The US Department of Energy (USDOE) recently released energy efficiency standards for new rooftop air conditioners, heat pumps, and furnaces that heat and cool more than half of America’s commercial floor space. Together, they represent the largest energy and pollution savings of any rules issued by the agency since the standards program began in 1987.
The energy efficiency standards—which will cover new rooftop units (RTUs) found on low-rise buildings like hospitals, schools, and big box stores—will save nearly enough energy over the next 30 years to offset the annual carbon dioxide emissions of more than 120 million homes. The standards are the result of negotiations among a broad group of stakeholders that included manufacturers, utilities, and consumer, and environmental organizations including the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Rhea Suh, president of NRDC, made the following statement:
These groundbreaking standards will yield the greatest single amount of energy savings of any rule ever issued by the Department of Energy. They will save about the same amount of energy as all the coal burned in the US to generate electricity in a year—a huge reduction in carbon pollution. And like in Paris, when the community of nations made history by banding together to fight climate change, these historic efficiency standards were the result of an accord reached by stakeholders who set aside their competing interests for the common good.
These are very, very promising days in the global fight to slow, stop and reverse climate change, the central environmental challenge of our time.
Hazardous Waste Generator Improvement Rule
In the first major modification to the hazardous waste regulations in over 10 years, EPA plans to modify and reorganize the hazardous waste generator rule. When adopted, the rule will provide greater flexibility in how hazardous waste is managed and close important gaps in the regulations.
Attend Environmental Resource Center’s live, online session to learn:
- New requirements for documenting hazardous waste determinations
- Revised requirements for when and how to submit the Notification of Generator Status form to EPA
- How to take advantage of the episodic generation exclusion to avoid reclassification to a larger generator status
- Definitions of important new terms – “Very Small Quantity Generator” and “Central Accumulation Area”
- How to mark containers, tanks, and containment buildings with new information required at central accumulation areas and satellites
- New conditions under which containers can be left open at satellite accumulation areas
- Updated time and volume limits for satellite accumulation areas
- New documentation requirements for contingency plans and biennial reports
- New requirements for shipping hazardous waste from a VSQG to another facility owned by the same organization
New Exclusions for Solvent Recycling and Hazardous Secondary Materials
EPA’s new final rule on the definition of solid waste creates new opportunities for waste recycling outside the scope of the full hazardous waste regulations. This rule, which went into effect on July 13, 2015, streamlines the regulatory burden for wastes that are legitimately recycled.
The first of the two exclusions is an exclusion from the definition of solid waste for high-value solvents transferred from one manufacturer to another for the purpose of extending the useful life of the original solvent by keeping the materials in commerce to reproduce a commercial grade of the original solvent product.
The second, and more wide reaching of the two exclusions, is a revision of the existing hazardous secondary material recycling exclusion. This exclusion allows you to recycle, or send off-site for recycling, virtually any hazardous secondary material. Provided you meet the terms of the exclusion, the material will no longer be hazardous waste.
Learn how to take advantage of these exclusions at Environmental Resource Center’s live webcast on January 15 where you will learn:
- Which of your materials qualify under the new exclusions
- What qualifies as a hazardous secondary material
- Which solvents can be remanufactured, and which cannot
- What is a tolling agreement
- What is legitimate recycling
- Generator storage requirements
- What documentation you must maintain
- Requirements for off-site shipments
- Training and emergency planning requirements
- If it is acceptable for the recycler to be outside the US
Cleveland RCRA and DOT Training
Cary RCRA, DOT, IATA/IMO, and SARA Training
Anaheim RCRA and DOT Training
EPA Announces 2015 Annual Environmental Enforcement Results
Additionally, EPA made significant progress on cases that will benefit communities well into the future, by pursuing a final settlement that puts billions of dollars to work restoring the Gulf and helping communities affected by the BP oil spill, and by launching an investigation against Volkswagen for illegally emitting air pollution from diesel vehicles.
“The large cases we tackled in 2015 will drive compliance across industries, and protect public health in communities for years to come,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “These cases are putting cutting edge tools to work, and using innovative approaches to reduce pollution. Through another strong year in enforcement, we are implementing America’s environmental laws and delivering on EPA’s mission.”
In fiscal year 2015, EPA enforcement actions required companies to invest more than $7 billion in actions and equipment to control pollution and clean up contaminated sites. EPA’s cases resulted in $404 million in combined federal administrative, civil judicial penalties, and criminal fines. Other results include:
- Reductions of an estimated 430 million lb of air pollutants
- Almost $2 billion in commitments from responsible parties to clean up Superfund sites
- More than $39 million invested in environmental projects that provide direct benefits to communities harmed by pollution
EPA pursues high impact cases that drive compliance across industries:
- A Clean Air Act settlement with Hyundai-Kia netted a record $100 million penalty, forfeiture of emissions credits, and more than $50 million invested in compliance measures to help level the playing field for responsible companies, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fueling climate change.
