So we are heading into the home stretch. Most of the “I”s
have been dotted and the “T”s have been crossed. The organizing committee continues to push
forward, but the prize is in sight!. The Centennial Celebration and Annual
Conference and Exhibition is just around the
corner. I am looking forward to seeing
all of you there. If you haven’t
registered, you still have time! Call me, or any of the section officers if you have any
questions, or need information. We will
all do our best to accommodate you.
After the conference, the Section will take a well-deserved
break, but we will be back in full force in September. The Program Committee has been diligently
lining up some nice programs for when we get back. Watch your emails through the summer, and the
Zephyr will emerge again in September.
Now, I hope it isn’t too soon to go to the well again, but
as is often the case, we need your help again.
For those of you who have been paying attention, you might have noticed
that those of us who joined the environmental profession in the early days of
the Clean Water Act, RCRA, CERCLA, the Clean Air Act, and even the 1990
Amendments have become a little “long in the tooth”, as they say. As go the demographics of the profession, so
goes the demographics of the Association.
One of the missions of the Air & Waste Management Association is to
promote the environmental profession and to support those who will continue to
carry the torch. We have recently formed
a Young Professionals Committee to help our section better serve the needs of
those who have recently entered the workforce.
The next step in our planning for the future is to re-energize our focus
on students.
Most of you know that our Allegheny Mountain Section
includes in our ranks two Professional Chapters – Northwest PA and West Virginia. But how many of you knew that we also have
two Student Chapters – Three
Rivers and Slippery
Rock? Unfortunately, activities at these
chapters have been somewhat in the doldrums over the last few years. I am now asking for your help. We need to assemble a group of you who would
be interested in engaging the local universities, working with our partners in
academia, and finding ways to bring the value of the Air & Waste Management
Association to the next generation of environmental professions. PLEASE – if you enjoy working with young
adults, and wish to give back to the profession, call me at 724-933-5444 or
email me at randall.york@erm.com. We will be planning over the summer and hope
to have a Student Focus Steering Committee up and running for the start of
2007-2008 school year.
The Steering Committee will work with the Membership Committee and the
Young Professions Committee to help boost our student involvement and jumpstart
our Student Chapters. I look forward to
hearing from you.
Return to the top of the page
Section News
News about and of interest to
members of the
Allegheny Mountain Section
Editor-in-Chief: Arijit Pakrasi, 412/858-3921,
e-mail:Arijit.Pakrasi @ shawgrp.com
___________________________________
See The
Show
In just a
few short weeks (June 26th), the curtain will open on the 2007
Centennial Annual Conference and Exhibit of the Air & Waste Management
Association (A&WMA) here in Pittsburgh. As all who have been following Zephyr already
know, this year’s event offers much:
provocative keynote speakers; a sold-out exhibit hall; hundreds of paper
presentations; technical and social tours; boat rides; receptions and even a
golf outing (June 25th at Highland Country Club – replaces the
Allegheny Mountain Section’s annual outing this year).
If you have
not done so already, please consider registering for the Conference, even if
only for one day. As listed elsewhere in
this Zephyr, there are some nice discounts available for members of our
Allegheny Mountain Section, including the West Virginia and NW PA Chapters. We are hoping for 100% participation from our
Section.
We are still looking for volunteers
to help monitor sessions, staff our local Section booth and otherwise help us
host our visitors. Volunteer monitors
earn a free day of registration for each day they volunteer. Holding this Conference in Pittsburgh is an opportunity that, at best,
comes only once per generation. Come,
see the show.
Joe Duckett
May 15,2007
_____________________________
AMS Monthly Board of Directors Meeting Summary
The AMS Monthly Board of
Directors Meeting was held at the ACHD Conference Room on May 7, 2007.
Randy York reported that the
Business of Brownfields Conference went well and that
several vendors were advised to sign up for the ACE exhibit. The Conference also generated general
membership interest was generated through exhibit visitors as well.
Jill Pouliot
reported that 30-35 people attended the first Young Professional’s event that was
held on May 3rd during happy hour at Station Square.
Dave Testa
reported that the Scholarship Committee met last month and reviewed three
applications for the scholarship. Two were
awarded to future Penn
State students and they
were also invited to the May and June luncheons. The Board voted that the Section pay for all
three applicants’ student memberships.
Harilal
Patel reported that the Education Committee distributed 250 letters for the
2007-2008 Adopt-a-School program.
Randy York shared three
iterations of the Sections & Chapters poster for the ACE. He and Matt Milanek
will finalize.
Respectfully submitted,
Meghan Blaney, Secretary
Scholarships Awarded
This year’s Allegheny Mountain Section scholarship program
was quite a success! Two (2) $1,500 scholarships were awarded, one to Mr.
Daniel Pollak, who will be a freshman at Penn State’s
Main Campus majoring in Meteorology, and another to Mr. Jeffrey Attig, who will also be a freshman at Penn State’s
Main Campus majoring in Environmental Resources Management.
Congratulations to Daniel and Jeffrey and here’s to seeing
you both as student members while in college and international members as
successful environmental professionals.
I would very much like to thank Meghan Blaney
and Jill Pouliot, both from ERM, for their help in
reviewing the scholarship applications.
Dave Testa, QEP
Allegheny
Mountain Section,
Scholarship Chairman
Return to the top of the page
Feature Articles
News about and of interest to
members of the
Allegheny Mountain Section
_____________________
PA NSR RULES NOW EFFECTIVE
The new Pennsylvania
air construction permit rule was published on Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 37 Pa. B. 2365 or www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol37/37-20/924.html. The new rules are effective immediately and
apply to all permit applications under review on May 19th in Pennsylvania (and probably Allegheny County
as well). Although this rule became
effective with a couple of weeks of the date DEP projected six months ago, DEP
has not provided any training to its staff or the public on how to implement
the new rules, which is certain to delay processing of new permits and hurt
economic development efforts. I
personally think this is outrageous, and you should bring this reflection of
DEP Air Quality’s “business friendly” attitude to the attention of your Pennsylvania
legislators.
DEP has established a committee to
talk about NSR training, but no schedule was available. AMS-AWMA will provide a program on this rule
if DEP cannot get its act together.
Harry
Klodowski, Esquire
724-940-4000
Harry@KlodowskiLaw.com
DEP
RETIRMENTS WILL HAVE AN IMPACT
Due to some wrinkle of the State
Retirement Benefit Program, a remarkable number of senior DEP personnel have
announced retirements in June 2007.
