Supreme Court to Decide Fate of EPA Mercury Rule with Billions at Stake

The justices of the nation’s highest court are weighing whether the EPA should have considered potential compliance costs before proceeding with a rule that requires power plants to reduce their mercury emissions. 

Glenn Hess, a senior correspondent at C&EN, notes that the EPA developed the requirement, called the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, to curb the negative health effects of mercury and other air pollutants. The agency estimates that although the regulation will cost industry about $9.6 billion per year to fulfill, it will produce between $37 billion and $90 billion in health care savings annually. Opponents argued that these figures unfairly include “co-benefits” of reducing non-mercury pollutants. Controlling mercury would only amount to between $4 million and $6 million in savings a year, contend industry groups.

The justices were divided over whether the court should defer to EPA’s interpretation of an ambiguous section of the Clean Air Act and allow the agency’s final rule to stand. It appeared the decision would fall again to Justice Anthony Kennedy, often the swing vote.

Learn DOT’s New Rules for Lithium Battery Shipments

• Enhance packaging and hazard communication requirements for lithium batteries transported by air
• Replace equivalent lithium content with Watt-hours for lithium ion cells and batteries
• Adopt separate shipping descriptions for lithium metal batteries and lithium ion batteries
• Revise provisions for the transport of small and medium lithium cells and batteries including cells and batteries packed with, or contained in, equipment
• Revise the exceptions for small cells and batteries in air transportation
• Revise the requirements for the transport of lithium batteries for disposal or recycling
• Harmonize the provisions for the transport of low production and prototype lithium cells and batteries with the ICAO Technical Instructions and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code
• Adopt new provisions for the transport of damaged, defective, and recalled lithium batteries

If you ship batteries by ground or air, you must comply with the latest DOT and IATA/ICAO regulations that specify how the batteries must be packaged, marked, labeled, and transported. The rules apply not only to batteries, but also to equipment or vehicles that contain batteries as well as batteries packed along with equipment. Virtually all types of batteries are regulated, including lithium, lead-acid, nickel cadmium, and metal hydride alkaline. According to 49 CFR 172.704, all personnel involved in the classification, packaging, marking, labeling, or shipment of batteries must receive initial and recurrent transportation training.

Hilton Head RCRA and DOT Training

Orlando RCRA and DOT Training

Baltimore RCRA, DOT, and IATA/IMO Training

Algal Toxins in Drinking Water

EPA recently issued health advisory values that states and utilities can use to protect Americans from elevated levels of algal toxins in drinking water.  Because utilities often use these water bodies as sources of drinking water, EPA has determined algal toxin levels in tap water that are protective of human health based on the best available science. EPA is also recommending how utilities can monitor and treat drinking water for algal toxins and notify the public if drinking water exceeds protective levels.

EPA will issue the final documents containing the health advisory values, recommended monitoring and treatment approaches, and all supporting technical information before summer, which is prime season for algal blooms because of warmer temperatures. Last August a harmful algal bloom in Lake Erie left half-a-million residents of Toledo without drinking water for two days. EPA estimates that between 30 and 48 million people use drinking water from lakes and reservoirs that may be vulnerable to algal toxin contamination.

“Nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms are among America’s most serious and growing environmental challenges,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “EPA has released health advisory values on algal toxins based on the best available science to ensure the safety of America’s drinking water. We will work closely with our partners at the state and local levels on monitoring, treating, and communicating about the toxins, as well as addressing the sources of nutrients that fuel these harmful algal blooms.”

Health advisories are not regulations, but provide technical guidance to help state and local officials and managers of water systems protect public health. They identify concentrations of contaminants above which adverse health effects are possible and provide testing methods and treatment techniques.

 For all other ages, the health advisory values for drinking water are 1.6 micrograms per liter for microcystin and 3.0 micrograms per liter for cylindrospermopsin. Potential health effects from longer exposure to higher levels of algal toxins in drinking water include gastroenteritis and liver and kidney damage. The health advisory values are based on exposure for 10 days. While briefly exceeding these advisory levels may not indicate an immediate emergency, EPA recommends utilities use treatment techniques to lower levels as quickly as possible. Steps that can protect the public from algal toxins in drinking water include:

• Watching for harmful algal blooms in water bodies used as a source of drinking water
• Monitoring source water and drinking water for detections of algal toxins
• Treating drinking water as necessary to reduce and remove algal toxins
• Notifying the public that younger than school age children should not drink or boil the water if levels are above 0.3 micrograms per liter for microcystin and 0.7 micrograms per liter for cylindrospermopsin
• Notifying the public that no one should drink or boil the water if levels are above 1.6 micrograms per liter for microcystin and 3.0 micrograms per liter for cylindrospermopsin

EPA will seek input from stakeholders on the recommended actions and other information the Agency can provide to best support states and utilities in addressing algal toxins in drinking water. Based on input, EPA may provide additional technical support documents before the peak of algal bloom season.