- Noble Energy, Inc., a leading oil and gas producer, will use advanced monitoring technologies to detect air pollution problems in real-time, and ensure proper operation and maintenance of pollution control equipment at its facilities in Colorado.
EPA holds criminal violators accountable that threaten the health and safety of Americans, while directing funds to affected communities:
- EPA’s criminal program secured $4 billion in court-ordered environmental projects, generated $200 million in fines and restitution, and sentenced defendants to a combined 129 years of incarceration.
- Three subsidiaries of Duke Energy Corporation, the largest energy utility in the US, agreed to pay a $68 million criminal fine and spend $34 million on environmental projects and land conservation to benefit rivers and wetlands in North Carolina and Virginia. As part of the plea, two Duke subsidiaries will ensure they can meet legal obligations to remediate coal ash impoundments within North Carolina, which will cost an estimated $3.4 billion.
EPA enforcement work reduces pollution in the sectors that impact American communities the most:
- Settlements with Interstate Power and Light, Duke Energy Corporation and power companies in Arizona and New Mexico are cutting coal fired power plant emissions, requiring companies to control pollution, and conduct innovative projects that promote renewable energy development and energy efficiency practices.
- Cal-Maine Foods, one of the nation’s largest egg producers, is implementing a series of measures to comply with laws that control pollutants, including nutrients and bacteria, from being discharged into waterways.
- XTO Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and the nation’s largest holder of natural gas reserves, will restore eight sites in West Virginia damaged when streams and wetlands were filled to build roads, and implement a plan to comply with water protection laws.
- The largest bankruptcy-related cleanup settlement in American history, with Anadarko and Kerr McGee, will put more than $4.4 billion into toxic pollution cleanup, improving water quality and removing dangerous materials in tribal and overburdened communities.
- EPA ensures federal agencies take responsibility and clean up toxic pollution. The Army addressed over 19 million cubic yards of contaminated groundwater at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama, and the US Navy and Defense Logistics Agency are required to implement at least $90 million in upgrades and improvements to prevent potential leaks at the Red Hill Bulk Storage Facility in Hawaii.
EPA Region Ten Releases Enforcement Actions for Third Quarter 2015
EPA Region 10 completed over 50 environmental compliance and enforcement actions in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington from July 1, 2015 through September 30, 2015.
Violations of environmental laws put public health and the environment at risk. EPA enforces federal environmental rules to protect communities and to keep our air, water and land clean and healthy. EPA’s compliance and enforcement efforts also level the playing field by deterring violators who might otherwise have an unfair business advantage over environmentally compliant facilities and businesses.
Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Upheld
The US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected a bid by the coal mining industry and its allies to throw out the first-ever national limits on mercury and other toxic air pollution spewed by power plants. The Court’s decision on the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will save thousands of lives, and avert long term environmental and public health damage.
Air pollution is responsible for one out of every 20 American deaths, and coal-fired power plants are one of the largest sources of deadly emissions.
This summer, the US Supreme Court remanded these standards to the appeals court. Although EPA demonstrated that the health and environmental benefits of the standards far outweigh the costs to the industry, the Supreme Court found EPA should have considered industry’s costs at a different stage of the regulatory process.
After that decision, the National Mining Association and other parties linked to coal-mining interests asked the appeals court to throw the standards out. Represented by Earthjustice, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Clean Air Council, NAACP, and Sierra Club argued to leave these critical protections in place.
The EPA has already begun the process to consider costs in accordance with the Supreme Court decision, and predicts it will complete that step next April.
"After a 20-year fight, today’s decision means we’ve finally secured health protections that will prevent thousands of premature deaths, heart attacks and hospital visits each year," said Earthjustice attorney James Pew. "The D.C. Circuit was right to reject the coal industry’s attempt to place profits over people’s health."
“This ruling will significantly reduce mercury pollution from power plants, a leading source of the pollution that has led to fish consumption advisories in rivers and streams around the country as well as here in the Chesapeake Bay region. Those contaminated fish put the health of many, including those who fish to feed their families, at risk,” said Jon Mueller, CBF Vice President for Litigation. “These new limits will reduce pollution and the associated human health risks, a legacy that we can be proud to leave to our children and future generations.”
“The Clean Air Council applauds the D.C. Circuit’s decision to leave this important public health rule in place,” said Joseph O. Minott, Executive Director and Chief Counsel at the Clean Air Council. “This outcome properly prioritizes cleaner air and better health for Americans over more profits for the fossil fuel industry.”
