What are the nuances of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)? It was approved by Congress on October 21, 1976, or about six years after EPA was formed. RCRA was an amendment to the Solid Waste Disposal Act 0f 1965, note five years before EPA was formed. RCRA was [...]
Integrated Contingency Plans (ICPs), also known as the National Response Team’s One Plan, are becoming an increasingly popular approach for companies seeking to streamline their required written environmental documents. The goal of an ICP is to consolidate multiple regulations into a single, comprehensive document that outlines how a company will [...]
On March 29, 2023, the U.S. EPA published the proposed PFAS Drinking Water Regulations in the Federal Register. This proposed rule for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) includes Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) of 4.0 ng/L for two PFAS constituents (PFOA and PFOS), and an MCL using a Hazard Index of [...]
Vapor Intrusion (“VI”), or the migration of contaminant vapors from soil and groundwater into overlying structures, has been a significant topic in the environmental world for over 20 years. Common contaminants associated with VI are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which include gasoline constituents, such as benzene, and industrial degreasing and [...]
Vapor Intrusion (or “VI”) has been around the environmental world for decades now, and as the science and understanding of the exposure pathway advances, federal and state regulatory agencies continue to request vapor intrusion sampling more and more often. If you are involved in the environmental field, you most likely [...]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) developed the flammable liquids standard to provide guidance on identifying, storing, and managing these materials. In 2012, OSHA revised the flammable liquids standard to incorporate the Globally Harmonized System (GHS). This revision changed the standard from “Flammable and Combustible Liquids” to “Flammable Liquids” [...]
To improve our understanding of environmental ethics we will explore some of the deeper ethical concerns with Risk-Based decision-making that drives a majority of federal and state environmental regulatory decisions. We will briefly discuss some moral philosophies that form a basis for the way western civilization views environmental values. We [...]
To improve our understanding of environmental ethics we will explore some of the deeper ethical concerns with Risk-Based decision-making that drives a majority of federal and state environmental regulatory decisions. We will briefly discuss some moral philosophies that form a basis for the way western civilization views environmental values. We [...]
Flammables and compressed gases are two hazardous materials commonly found in nearly any facility. From heavy industry, light industry and warehouses and nearly any facility resembling one of the three described. Over the course of 30 years of experience best practices have changed as technology advanced. For example, a gasoline [...]
Dust, fumes, and other airborne hazards are ubiquitous among some industries. Following regulations that control airborne hazards can seem daunting especially in industries where dust and airborne chemicals are a virtually unavoidable result of their processes. Fortunately, industrial hygiene (IH) sampling (sometimes referred to as occupational hygiene sampling) is an [...]
