Recently in EPA Category

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is setting the first standards that will reduce emissions of formaldehyde, benzene, acrolein and other toxic air pollutants from certain stationary diesel engines. These pollutants are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health problems and environmental damage.

"Improving air quality is one the agency's top priorities," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "Controlling emissions from these engines will save lives and protect our communities from serious health problems, including heart attacks, asthma and other respiratory illnesses."
   
The emission limits apply to existing diesel engines meeting certain criteria for age, size, and use. EPA estimates that more than 900,000 of the engines generate electricity and power equipment at industrial, agricultural and other facilities. The engines also are used in emergencies to produce electricity and pump water for flood and fire control. Emergency engines used at most residences, hospitals and other institutional facilities, and commercial facilities such as shopping centers are not covered by this rule.

To meet the emissions requirements, owners and operators of the largest of the engines will need to install emissions controls, such as catalysts, to engine exhaust systems. Emergency engines covered by this rule need to comply with operating requirements that will limit emissions.

EPA estimates that the rule will reduce annual air toxics emissions by 1,000 tons, particle pollution by 2,800 tons, carbon monoxide emissions by 14,000 tons, and organic compound emissions by 27,000 tons when fully implemented in 2013.
 
EPA will issue final emissions standards for similar existing stationary engines that burn gasoline, natural gas and landfill gas, known as spark ignition engines, by August 10, 2010.  

More information: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/new.html

The U.S. EPA plans to strengthen its assessment of pesticide health risks.

Change takes time, but the EPA has been slow to regulate and enforce green approaches to chemical use in the US.  The chemical industry lobby is very strong, but EPA is finally approaching pesticide dangers as... well, dangers to "voters", not just profit and tax sources for big business.

First Comes Assessment...

The U.S. EPA plans to strengthen its assessment of pesticide health risks.

EPA's proposal would include a more thorough assessment of risks to workers, including farmworkers and farm children, as well as risks posed by pesticides that are not used on food.

"The agency is asking the public to comment on the new approach and how best to implement the improvements."

Agricultural pesticide applications doesn't just affect agricultural workers.  With urban sprawl, many elementary schools are being build on the fringes of communities where land is available and "cheap".  A patchwork quilt of agricultural land surrounds many of these suburban schools...and the wind carries pesticides right into the school buildings and playgrounds.

Parents and school staff members could play a valuable rule in assessing pesticide risks to school children, as well as the workers who grow their food.    

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson: "Better information and applying assessment tools will strengthen EPA's protections for farm workers exposed to these chemicals, and children living in and around the areas of highest possible exposure," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "It's essential we have the tools to keep everyone, especially vulnerable populations like children, safe from the serious health consequences of pesticide exposure."

Aggregate, Cumulative Effects of Pesticides

Under the policy, EPA risk assessments for children, farmworkers and others, would consider aggregate pesticide exposures from all sources in addition to the cumulative effects from multiple pesticides that have similar toxicity.

Protection from Incomplete Data

Maybe it's time that ALL chemicals be tested for toxicity and cumulative impact before they are authorized for market distribution.  That would be a seismic change in the chemicals marketplace.

Chemical Impact on Children and Other Highly Vulnerable Populations

EPA could apply an additional safety factor to protect infants and children from the risks of pesticides where the available data are incomplete. Currently these analyses help assess risks of pesticides to the general public as required by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Common Scientific Risk-assessment Techniques

EPA believes that pesticide exposure should be evaluated with common scientific risk-assessment techniques, whether from residues in food or drinking water, on lawns or in swimming pools, or in the workplace. The agency would routinely apply the techniques to workers exposed to pesticide exposures on the job.

By incorporating these risk-assessment tools into its pesticide evaluations, EPA would more thoroughly protect the most vulnerable populations, including farm workers and children taken into agricultural fields.

The proposed policy will be available for a 60-day public comment period after it is published in the Federal Register.

Citizen input is important to balance the influence of lobbying from the chemical and pesticide industries. 