In the Central Office, Air Quality,
Wick Havens, John Slade, and Mike Zuvich have announced
retirement. Rick St. Louis, who retired in April, has
been replaced by Dean Van Orden on an acting basis.
Terry Black retired the day before trout season opened, good timing, Terry!
In the Pittsburgh Regional Office,
the retirements are unprecedented. In
Air Quality, Bill Charlton, Don Dodge and Bruce Frye are retiring. In other programs, a large group of program
managers are retiring, including Gale Campbell (Tanks), John Matviya and Jim Shack (ECP), Steve Balta
(Water), and Jay Tarara
and Dave Plank (Drinking Water). Zelda Curtis of the Pittsburgh legal staff is also retiring.
These retirements will result in the
loss of hundreds of years of experience at DEP. We should take the opportunity
to thank these individuals for their many years of dedicated public service and
devotion to the cause of environmental protection. ( I
personally thank some of them for the work they have created for me over the
years!) These moves will also create opportunities for others to move up.
Everyone expects a serious budget cut at DEP in July, and it is not clear
whether there will be money to replace some of the positions. We will be seeing
the impact of these changes for months, perhaps years, to come.
Harry
Klodowski, Esquire
724-940-4000
Harry@KlodowskiLaw.com
PA Glass Furnace Rule Announced
At the May 17, 2007 Air Quality Technical Advisory
Committee (AQTAC) meeting DEP released a draft of a Pennsylvania Glass Furnace
proposed rule which would apply to all glass, and fiberglass, melting furnaces
with emissions or potential emissions of more than 50 tpy
NOX annually. The rule is essentially
borrowed from a San Joachin, CA APCD rule and imposes emission limits of 4
pounds per ton NOX for container glass and fiberglass furnaces, and 9.2 pounds
for flat, pressed or blown glass, effective May 1, 2009. The draft allows for
facility wide averaging, averaging among PA. furnaces
under common ownership, and purchase of CAIR NOX allowances to cancel excess
emissions. CEMS are required for compliance monitoring.
DEP
requested the AQTAC to approve this rule at the next meeting on July 26 2007
and submit it to the EQB in October 2007. DEP did not present any information
on the facilities affected, cost of controls, or the anticipated emission
reduction from this rule, and appears to have done little independent
evaluation of this proposal.
There is no
indication DEP considered why the applicability threshold is so low-50 tpy; whether the
rule would achieve any significant reduction from existing smaller glass
operations, or considered the financial impact on smaller plants. The proposed
text is available at: http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/subject/advcoun/aqtac/2007/5-17-07/GLASSANNEXA05172007AQTAC.doc
Harry
Klodowski, Esquire
724-940-4000
Harry@KlodowskiLaw.com
Twisted Facts:
"Soot Soars in city, but smog drops" article published May
1, 2007 Post-Gazette
Yesterday's
"Soot Soars in City" article was a triumph of alarmism over
facts.
The article was based on an American Lung Association study that
rated
Pittsburgh just below Los Angeles for dirty air. A simple check of
the
Lung Assn. website ( which, by the way, was referenced incorrectly in
the
article) revealed that the study was about as unscientific as you can
get.
For their study, the
air quality of each entire county in the US was based
only
on the highest pollution measurement within that county. For areas
with
only one monitoring site, this may make sense. Allegheny County,
however,
has eight separate monitoring stations , only one of which ( the
Liberty station) exceeded the national
standards for particulate pollution
during
the study period. All seven of the other stations were at or below
the
federal standards for both annual and daily measurements. Further, in
the
first nine months of 2006 ( the most recent period for which data have
been
reported) , even the Liberty
station experienced no 24 hour levels
above
the standard. So much for a "trend toward increased airborne
particulate
pollution...".
Using one bad station
to indicate air quality throughout the entire
metropolitan
area is like rating the Pirates as a strong hitting team
based
solely on Ryan Doumit's .429 batting average. It
doesn't make common
sense,
much less scientific sense.
This is not the first
year that the P-G has reported the conclusions of
the
Lung Association's annual study as if they were valid. The facts,
easily
available on the Allegheny County Health Department website, paint
a
very different picture. How about reporting facts instead of propaganda?
Joe Duckett
5 South Fork Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15229
(
412) 365-3707
joseph.duckett@snclavalin.com
__________________________________
Pittsburgh is NOT the 2nd worst city in air quality
On May 1, 2007 the American Lung Association (ALA) released
its 2007 "State
of the Air" report. In it the ALA
listed Pittsburgh
as the 2nd worst city
in the United States with regards to air
quality. "This is a
misinterpretation of the air
quality data of Allegheny
County," says Jason
Maranche, Air Quality Engineer
with the Allegheny County Health Department
(ACHD).
The
Pittsburgh-Beaver Consolidated Metropolitan Area, consisting of
seven counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, has two
separate EPA-designated
non-attainment areas for fine
particulate matter. One, the
Liberty/Clairton
area, consists of the Allegheny
County Boroughs of Glassport, Lincoln,
Liberty, Port Vue, and the City of Clairton. One of the two monitors in
this area, the Liberty monitor, has monitored data at the
level of the
second highest reading in the
country. This is a serious problem, and
the
ACHD is well into developing a plan to bring the area into
attainment.
This poor air
quality affects a population of about 25,000.
However, it
does not affect the air quality of
the City of Pittsburgh,
the rest of
Allegheny County,
or the remainder of the Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The 10
monitors in the rest of Allegheny County,
which during the 2003-2005 period
used in the ALA study, measured levels comparable to
most major cities in
the Northeast
United States.
________________
Return to the top of the page
_________________________
25
YEARS AGO:
Nuclear Waste Policy
Act.
"In 1982, the Congress enacted the Nuclear Waste Policy
Act (NWPA) and on January 7, 1983, the President signed it into law. This
legislation defined the Federal Government’s responsibility to provide
permanent disposal in a deep geologic repository for spent fuel and high-level
radioactive waste from commercial and defense activities. Under amended
provisions (1987) of this Act, the Department of Energy (DOE) has the responsibility
to locate, build, and operate a repository for such wastes. The NRC has the
responsibility to establish regulations governing the construction, operation,
and closure of the repository, consistent with environmental standards
established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."
http://www.policyalmanac.org/environment/archive/nuclear_waste.shtml
_________________________
Internet Site Review
Internet Sites of
Interest to Environmental Professionals
with Kim Walker
You can contact me at Kimberly.walker @ erm.com
___________________________________
http://www.earthportal.org/
The Earth Portal, online at www.EarthPortal.org, is the
authoritative, comprehensive, non-commercial source for environmental news,
education and debate online. The Earth Portal is the result of the global
scientific community coming together in an unprecedented way to produce the
first free, expert-driven, massively scaleable information resource on the
environment. In addition, it will engage civil society in a public dialogue on
the role of environmental issues in human affairs.
