Zephyr
The Newsletter of the Allegheny Mountain Section
of the Air and Waste Management Association
   Volume 26/ Issue 1/  January 2008 Our Sponsors | Advertisers | Luncheon | Events | Contact |  Home | 

The Zephyr

The Zephyr covers news and events of the Allegheny Mountain Section of the Air & Waste Management Association plus regional and national environmental news in the fields of air pollution, water, wastewater, solid waste and environmental management. The Zephyr is published monthly 10 times per year, around the first of the month as a service to Section members. Archive versions of previous editions for the last year can be found here. Print versions are mailed to Section members on request.

Contributions, questions, suggestions, or comments on the Zephyr are welcome and should be submitted by email to rmclaren @ city-net.com  Publication deadline is the 17th of the month for distribution around the first of the following month. The editors reserve the right reject or edit contributed articles as they feel appropriate.

In This Issue:
© Copyright 2008 Allegheny Mountain Section A&WMA. All rights reserved.     

 

From the Chair

Scott Golla, Chair
Allegheny Mountain Section

gollasw @ westinghouse.com


Welcome to 2008 (and our Section’s new operating year). The A&WMA Allegheny Mountain Section is a leading, well-performing organization with efficiently functioning committees, and a bright future. (Not a bad organization of which to be the incoming Chair; I feel a bit like Mike Tomlin).

I’d like to publicly thank Randy York for his leadership and dedication in steering this ship over the past 12 months. I’d also like to acknowledge two board members whose terms expired at the end of December: Scott Krall and Arijit Pakrasi. Taking their places will be Dave Testa and Dave Beachler. Also, our new Vice Chair is Liz McMeekin. To no one’s surprise our incumbent Secretary and Treasurer, Meghan Blaney and Ed Moretti, were reaffirmed for additional terms; thank you for your continued service. Finally, I want to thank the returning board of directors and committee chairs for their unwavering dedication to the organization. Whether you have been here for one year or 25, your active support of the Section does not go unrecognized.

The 2007 Conference is now six months behind us. Pulling it off was truly an heroic performance, and it is my hope that all who contributed towards its success have recovered from their burnout and are newly revived to support the Section in new (less intense) ways. I understand that we are all volunteers and that income-generating activities and family time have higher priority, but our Section has historically served a great role in supporting the careers and professional relationships of its members. This success is fueled by small contributions of each member’s time. I invite your continued participation and encourage new members to become active and share your unique ideas. Each member of our Section should be involved in at least one committee to get the maximum benefit from the organization. Please visit our top-notch website for more information on our committees. I assure you from my personal experience with the A&WMA (19 years) that your incrementally increased involvement will be both professionally and personally rewarding.

In my February column, I hope to discuss some of my goals for the organization and get into more strategic details for the operating year. In the spirit of continuous improvement, I would hope that each of us learn something new at a Section event this year. I’d like to see more interaction with our two chapters (NWPA and WV) and have more involvement with the universities in our territory. One key focus will be boosting our programs and membership for younger professionals. In my mind the younger professionals are the life’s blood of this organization, and they are full of creative ideas. We want to capture them and share their spirit.

Finally, I would like to thank the membership of this Section for the honor and opportunity to chair this model organization in 2008. It is your organization; please let me know what you’d like to see. How can we bring more value to you? What would you like to get out of you membership? Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or ideas, at anytime: gollasw@westinghouse.com, or (412)374-5279. I look forward to getting to know each of you a little better this year.