EPA worked with Health Canada to develop the health advisories. The World Health Organization has indicated it will use the health advisories developed by EPA to reevaluate global recommendations for levels of algal toxins. As the science on the health impacts of algal toxins continues to improve, EPA will track developments and update recommendations as appropriate.

Background

More than 100,000 miles of rivers and streams, close to 2.5 million acres of lakes, reservoirs and ponds, and more than 800 square miles of bays and estuaries in the United States have poor water quality because of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. Too much nitrogen and phosphorus in water can cause algal blooms, which can turn harmful to humans if they produce toxins. People can become sick from harmful algal blooms if they play or swim in a polluted water body, consume tainted fish or shellfish, or drink contaminated water. Harmful algal blooms can also create dead zones in water, killing aquatic life, raising treatment costs for drinking water, and hurting businesses and jobs that depend on clean water.

EPA recently announced it is developing an early warning indicator system using historical and current satellite data to detect algal blooms. EPA researchers will develop a mobile application to inform water quality managers of changes in water quality using satellite data on cyanobacteria algal blooms from three partnering agencies—NASA, NOAA, and the US Geological Survey.

EPA is working with its partners to combat the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution including:

• Providing states with technical guidance and resources to help them develop water quality criteria for nitrogen and phosphorus as part of their water quality standards for surface waters
• Working with states to identify waters with nitrogen and phosphorus pollution and to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) to restore the waters by limiting allowable nutrient inputs
• Awarding grants to states for operating nonpoint source management programs
• Administering a permit program that restricts the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus released to the environment from point sources, such as wastewater treatment plants
• Providing funding for the construction and upgrading of municipal wastewater facilities and the implementation of nonpoint source pollution control and estuary protection projects
• Working with its state and federal partners on the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Taskforce to reduce hypoxia
• Conducting and supporting research on nitrogen and phosphorus pollution-related topics

Ohio to Propose RACT Standard for NOx

Chapter 3745-110 of the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) establishes requirements for emissions of Nitrogen oxides (NOx) from very large, large, mid-size, and small boilers, stationary combustion turbines, or stationary internal combustion engines as defined in OAC rule 3745-110-01, or the boiler is located at a facility that emits or has the potential to emit a total of more than one hundred tons per year of NOx emissions from all sources at that facility. Ozone is one of the compounds of interest for which a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) has been established under the Clean Air Act.



The first step in the rule-making process is for Ohio EPA to identify that a rule needs to be amended, rescinded, or created. In response to the Governor’s Executive Order (EO) 2011-01K, Ohio EPA has added an additional step to ensure stakeholders are brought into the rule process as early as possible. This additional interested party notification and request for information will allow for early feedback before the rule language has been developed by the Agency.

At this time, Ohio EPA is considering making changes to OAC rule 3745-110-03 to add site specific requirements for three facilities in northeast Ohio, adding exemptions in paragraph (K) of OAC rule 3745-110-03 for lime kilns and stationary internal combustion engines and making several minor changes to correct typos and formatting issues in the rule. Ohio EPA will also consider other changes, as warranted, based on comments received.



The rules in OAC Chapter 3745-110 are applicable to very large, large, mid-size, and small boilers, stationary combustion turbines, or stationary internal combustion engines as defined in OAC rule 3745-110-01, or boilers located at a facility that emits or has the potential to emit a total of more than one hundred tons per year of NOx emissions from all sources at that facility; and the facility is located in Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, or Summit County.


Upon completion of the Early Stakeholder Outreach portion of this rulemaking, Ohio EPA will evaluate any comments received and prepare a business impact analysis (BIA) for this rulemaking. A draft of the rule language and the BIA will then be made available to the public for a 30-day review.

Written comments will be accepted through Tuesday, March 17, 2015, and can be submitted to:

Mr. Paul Braun
Ohio EPA Division of Air Pollution Control
50 W. Town St., Suite 700
PO Box 1049
Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049
(614) 644-3134

Many Plastics Labeled Biodegradable’ Don’t Break Down as Expected

Plastic products advertised as biodegradable have recently emerged, but they sound almost too good to be true. Scientists have now found out that, at least for now, consumers have good reason to doubt these claims.