“The Earth Portal fills a major gap in the media
landscape today,” said Dr. Jane Goodall, an advisor
to the Earth Portal. “If we are to serve and save our ecosystems and all the
living systems they support, we must first understand them, unfiltered by
advertising-driven commercial interests.”
The Earth Portal includes the rapidly-growing and
expert-edited Encyclopedia of Earth; the Earth Forum, with weblogs
where leading scientists engage in ongoing conversations with the public; and
Earth News, the latest reporting on the state of the environment. Here one can get the latest news on climate
change or link to the weblogs for an online
discussion about indoor air quality or chemicals in humans.
Return to the top of the page
A Word on Water
The Latest News on Water, Wastewater
and Related Topics
with Susan Z. Forney,
susan.zummo.forney@shawgrp.com
___________________________________
EPA Extends
SPCC Compliance Dates Again
On May 10, 2007 EPA
Administrator Steve Johnson signed a rule
(http://epa.gov/oilspill/extension.htm)
to extend the compliance dates
for owners and operators of facilities preparing or
amending and
implementing spill prevention, control, and countermeasure (SPCC)
plans. This final rule extends the dates by which a facility must prepare or
amend and implement its SPCC plan until July 1, 2009. EPA
expects to propose further revisions to the SPCC rule in 2007. EPA has extended
the compliance dates in order to provide the time necessary for the regulated
community to comply with the revised requirements that EPA expects to propose
in 2007.
For facilities (other than a
farm) that started operations on or before Aug. 16, 2002, the facility must
maintain its existing SPCC plan and amend and implement the plan no later than July 1, 2009. If
the facility began operations after Aug. 16, 2002 through July 1, 2009, it must prepare
and implement an SPCC plan no later than July 1, 2009. If the facility starts
operations after July
1, 2009, it must prepare and implement an SPCC plan before
beginning operations.
If a farm started operations
on or before Aug.
16, 2002, it must maintain its existing SPCC plan and amend and
implement the plan when EPA promulgates a rule specific for farms. If a farm
began operations after Aug. 16, 2002, then it must prepare and implement an SPCC
plan when EPA promulgates a rule specific for farms.
A factsheet
is also available explaining changes in the regulation of animal fats and
vegetable oils under the SPCC rule. More information may be found on EPA’s SPCC
web site at www.epa.gov/oilspill.
EPA Decides to Not Regulate 11 Drinking
Water Contaminants
The EPA has made a
preliminary determination not to regulate 11 contaminants on the second
drinking water contaminant candidate list (CCL). The
agency's "preliminary regulatory determination," based on an
extensive review of health effects and occurrence data, concludes that the
specific contaminants do not occur at levels of public health concern in public
water systems.
Two other contaminants - perchlorate and MTBE - require additional investigation to
ascertain total human exposure and health risks. For those contaminants, EPA is
providing a summary of current health, occurrence, and exposure information.
The agency is seeking comment and additional information to help EPA's
evaluations.
A regulatory determination
is a formal decision on whether EPA should develop a national primary drinking
water regulation for a specific contaminant. The Safe Drinking Water Act
requires that EPA issue a CCL every five years for at least five contaminants
from the most recent CCL. In 2005, the agency published the second CCL of 51
contaminants.
The 11 contaminants include boron,
pesticides, herbicides, and chemicals used (or once used) in manufacturing. EPA
monitored eight of the contaminants during the first round of the unregulated
contaminant monitoring program and the remaining three during previous
occurrence surveys. While none of the contaminants were found nationally at
levels of public health concern, EPA is recommending that health advisories for
seven of the contaminants be updated to provide local officials with current
health information for situations where the contaminants may occur.
Senator Boxer introduced two
bills on perchlorate on the first day of Congress,
both cosponsored by Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Frank Lautenberg
(D-NJ). The first bill (S. 24) would assure that tap water is tested for this
toxin, and that the public is told if it is found in their water. The second
bill (S. 150) would order EPA to quickly establish a drinking water standard
that protects pregnant women, children, and other vulnerable people from perchlorate.
MTBE is a gasoline additive
that moves quickly in the environment and has caused widespread contamination
of drinking water wells across the country. EPA said in 1997 that MTBE is a
potential carcinogen, but has not yet set a tap water standard for the
chemical.
More information may be
found at www.epa.gov/safewater/ccl/reg_determine2.html.
New EPA Tool to Accelerate Watershed
Planning
The EPA has released the
Watershed Plan Builder (www.epa.gov/owow/watershedplanning),
an interactive, Web-based tool developed to improve efforts by states and local
communities in protecting and restoring local water resources. The tool will
help local watershed organizations develop integrated watershed plans to meet
state and EPA requirements and promote water quality improvements.
Practitioners from watershed
organizations, federal and state agencies, tribes, universities, and local
governments will use the Watershed Plan Builder to address polluted runoff, the
largest contributor to water quality problems nationwide.
Once the data are entered,
the tool produces an outline of a comprehensive watershed plan tailored to a
specific watershed. It features links to EPA, other federal agencies, and state
water programs.
The Watershed Plan Builder
walks the practitioner through various watershed planning steps:
* Watershed monitoring and assessment
* Community outreach
* Selection and application of available models
* Best management practices
* Implementation
* Feedback
During the next several
months, the Watershed Plan Builder will be available to watershed organizations,
federal and state agencies, tribes, universities, and local governments to beta
test the application and provide feedback. A team of experts from EPA's water
programs developed the tool, with input from state, tribal, and local agency
experts as well as other local watershed practitioners.
EPA, State, Environmental Groups
Promote "Green Infrastructure" Solutions to Water Pollution
EPA Administrator Stephen
Johnson celebrated Earth Day by signing a statement of intent at the David L.
Lawrence Convention Center with four national organizations to promote the use
of "green infrastructure” (www.epa.gov/npdes/greeninfrastructure)
approaches, such as rain-catching roofs
and gardens, to lessen sewer overflows and runoff after storms.