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Meet the Neighbors:


Over 20 local environmental non-profit and professional organizations participated in the Allegheny Mountain Section Outreach Booth at the A&WMA Convention last June. Two of these organizations were:

Over 20 local environmental non-profit and professional organizations participated in the Allegheny Mountain Section Outreach Booth at the A&WMA Convention last June. Two of these organizations were:

The Environmental & Water Resources Institute, is a civil engineering specialty institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). EWRI services are designed to complement ASCE's traditional civil engineering base and to attract new categories of members (non-civil engineer allied professionals) who seek to enhance their professional and technical development. Their national website is located at: http://content.ewrinstitute.org/ The local Pittsburgh Section of ASCE's website is at: http://www.asce-pgh.org/

Sustainable Pittsburgh, is a public-policy advocacy group that links economic prosperity, ecological health, and social equity. They work to affect decision-making in the Pittsburgh Region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality in bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses. Their website is at: http://www.sustainablepittsburgh.org

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Internet Site Review

Internet Sites of Interest to Environmental Professionals
with Kim Walker

You can contact me at Kimberly.walker @ erm.com

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EPA TechMatch
http://www.epatechmatch.com
EPA TechMatch was developed by the EPA in coordination with the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation. It is an internet portal designed to enhance interactions between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry partners. This website was designed as a one stop shop for entering into innovative technology partnerships with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This portal provides comprehensive access to diverse information including patents, research laboratories and testing facilities, R&D opportunities, and supplemental information geared toward helping businesses work more effectively with the EPA.

More than 150 EPA scientific patents of technologies that benefit the environment can now be viewed on the EPA TechMatch Web site. Under the Federal Technology Transfer Act (FTTA) of 1986, government agencies may patent and license inventions, which assist new ideas from government laboratories to enter the marketplace. Entrepreneurs can view and license EPA technologies to develop new products that offer both environmental protection and economic growth.

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A Word on Water

The Latest News on Water, Wastewater
and Related Topics
with Susan Z. Forney,
szforney@ehsinfolink.com

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For this month's Word on Water column, see the pdf version of the Zephyr at: http://www.ams-awma.org/zephyr.pdf


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In the Air

News of Air Pollution Control
and Air Related Issues
with Nancy Hirko, Kimberly Coy, and Mark Schooley of Air/Compliance Consultants, Inc

You can contact them at schooley @ air-comp.com

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National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Lead

EPA has issued an advanced notice of public rulemaking (ANPR)to invite comment from all interested parties on policy options and other issues related to the Agency's ongoing review of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for lead (Pb). EPA is also soliciting comment on retaining Pb on the list of criteria pollutants and on maintaining NAAQS for Pb. As part of this review, the Agency has released several key documents that will inform the Agency's rulemaking. These documents include the Air Quality Criteria for Lead, released in 2006, which critically assesses and integrates relevant scientific information; risk assessment reports including the most recent report, Lead: Human Exposure and Health Risk Assessment for Selected Case Studies, which documents quantitative exposure analyses and risk assessments conducted for this review; and a recently released Staff Paper, Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Lead: Policy Assessment of Scientific and Technical Information, which presents an evaluation by staff in EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) of the policy implications of the scientific information and quantitative assessments and OAQPS staff conclusions and recommendations on a range of policy options for the Agency's consideration. Under the terms of a court order, the Administrator will sign by September 1, 2008 a Notice of Final Rulemaking for publication in the Federal Register. To meet this schedule, EPA will sign a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in March 2008 for publication in the Federal Register, at which time further opportunity for public comment will be provided. Comments on the ANPR must be received by January 16, 2008.

EPA Clarifies New Source Review Program Is Applied Appropriately

EPA has issued a final rule to clarify when industrial facilities making changes to equipment or processes may need to retain records documenting their emissions, even if the changes do not trigger Clean Air Act New Source Review (NSR) permitting requirements. The rule can be found in the Federal Register published on December 21, 2007. [72 FR 72607]

The rule clarifies that facilities must keep records and report emissions when a "reasonable possibility" test shows that projected emissions increases could equal or exceed 50% of the Clean Air Act's NSR significant levels for any pollutant. This rule does not change permitting requirements.

The "reasonable possibility" test examines the difference between a project's baseline emissions and the sum of emissions projected to result from the project and emissions attributable to independent factors, such as growth in market demand.