CalEPA and OEHHA Release Interactive Spanish Version of CalEnviroScreen
The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) recently released a Spanish-language interface for the California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool (CalEnviroScreen), making the interactive online mapping tool available in Spanish for the first time.
“Many of the Californians who live in the communities identified by CalEnviroScreen as most burdened by pollution speak Spanish as their first language,” said CalEPA Secretary Matthew Rodriquez. “Making this tool available in Spanish helps to advance environmental justice for all Californians.”
Almost 30% of Californians over age five speak Spanish at home as their primary language, according to the US Census Bureau.
Developed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) at the request of CalEPA, CalEnviroScreen is a science-based tool that identifies the California communities most burdened by pollution from multiple sources and most vulnerable to its effects. It is being used to help implement a state law (SB 535) that requires that at least 25% of the proceeds from the state’s cap-and-trade program to reduce GHG emissions be invested in projects that benefit disadvantaged communities, including 10% for projects located within these areas.
To date, more than $800 million has been appropriated for investments benefitting disadvantaged communities. These investments include $9 million in funding for clean, alternative transportation in disadvantaged areas, such as a zero-emission vehicle car sharing program in Los Angeles’ Pico Rivera neighborhood, and financial assistance for pilot projects to help replace some of the state’s dirtiest vehicles in the San Joaquin Valley and southern California. They also include $150 million that is being used to install solar power and weatherization measures for thousands of homes in disadvantaged communities.
The tool uses data on 12 indicators of pollution and environmental quality, and seven indicators of socioeconomic and public health conditions, to calculate a score for each of the state’s 8,000 census tracts based on their overall pollution burdens and vulnerabilities. While users previously were able to view maps based on those combined scores, they can now also explore maps and data from each of the 19 individual indicators that make up the scores. These indicator maps include ozone, particulate matter, drinking water contaminants, pesticide use, asthma rates, educational attainment and poverty, among others, in both English and Spanish.
“CalEnviroScreen has been helping policymakers, scientists, and everyday Californians examine pollution and population characteristics in combination, but it can also be useful to look at these factors individually,” said OEHHA Acting Director Dr. Lauren Zeise. “These new interactive tools will make it easy for Californians to do both.”
“It’s important for tools like these to be accessible in more than one language,” said Veronica Padilla-Campos, Executive Director of Pacoima Beautiful, an environmental justice advocacy organization active in communities identified as burdened by CalEnviroScreen. “We appreciate CalEPA and OEHHA’s work not just to identify burdened communities, but also to make this information more accessible to the people most burdened by pollution.”
Links to Interactive Spanish version of CalEnviroScreen
Links to Interactive English version of CalEnviroScreen
Reduce Waste for Greener Holidays
Friends, family, parties, and travel are what make the holiday season great. You can make it even better by reducing waste as often as possible during your celebrations. The EPA wants to help make your holidays as green as they can be with these tips for reducing waste and conserving resources.
Gift-giving:
- Bring your own reusable bag when shopping for gifts. Buy items made with minimal packaging and recycled content.
- Wrap gifts in recycled or reused paper. Consider gifts that don’t use much wrapping, such as gift cards or concert tickets.
- Package baked goods in reusable or recyclable containers as gifts.
Parties and events:
- Use reusable plates, glasses, and silverware at parties. Make sure guests know where your recycling bin is for cans, bottles, or other recyclable items they use.
- Share leftover food with family and friends. Donate untouched leftovers to a food bank or homeless shelter.
- After the party, fill the dishwasher completely before running it. You’ll save water and energy by running fewer cycles.
Reduction prevents pollution caused by processing raw materials, saves energy, reduces GHG emissions that contribute to climate change and saves money.
Waste More, Warm More
The EPA encourages everyone to think about a product’s entire lifecycle when it comes to waste. We all know how important it is to reduce, reuse, and recycle. But did you also know those actions are listed in that order for a reason? Reducing what we use—and using stuff carefully—are the most effective ways to save natural resources and help create a more sustainable future for our planet.
Making smart choices about what we buy, how we use it, and how we dispose of it can make a big difference in the amount of waste we produce and the GHG emissions associated with our consumption. The manufacture, distribution, and use of the goods and food we rely on in our daily lives—as well as management of the resulting waste—all require energy. This energy mostly comes from fossil fuels, which are the largest global source of heat-trapping GHG emissions.
Everything we use goes through a life cycle, and each stage of the life cycle has environmental impacts, including climate change. However, reducing the use of materials in every stage of the life cycle minimizes the environmental impact associated with the stuff we use.
Reduction prevents pollution caused by processing raw materials, saves energy, reduces GHG emissions that contribute to climate change and saves money.