The statement formalizes a
collaborative effort among EPA, the National Association of Clean Water
Agencies (NACWA), the Association of States and Interstate Water Pollution
Control Administrators (ASIWPCA), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC),
and the Low Impact Development (LID) Center to assist state, city, and local
governments in implementing and evaluating innovative and effective green infrastructure
approaches.
Through green infrastructure
techniques, stormwater and its pollutants are managed
using natural systems to help absorb, infiltrate, evaporate, or reuse excess stormwater instead of using traditional infrastructure that
collects, stores, and transports water through large, buried sewer systems.
Rain barrels and cisterns, roofs that are covered with vegetation and
plantings, tree boxes, rain gardens, and pocket wetlands are just a few
examples of common green infrastructure approaches. Water is treated as an
important resource rather than a waste product.
A variety of initiatives are
included in the statement of intent. EPA and its partners plan to offer
technical assistance, training, and outreach to potential users of green
infrastructure, including states, cities, counties, utilities, environmental
and public health agencies, engineers, architects, landscape architects,
planners, and nongovernmental organizations.
The creation of a Web-based
green infrastructure resource center will assist communities in complying with
requirements for combined sewer overflows and municipal stormwater
permits. EPA also seeks to recognize the most effective and innovative uses of
green infrastructure through awards and recognition programs to meet the Clean
Water Act goals, while making models of green infrastructure techniques
available nationwide.
Federal Court Blocks Attempt to
Eliminate Wildlife Standards for National Forests
A federal judge rejected the
Forest Service's effort to remove key environmental protections from the rules
governing the 191-million-acre
National Forest System.
The ruling, by U.S. District
Judge Phyllis Hamilton, invalidates regulations issued in 2005 that sought to
overhaul the land-management planning process for National Forests by
eliminating mandatory protections for wildlife and clean water and removing
public participation in the process. Among the measures discarded was a key
regulatory guarantee of wildlife viability in the National Forests that had
been in place since the Reagan administration.
The ruling found that
administration officials had bypassed legally required environmental reviews
and endangered species protections in creating a new management system for the
National Forests that eliminated enforceable environmental protections from the
forest planning process. Judge Hamilton also ruled that the administration had
sprung its final forest planning rules on the public without sufficient notice
of the "paradigm shift" that the rules accomplished.
The judge's ruling prohibits
the government from "implementation and utilization" of the new
forest planning rules.
The National Forest
Management Act requires the Forest Service to protect wildlife on the national
forests and allow citizens to participate in management decisions. The
court-rejected rules would have invalidated the 1982 standards for national
forest management that protected species and required public comment on
national forest timber plans.
Earthjustice, representing Defenders of Wildlife, The Wilderness
Society, the Sierra Club and Vermont Natural Resources Council, filed a legal
challenge to the rule changes in October 2004.
Pete Frost from the Western Environmental Law
Center represented
Citizens for Better Forestry in a similar case that also was decided in the
ruling. The State of California
also filed a lawsuit against the rule changes.
Water Infrastructure Funds Surged in
2006
The Environmental Protection
Agency invested more than $900 million in 2006 to help states and
municipalities update their wastewater infrastructure. Combined with state
contributions, total financial assistance for wastewater projects topped $5
billion for the first time, according to the just-released Clean Water State
Revolving Fund (CWSRF) 2006 Annual Report. Since the CWSRF program began 20 years
ago, more than 18,000 loans totaling more than $57 billion have been provided
to help rebuild and refurbish the nation's wastewater infrastructure.
“The State Clean Water Funds are revolving and evolving to reach new levels of
success and sustainability. EPA's national report underscores the importance of
innovation and partnership to increase environmental results in watersheds and
communities across America”
said Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA assistant administrator for water.
The report points to greater emphasis placed on community outreach programs
last year. The programs stimulate participation and encourage new approaches to
providing information about the CWSRF. Although participation is voluntary, all
50 states and Puerto Rico are now tracking the
link between project assistance and environmental benefits. The low-interest
loans help communities restore and protect aquatic life, recreational uses and
drinking water sources.
The CWSRF is the largest federal funding program for wastewater infrastructure
projects, such as treatment plants and collection systems. It is an outgrowth
of 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act. The fund is self-sustaining in that
the interest derived from loans as they are repaid helps expand the program to
provide even broader funding in future years.
More Information on the program can be found at www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf/annreport2006.htm.
EPA Calls For
Numeric Water Quality Standards for Nutrients
According to the Bureau of
National Affairs, Inc. (BNA), a memo signed
May 25 by the Environmental
Protection Agency's top water official is
urging states to adopt numeric water quality standards for
nitrogen and
phosphorus discharges.
The purpose of the memo is to encourage states
to develop numeric water quality standards for
pollution from phosphorus
and nitrogen (collectively known as nutrients) instead
of "narrative"
standards, wrote Benjamin Grumbles, EPA assistant
administrator for
water.
According to EPA, adoption
of numeric water quality standards for
nutrients would affect any stakeholder that has to obtain a
National
Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permit. Specifically, the numeric
standards for nutrients would affect the fertilizer and
agriculture
industries, including livestock operations, and golf courses.
It also
would affect municipalities because many homeowners use
fertilizers on
their yards, the agency said.
The memo reiterates EPA's
position that "action is needed" to address
the growing problem of nutrient pollution. Grumbles
cites the Chesapeake
Bay and the Gulf of Mexico as the "two most widely known
examples" of
bodies of water suffering from an excess of nutrient
pollution.
In the memo, EPA said
states, tribes, and territories should develop
nutrient standards that address the sources of nitrogen and
phosphorus
as well as chlorophyll levels and water transparency.
Chlorophyll is
used as a measure of blooms of algae in water;
transparency is a way to
measure how much light has been blocked by the blooms of
algae and other
plants that thrive on nitrogen and phosphorus.
For more information, visit
http://ehscenter.bna.com/pic2/ehs.nsf/id/BNAP-73NEXZ?OpenDocument
Return to the top of the page
In the Air
News of Air Pollution Control
and Air Related Issues
with Larry Simmons
You can contact Larry at SimmonsLL @ e2minc.com
___________________________________
Clean Air Act Summary
The Congressional Research
Service published a report describing the Clean Air Act's major provisions and
provides tables listing all major amendments. This 25 page document gives a
summary of the key provision of the Act that agencies have enforced to improve
our air quality. The report can be found
at:
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/47810.pdf.