NSR significant levels are pollutant-specific emission rates (in tons per year) that are used to determine when a project is subject to NSR permitting requirements. This rule will help EPA and state and tribal permitting authorities track projects, using information on emissions that could exceed significant levels.

EPA issues rule to reduce mercury releases from steel manufacturing facilities

EPA issued new air emissions standards that will reduce mercury releases from steel manufacturers using electric arc furnaces. The rule requires these steel making facilities to buy motor vehicle scrap from providers that participate in an EPA-approved program for the removal of mercury switches.

This program, the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program, is designed to remove mercury-containing switches from scrap vehicles before the vehicles are flattened, shredded, and melted to make new steel. These switches were used for lighting in hoods and trunks and in some anti-lock braking systems of many vehicles manufactured prior to 2003.

The standards will prevent the release of about five tons of mercury in to the air each year. In addition, the rule will reduce emissions of other toxic metals such as lead, manganese, nickel and chromium by about 52 tons per year and particulate emissions by about 865 tons per year.

National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program: http://www.epa.gov/mercury/switch.htm

For more information on this action, visit: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3/fact_sheets/eaf_fs_121707.html

EPA proposes residual risk reviews for eight new source categories

On Dec. 12, 2007, the EPA announced a proposed rule and requested comment on the residual risk and technology reviews for eight industrial source categories regulated by four national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP). [72 FR 70543]
The eight industrial source categories and the four national emission standards are:

  1. Polysulfide rubber production
  2. Ethylene propylene rubber production
  3. Butyl rubber production
  4. Neoprene production
  5. Epoxy resins production
  6. Nonnylon polyamides production
  7. Acetal resins production, and
  8. Hydrogen fluoride production.

The EPA proposed that no revisions to the national emission standards regulating the eight source categories listed above are required at this time under Clean Air Act Sections 112(f)(2) or 112(d)(6). Comments must be received on or before Feb. 11, 2008.

EPA Announces Regulatory Priorities

EPA released its Regulatory Plan, which describes 30 of the most significant regulations it plans to issue by next October.

EPA also released its Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, which describes over 300 actions under development or review, as well as those completed or withdrawn since the Spring 2007 agenda was published. For the first time, the bulk of EPA's agenda is available exclusively online rather than on paper in the Federal Register. Moving to an online agenda saves resources and provides users with a more useful, searchable mechanism for accessing regulatory information. It also helps meet e-Government objectives while saving taxpayers money by significantly reducing printing costs. (E-Government is President Bush's goal of utilizing technology to improve federal government services to citizens).

EPA recognizes that not everyone has access to the Internet, so is making printed copies of the agenda available upon request. These hardcopies are available by calling 1-800-490-9198 or by e-mailing: nscep@bps-lmit.com. (E-mail requests should include the requestor's name and address and display "Regulatory Agenda Hard Copy" in the subject line.)

EPA's Regulatory Plan is available in the Federal Register at:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/10dec20070800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/ua071210/ua071002.txt (EPA's section begins at page 69922)

Ohio EPA Announces New Reporting Software Coming March 3, 2008


Ohio EPA’s eBusiness Center is a new, secure portal for online business services. This portal is the entry point for the regulated community and consultants to electronically complete and file reports and permit applications and to pay fees. Authorized users will be able to update their facility and contact information directly.
The eBusiness Center will initially offer capabilities for wastewater discharge monitoring reports. Over the next several months, Ohio EPA will add services related to air pollution, drinking water and solid waste. All services will be accessed through Ohio EPA’s eBusiness Center at ebiz.epa.ohio.gov.
On March 3, 2008 the Ohio EPA, Division of Air Pollution Control (DAPC) will make a new service available on the Agency's eBusiness Center called "Air Services". This Web-based software will replace the functionality of the existing STARShip software. The new system will enable online submittal of permit applications, annual emission reports, annual compliance certifications, and quarterly and semiannual monitoring reports.
Due to this new system, OEPA is extending the emission reporting deadline from April 15 to June 6. They will revert back to the 4/15 deadline in 2009. More information can be found at www.epa.state.oh.us/dapc/airservices.

