JD Supra by Joseph Brendel
At the same time that Federal courts are strictly enforcing the requirements for All Appropriate Inquiries, ASTM International (“ASTM”) has issued additional, potentially challenging revisions to the E1527 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process (“Phase I Standard”). The revisions to the Phase I Standard were approved by ASTM on Nov. 1 and publication is anticipated shortly thereafter.
EPA Washington, DC
EPA announced its intent to improve compliance and strengthen enforcement of the lead-based paint Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule as it applies to property management companies (PMCs) that perform, offer, or claim to perform regulated renovations without certification from the EPA in pre-1978 housing or child-occupied facilities. The notice explains the circumstances where a PMC must obtain certification from the EPA and ensure that renovations in the homes they manage are performed by certified firms and employees trained to use lead-safe work practices.
National Law Review Washington, DC
A Congressional committee has approved maximum penalties of $700,000 per item for violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. The move would mean more than a fivefold increase of maximum “willful,” “repeated,” and “failure-to-abate” violations from $136,532. Minimum penalty amounts for such infractions would increase from today’s $9,753 to $50,000. “Serious” violations would increase from a current maximum of $13,653 to $70,000.
EPA Washington, DC
EPA is rescinding a guidance document entitled “Applying the Supreme Court’s County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund Decision in the Clean Water Act Section 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Program” that was issued by the Trump administration on January 14, 2021. The previous Administration’s Maui guidance reduced clean water protections by creating a new factor for determining if a discharge of pollution from a point source through groundwater that reaches a water of the US is the “functional equivalent” of a direct discharge to such water. The addition of that factor skewed the “functional equivalent” analysis in a way that could reduce the number of discharges requiring a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The agency determined that this is inconsistent with the Clean Water Act and the Supreme Court decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund.
NPR by Jeff Brady
National – Gas stoves have become a focal point in a fight over whether gas should even exist in the 35% of U.S. homes that cook with it. Environmental groups are focused on potential health effects. Burning gas emits pollutants that can cause or worsen respiratory illnesses. Residential appliances like gas-powered furnaces and water heaters vent pollution outside, but the stove is the one gas appliance in your home that is most likely unvented. The focus on possible health risks from stoves is part of the broader campaign by environmentalists to kick gas out of buildings to fight climate change. Commercial and residential buildings account for about 13% of heat-trapping emissions, mainly from the use of gas appliances.
Harvard School of Public Health
Boston, MA – The air quality within an office can have significant impacts on employees’ cognitive function, including response times and ability to focus, and it may also affect their productivity, according to new research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The one-year study, which included participants in offices across six countries working in a variety of fields, including engineering, real estate investment, architecture, and technology, found that increased concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and lower ventilation rates (measured using carbon dioxide (CO2) levels as a proxy) were associated with slower response times and reduced accuracy on a series of cognitive tests. The researchers noted that they observed impaired cognitive function at concentrations of PM2.5 and CO2 that are common within indoor environments.
Montana Standard David McCumber
Washington, DC – For the first time, an asbestos-ban bill in Congress may have the sponsorship of a Republican senator — Montana’s Steve Daines — signaling improved chances of passage. Even though asbestos has been a known human carcinogen for more than a century, it is legal in the United States to import, manufacture, and market products containing the deadly fibers. The issue is of particular concern in Montana because of widespread contamination and hundreds of deaths in and near Libby from a vermiculite mine, the ore of which was contaminated with a particularly dangerous form of asbestos. Click here for the full article.
Bloomberg Law by Jennifer Hajazi
National – The air you breathe outside is more heavily regulated than the air you breathe in your home, and air quality advocates want more protection for indoor air quality issues—especially as climate change impacts like fires and heat force people to seek shelter indoors. Harmful indoor air quality has been listed as one of the top five environmental risks to public health, according to Environmental Protection Agency comparative risk studies. Yet there’s no comprehensive regulation that addresses those harms outside of a patchwork of protections and standards of care.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) National
GAO found that the Housing Choice Voucher program had 1.1 million voucher holders living in units built before 1978, the year the U.S. banned lead paint in housing. Of these units, roughly 171,000 were occupied by approximately 229,000 young children (under age 6)––putting these children at an increased risk of lead exposure. The voucher program requires visual assessments for identifying deteriorated paint, with no testing of paint or dust. Any change to stricter evaluation methods would need to consider that certain states have a larger portion of pre-1978 voucher units occupied by families with young children.
KXAN by David Barer and Avery Travis Austin, TX
Firefighters raced to the scene of a north Austin city-owned warehouse fire on the afternoon of May 6, arriving within five minutes of the first call. But it wasn’t until a third alarm unit arrived a little over an hour later that crews were told the smoke swirling around the warehouse could be laced with asbestos, according to internal city documents that reveal new details of the incident that potentially exposed 115 firefighters and civilians to the cancer-causing building materal.