Wind Power Impacts
While wind power won’t make
much of a dent in U.S.
carbon dioxide emissions,
the National Academy of Science’s National Research Council
indicated it could cause environmental damage that is not well understood. The
report – Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects – notes that wind energy
provided about 1% of U.S.
electricity in 2006 and could reduce CO2 emissions by about 4.5% in 2020.
Bird deaths from wind
turbines, the report found, amounted to less than 0.003% of all bird deaths
annually in 2003. As one of the report critics noted, more than a thousand
times as many birds are killed flying into buildings than wind turbines.
Because of the intermittency
of wind energy, the upper limit of wind power in the U.S. national grid is probably
about 20%. European countries that have pushed heavily for wind – notably Denmark and Germany – have found that the
maximum penetration of wind power is about 17%, given the need for backup
fossil generation to support the unpredictability of wind power.
Unfortunately, wind power has
bumped into the NIMBY syndrome. Impacts
to local aesthetic values, low frequency harmonics and impacts to birds have
been issues raised that have delayed projects.
Air
Pollution Down, Air Quality Up
A look at air quality and emissions data for 2006 shows continued improvement in
the nation's air quality over the long term, according to an EPA report. Emissions of six key pollutants have dropped by more
than half since 1970 and the national average concentration for each criteria
pollutant is below the level of its air quality standard.
As shown by this graphic from
the EPA report, air quality improvements have occurred even with a significant
increase in population, energy consumption, and vehicle miles traveled. These data can be found at:
http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/econ-emissions.html.
New EPA Tool Helps Answer
Air Quality Questions
AirCompare, a new EPA-developed air quality tool, provides local
air quality information. AirCompare uses EPA's
popular Air Quality Index (AQI) to explain air quality from a health
perspective. A person with asthma, for example,
can use AirCompare to select up
to 10 counties across the country – and with the click of a button, find out
how many days the air was unhealthy for asthmatics last year.
AirCompare searches EPA air quality databases to pull
information about pollutants reported under the AQI - and to translate it into
charts that show simply whether the previous year's air quality was healthy,
unhealthy, or unhealthy for specific groups more susceptible to pollution. The
tool also can provide a multi-year snapshot of a county's air quality, based on
a particular health issue.
Go to http://www.epa.gov/aircompare/
to use this tool.
It only works for those counties with air quality monitoring stations.
Tougher Refinery Standards
Proposed
The EPA is proposing to
reduce emissions from new, modified or reconstructed process units at petroleum
refineries. The proposed amendments would update the existing standards of
performance for petroleum refineries. Under the proposal, new, modified or
reconstructed units would be required to add emission controls that reflect
demonstrated improvements in emission control technologies, in addition to
changing certain work practices.
Over
the next five years, the proposed standards are estimated to reduce the
combined emissions of particulate matter, SO2, and NOx
emissions by nearly 56,000 tons per year. The estimated benefits of the
proposed rules would be more than $950 million, 17 times the expected costs.
Coal Still King
Despite the political
enthusiasm for alternative fuels such as wind, solar, and hydrogen, coal will
continue to be the dominant fuel for electric power generation into the future,
according a recent Department of Energy study.
The report—Tracking New
Coal-Fired Power Plants, Coal’s Resurgence in Power Generation—finds that
coal’s abundance and ability to be delivered cheaply, trump all of the fuel’s
environmental disadvantages. According to the report, coal will overtake
natural gas as a new generating fuel after 2010.
According to the report, some
151 proposed and online coal-fired plants are already in the pipeline,
representing some 90 GW of generating capacity and $145 billion in investment.
The DOE predicts that 145 GW of new coal capacity will be added to the U.S. generating
mix by 2030. That will be 59% of all new capacity additions.
The bulk of new coal supply
(25GW) will come from subbituminous coal (Powder River
Basin) according to the DOE report, while eastern
bituminous coal will account for most of the rest (13 GW). Lignite, waste coal,
and coal and petroleum coke will be niche fuels. Anthracite will be
insignificant.
EPA Publishes Greenhouse
Gas Inventory
EPA has released the national
greenhouse gas inventory, which finds that overall emissions during 2005
increased by less than one percent from the previous year. Total emissions of
the six main greenhouse gases in 2005 were equivalent to 7,260 million metric
tons of carbon dioxide. The report indicates that overall emissions have grown
by 16 percent from 1990 to 2005, while the U.S. economy has grown by 55
percent over the same period.
Radical Engine Redesign
Researchers have created a
computational model to track engine performance from one combustion cycle to
the next for a new type of engine that could dramatically reduce oil
consumption and the emission of global-warming pollutants. A key portion of the
research hinges on designing engines so that their intake and exhaust valves
are no longer driven by mechanisms connected to the crank shaft.
In today's internal
combustion engines, the pistons turn a crankshaft, which is linked to a
camshaft that opens and closes the valves, directing the flow of air and
exhaust into and out of the cylinders. The new method would eliminate the
mechanism linking the crankshaft to the camshaft, providing an independent
control system for the valves. Because the valves' timing would no longer be
restricted by the pistons' movement, they could be more finely tuned to allow
more efficient combustion of diesel, gasoline, and alternative fuels, such as
ethanol and biodiesel.
The concept, known as
variable valve actuation, would enable significant improvements in conventional
gasoline and diesel engines used in cars and trucks and for applications such
as generators, he said. The technique also enables the introduction of an
advanced method called homogeneous charge compression ignition, or HCCI, which
would make it possible to improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by 15 to
20 percent and reduce exhaust emissions.
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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
___________________________________
European Liability Directive Ensures Polluters Pay
European Union legislation laying down liability rules for
damage to the environment was set to become effective on April 30. The
groundbreaking new directive (http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/liability)
is the result of discussions which started in the late 1980s and is the first
EU law specifically based on the "polluter pays principle" set out in
the EC treaty. It will ensure that future environmental damage in the EU is
prevented or remedied, and that those who cause it are held responsible. EU
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas
said: "The idea that the polluter must pay is a cornerstone of EU policy
and with this legislation we are putting it into practice. The environmental
liability directive will provide a strong incentive to prevent damage from
happening at all, and enables governments to seek redress from the culprit when
serious damage does occur."
The directive establishes a framework based on environmental
liability to ensure that environmental damage is prevented or remedied.