More information on the proposed rule 

CONTACT:   

For the Spanish translation 

For general questions on pesticides and pesticide poisoning prevention, contact the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC), toll free, at: 1-800-858-7378, by E-mail at npic@ace.orst.edu, or by visiting their website at: http://npic.orst.edu/

To report an environmental violation, visit EPA's website at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/complaints/index.html

For information about EPA's pesticide program, visit our homepage at: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/

Chemical safety affects us all.  But how do laws support chemical safety?

Out of more than 62,000 synthetic chemicals that are part of our everyday lives, fewer than 200 have been tested for safety.

The Chemical Industry and Safety Best Practices

Thanks to effective lobbying by the chemical industry, laws are written so that every synthetic chemical is "innocent until proven guilty." The legal burden weighs on those seeking to prove the harm a substance can cause.

Find out more in "Toxic Ignorance is Not Bliss," by author and writer Dominique Browning.

Human Guinea Pigs

Browning reveals the shocking truth when it comes to potentially toxic chemicals -- you're basically on your own.

"We should be worried about what amounts to a huge, uncontrolled human testing experiment. Without agreeing to it, without understanding it, without even knowing it, we have become the chemical industry's guinea pigs."

Of highly visible concers of late is Bisphenol A (BPA), found in baby bottles, possibly the water bottle sitting by your desk and plastic dental sealants.

BPA is increasingly suspected of causing a variety of serious ills, yet factories continue to produce six billion pounds of it each year.

In the coming months, Congress may review the process by which we regulate toxic chemicals -- or, as Browning points out, mostly don't regulate them.

"Society needs to pay much more attention to this problem," says Dr. Richard Denison, Senior Scientist at EDF. "We've been complacent about it." Denison maintains an influential blog tracking the debate over chemical safety.

In 1976 Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

Unfortunately, the 62,000 chemicals on the market at that time were given a free pass: no requirement they be tested or assessed for safety.

EPA's Role in Chemical Regulation

Although the Environmental Protection Agency has garnered some information about chemicals through voluntary submissions by industry in a program that EDF helped start, limited testing has been required on a mere 200 chemicals over the past three decades.

Worse, EPA has managed to restrict only five substances--and even that overstates the agency's efficacy.

The only group of chemicals entirely banned was PCBs, because Congress required it.

Even Cal Dooley, the president of the American Chemistry Council, commented on EPA's incapacity in this matter: "EPA cannot make a determination on whether or not a chemical is safe for its intended use."

Read more at: "Toxic Ignorance is Not Bliss,"

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded the Central Coast Vineyard Team with the agency's Sustained Excellence in Integrated Pest Management Award for its continued efforts in pest management.

Since joining the EPA's Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program in 2002, the vineyard team has certified many vineyards with its Sustainability in Practice (SIP) program. SIP requires vineyards to provide documentation and whole farm system management integration. Some SIP certified vineyards along California's Central Coast include Baileyana-Tangent, D'Anbino Vineyards and Cellars, Halter Ranch, Jackson Family Wine Estates. Pomar Junction Vineyard, Robert Hall Winery, Saucelito Canyon Vineyards & Winery, Paraiso Vineyards, Hahn Estates, and Ampelos Cellars.

CCVT has been dedicated to reducing its pesticide and herbicide use through techniques such as:

• new independently audited certification programs that require whole farm management and prohibit the use of high risk materials;
• a whole-farm approach to vineyard management;
• adoption of biologically-integrated farming systems;
• striving toward eliminating organophosphate use in projects exploring low risk herbicides, mechanical cultivation, and managed vegetative cover as alternative to simazine; and
• continued research to learn more about alternative, reduced-risk practices and the grower-to-grower approach to share the information

Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program

The EPA's voluntary Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program partners with pesticide users to reduce the health and environmental risks associated with pesticide use and implement pollution prevention strategies. PESP was established with 10 charter partners in 1994. Currently, there are more than 130 members nationwide. For more information on the EPA's Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program, see: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/index.htm

The Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program is a voluntary program that forms partnerships with pesticide users to reduce the potential health and environmental risks associated with pesticide use and implement pollution prevention strategies. 