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International
Focus

News of Environmental Trends and Regulations
in Other Countries

with Kim Walker

You can contact me at Kimberly.walker @ erm.com

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Environmental Protection in China Gets Legal Support from New Web Site

In an effort to strengthen the legal framework for environmental protection in China, EPA launched the EPA - China Environmental Law Initiative Web site. The Web site can be found at http://www.epa.gov/ogc/china/initiative_home.htm. China suffers severe environmental problems. Therefore, strengthening environmental laws and their implementation are seen as vital steps in improving the environment in China.

This website was announced by EPA General Counsel Roger R. Martella in an effort to provide a forum for sharing information and fostering an ongoing dialogue with China on environmental law. After meeting with Chinese environmental officials in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou in September, 2007, EPA General Counsel Roger Martella decided to encourage a continuing dialogue between the U.S. and China on environmental law by launching the EPA-China Environmental Law Initiative. The goals of the initiative include:

  • Sharing EPA's legal experience and expertise to help improve China’s environmental health.
  • Sharing information useful to U.S. entities with business or other stakes in how China addresses environmental issues.
  • Fostering an ongoing dialogue on environmental law issues with China.


“We’ve learned in the United States you can’t have a strong environment without strong environmental laws,” Martella said. “The Chinese government and people have expressed a commitment to a stronger environment, and we expect that this initiative will help China realize that goal, while helping Americans better understand China’s environmental laws.”

EPA is undertaking this project in web partnership with a broad range of experts in Chinese environmental law. Collaborators in this project include the Environmental Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, the Woodrow Wilson Center China Environment Forum, the University of Maryland Environmental Law Program, and the George Washington University Law School.

The Web site features information on new developments in Chinese environmental law, links to legal resources such as reports, articles, and the English text of many Chinese environmental laws, and an e-mail update service.

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ENVIROCABULARY

Environmental Acronyms, Obscure Words
and Other Lingo
with Kim Walker

You can contact me at Kimberly.walker @ erm.com

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Each month, the Envirocabulary staff will scour the environmental literature for terms of interest to our readers. This month’s term is…

Fen: A type of wetland that accumulates peat deposits. Fens are less acidic than bogs, deriving most of their water from groundwater rich in calcium and magnesium.


(Source: Environmental Protection Agency Terms of Environment:Glossary, Abbreviations and Acronyms, http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms/fterms.html)

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P2 Forum

News on Pollution Prevention,
Recycling and Related Issues
with Michael Stepaniak

You can contact me at michaels @ ccicenter.org

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This Month:

Smarter Computing Catalog Now Available

EPA Announces 2008 Renewable Fuels Standard

Climate Counts Scorecard


SMARTER COMPUTING CATALOG NOW AVAILABLE - It seems no matter where one turns these days the focus is on "green or sustainability" issues. Both consumers and businesses alike are seeking out realistic measures that can lessen their environmental impacts and reduce their energy costs. According to the EPA, generating electricity accounts for nearly 33 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, while transportation - including personal vehicles, diesel trucks, heavy-duty vehicles, and jet fuel - accounts for 26 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. On average a desktop PC wastes nearly half the power delivered to it, which translates into dollars lost and needless environmental impact. This past November, the Climate Savers Computing InitiativeSM launched an online catalog that makes it quick and easy to find energy-efficient computers. These types of systems can cut energy bills by an average of $7 to $10 per unit per year. The initiative is a nonprofit group comprised of eco-conscious consumers, businesses, and environmental organizations committed to improving the power efficiency and reducing the energy consumption of computers. Their goal is to reduce computer power consumption by 50 percent by 2010 by encouraging the production and purchasing of power-efficient computers and increasing the use of power management. With 300 products, the Initiative's online catalog offers individuals and businesses a comprehensive and searchable listing of Climate Savers Computing compliant desktop PCs, laptops, servers, power supplies, power supply components, motherboards, and power management software. According to a Climate Savers spokesperson, the Initiative is about engaging the fast-moving IT sector to get better technology into the hands of consumers and businesses quicker. The new catalog also showcases many of the energy efficient products available today so that individuals and IT departments can make smarter computing choices. To access the catalog, visit http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org.

