Chalk,” a common and particularly dangerous product because of its documented history of causing illness in children who mistake the chalk for regular sidewalk or black board chalk.

 

None of the pesticides in the EPA order is registered with EPA, and most contain false or misleading claims on their labelling. All pesticides for sale in the United States must be registered with the EPA and have an EPA registration number on their labels.

 

Ed Kowalski, the Director of the Enforcement and Compliance Division of EPA’s Region 10 office in Seattle, said, “The proliferation of unregistered pesticides in the marketplace, particularly in the e-commerce environment, poses a significant and immediate health risk to consumers, children, pets, and others exposed to the products in use or in transit.”

 

Here is the list of products targeted by the EPA’s “Stop Sale” order:

 

Illegal distribution of “Miraculous Insecticide Chalk” and “Green Leaf Cockroach Killing Bait Powder” were the subject of EPA “Stop Sale” orders issued to Amazon in 2015 and 2016 and a subsequent $1.2 million penalty order against the company.

 

The “Stop Sale” order is effective immediately upon receipt of the order by Bonanza.

 

 

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued 20 penalties totaling $443,914 in November for various environmental violations. A detailed list of violations and resulting penalties is at https://go.usa.gov/xEQJn.

 

Fines ranged from $413 to $141,285. Alleged violations included failing to properly handle pesticide wastes, operating a waste tire disposal site without a permit and allowing a contractor without an asbestos abatement license to perform an asbestos abatement project.

 

DEQ issued civil penalties to the following organizations and individuals:

 

Organizations or individuals must either pay the fines or file an appeal within 20 days of receiving notice of the penalty. They may be able to offset a portion of a penalty by funding a supplemental environmental project that improves Oregon’s environment.

 

Penalties may also include orders requiring specific tasks to prevent ongoing violations or additional environmental harm.