The program fosters an EPA partnership for reducing risks posed by pesticide use to human health and the environment in both agricultural and urban settings.  Established in 1994 with six charter members, PESP has grown to include almost 200 members.

More information about PESP: http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/pesp/pesp-excellence.html

    The EPA cited a Santa Ana, Calif. based corporation for allegedly selling and distributing a "Cleaner & Mildew Stain Remover" with claims that  it removed algae and fungus. 

The EPA was made aware of the violation through a California Department of Pesticide Regulation retail inspection of Home Depot retail store.  

     "Products whose labels make claims to remove living organisms, including algae and fungus, are considered pesticides and must be registered," said Katherine Taylor, Associate Director of the Communities and Ecosystems Division of the EPA. "Companies who market unregistered cleaners with pesticide claims are in violation of Federal law and may be subject to fines."
 
    Before selling or distributing any pesticide in the United States, companies must register the pesticide with the EPA. The sale or distribution of a pesticide that has not been registered with the EPA is a violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which requires registration of pesticide products and pesticide-production facilities, as well as proper pesticide labeling.

For more information on pesticide regulation and enforcement, please visit www.epa.gov/pesticides/

A study of the magicians of the soil is an endless endeavor! Paul Stamets makes it a bit easier to learn about mushrooms with this TED talk. Mushrooms are both a citizen of the micro world of soil, but they are the manufacturers of the very soil in which they live. What a sentient approach to sustainability.

The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS)

The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) is the national non-profit, non-partisan association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders. The purpose of ECOS is to improve the capability of state environmental agencies and their leaders to protect and improve human health and the environment of the United States of America.

 

Their belief is that state government agencies are the keys to delivering environmental protection afforded by both federal and state law.

The Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) is an affiliated work group of states  seeking to speed the acceptance of new technology, primarily by reviewing and certifying  cleanup technology for use in new jurisdictions. ITRC is a state-led coalition working together with industry and stakeholders to achieve regulatory acceptance of environmental technologies. ITRC consists of 50 states, the District of Columbia, multiple federal partners, industry participants, and other stakeholders, cooperating to break down barriers and reduce compliance costs, making it easier to use new technologies, and helping states maximize resources. ITRC brings together a diverse mix of environmental experts and stakeholders from both the public and private sectors to broaden and deepen technical knowledge and streamline the regulation of new environmental technologies.

ERIS is the host for ITRC, which conducts training and reviews technology applications, providing state officials in new jurisdictions with a level of comfort as to the efficacy of new technology. ERIS and ITRC do not have separate staff, but use ECOS staff on a reimbursable basis.

ECOS has steadily increased the base level of practical research regarding state environmental agencies. This year was no exception. Here are some examples:
 
Restoring Budgets for "Core Programs" ECOS is working to convince Congress (and US EPA) to restore the cuts to the State and Tribal Assistance Grants that have occurred since 2005. Nearly all the cuts to EPA's budget have been passed on to the States, which implement 96% of the delegated programs such as clean air, clean water, waste and drinking water protection. ECOS members believe these cuts threaten our ability to protect the environment. ECOS again this year (2008) presented an alternative budget to Congress. In 2009, we worked with US EPA to present state budget needs for the 2011 budget period.
 
Mercury

ECOS is particularly interested in reducing the presence of mercury in the environment because continued mercury pollution poses a growing threat to human health and the environment. In 2001, ECOS and other partners founded the Quicksilver Caucus (QSC) to pool resources, and to explore and pursue methods for reducing mercury in the environment. The removal of mercury from the environment remains a priority for state environmental agencies. In 2009, the QSC continues to help provide a forum for dialogue between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state environmental agencies to facilitate facility compliance with the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Rule.

Currently, the QSC is exploring ways to preclude use of mercury in thermostats and thermometers, and is exploring ways to recover and better manage mercury already contained in such products.

Dental Mercury Amalgam Waste Management White Paper

In April 2008, the QSC released the Dental Mercury Amalgam Waste Management White Paper, which explores successes and lessons learned from early dental amalgam mercury management programs. The QSC also held a webinar on the topic of dental amalgam mercury programming and state and local efforts to reduce loading of amalgam mercury to water systems via use of separator machinery. The webinar highlighted the White Paper the Quicksilver Caucus published earlier in the year, along with various states' experiences with the subject, as outlined in case studies also recently published by the Caucus. The QSC is working to develop mercury total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for waterbodies, taking into account the contributions of air and waste programs. Currently, the QSC is also considering pursuing more work in the field of management of mercury from compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).

Environmental Information Management

States need to tell the public and USEPA about the quality of the environment in each State. In the past five years, over 40 States and USEPA have initiated projects to modernize their information systems to support their complementary roles in environmental protection. Because of outdated and inefficient information systems, the States and USEPA began to modernize -- with many leaning towards integrated systems.

The One Stop Reporting Program provided a solid foundation for the development of an integrated environmental information network to improve environmental decision-making and enhance access to environmental information among States and USEPA.

Since 2002, State and federal partners have expended tremendous effort to create the National Environmental Information Exchange Network (Exchange Network) -- a revolutionary way to exchange environmental information between partner organizations.

Through manufacture and use, virtually everyone comes in contact with the chemicals in these products, which are ultimately released to the environment--as effluents to water, off-gases to air, and solid wastes to land. By forming partnerships with the DfE Program, formulators can take part in an important national effort to improve the human health and environmental profile of chemical-based products, which will benefit the quality of aquatic life and the environment, the biodegradability of waste streams, and human health and safety. The basis for a DfE partnership rests on the selection of the safest possible ingredients that permit the formulation of high-performing, cost-effective products. DfE can provide formulators with information on chemical characteristics and toxicities of raw materials and additives, safer substitutes for chemicals of concern, and innovative new chemistries. The DfE document "Criteria for Safer Cleaning Products (CSCP) in the form of a Standard" (PDF) (28 pp, 157K) describes the program's unique approach to product review and formulation improvement. To view this criteria in matrix form, please click here [considerations for partnership (PDF) (12 pp, 161K)]. DfE Formulator partners enjoy Agency recognition, including the use of the DfE label on products with improved formulations.

Look for the DfE Label! Safer Products DfE-recognized products are safer for people and the planet and have eliminated more than 270 million pounds of chemicals of concern.   中文版

The redesign of chemical products offers important opportunities to:

• Remove polluting chemicals from formulations before they can enter the workplace, home, or environment.
• Advance energy and water efficiency, resource conservation, and innovative technologies.
• Qualify for environmentally preferred product status, increasingly sought by government, retailer and consumer purchasers.

For more information, contact DfE.

Each year, formulators blend billions of pounds of chemical ingredients to create a wide variety of products used by businesses, institutions, households, and others. Through manufacture and use, virtually everyone comes in contact with the chemicals in these products, which are ultimately released to the environment--as effluents to water, off-gases to air, and solid wastes to land.

By forming partnerships with the DfE Program, formulators can take part in an important national effort to improve the human health and environmental profile of chemical-based products, which will benefit the quality of aquatic life and the environment, the biodegradability of waste streams, and human health and safety.

NSF INTERNATIONAL, Third Party Reviews for DfE Formulator Program

NSF International  has partnered with the U.S. EPA's Design for the Environment program ("DfE") to perform third-party reviews for the DfE Formulator Program.

NSF International has been selected to prepare product ingredient profiles for partnership candidates. NSF reviews cleaning product formulations for its environmental and human health profiles using criteria developed by DfE. Once successfully reviewed, formulators may be recognized by DfE and use the DfE logo on their products.

DfE offers recognition to formulators who design products for the environment and human health by using safer chemicals.

SOURCE: NSF