EPA ANNOUNCES 2008 RENEWABLE FUELS STANDARD This past November the EPA set a new renewable fuels standard (RFS) of 4.66 percent to meet the 2005 Energy Policy Act's mandate that at least 5.4 billion gallons of renewable fuels be blended into transportation gasoline in 2008. Based on the standard, each party determines the minimum volume of renewable fuel that it must ensure is used in its motor vehicle fuel. The standard for 2007 was 4.02 percent, equating to approximately 4.7 billion gallons. The overall volume target increases every year, reaching 7.5 billion gallons in 2012. The Energy Policy Act requires EPA to annually determine the standard - which applies to refiners, importers and non-oxygenate blenders of gasoline - by Nov. 30 for the following year. The RFS program, which formally began last September, creates new markets for farm products, increases energy security, and promotes the development of advanced technologies that would greatly expand renewable and alternative fuels. It also serves as one of the many pieces to help inform the greenhouse gas regulation that EPA and federal partners are developing under an Executive Order issued by the President in May.

CLIMATE COUNTS SCORECARD - The nonprofit organization Climate Counts is a collaborative effort to bring consumers and companies together in the struggle against global climate change. It is funded by Stonyfield Farm, Inc. and was launched in collaboration with Clean Air-Cool Planet. Individuals can use the Climate Counts Company Scorecard to see how serious companies are about stopping climate change, as well as how they compare to their business sector competitors. The annually updated scorecard reflects the self-reported efforts of the companies to address climate change, or to avoid it altogether. The tool was developed with oversight from a panel of business and climate experts from leading non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. Climate Counts researchers rated companies based on a point system for climate-related actions. The higher the score, the greater the company's commitment is to combating global warming. The companies were scored on a scale from 1 to 100, based on 22 criteria within the following four benchmarks: whether they measure and monitor their carbon footprint; whether they have taken meaningful steps to reduce their own climate impact; whether they have supported or opposed climate policy initiatives; and how comprehensively and effectively they have reported on their climate protection efforts to the public. Before releasing the ratings companies were given an opportunity to confirm public data sources used by Climate Counts for scoring. Canon, Nike, and Unilever topped the 60 companies scored on the inaugural Climate Counts Scorecard. The bottom of the index included 17 companies with scores under 12, including Amazon.com, Apple, eBay, Limited Brands, and Levi Strauss. To review all the company scores, visit www.ClimateCounts.org.

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Compliance Corner

What's New with Regulatory Compliance,
Environmental Management
and Related Issues
with Dan Hagerty, CHMM

You can contact me at daniel_hagerty @ hotmail.com
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What’s on OSHA’s Agenda

OSHA released its Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, which describes more than 300 actions under development or review, as well as those completed or withdrawn since the Spring 2007 agenda was published. The bulk of the agenda is available exclusively online rather than on paper in the Federal Register. .
Moving to an online agenda saves resources and provides users with a more useful, searchable mechanism for accessing regulatory information. It also helps meet e-Government objectives, while saving taxpayers money by significantly reducing printing costs.
Items listed, but not limited too, include:
Prerule Stage: Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica and Beryllium, Emergency Response and Preparedness, and Methylene Chloride

Proposed Rule Stage, Confined Spaces in Construction (Part 1926): Preventing Suffocation/Explosions in Confined Spaces,

Proposed Rule Stage, General Working Conditions for Shipyard Employment,

Proposed Rule Stage, Walking Working Surfaces and Personal Fall Protection Systems (1910) (Slips, Trips, and Fall Prevention),

