💧EPA Reissues Vickery Environmental’s Land-Ban Exemption Notice
Notice is hereby given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that an exemption to the land disposal restrictions under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) has been granted to Vickery Environmental, Inc. (VEI) of Vickery, Ohio for five Class I injection wells located in Vickery, Ohio. As required by Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, VEI has demonstrated, to a reasonable degree of certainty, that there will be no migration of hazardous constituents out of the injection zone or into an underground source of drinking water (USDW) for at least 10,000 years. This final decision allows the continued underground injection by VEI of only those hazardous wastes designated by the codes in Table 1 through its five Class I hazardous waste injection wells identified as #2, #4, #5, #6, and #8. This decision constitutes a final EPA action for which there is no administrative appeal.
Learn More🏭Hazardous Waste Worker Training Collection Notice from NIH
In compliance with the requirement of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 to provide opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects to be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval.
Learn More⚛️Amendment to Certificate of Compliance 1042 for Spent Fuel Storage
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its spent fuel storage regulations by revising the TN Americas LLC, NUHOMS[supreg] EOS Dry Spent Fuel Storage System listing within the "List of approved spent fuel storage casks" to include Amendment No. 4 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1042. Amendment No. 4 changes the certificate of compliance to incorporate a method to determine new loading patterns, introduce a steel plate composite option, introduce the use of MAVRIC software for a confirmatory run of the HSM-MX dose rates, make technical specification changes for consistency and terminology clarification, make various updated final safety analysis report editorial corrections for consistency and clarification, add measured exposures from past loading campaigns, allow use of a blended Portland cement, change the use of the MX-Loading Crane, and clarify the scenarios under which the maximum heat loads can be reduced.
Learn More♻️Implications of EPA's New Hazardous Waste Management Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is taking direct final action to establish an additional option for owners or operators of active coal combustion residuals (CCR) facilities or inactive CCR facilities with a legacy CCR surface impoundment to comply with the facility evaluation report (FER) Part 1 requirements and to extend compliance deadlines for the remaining CCRMU provisions published in the Federal Register on May 8, 2024. The May 8, 2024 rule (Legacy Final Rule) established regulatory requirements for legacy CCR surface impoundments and CCR management units (CCRMU) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Learn More🏭Proposed Rule for Coal Combustion Residuals Compliance Deadlines
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is proposing to modify compliance deadlines for select provisions published in the Federal Register on May 8, 2024. This May 8, 2024 rule (Legacy Final Rule) established regulatory requirements for legacy coal combustion residuals (CCR) surface impoundments and CCR management units (CCRMU) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). This proposal seeks comment on issues discussed in the direct final rule published in this Federal Register to establish an additional option for owners or operators of active CCR facilities or inactive CCR facilities with a legacy CCR surface impoundment to comply with the Facility Evaluation Report (FER) Part 1 and to extend compliance deadlines for the remaining CCRMU provisions published in the Legacy Final Rule. EPA is also soliciting comment on extending the deadline to prepare both FER Part 1 and Part 2 by 12 months.
Learn More⚖️Notice of Proposed Consent Decree Under CERCLA by DOJ
The Department of Justice has lodged a proposed consent decree regarding hazardous waste remediation at the Ottawa Radiation Areas Superfund Site in Illinois. The State of Illinois has agreed to provide in-kind services valued at approximately $10.49 million, while the U.S. government offers a covenant not to sue under CERCLA. Public comments are invited on this matter.
Learn More⚡DOE Revises NEPA Procedures
This interim final rule substantially revises Department of Energy's (DOE) regulations containing its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures, which were promulgated to supplement now-rescinded Council on Environmental Quality regulations. Mindful that the Supreme Court recently clarified NEPA is a "purely procedural statute," DOE will henceforth maintain the remainder of its procedures in a procedural guidance document separate from the Code of Federal Regulations (DOE NEPA implementing procedures). Thus, DOE is revising 10 CFR part 1021 to contain only administrative and routine actions excepted from NEPA review in appendix A, its existing categorical exclusions in appendix B, related requirements, and a provision for emergency circumstances. DOE is revising appendix A in 10 CFR part 1021 to align with DOE's new NEPA implementing procedures that it is publishing separate from the Code of Federal Regulations. Appendix A in 10 CFR part 1021 (formerly categorical exclusions) are now administrative and routine actions that do not require NEPA review. DOE is also revising 10 CFR part 205, subpart W, to remove the NEPA procedures from its Presidential permit regulations.
Learn More♻️EPA Adds New Sites to National Priorities List for Cleanup
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 ("CERCLA" or "the Act"), as amended, requires that the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan ("NCP") include a list of national priorities among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants throughout the United States. The National Priorities List ("NPL") constitutes this list. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the Environmental Protection Agency ("the EPA" or "the agency") in determining which sites warrant further investigation. These further investigations will allow the EPA to assess the nature and extent of public health and environmental risks associated with the site and to determine what CERCLA-financed remedial action(s), if any, may be appropriate. This rule adds three sites to the General Superfund section of the NPL.
Learn More🧊Proposed Rule on Hazardous Materials and Refrigerants Transportation
This NPRM proposes to adopt a special permit into the hazardous materials regulations to streamline the transportation of small refrigerating machines that contain limited quantities of certain flammable gases, including common household appliances such as refrigerators, window-mounted air-conditioning units, and dehumidifiers.
Learn More🚛Proposed Hazardous Materials Regulation Aims to Reduce Business Burdens
PHMSA proposes to adopt the provisions of DOT special permit (SP) 21478 into the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR). Adoption of this special permit would authorize intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) containing a residue of a certain hazardous materials to be transported without shipping papers, placards, and motor vehicle marking of the UN identification (ID) number subject to additional operational controls. The proposed revisions provide relief from undue burdens of hazard communication requirements for low-risk transportation of empty packaging and eliminate the need for special permit renewal requests.
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