Automakers Beat GHG Emissions Standards for Third Straight Year
The EPA recently announced that manufacturers have surpassed the more stringent 2014 standards for GHG emissions, while model year 2014 fuel economy remains steady at the highest level ever recorded.
The findings were included in two reports the agency released recently: the annual report on fuel economy trends and a report on the auto industry’s progress toward meeting GHG emissions standards for cars and light trucks.
The Greenhouse Gas Manufacturer Performance Report concludes that for model year 2014, manufacturers are over-complying with the GHG standards by 13 grams of CO2 per mile, or about 1.4 miles per gallon (mpg). In the last 10 years, fuel economy has increased significantly, improving 5 mpg or 26% overall.
“For the third year in a row, manufacturers have exceeded the GHG emissions standards by a wide margin,” said EPA’s director of the Office of Air Quality and Transportation, Christopher Grundler. “It’s clear that our standards are working, spurring technology and innovation, and we are on track to achieve significant greenhouse gas reductions."
EPA estimates that, through 2014, the GHG emissions standards have resulted in reducing cumulative emissions by roughly 60 million metric tons of CO2—roughly the amount of GHGs emitted from electricity use from over 8 million homes in one year. These standards will ultimately save American families who purchase a new MY 2025 vehicle more than $8,000 in lifetime fuel costs. The program in total will save Americans $1.7 trillion in fuel costs, will reduce US fuel use by 12 billion barrels of oil, and reduce GHG emissions by 6 billion metric tons.
In 2012, EPA and the Department of Transportation began implementing standards projected to double new vehicle fuel economy by 2025 and cut new vehicle GHG emissions by half. Because of this program, consumers have many more choices when shopping for vehicles with higher fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions compared to just five years ago.
While overall GHG emissions continued downward due to improvements in air conditioning and other advancements, this year’s report finds that overall fuel economy remains steady at 24.3 mpg in model year 2014. Truck fuel economy reached a record high of 20.4 mpg label average, a 0.6 mpg increase from last year, and the second largest increase in 30 years. However, on a fleet wide basis, this higher truck fuel economy was offset by a 5% increase in truck market share. In addition, the report finds that the market is adopting fuel efficient technologies such as turbocharging and advanced transmissions at a faster pace than EPA projected when the standards were finalized.
For model year 2014, manufacturers are over-complying with the GHG standards, which means consumers continue to buy vehicles with lower GHG emissions than required by the EPA standards.
MCCC Recommends State Reduce GHG Emissions 40% by 2030
A new report from the Maryland Commission on Climate Change (MCCC) calls on the State to develop and implement a plan to reduce GHG emissions by 40% by 2030 while strengthening efforts to improve the State’s economy and creating new jobs.
A recent status report by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) found that the plan required by the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Act, which is designed to achieve a 25% reduction by 2020, is estimated to create a net economic benefit between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion and help create and maintain between 26,000 and 33,000 new jobs.
The Commission also endorsed the recommendation in the MDE status report that the State continue its efforts to achieve the 25 by 20 goal established in the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act while also enhancing efforts to support economic development and job creation. The MDE report shows that the State is on track to meet the 25% reduction goal by 2020.
“The Maryland Climate Change Commission is broad and diverse but all agree the State should be proactive and balanced in responding to the challenges and opportunities ahead,” said Commission Chair and MDE Secretary Ben Grumbles. “The report reflects the members’ wide range of perspectives, tracks recent and ongoing efforts and identifies a balanced and achievable path forward based on sound science, environmental progress, and a strong economy in Maryland.”
“This report is testament to our commitment to address our ever-changing climate, an important ecological and economic issue for the state, its resources and its citizens,” Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Mark Belton said. “By strengthening our ability to adapt and prepare, we can better protect our infrastructure, plan for anticipated sea level rise and increase our communities’ resilience to change.”
The report also endorses MDE’s recent recommendation that efforts to achieve deeper reductions must strengthen efforts to insure that the State’s plan to address climate change will also have a net positive impact on the economy and help Maryland create and maintain jobs.
“The science presented to the Commission is clear: climate change is happening and is already impacting Marylanders statewide whether from rising sea level or more extreme storms,” said Maryland Sen. Paul Pinsky, a lead sponsor of the 2009 law. “Our task is to ensure the State continues to make significant progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions as climate change is an issue that will affect every citizen in the State.”
The Commission report also recommends broadening Maryland’s 2030 climate action goals and plans to ensure that State climate action strategies: effectively address possible economic dislocations; produce economic benefits that are sustainable and equitably distributed across Maryland’s population; produce public health benefits; reduce energy burdens in low-income households; and make vulnerable communities more resilient in the face of extreme weather and other challenges brought on by climate change.