Susan Selke, Rafael Auras, and colleagues note that to deal with our plastic waste problem, many countries and local governments have adopted laws, such as single-use bag bans, to deal with increasing amounts of trash. Most plastics end up in landfills, where they sit for decades or longer without breaking down. More recently, some manufacturers now make plastics with additives that are supposed to make the products biodegradable. But the effectiveness of this approach has been unclear. Selke and Auras’s team wanted to see if the additives were working under typical disposal conditions.

The researchers evaluated plastics containing five different compounds designed to encourage breakdown. They found no evidence that the additives enhanced biodegradability in compost or under simulated landfill conditions, or when buried in soil for three years. They say their findings have wide-ranging implications for consumers, the environment and the companies that make these products.

Ethanol Refining May Release More of Some Pollutants Than Previously Thought

Ethanol fuel refineries could be releasing much larger amounts of some ozone-forming compounds into the atmosphere than current assessments suggest, according to a new study that found emissions of these chemicals at a major ethanol fuel refinery are many times higher than government estimates.

New airborne measurements downwind from an ethanol fuel refinery in Decatur, Illinois, show that ethanol emissions are 30 times higher than government estimates. The measurements also show emissions of all volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which include ethanol, were five times higher than government numbers, which estimate emissions based on manufacturing information. VOCs and nitrogen oxides react with sunlight to form ground-level ozone, the main component of smog.

Ethanol, a renewable transportation fuel made from corn, constitutes approximately 10% of the fuel used in gasoline vehicles in the US, according to the new study. The renewable fuel standard mandating the use of ethanol and other renewable fuels aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and petroleum imports, while encouraging development and expansion of the US renewable fuels sector, according to the EPA.

The new study is one of the first and most detailed investigations of emissions from ethanol fuel refining, according to its lead author Joost de Gouw, a scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder and NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. Information about the refining process is one piece of examining the entire lifecycle of ethanol fuel emissions, from growing the corn used to make the fuel to the effect of emissions on urban air quality, he said.

“Over the past decade, because of the renewable fuel mandate, we have added 10% of ethanol to all the gasoline that is sold in the US and so the question is: what does that do to the environment,” de Gouw said. “That is a very complicated question and it has many different aspects. One of the aspects is the air-quality implications and, to get at them, we have to know what are the emissions associated with producing ethanol and using ethanol. That is where this study fits in.”

To make the measurements they report, de Gouw and his colleagues flew an airplane downwind of an Archer Daniels Midland ethanol refinery, the third largest producer of fuel ethanol in the US, and took air-quality readings at three different distances from the plant. The researchers used those to calculate emissions of various gases, including VOCs, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide.

They then compared their findings with government emissions estimates from 2011. Emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides—compounds generated by the coal-burning plant—were in-line with government estimates, but emissions of VOCs, including ethanol, were higher than government estimates. De Gouw said the VOC emissions are likely generated by the refining process, not the coal burning that powers it.

The researchers also used government estimates and ethanol production numbers from the Renewable Fuels Association to analyze emissions from all fuel ethanol refineries in the US and compare those to emissions from burning ethanol in motor vehicles.

Prevailing estimates had indicated that refining ethanol fuel and burning it in cars and trucks generate equivalent amount of VOCs, including ethanol. But, the new emissions measurements from the Decatur plant show that ethanol emissions from production of one kilogram of ethanol at the refinery are 170 times higher than what comes out of a vehicle burning the same amount of ethanol, de Gouw said. If the Decatur refinery is like most other refineries in the US, he added, “The higher emissions of ethanol and VOCs that we calculated from our data would make the refining process a larger source of these gases than burning the ethanol fuel in your car.”

“Obviously, this was just one refinery that we looked at, so we’d like to do more and see if these findings are more universal or if this plant was just exceptional,” de Gouw added. The new study points to the need for more measurements of emissions coming from ethanol fuel refineries, said Dylan Millet, an associate professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. He was not involved with the new research. Additional observational data will help scientists better understand the emissions and their impact on air quality, he said.

“If we are going to accurately assess the air-quality implications of our fuel choices, then these are important emissions to know,” Millet said.

Guidelines for Evaluating and Adjusting the Post-Closure Care Period for Hazardous Waste Disposal Facilities under Subtitle C of RCRA

This draft guidance also provides information to assist facility owners and operators in preparing documentation to support a decision to adjust the post-closure care period. Once finalized, the guidance will lend greater transparency and efficiency to the decision making process.

California Air Resources Board Releases Plan to Reduce Emissions of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants

 These chemicals may be responsible for as much as 40% of the global warming to date.

Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) include methane, black carbon and fluorinated gases (refrigerants, insulating foam and aerosol propellants). These gases trap heat at many times the level of carbon dioxide, but also tend to have a shorter duration in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, making their most dramatic climate impact over a period of days to about 10 years.

“Reducing the emissions of these short-lived climate gases is an important part of California’s—and the world’s—efforts to keep the planet from exceeding the most dangerous levels of warming,” said ARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols. “Taking steps to significantly reduce these greenhouse gases now will deliver climate and air quality benefits in the short-term while we move our energy systems and vehicle fleets to clean technologies.”

Strong planning and decisive actions on these climate pollutants will deliver reductions over the short-term and will play an important role in achieving the Governor’s goal of reducing GHGs 40% by 2030. The concept paper identifies scientific targets that align with levels of reductions needed worldwide to stabilize the climate, including reducing methane emissions by at least 40%.

Senate Bill 605 (Lara) requires ARB to develop, in coordination with other state agencies and local air districts, a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants. The recent release of the concept paper marks the first step in developing that strategy. A public workshop will be held on May 27 to discuss the concept paper and overall strategy development.

Working on a fast track, ARB will develop an initial draft strategy through public workshops over the summer. The draft proposed strategy will be presented to the Board in the fall and will include specific actions over a broad array of economic sectors, including the natural environment and biological systems.

Action to reduce emissions of these gases can also improve air quality and reduce related health risks, hospitalizations and medical expenses, especially in disadvantaged communities. Other benefits to California include reducing damage to forests and crops, reducing background ozone and particulate levels to help meet federal air quality standards, and reducing disruption of historic rainfall patterns.

For black carbon, produced in California primarily from diesel combustion and burning wood (including wildfires), the concept paper suggests building on, accelerating and expanding existing programs including the ongoing sustainable freight strategy and forest management.

Development of a regulation by ARB is already underway to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas drilling and storage sites. The concept paper addresses the need to act on other sources, including reducing methane emissions from dairies and eliminating the disposal of organic materials at landfills. The concept paper suggests an approach to consider new funding mechanisms and a range of incentive structures to address all sources.

“Reducing methane and other short-lived climate pollutants is an increasingly essential part of achieving California’s goals of reducing the impacts of climate change; protecting our land, air, water, and communities; and enabling California’s farming sector to thrive,” said Sustainable Conservation Executive Director Ashley Boren. “Sustainable Conservation looks forward to working with state agencies, our agricultural partners and other stakeholders in developing effective strategies and incentives that work for farmers, agricultural communities and the environment—and putting the state on the path to meeting its climate change and air quality goals.”

As for so-called fluorinated gases, the paper looks to an 80% reduction by 2030 in the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in new refrigeration and air conditioning equipment, and taking early actions to significantly reduce these gases from commercial refrigeration. There is already an ARB program in place to address leaks from commercial systems.

Development of this plan will align with efforts being made by Mexico, one of the State’s international partners in efforts to curb the impacts of climate change and fight air pollution. Mexico is the only country to specifically include SLCP emissions in its reduction pledge for the upcoming Paris climate summit. Under an agreement signed last year, California and Mexico are working together on a host of climate and air quality issues, including short-lived climate pollutants. Last December, California and Mexico co-hosted an event on short-lived climate pollutants at the international climate meetings in Lima, Peru.

California already has some of the most stringent and effective regulations in the country for methane and black carbon. Our efforts to control emissions from diesel vehicles have reduced black carbon 90% since the 1960s, while diesel consumption has since tripled. These reductions help avoid about 5,000 premature deaths each year in the state, and if similar black carbon reduction levels were achieved globally, studies show it would avoid millions of premature deaths annually and slow the rate of global warming by about 15%.

State Water Board Addresses Environmental Concerns In New Desalination Facility Standards

The California Water Resources Control Board has approved an amendment to the state’s Water Quality Control Plan for the Ocean Waters of California (Ocean Plan) to address effects associated with the construction and operation of seawater desalination facilities.

“Desalination is one of several tools communities can use in appropriate circumstances to gain greater water security,” said State Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus. “This amendment will provide a consistent framework for communities and industry as they consider desalination, while protecting the coastal marine environment.”

The amendment sets criteria for the use of ocean water as a supplement to traditional water supplies while protecting marine life and water quality. The desalination amendment will provide direction for regional water boards when permitting desalination facilities by providing a statewide, uniform and consistent process. The amendment also provides specific implementation, monitoring, and reporting requirements.

Several relatively small desalination plants already exist in California, and several larger ones have been proposed along the coast, including one in Carlsbad that is nearing completion.