Environmental damage includes damage to species and natural habitats protected
at EU level under the 1979 directive on the conservation of wild birds and the
1992 directive on the conservation of natural habitats, damage to waters
covered by the 2000 Water Framework Directive, as well as land contamination
which causes significant risk of harming human health. There will be no
retrospective effect.
The parties potentially liable for the costs of preventing
or remedying the environmental damage are the operators of the risky or
potentially risky activities listed in the environmental liability directive.
These include activities that release heavy metals into water or into the air,
installations producing dangerous chemicals, landfill sites, and incineration
plants. Other economic operators may also be liable for the costs of preventing
or remedying damage to protected species and natural habitats, but only if they
are found to be at fault or negligent.
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Solid Waste Views
with John Scrabis, P.E.
You can contact me at: jmscrabis @ mactec.com
___________________________________
Pennsylvania’s
Brownfield Action Team is Ready to Help
The Brownfield Action Team (BAT) is designed to streamline
the revitalization of Pennsylvania’s
Brownfields sites. BAT enhances the interaction
between the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and local communities
by designating a single point of contact within DEP for locally designated
priority brownfield or abandoned mine land
redevelopment projects. The Brownfield
Action Team represents an evolution of the Pennsylvania Land Recycling Program
and provides an enhanced management process for community revitalization.
BAT can…
·
Expedite permits needed for remediating
pollution and redeveloping brownfield sites to allow
these sites to be used safely for new businesses;
·
Coordinate funding with the Department of
Community and Economic Development, the Governor’s Action Team, the Community
Action Team, and other state agencies; and
·
Help remediate properties receive liability
protection under the
Land Recycling Program.
For more information on the Brownfield Action Team and how
they can help with your brownfield project, go to the
PADEP website at the following address: http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/landrecwaste/cwp/view.asp?a=1243&q=462059
EPA Extends Comment Period on Proposed Changes to
Definition of Solid Waste
EPA recently extended the comment period to proposed changes
to the Definition of Solid Waste until June 25, 2007. The proposal is
intended to modify the existing definition of solid waste to exclude certain
hazardous secondary materials from being regulated as solid (and therefore
hazardous) wastes when the materials are recycled.
The proposal modifies the current hazardous waste
regulations in an attempt to increase the recycling of hazardous secondary
materials. Currently, some recycling is discouraged because of the high
costs associated with meeting Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Subtitle C
(hazardous waste) facility requirements, including the high cost of facility
permits. The proposal excludes those hazardous secondary materials that
are generated and reclaimed under the control of the generator from the
definition of solid waste. It also excludes other hazardous secondary
materials that are transferred by a generator to a reclamation facility,
provided certain conditions are met. The proposed rule also provides a
petition process for non-waste determinations of other hazardous secondary
materials.
This regulation would modify and build upon EPA’s 2003
proposal that would have limited the exclusion to materials generated and
reclaimed in a continuous process within the same industry. The same
industry would have been defined by a four-digit North American Industrial
Classification System (NAICS) code. The same industry limitation produced
many adverse comments to the proposal and was eliminated.
Under the current proposed rule recycling would not have to
occur within the same industry to qualify for the exclusion. The basis of
the current proposal is that secondary materials are not discarded if they are
recycled and therefore should not be regulated as solid wastes. Hazardous
secondary materials burned for energy recovery, used in a manner constituting
disposal or that are inherently waste-like under the current regulations are
not eligible for the exclusion. The proposal requires that the generator
of the hazardous secondary material provide a notification to the authorized
regulatory agency that the facility intends to recycle hazardous secondary
material. Similarly, if the material is shipped offsite for recycling to
a different facility owned by the same company, a notification is required from
the receiving facility.
The rule would also allow recycling of hazardous secondary
materials via a tolling agreement mechanism. In this instance a generator
and recycling facility must have a contract in place whereby the recycler
assumes responsibility for the material. The management and recycling of
the material is done under the control of the tolling company (recycler).
Generators would have to maintain records for three years; if managed within
land-based units (e.g. waste piles) the material would have to be contained in
the units; and generators would have to make reasonable efforts to ensure the
materials will be legitimately recycled. Generators would also have to
submit a one-time notification to the state; comply with speculative
accumulation restrictions; and ensure that the material is not handled by
anyone other than the generator, transporter, or the designated reclamation
facility. Reclamation facilities would also have to notify the regulatory
agency; maintain shipping records for three years; manage the material as the
analogous raw material; manage recycling residuals to protect human health and
the environment; and comply with financial assurance requirements that apply to
similarly permitted facilities.
Also available to a generator would be a case-specific
non-waste determination process that allows a generator to petition the
regulatory agency that the hazardous secondary material is not a solid
waste. The petition would be based on the material being recycled in a
continuous industrial process; or would be indistinguishable from a product or
intermediate; or would be recycled via certain contractual arrangements.
The facility would submit a petition to the regulatory agency. The agency
would then evaluate the application and provide notification to the public in a
newspaper or on the radio, and receive comments on the petition, and then make
a determination granting or denying the petition.
The proposal also intends to codify two of the four
legitimacy criteria that are presently used to determine what constitutes
legitimate recycling. The hazardous secondary material being recycled
must provide a useful contribution to the recycling process or to the product
of the recycling process, and the recycling process must produce a valuable product.
The other two criteria, management of materials prior to recycling, and toxics
along for the ride (TARS) in recycled products would have to be considered on a
case-by-case basis. TARS refer to potentially increased levels of toxic
materials found in the recycled product when compared to a similar product
produced without recycled hazardous secondary materials.
If finalized, EPA estimates the proposal will deregulate 650
million tons of hazardous waste annually, and provide a cost savings to
industry of approximately $107 million per year. EPA has requested that
the regulated community and regulatory agencies submit comments on many areas
of the proposed rule. The public comment period originally published as
closing on May 25 was extended to June 25in the April 24, 2007 Federal Register
Notice.
For more information, contact Ed Karmilovich
by e-mail at ekarmilovi@state.pa.us
or by telephone at 717-787-6239.
EPA Study Looks for
Better Asbestos Removal Technology
The EPA announced last week the release of a draft report (http://www.epa.gov/region06/6xa/asbestos.htm) that
evaluates an alternative demolition process for buildings containing asbestos. Scientists and engineers from EPA's National
Risk Management Research Laboratory and the Dallas regional office compared the current
process of demolishing a dilapidated, asbestos-containing structure with a new
method called the Alternative
Asbestos Control Method or AACM. The first demonstration project was successfully
completed in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. Preliminary findings show the AACM
procedures to be protective for clean-up of many asbestos-containing buildings.