“We know that we are moving ever more rapidly into a carbon-constrained future,” said Commission Steering Committee Co-Chair Stuart Clarke, executive director of the Town Creek Foundation. “With this report we are committing to doing our part to help put Maryland on a path toward a future prosperity that is both sustainable and equitable. In the coming year we will be working to ensure that all of Maryland’s citizens and communities are included on this journey.”
“Maryland’s current climate action strategies are expected to benefit the State’s economy by billions of dollars and create tens of thousands of new jobs,” said Commission Steering Committee Co-Chair John Quinn, director of state affairs for the Baltimore Gas & Electric Company. “As the Maryland Commission on Climate Change studies and recommends strategies to achieve additional reductions, it will build on these benefits. Future efforts will remain focused on greenhouse gas reduction strategies that will have a positive impact on the State’s economy so that any efforts implemented are sustainable, benefitting both the environment and the economy.”
The MCCC is charged with advising the Governor and General Assembly on ways to mitigate the causes of, prepare for and adapt to the consequences of climate change and maintaining and strengthening the State’s existing Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan. Commission priorities include building broader partnerships with federal, State, and local governments and the private sector to reduce GHG emissions and prepare for the likely impacts of climate change in Maryland; better communicating with and educating Marylanders about the urgency of the challenge; and options to address it and establishing action plan goals and timetables for implementation.
‘Living Shorelines’ Can Lessen Climate Change’s Effects
This study, the first of its kind, measured carbon storing, or “carbon sequestration,” in the coastal wetlands and the narrow, fringing marshes of living shorelines in North Carolina.
“As communities around the country become more vulnerable to natural disasters and long-term adverse environmental change, scientific research such as this helps people, communities, businesses, and governments better understand risk and develop solutions to mitigate impacts.”
Carbon can be stored or “sequestered” in plants when they take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. The carbon sequestered and subsequently stored in coastal wetland sediments is known as “coastal blue carbon.” Acre for acre, salt marsh meadows can store two to three times as much carbon of the course of a year as mature tropical forests.
NOAA has supported blue carbon policy and science efforts for several years, with a growing interest in creating and managing coastal wetlands as carbon sinks.
“But now we know that the added carbon storage benefit of these marshes as part of living shorelines can improve coastal resilience.”
In the study, researchers measured the amount of carbon stored in salt marsh sediments, and compared storage rates in marshes of different ages in North Carolina’s Newport River Estuary. Younger fringing marshes have higher carbon storage rates than older marshes, but the long-term potential of sandy living shorelines is similar to natural marshes in the southeast US—75 grams of carbon per square meter per year.
The 124 living shorelines in North Carolina store enough carbon to offset 64 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually—the pollution equivalent of burning 7,500 gallons of gasoline. Conversion of even 10% of North Carolina’s 850 miles of shoreline to living shoreline would result in an additional annual carbon dioxide benefit of 870 metric tons—the pollution equivalent of using more than 100,000 gallons of gasoline.
“This study shows that we can add carbon sequestration to the reasons to use natural, living shorelines, along with preventing shoreline erosion, the clearing of nutrient pollution and protecting the habitats of essential fish populations,” said the study’s co-author Carolyn Currin, Ph.D., a NOAA NCCOS scientist.
This project was a partnership between Currin, Davis, both at the NCCOS laboratory in Beaufort, North Carolina, and three undergraduate co-authors, all of whom were awarded internships through the NOAA Hollings Scholar Program and the NOAA College-Supported Internship program.
Wallula Feedlot Fined $50,000 for Air Quality Violations
A beef cattle feeding operation in Walla Walla County, Washington, has been fined $50,000 for failing to manage air pollution. The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) found that the facility allowed small particles into the air, including dust and dried manure.
Fine particles can cause health problems for people who are exposed frequently and at high enough levels.
Simplot Feeders, LLP, violated air quality rules which require management of dust and other pollution. Simplot’s monitoring data shows more than 50 days between April and September 2015 that staff observed excess dust onsite or leaving the property. The operators didn’t apply practices outlined in their dust control plan designed to prevent small-particle pollution.
Ecology inspectors observed broken sprinklers and poor water application intended to control pollution from cattle pens and roadways. Inspectors also noted excess dust being released from the feed prep area.
The company received a formal notice from Ecology in July for failing to manage air pollution in the feed prep area, cattle pens, and roadways. Since the notice, some improvements have been made to reduce dust, specifically in the feed prep area.
Simplot Feeders may appeal the fine to the state’s Pollution Control Hearings Board within 30 days.
Clorox Fined $250,000 for Misleading Antimicrobial Label
The EPA recently announced a settlement with Clorox Professional Products Company for selling a mislabeled pesticide on over six hundred occasions in 2013. As part of the settlement, Clorox has agreed to pay a $250,000 civil penalty.
Clorox has removed the claim from its product, marketed as “Dispatch Hospital Cleaner Disinfectant with Bleach.”
“Labels that are false or misleading put people at risk,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “Companies must test and correctly label these disinfectant products to protect the health and safety of hospital patients and staff.”
Before selling or distributing any pesticide in the US, a company must register the pesticide with the EPA under FIFRA. EPA’s laboratory tests antimicrobial products periodically to confirm their approved efficacy, and EPA takes enforcement action to encourage companies to ensure their products are as effective against microorganisms as claimed on their label.
The Clorox Professional Products Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Clorox Company, is based in Oakland, California. The Clorox Company is a manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional cleaning and disinfecting products, with approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and 2015 sales of $5.7 billion.
EPA Stops Sales of WellPlant’s ‘Mold Manager’ to Protect Public from Unregistered Pesticide
The EPA has issued the “Stop Sale” order to prevent WellPlant and its affiliated company, GST International, Inc., from continuing to distribute or offer for sale “Mold Manager,” a product that prevents mold, mildew, algae and moss. The product is made in Oregon and has been offered for sale online and distributed to customers in California, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Nevada, Oregon, Ohio, and Canada.
At EPA’s request, the Nevada Department of Agriculture conducted an inspection of the companies’ facility at 855 East Greg Street in Sparks, and tested the product. EPA verified the product was pesticidal, mislabeled, and potentially harmful to human health. Products that make claims about preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating mold are considered pesticides and must be properly labeled and registered under federal law.
Mold Manager is not registered with the EPA, not labeled properly, and missing precautionary statements on the label. Proper labeling and registration ensures consumer safety. Consumers who purchased Mold Manager should contact their local refuse management companies for advice on proper disposal.
The sale or distribution of a pesticide that has not been registered with the EPA is a violation of federal pesticide law, which requires registration of pesticide products and pesticide-production facilities, as well as proper pesticide labeling. These requirements protect public health and the environment by minimizing the risks associated with the production, handling, and application of pesticides. Pesticides can also be harmful if improperly stored or disposed.
SIGECO to Reduce Air Pollution from Southern Indiana Power Plants
The EPA recently announced an agreement with the Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company (SIGECO) that will reduce air pollution from the company’s F.B. Culley and A.B. Brown coal-fired electric generating plants in southern Indiana, near Evansville.
“The pollution control equipment that SIGECO will install as a result of this agreement will improve air quality and protect the health of southern Indiana residents,” EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman said.
The pollution control equipment that SIGECO will install pursuant to the agreement will reduce sulfuric acid emissions from the Culley and Brown power plants by approximately 1,400 tons each year. SIGECO also will make other equipment upgrades that will reduce sulfur dioxide and particulate emissions from the Culley plant. The new and upgraded equipment is expected to cost approximately $30 million.
Sulfuric acid and sulfur dioxide emissions can impact human health and the environment—and contribute to the formation of acid rain. Particulate emissions can penetrate deeply into sensitive parts of the lungs and can cause or worsen respiratory disease.
The agreement is subject to Court approval following a public notice and comment period.
EPA Approves Revisions to Pueblo of Pojoaque Water Quality Standards
The EPA approved revisions to the Pueblo of Pojoaque’s water quality standards. The Pueblo, located in New Mexico, protects public health and aquatic life for the area that includes the Rio Pojoaque, Rio Tesuque, and Rio Nambe water bodies.
“The Pueblo of Pojoaque is preserving ecosystems that are essential to tribal lands,” said EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry. “The Pueblo’s leadership will strengthen its ability to restore and maintain its water resources.”
In September 2015, the Pueblo held a public hearing on its proposed revisions to the standards and notified neighboring tribes, state agencies, federal agencies, and local authorities of the opportunity to comment on the proposed standards.
The goal of the Clean Water Act includes restoring and protecting the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. Water quality standards established under the Clean Water Act set the tribe’s expectations for reservation water quality. These standards also serve as water quality goals for individual surface waters, guide and inform monitoring and assessment activities, and provide a legal basis for permitting and regulatory pollution controls.
On November 8, 1984, the EPA issued its Policy for the Administration of Environmental Programs on Indian Reservations. In doing so, the EPA became the first federal agency to adopt a formal Indian policy to guide its relations with tribal governments in the administration of its programs.
Due to Repeat Asbestos Violations, MassDEP Demands $14,312 Penalty from A & E Environmental
An asbestos abatement contractor in Leominster, Massachusetts, A & E Environmental, must pay a previously suspended penalty of $14,312.50 after MassDEP determined that the company violated state asbestos regulations for a second time within a year.
A & E Environmental had been fined $19,312.50 in May of 2014 for asbestos violations at a residential building in Millbury. The firm paid $5,000 of the penalty, but MassDEP suspended the remaining amount with the stipulation that the company commits no further violations for a year.
However, on December 30, 2014, MassDEP observed new asbestos violations by the company at a job on Lake Street in Shrewsbury. MassDEP observed that the company had failed to adequately seal the work area and failed to use a HEPA-filtered air ventilation system to control asbestos fibers. As a result of those violations, MassDEP issued a Demand for Payment to A & E Environmental to collect the $14,312.50 penalty previously suspended.
MassDEP required the company personnel to correct the violations in the Shrewsbury location at the time of the inspection.
During asbestos removal projects, MassDEP regulations require that the area be sealed off and air filtration equipment operated during the removal, along with other stipulations. These requirements help prevent a release of asbestos fibers to the environment, protect building occupants and the general public from exposure to asbestos fibers, and preclude other parts of the building from becoming contaminated. Notification is required to MassDEP 10 working days prior to commencing any asbestos removal work so that MassDEP has the opportunity to conduct inspections to ensure compliance with the regulations.
“Licensed asbestos abatement contractors are aware of the work practices that must be followed to conduct their work safely and in compliance with the regulations. Asbestos is a known carcinogen, and following those work practices is imperative to ensure building occupants and the general public are not exposed to asbestos fibers,” said Mary Jude Pigsley, director of MassDEP’s Central Regional Office in Worcester. “Failure to do so will result in significant penalties, as well as potential licensing sanctions against the violator.”
Climate Change Rapidly Warming World’s Lakes
The study is the largest of its kind and the first to use a combination of satellite temperature data and long-term ground measurements. A total of 235 lakes, representing more than half of the world’s freshwater supply, were monitored for at least 25 years. The research, published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, was announced recently at the 2015 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.
The study, which was funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, found lakes are warming an average of 0.61 degrees Fahrenheit (0.34 degrees Celsius) each decade. That’s greater than the warming rate of either the ocean or the atmosphere, and it can have profound effects, the scientists say.
Algal blooms, which can ultimately rob water of oxygen, are projected to increase 20%in lakes over the next century as warming rates increase. Algal blooms that are toxic to fish and animals would increase by 5%. If these rates continue, emissions of methane, a GHG 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide on 100-year time scales, will increase 4% over the next decade.
“Society depends on surface water for the vast majority of human uses,” said Stephanie Hampton, director of Washington State University’s Center for Environmental Research, Education and Outreach in Pullman, and co-author of the study. “Not just for drinking water, but manufacturing, for energy production, for irrigation of our crops. Protein from freshwater fish is especially important in the developing world.”
The temperature of water influences a host of its other properties critical to the health and viability of ecosystems. When temperature swings quickly and widely from the norm, life forms in a lake can change dramatically and even disappear.
“‘These results suggest that large changes in our lakes are not only unavoidable, but are probably already happening,” said Catherine O’Reilly, an associate professor of geology at Illinois State University, Normal, and lead author of the study. Earlier research by O’Reilly has seen declining productivity in lakes with rising temperatures.
Temperature increases close to or above the average .61 degrees Fahrenheit rise were seen in some of the world’s most popular waters, including Lake Tahoe (+.97 Fahrenheit by hand, +1.28 by satellite), the Dead Sea (+1.13 Fahrenheit), two reservoirs serving New York City, Seattle’s Lake Washington (+.49 Fahrenheit), and the Great Lakes Huron (+1.53 Fahrenheit by hand, +.79 by satellite), Michigan (+.76 Fahrenheit by hand, +.36 by satellite), Ontario (+.59 Fahrenheit), and Superior (+2.09 Fahrenheit by hand measurement, +1.44 Fahrenheit by satellite).
Simon Hook, science division manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in in Pasadena, California, and another co-author of the study, said satellite measurements provide a broad view of lake temperatures over the entire globe. But they only measure surface temperature, while hand measurements can detect temperature changes throughout a lake. Also, while satellite measurements go back 30 years, some lake measurements go back more than a century.
“Combining the ground and satellite measurements provides the most comprehensive view of how lake temperatures are changing around the world,” he said.
The researchers said various climate factors are associated with the warming trend. In northern climates, lakes are losing their ice cover earlier, and many areas of the world have less cloud cover, exposing their waters more to the sun’s warming rays.