While desalination plants offer potential benefits for the state, the seawater intakes have the potential to harm marine life. For example, screened ocean water intakes can trap fish on the intake screens and allow much smaller marine life like larvae and plankton to be drawn into the plant. Marine life does not survive passage through desalination plants that use traditional technology. Subsurface intakes can draw water through pipes that are installed underground or under the seafloor and do not trap marine life, but these intakes may not be feasible for all projects.

The desalination process, which involves forcing seawater through membranes that remove salt and other contaminants, produces residual brine that is much saltier than ocean water. Discharging that brine back into the ocean can result in toxic effects to bottom-dwelling marine life as the dense brine settles on the ocean floor. It can also cause hypoxia, which is oxygen deficiency in the ocean floor environment. These impacts can be prevented by diluting brine with municipal wastewater prior to discharging into the ocean or disposing brine through diffusers that rapidly mix and dilute brine.

To address these issues for coastal desalination facilities in California, this amendment was developed through a multi-year process that included commissioning experts in the field to study the best methods to minimize and mitigate the impacts of seawater intakes and effects of brine discharges. The amendment underwent an external scientific peer review to evaluate the validity of the scientific conclusions in the policy.

A number of public workshops were held to gather stakeholder feedback. In addition to the stakeholder outreach, the State Water Board held a public hearing and two public comment periods during which stakeholders were able to provide additional feedback on the amendment. Based on this feedback, the amendment was designed to provide flexibility for site-specific considerations and allow for future innovations that provide protection equivalent to current technologies.

The amendment requires new or expanded seawater desalination plants to use the best available site, design, technology, and mitigation measures feasible to minimize intake and mortality of all forms of marine life. Based on the best available science, the amendments identify preferred technologies; however, alternative intake and disposal methods can be used if demonstrated to be as protective of marine life as the preferred technologies. Additionally, mitigation measures are required in order to address damage to marine life that occurs after the best available site, design, and technology feasible are used.

Always-On Inactive Devices May Devour $19 Billion Worth of Electricity Annually

Approximately $19 billion worth of electricity, equal to the output of 50 large power plants, is devoured annually by US household electronics, appliances, and other equipment when consumers are not actively using them, according to a groundbreaking study released by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The annual cost for this vampire energy drain, which provides little benefit to consumers, ranges from $165 per US household on average to as high as $440 under some utilities’ top-tier rates.

“One reason for such high idle energy levels is that many previously purely mechanical devices have gone digital: Appliances like washers, dryers, and fridges now have displays, electronic controls, and increasingly even Internet connectivity, for example,” says Pierre Delforge, the report’s author and NRDC’s director of high-tech sector energy efficiency. “In many cases, they are using far more electricity than necessary.”

These always-on but inactive devices account for nearly 23%, on average, of the electricity consumption of homes in California—where electricity usage tends to be lower overall due in part to decades of energy efficiency success—but the share will vary in other states, depending on total electricity use. However, the amount of inactive consumption by household devices can be applied nationally as Americans tend to buy the same appliances everywhere.

The NRDC study is the first large-scale analysis of idle load use, combining usage data from electric utility smart meters in 70,000 northern California residences with field measurements concentrating on idle loads (an average of 65 devices were found in NRDC’s onsite audit). Idle consumption includes devices in off or “standby” mode but still drawing power (such as furnaces and garage door openers); in “sleep mode” ready to power up quickly (like game consoles); and left fully on but inactive (computers).

“Consumers can take such steps to reduce their idle load as using timers, smart power strips, and changing settings on their devices, and manufacturers need to do their part by designing products to minimize energy waste, but ultimately policies like energy efficiency utility programs and standards are needed,” Delforge notes. “Reducing always-on consumption is a low-hanging fruit opportunity to cut climate-warming pollution.”

In fact, if all households in the United States reduced their idle load to the level that a quarter of the homes in NRDC’s study already achieve, they would save $8 billion on their annual utility bills; avoid 64 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity use per year; and prevent 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution, or 4.6% of US residential sector carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation.