Two similar buildings at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas,
containing similar types and quantities of asbestos, were demolished in April
2006. One demolition utilized the alternative method and one utilized the
standard National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) method.
As they were demolished, environmental emissions were monitored to determine if
the alternative protected the environment as well as the
NESHAP method.
The current NESHAP process involves removal of some asbestos
materials prior to demolition of the structure. This process can be
time-consuming and expensive. After demolition, the removed asbestos and the
demolished structure are both disposed in approved landfills. Similarly, the alternative
method removes some friable (capable of becoming airborne) asbestos materials,
but some asbestos-containing materials are allowed to remain. The structure is
then wetted with amended water to control asbestos fiber release prior to and
during demolition. Demolition debris and several inches of affected soil from
the AACM process are disposed as asbestos-containing debris at an approved
landfill. Data from the evaluation demonstrated lower than expected levels of
asbestos and reduced potential for worker exposure. The cost and time-savings
for the
first study were significant.
The draft report has been released for public comment and
for peer review by a select panel of experts. The public is invited to review
the draft report and submit comments by June 11, 2007.
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ENVIROCABULARY
Environmental Acronyms, Obscure Words
and Other Lingo
with Kim Walker
You can contact me at Kimberly.walker @ erm.com
___________________________________
Each month, the Envirocabulary staff will scour the latest environmental literature for new and breaking terms of interest to our readers. This month's term is…
Pneumoconiosis
Health conditions
characterized by permanent deposition of substantial amounts of particulate
matter in the lungs and by the tissue reaction to its presence; can range from
relatively harmless forms of sclerosis to the destructive fibrotic
effect of silicosis.
Types of pneumoconiosis
include asbestosis, silicosis, siderosis of the lung,
and coal worker’s pneumoconiosis.
Sources: Office of Communications, Education, and Media
Relations: Terms of Environment: Glossary, Abbreviations, and Acronyms (Revised
December 1997) (Glossary) and Aetna’s InteliHealth - http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9339/25657.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
___________________________________
This
Month:
EPA Report on
Environmental Impacts of Energy Use in Leading Manufacturing Sectors Now
Available
Poor Tire Maintenance Increases Gas Consumption, Reduces
Tire Life, and Puts Consumers at Risk
Pollution Prevention Search Tool
EPA REPORT ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF ENERGY USE IN
LEADING MANUFACTURING SECTORS NOW AVAILABLE - The EPA has recently released
a report http://www.epa.gov/sectors/energy/index.html
on energy use trends in major manufacturing sectors that targets the
environmental implications of energy use. These sectors account for about 85%
of all U.S.
industrial energy use. The analysis includes a general overview of the barriers
to energy efficiency and use of clean fuel technologies, and offers some
possible policy options for government to help address these obstacles. The
report examines each sector's current energy consumption trends and the
associated environmental impacts, expressly emissions of air pollutants and
carbon dioxide. According to the EPA, if current business practices remain the
norm, energy consumption across many of these sectors will increase by 20% from
2004 levels by 2020, and carbon dioxide emissions will increase by 14%. The
twelve sectors analyzed are aluminum, cement, chemical manufacturing, food
manufacturing, forest products, iron and steel, metal casting, metal finishing,
motor vehicle manufacturing, motor vehicle parts manufacturing, petroleum
refining, and shipbuilding. The report outlines how each sector could improve
environmental performance by becoming more energy efficient or by using clean
fuel technologies. It also identifies five strategies http://www.epa.gov/sectors that could be
implemented to achieve these goals. They include: 1) Switching to cleaner
fuels. 2) Using combined heat and power. 3) Retrofitting or replacing older
equipment. 4) Making process improvements. 5) Investing in research and
development. Based on the insights garnered from this report, EPA will now work
with industry partners to explore the best ways to boost energy and
environmental outcomes in each sector.
POOR TIRE MAINTENANCE INCREASES GAS CONSUMPTION, REDUCES TIRE LIFE, AND
PUTS CONSUMERS AT RISK – In the next
few months many of us will be driving to vacation destinations or taking road
trips to favorite spots. The only things separating you and yours from the road
are your tires. In a recent survey conducted by Rubber Manufacturers
Association (RMA), only 55% of drivers said they checked their tire pressure
within the past month compared to 70% last year when fuel prices peaked.
Maximizing tire performance depends on regular maintenance. This upkeep can
dramatically affect gas mileage, tire life, and passenger safety. According to
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), low tire
pressure-related crashes are to blame for 660 fatalities and 33,000 injuries
each year. NHTSA estimates that about one in four cars and one in three light
trucks has at least one significantly under inflated tire. These alarming
statistics demonstrate the real need to educate drivers about tire maintenance
in order to increase vehicle safety and tire performance, extend the life of
the tires, and save money on gas. RMA urges motorists to follow several
maintenance tips, including: 1) Measuring tire pressure monthly, using a good
quality tire gauge. A visual inspection is not sufficient to detect under or
over-inflated tire problems. 2) Having tires aligned regularly and checking
owner's manual for specific recommendations. A pulling or vibration sensation
means that alignment should be checked sooner. 3) Rotating tires regularly,
usually every 5,000-8,000 miles. 4) Monitoring tread wear and replacing tires
when tire tread is worn down to 1/16 of an inch. Proper tire tread prevents
skidding and hydroplaning. 5) Balancing tires periodically or when feeling a
vibration. 6) Conducting a visual check for embedded stones, glass, and other
foreign objects that could work their way into the tire and cause a leak. RMA
tire care brochures are available at most tire retail locations. Many of these
same locations also provide free tire pressure services. For more information
on RMA’s tire program visit http://www.rma.org/tire%5Fsafety/tire%5Fmaintenance%5Fand%5Fsafety/.
POLLUTION PREVENTION SEARCH TOOL
- The Great Lakes
Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR), located in Illinois, has produced a "P2
Search" http://www.glrppr.org/search/
tool that allows individuals to
search 37 web sites simultaneously for pollution prevention (P2) and related
information. These sites include the U.S. EPA http://www.epa.gov
web site, each of the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange (P2Rx) http://www.p2rx.org Center web sites, all of
the National Compliance Assistance Centers http://www.assistancecenters.net/,
the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy http://www.eere.energy.gov/ web site,
and the Office of Science and Technical Information http://www.osti.gov/ site, P2 Gems http://www.p2gems.org/, the Canadian Centre
for P2 (C2P2) http://www.c2p2online.com/,
Environment Canada's Canadian Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse
(CPPIC) http://www.ec.gc.ca/cppic/en/index.cfm,
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) http://www.unep.org/, and Australia's
environmental portal http://www.environment.gov.au/.