Previous work by Hook using satellite data indicated that many lake temperatures were warming faster than air temperature and that the greatest warming was observed at high latitudes, as seen in other climate warming studies. This new research confirmed those observations, with average warming rates of 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit (0.72 degrees Celsius) per decade at high latitudes.
Warm-water, tropical lakes may be seeing less dramatic temperature increases, but increased warming of these lakes can still have large negative impacts on fish. That can be particularly important in the African Great Lakes, where fish is an important source of food.
“We want to be careful that we don’t dismiss some of these lower rates of change,” said Hampton. “In warmer lakes, those temperature changes can be really important. They can be just as important as a higher rate of change in a cooler lake.”
In general, the researchers write, “The pervasive and rapid warming observed here signals the urgent need to incorporate climate impacts into vulnerability assessments and adaptation efforts for lakes.”
Timid Step Toward Stemming Pharmaceutical Pollution
The EPA frankly admits that chemicals from pharmaceuticals are increasingly polluting our waters but plans to remove only a sliver from the pathway flow, according to comments filed recently by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Public comment ends this month on an EPA proposed rule requiring healthcare facilities to safely dispose of unused medications, a rule that covers very few drugs and applies in only a narrow band of discharges.
Chemicals in our medicine cabinet—from hormones to psychotropics—are increasingly making their way into America’s freshwaters and even our drinking water. EPA concedes that wastewater treatment operations are not designed to remove these pharmaceuticals. EPA further acknowledges that these chemicals are negatively affecting aquatic ecosystems, to the detriment of fish and wildlife. The precise effects on human health are not known but of growing concern.
However, PEER contends that the hyper-limited scope of the proposed rule undercuts its effectiveness:
- The rule would not apply to more than 95% of the pharmaceuticals getting into our water supply because its definition of hazardous pharmaceuticals covers little more than 50 drugs
- The rule applies to health facility operators but not to patients.
- The facilities covered by the rule are responsible for a fraction of the pharmaceuticals disposed intentionally into the waste system
“While this health facility sewer ban on selected pharmaceuticals is a good first step, it must be dramatically expanded if it is to be a potent preventative,” stated New England PEER Director Kyla Bennett, a scientist and attorney formerly with EPA. “At the very least, the no flush rule should apply to all medications, whether they are classified hazardous or non-hazardous.”
PEER also notes that EPA is laboring under an inappropriate legal framework for countering this large, complex and largely legal form of pollution.
“To effectively address the spreading stain of pharmaceutical pollution, EPA needs a new strategy and a new regulatory framework,” Bennett added. “Until then at the very least, EPA should direct its education, training and compliance assistance efforts at all pharmaceuticals rather than just a very select few.”
New Jersey Recognizes Environmental Leaders
A host of environmental groups, students, education leaders, businesses, government agencies, and community activists from across the state were honored by the Christie Administration recently for their commitment to protecting and enhancing New Jersey’s environment.
Leaders recognized at the 16th annual Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards ceremony at the New Jersey State Museum included a coastal conservation group working toward habitat restoration along Delaware Bay; a green program by an international hotel and resort company; and a community college whose energy reduction efforts will reduce costs by more than 40%.
The Wall Township Environmental Advisory Committee was also honored with the Environmentalist of the Year award for its current and long-time environmental successes which this year included the publication of a commemorative book on the committee’s 35-year history.
“This year’s honorees are to be commended for their leadership,” said New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin. “Through their innovations and dedication to environmental protection, these recipients are setting strong examples and high standards for everyone in New Jersey to follow and are helping to building strong local partnerships. As stewards of New Jersey’s environment, we salute the significant contributions of this year’s winners.”
The program has recognized 140 winners since 2000.
The awards program is sponsored by the New Jersey DEP, the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust and the New Jersey Corporation for Advanced Technology, in partnership with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.
A panel of judges reviewed and scored nominations that featured unique or valuable environmental projects and activities.
2015 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award Winners
- Clean Air – Salem Community College, Carneys Point
- Water Resources – Raritan Headwaters Association, Bedminster
- Healthy Ecosystems – American Littoral Society, Highlands
- Innovative Technology – Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, Pennington
- Land Conservation – Bloomfield Township
- Healthy and Sustainable Business – Wyndham Worldwide, Parsippany
- Healthy and Sustainable Communities – Long Beach Township
- Environmental Education (Adult-led) – Galloway Township Public Schools – Mr. B’s Backyard Classroom
- Environmental Education (Youth-led) – Connor Se?or, Glenwood
- Environmentalist of the Year – Wall Township Environmental Advisory Committee
Environmental News Links
Trivia Question of the Week
Which mode of transportation has the most negative impact on the environment?
a) Flying
b) Driving
c) Biking
d) Train travel