Other key findings:

• The average always-on, but inactive consumption across the 70,000 California homes was 164 watts, the same as brewing 234 cups of coffee every day for a year (more than 85,000)
• Among the average of 65 electrical devices found during an in-depth audit of 10 sample residences, about two-thirds drew more than 1 watt of power each in the always-on mode
• The traditional large electricity uses (heating and cooling, lighting, and refrigeration) accounted for just 15% of always-on consumption. Consumer electronics (televisions, computers, printers, game consoles, etc.) accounted for 51%, and other miscellaneous electrical load (MEL) items—such as recirculation pumps, fishponds, aquariums, and protected outlets in bathrooms, kitchens, and garages—comprised the remaining 34%.
• Idle load varied widely, depending on device models. For instance, the idle load of printers ranged from 2 to 26 watts per home, and cordless phones from 1 to 12 watts.
• There was little relationship between the vampire load and the age of the home, and a limited correlation to the number of occupants and size of the home—areas ripe for additional study

The report also includes a list of 10 common devices with the cost of their worst-case “always-on” loads found in NRDC’s onsite audit and solutions to reduce their annual energy bill cost (rounded to nearest whole dollar). They are: water recirculation pump, up to $93; desktop computer, up to $49; TV, up to $38; cable set-top box, up to $30; audio receiver/stereo, up to $22; printer, up to $11; furnace, up to $8; coffee maker, up to $6; dryer, up to $4; and GFCI outlets, $1 each.

Seattle Barrel Co. Fined $80,000 for Hazardous Waste Violations

A Seattle industrial barrel recycler will pay $30,000 to the Department of Ecology under an agreement to settle an appeal of a larger environmental penalty.

The company has since corrected all of the violations.

“We appreciate Seattle Barrel’s renewed commitment to practices that will protect the environment and safeguard the safety and health of its employees and the public,” said K Seiler, who manages Ecology’s hazardous waste and toxics reduction program.

In addition to the $30,000 payment, Seattle Barrel agrees to invest up to $15,000—on efforts beyond state requirements—to help prevent future violations, including:

“We remain fully committed to compliance with all environmental regulations,” said Louie Sanft, general manager of Seattle Barrel. “The violations were inadvertent and we immediately implemented changes as requested by the Department of Ecology. We will continue to work together to ensure compliance is maintained.”

Ecology will suspend the remaining $35,000 of the original penalty, provided that the facility remains in compliance with state dangerous waste requirements for the next two years. Automatic fines of up to $8,000 per occurrence may occur for repeat violations.

The penalty and settlement are part of Ecology’s broader efforts to reduce and prevent toxic threats to the environment.

Navy Settles Environmental Violations at Naval Station Norfolk

EPA alleged that the facility did not perform leak rate calculations when it serviced the units. The Navy has implemented improved training and recordkeeping to help ensure proper servicing of equipment.

In addition, EPA alleged that the facility violated emissions limits on an industrial device used for abrasive blasting and also had recordkeeping violations. The Navy has addressed both issues.

The Navy took prompt action to address the hazardous waste violations, which will help ensure that those wastes are managed properly.

EPA Fines Auto-Chlor LLC for Selling Misbranded Pesticide

Auto-Chlor System, LLC, a pesticide registrant and distributor headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, has agreed to pay a $6,750 civil penalty to the United States to settle allegations related to the sale and distribution of a misbranded pesticide. The violation occurred at a dealer facility located at 310 Kansas Ave. in Kansas City, Kansas.

The violation was discovered as a result of a routine producer establishment inspection performed by the Kansas Department of Agriculture in January 2014.

Under FIFRA, the pesticide was considered to be misbranded as its label lacked required directions for safe and proper storage and disposal.

As part of the consent agreement, Auto-Chlor System, LLC, has certified it is now in compliance with FIFRA and its regulations.

Lawsuit Seeks to Halt Illegal Dumping of Toxic Oil into California’s Imperiled Water Supplies

A lawsuit filed recently by environmental organizations seeks to halt illegal oil industry operations that are dumping millions of gallons of toxic oil waste a day into California’s dwindling underground water supplies.

The lawsuit, filed by Earthjustice in Alameda County Superior Court on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club, challenges recently unveiled “underground injection control” regulations from California’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR).

The regulations allow oil companies to continue injecting oil industry wastewater and other fluids into protected aquifers until February 2017, in violation of state and federal law and despite a water-scarcity crisis caused by the worst drought on record. DOGGR pushed the rules through in just a few days, characterizing inconvenience to the oil industry from interrupting its illegal injections as a public “emergency.”

The lawsuit asks the court to declare the new regulations illegal and force California officials to halt illegal oil industry injection operations in the state.

DOGGR has admitted allowing thousands of oil industry wells to inject fluids, including wastewater, directly into protected aquifers, in clear violation of the law. These illegal injections are contaminating underground water in scores of aquifers across the state, from Monterey to Kern and Los Angeles counties .

Oil regulators, the lawsuit says, issued emergency regulations to try to dodge obligations to protect California’s water from illegal contamination by oil waste. “These rules turn the definition and purpose of a public emergency upside down by employing [California’s] regulatory emergency powers to allow the continuance of admittedly illegal injection of oil industry wastewater into underground sources of drinking water,” the legal complaint states.