When individuals type in a search phrase, the results page will feature links
at the top allowing you to refine your search by limiting the search to the
compliance assistance centers, energy efficiency-related sites, international
sites, the P2Rx centers, or to U.S.
government sites.
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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
______________________________
New TRI Reporting Requirements
EPA's Toxics
Release Inventory Program recently issued a final rule expanding reporting
requirements for the dioxin and dioxin-like compounds category. There are
seventeen distinct members of this chemical category listed under TRI. The
final rule requires that, in addition to the total grams released for the
entire category, facilities must report the quantity for each individual member
on a new Form R Schedule 1. EPA will then use the individual mass quantity data
to
calculate TEQ values that will be made available to the public
along with the mass data. The final rule also removes the requirement to report
the single distribution of compounds in the category.
EPA currently
requires that facilities report, in grams, the total amount of dioxin and
dioxin-like compounds released from the facility. When available, the facility
must also provide a single "distribution," showing how that total is
divided among the individual dioxin and dioxin-like compounds. This single
distribution must represent either total releases, or releases to the media
(air, land, water) for which the facility has the best information.
Although useful,
total releases are not the best measure of the actual toxicity of these
compounds because each compound has its own level of toxicity. To account for
how compounds vary in toxicity, weighted values called toxic equivalents (TEQs) are used. To calculate TEQs,
a value is
assigned describing how toxic each
dioxin and dioxin-like compound is compared to the most toxic members of the
category: 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and 1,2,3,7,8-pentachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.
Expressing data
for dioxin and dioxin-like compounds as TEQs allows
the public to understand the toxicity of releases and waste management at facilities
that report under the TRI program. For example, a facility releasing 3 grams of
some combination of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds may or may not be of
greater interest than a facility releasing 1 gram of a different combination.
However, a facility releasing 3 grams TEQ of dioxins is of greater
environmental importance
than one releasing 1 gram TEQ to the same environmental
medium (e.g., air, land, water).
TEQs will allow the
public to make more informed environmental decisions within their communities.
Expressing dioxin releases and waste management information in grams TEQ will
also permit easier comparisons between TRI data and other EPA and international
data.
TRI Dioxin and Dioxin-like Compounds
Toxic Equivalency Final Rule --
Federal Register Notice
http://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/teq/TRI%20TEQ%20Final%20Rule.pdf
FDA
Clears First Respirators for Use in Public Health Medical
Emergencies
The U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared for marketing the first respirators that
can help reduce the user's exposure to airborne germs during a public health
medical emergency, such as an influenza pandemic.
These two
filtering facepiece respirators, manufactured by St.
Paul, Minn.-based 3M Company (and called the 3M Respirator 8612F and 8670F), will
be available to the general public without a prescription.
The devices are
also certified as N95 filtering facepiece respirators
by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). NIOSH certifies
respirators for use in occupational settings in accordance with an appropriate
respiratory protection program.
An N95 filtering
facepiece respirator is a type of face mask that fits
tightly over the nose and mouth. It is made of fibrous material that is designed
to filter out at least 95 percent of very small airborne particles. The filter
and a proper fit determine the effectiveness of
the product.
Many companies
make N95 respirators for workplaces, including health care settings. However,
the 3M respirators are the first devices to receive FDA clearance for use by
the public during public health medical emergencies to reduce exposure to
airborne germs.
Under
Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other occupational health
regulations, respirators used in the workplace must be individually selected
for each worker and tested to ensure a proper fit. This kind of fit testing is
not generally employed outside the workplace now and would probably not be
feasible during a public health medical emergency.
FDA is requiring
those who want to market respirators for use during public health medical
emergencies to assure that they are certified by NIOSH to provide adequate
filtration without hampering people's ability to breathe. In addition,
companies must conduct fit assessment testing, conduct biocompatibility testing
to reduce the chance for allergic skin reaction, and provide instructions that
will enable wearers to achieve a protective fit and use the devices properly.
3M evaluated fit
characteristics in healthy adults to determine that a user could achieve a
protective fit following the instructions on the label. They measured how many
airborne test particles were able to get inside the respirator through small
leaks between the edges of the
respirator and the wearer's face. While individual results
varied, all participants tested achieved some reduction in exposure to airborne
test particles.
FDA will soon
issue a guidance document outlining its regulatory approach to this new type of
device.
Inhaling
particles is just one route of exposure to disease-causing organisms. Others
include touching contaminated surfaces and coming into close contact with those
who have infectious diseases. A total approach to personal protection includes
hand hygiene, cough etiquette and other protection practices such as avoiding
crowded settings.
What
Does "Weekly" Mean?
Environmental
regulations require you to inspect, report, monitor, or keep records according
to specified frequencies, such as daily, weekly, and annually. Does weekly mean
once per week or every seven days. In many cases, the regulations don't specify
the difference. The Ohio EPA recently distributed guidance, which must be
followed in Ohio,
but would be worth considering in any state:
* "Week"
means seven consecutive days.
* "Year"
means twelve consecutive months.
* "Daily" means an event that
must occur every day, that is, once within a calendar day period following the
previous calendar day period.
* "Weekly" means an event
that must occur once within a seven day period following the previous event. As
an example, if you inspect the area where your hazardous waste containers are
accumulated on Tuesday April 6, 2007 you must inspect the area again on or
before the close of business on Tuesday April 13, 2007.
* "Annual"
or "annually" means an event that must occur in the same calendar
month that it occurred in the previous year.
* "Quarterly" means an event
that occurs once every three months evenly spaced within a 12 consecutive month
period (for groundwater monitoring the events should capture seasonal
variations).
* "Semi-annually" means an
event that occurs once every six months evenly spaced within a 12 consecutive
month period (for groundwater monitoring the events should capture seasonal
variations).
For purposes of determining your generator
status, you are required to count all hazardous waste generated during a
specific calendar month. For example, the waste generated from the first day of
the month until the last day of the month. (i.e.
January 1 through January 31 or February 1 through February 28 or 29 if leap
year).
________________________________
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