Proposed Rule Stage, Hazard Communication,

Proposed Rule Stage, Revision and Update of Standards for Power Presses,

Proposed Rule Stage, Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories Fee Schedule—Revised Approach,

Proposed Rule Stage, Abbreviated Bitrix Qualitative Fit-Testing Protocol,

Proposed Rule Stage, Occupational Exposure to Diacetyl and Food Flavorings Containing Diacetyl,

Final Rule Stage, Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment,

Final Rule Stage, Updating OSHA Standards Based on National Consensus Standards,

Final Rule Stage, Explosives,

Long-Term Actions, Hearing Conservation Program for Construction Workers, and Ionizing Radiation,

Topics included on OSHA’s April 2007 agenda that no longer appear on OSHA’s current agenda include:

  • Hearing conservation for construction workers
  • Emergency response and preparedness
  • Ionizing radiation
  • Power presses
  • Working conditions in shipyards
  • Hazard communication and global harmonization
  • Vertical tandem lifts used in longshoring

Collaboration Will Further Speed EPA Program’s Efforts to Prioritize Chemicals


The EPA’s National Center for Computational Toxicology (NCCT)) announced its first partnership under the ToxCast™ Program with the Research Triangle Park-based, The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences. Using approaches first developed in the pharmaceutical industry, the three-phased ToxCast™ Program will quickly and cost-effectively provide information on the potential impact of chemicals on the body’s systems such as the heart, lungs, brain, or reproductive organs. The science-based information will enable EPA to prioritize chemicals for more detailed and expensive toxicological evaluations and make the use of animals in testing more efficient and effective.
Guided by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two organizations, The Hamner Institute will be looking at a subset of the initial 320 chemicals being examined in ToxCast™ using a complementary system of in-vitro assays. The Hamner Institute will be sharing expertise with EPA to help build a better understanding of the relevance of the in-vitro results by using mathematical models to predict the exposures that would result in similar effects in whole animals.
ToxCast™ is a key prototype for the future of environmental health protection as envisioned in the recent report of the National Academy of Sciences entitled "Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century". In the two years since the ToxCast™ Program’s inception, an Interagency Agreement has been established with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC), nine contracts have been awarded to companies to provide chemical management and various high throughput-screening assays, and in August 2007 the list of chemicals (mainly pesticides and other select chemicals) to be tested under phase one’s proof-of-concept stage was announced. NCCT is currently profiling the preliminary responses of those chemicals. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has supported a project proposal developed jointly by the NCCT and EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) to promote international cooperation and research on the application of new molecular-based approaches for the prioritization and screening of environmental chemicals for potential toxicity. These international research partnerships will be built under OECD’s Molecular Screening Initiative.

OSHA Announces Employer-Paid Personal Protective Equipment Final Rule


OSHA has announced a final rule on employer-paid personal protective equipment (PPE). Under the rule, all PPE, with a few exceptions, must be provided at no cost to the employee. OSHA anticipates that this rule will have substantial safety benefits that will result in more than 21,000 fewer occupational injuries per year. The rule was published in the Federal Register on November 15.
"Employees exposed to safety and health hazards may need to wear personal protective equipment to be protected from injury, illness, and death caused by exposure to those hazards," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr. "This final rule will clarify who is responsible for paying for PPE, which OSHA anticipates will lead to greater compliance and potential avoidance of thousands of workplace injuries each year."
The final rule contains a few exceptions for ordinary safety-toed footwear, ordinary prescription safety eyewear, logging boots, and ordinary clothing and weather-related gear. The final rule also clarifies OSHA's requirements regarding payment for employee-owned PPE and replacement PPE. While these clarifications have added several paragraphs to the regulatory text, the final rule provides employees no less protection than they would have received under the 1999 proposed standard.
The rule also provides an enforcement deadline of six months from the date of publication to allow employers time to change their existing PPE payment policies to accommodate the final rule.

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