“Instead of halting the operations of these underground injection wells, these regulations allow DOGGR to delay shutting down illegal operations for nearly two more years,” said Earthjustice Staff Attorney Will Rostov. “This is DOGGR outrageously re-writing the law to allow needless and unlawful contamination of drinking water during a severe drought for the benefit of the oil industry.”

“It’s inexcusable that state regulators are letting oil companies dump toxic wastewater into California’s water supplies during the worst drought in 1,200 years,” said Hollin Kretzmann, a staff attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity. “The oil industry’s illegal injections need to stop immediately to protect our groundwater.”

Oil wastewater in California typically contains high levels of cancer-causing benzene, according to testing done by DOGGR and oil companies. Wastewater can also include fracking fluid, which often contains chemicals that are linked to serious human health problems, including cancer and birth defects.

“Existing state and federal laws rightly recognize that groundwater is a precious commodity, and for decades, the law has protected both the aquifers already in use as well as those that might come into future use,” said Nathan Matthews of Sierra Club. “DOGGR’s emergency rule turns legal tradition on its head and gives the oil and gas industry free rein to contaminate California’s aquifers prior to determining whether the ground water will be needed in the future.”

DOGGR admits it has failed to adequately safeguard protected aquifers from oil industry pollution for years. But oil regulators have shut down just 23 of about 2,500 injection wells identified as operating illegally in protected aquifers. In proposing the emergency regulations, DOGGR argued that “the oil industry’s long-term business plans might be affected if required to comply with existing state and federal law.”

In letters dated April 14, 2015, Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club urged the California Office of Administrative Law, which approved DOGGR’s regulations, to reject DOGGR’s emergency rules.

Michigan DEQ Announces CAFO Permit Change to Protect Michigan Waters

The DEQ recently announced a change to its permits for large farms as part of the state’s efforts to better protect Michigan waters from agricultural runoff.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations throughout the state are all governed by a discharge permit developed by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which establishes standards and practices to help large farms avoid damaging the environment. 

CAFOs are not allowed to spread manure on frozen or snow-covered grounds under except under very strict, limited circumstances, but they previously have been allowed to transfer their excess manure to other operations not specifically prohibited from winter spreading.

The change announced recently with the reissuing of the general permit disallows large farms to “manifest,” or transfer farm waste to other operations from January through March unless the recipient follows the winter spreading technical standard.

The change responds to several incidents during the past few winters where waste from CAFO operations was transferred to other operations, which spread the material on their lands for fertilizer and subsequently impacted drains, creeks, and rivers during the spring thaw.

The change is expected to further minimize incidents of farm runoff to surface waters during spring melts, and will safeguard Michigan’s valuable water resources while providing a reasonable regulatory framework for farmers.

This permit update is one of Michigan’s many efforts to reduce phosphorus and nutrient loading to Lake Erie and other surface waters. The state enacted phosphorus limits on cleaning products during the 1970s, and in 2012, banned the use of phosphorus in residential lawn fertilizers. Michigan also is focused on reducing phosphorus outputs from wastewater treatment plants.

In accordance with its usual permitting process, the DEQ placed a draft version of the new CAFO general permit on public notice on December 19, 2014, and held a public hearing January 21, 2015. The department received a lot of great input on the permit, and made revisions based on public comment.

Learning Triggers Key to Preventing Asthma Attacks

One in 10 kids in America suffers from asthma, and communities of color and low-income families are disproportionately impacted. During Asthma Awareness Month, the EPA recognizes two leading asthma management programs—Green and Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) in Baltimore, Maryland, and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital CHAMPS Program in Memphis, Tennessee—for comprehensive, in-home interventions and innovative asthma education to improve the lives of people with asthma in underserved communities.

“We can take steps to protect our families and control asthma by learning the triggers and creating an action plan,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “We know our public health is directly connected to our environment, and threats such as climate change are aggravating symptoms for communities across the country which is why we are taking important action through our Clean Power Plan and the Clean Air Act.”

Asthma is a major public health issue, affecting nearly 23 million people and disproportionally affecting low-income and minority communities. The economic impact of asthma amounts to more than $56 billion per year from direct medical costs and indirect costs, such as missed school and workdays.

Americans can take important steps to help control their asthma symptoms and maintain active lifestyles with three simple steps:

1. Identify and avoid environmental asthma triggers. Air pollution, dust mites, secondhand smoke, mold, pests, and pet dander can trigger asthma attacks. Work with your doctor to identify and avoid your personal asthma triggers, since asthma sufferers are affected differently.
2. Create an asthma action plan. An asthma action plan will help you monitor your asthma daily and will offer steps to reduce your exposure to your personal triggers through effective control strategies. Ask your doctor to assist you in creating an asthma action plan.
3. Pay attention to air quality. Exposure to ozone and particle pollution can cause asthma attacks. 

In recent years, the agency has taken steps to address smog- and soot-forming pollution, toxic air emissions, and carbon pollution from power plants as well as emissions from on- and off-road diesel engines that will prevent hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks. EPA expects the proposed Clean Power Plan’s public health and climate benefits will help avoid up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children annually by 2030.

The agency’s 2015 National Environmental Leadership Award winners in asthma management are:

• Green and Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) in Baltimore, Md. serves families of children with asthma with the highest hospitalization rates in Baltimore. GHHI collaborates with more than 35 federal, state, local, non-profit, and philanthropic partners to deliver comprehensive, in-home interventions.
• Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital CHAMPS Program in Memphis, Tenn. serves high-risk children with asthma, who are recipients of Tennessee’s Medicaid Program. The CHAMPS program has developed a high-risk asthma registry and uses a team of community health workers, respiratory therapists, physicians and social workers to provide asthma education.

EPA is conducting a coordinated approach to promoting scientific understanding of environmental asthma triggers and comprehensive asthma management through research, education and community-focused outreach.

Chevron Fined $11,400 for Oil Spill to Willamette River in Northwest Portland

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality fined Chevron U.S.A. Inc. $11,400 for an oil spill to the Willamette River at the Willbridge Terminal at 5924 Front Ave., Portland, OR.

On Dec. 10, 2014, approximately one quart of lubrication oil entered the Willamette River when a secondary containment area overflowed due to rains during maintenance work. DEQ issued this penalty because releasing oil to the Willamette River is a serious violation of Oregon environmental law. Even small amounts of oil or petroleum products have negative environmental impacts on Willamette River aquatic life and ecosystems.

Chevron promptly placed absorbent booms to prevent additional oil from spilling into the river and hired an environmental cleanup contractor. DEQ considered these efforts when determining the penalty amount. Chevron has appealed the penalty.

EPA’s Energy Star Battle of the Buildings Competition Saves $50 Million, Prevents 250,000 Metric Tons of GHG Emissions

Together, the competitors saved more than $50 million, cut their energy use by more than two billion kBtus, and prevented more than 250,000 metric tons of GHG emissions—equal to the annual energy use of more than 37,000 homes. Competitors reduced their energy use an average of six percent, equivalent to an average savings of nearly $20,000 per building.

A Woodville, Alabama, building team, “Going Blue for Woodville,” took home the top award in EPA’s competition, 2015 Top Team, by cutting their average energy use by 25%. The five-building team, which included a town hall, community center, chapel, co-op building, and wastewater treatment plant, in the 741-person town achieved the greatest energy reduction of 100 teams during a 12-month period. The agency is also recognizing the 2015 Top Building, the Woodville, Alabama, Chapel, for an energy use reduction of 68.4%.

“EPA’s Energy Star Battle of the Buildings Competition brings together communities to find important solutions to reduce harmful carbon pollution fueling climate change, save energy, and significantly reduce energy costs in the places where we work, play, and learn,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “It’s great to see the collaboration and hard work the competition inspires to accomplish energy efficiency measures that will continue to benefit these communities for years to come.”

The town of Woodville received a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs to retrofit its single-phase power at the wastewater treatment plant to three-phase power. The town used the momentum of the grant to roll into the EPA contest and approached improvements to each building separately. The team studied current technology and installed Wi-Fi programmable thermostats, LED lights and timers, and turned off electrical items not in use.

This year’s theme, “Team Challenge,” featured teams of five or more buildings who worked together to reduce their collective energy use as much as possible over the course of a year. Many organizations used the competition to involve staff and students in the effort. For example, five Sears stores, that competed as team “Robinson’s Reducers”, upgraded their stores’ lighting and installed a remote energy monitoring system. In a county outside Wilmington, Delaware, children from 13 elementary schools teamed against their older siblings in the county’s five middle schools and six high schools. Though the competition emphasized team participation, individual buildings entered and competed on their own to earn the title of 2015 Top Building.

Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20% of total US GHG emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. Thousands of businesses and organizations work with EPA’s Energy Star program and are saving billions of dollars and preventing millions of tons of GHG emissions from entering the atmosphere each year.

The top overall team finishers and their percentage-based reductions in energy use include: