Industry News

EPA to Reexamine Health Standards to Harmful Soot That Previous Administration Left Unchanged

EPA Washington, DC

EPA announced that it will reconsider the previous administration’s decision to retain the particulate matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which were last strengthened in 2012. EPA is reconsidering the December 2020 decision because available scientific evidence and technical information indicate that the current standards may not be adequate to protect public health and welfare, as required by the Clean Air Act. “The most vulnerable among us are most at risk from exposure to particulate matter, and that’s why it’s so important we take a hard look at these standards that haven’t been updated in nine years,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “EPA is committed to ensuring this review, and other upcoming NAAQS reviews, reflect the latest science and public health data.” 

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June is National Safety Month

NSC National ..

The National Safety Council is celebrating the 25th anniversary of National Safety Month, an annual observance to help keep each other safe from the workplace to anyplace. With the U.S. seeing the highest number of workplace deaths since 2007 – 5,333 fatal workplace injuries in 2019 – this observance is more important than ever. Weekly topics will include accident prevention, Covid issues, psychological safety on the job, and continued safety improvement processes. 

For the full information on National Safety Month, click here.

Lead Paint in Housing: Key Considerations for Adopting Stricter Lead Evaluation Methods in Hud’s Voucher Program

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. 

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EPA Agrees to Collect and Disclose Data On Products Containing Asbestos

Asbestos.com by Tim Povtak Washington, DC

Under pressure from a multistate coalition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to tighten its data collection process for asbestos, moving the country another step closer to banning the toxic substance. The agreement comes six months after a U.S. District Court judge in California ruled the EPA must improve its ineffective data collection on asbestos imports, and two years after attorneys general in multiple states challenged in court the EPA’s lack of more restrictive asbestos regulations. 

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Consultations On Risk Management Rulemaking for Asbestos, Part 1: Chrysotile Asbestos and PV29

Washington, DC

EPA  invites environmental justice communities and stakeholders to participate in environmental justice consultations regarding the development of risk management actions under section 6(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for Asbestos, Part 1: Chrysotile Asbestos and PV29. The environmental justice consultation period will extend from today through August 13, 2021. The agency will hold two identical consultation webinars, one on June 1, 2021, and the other on June 9, 2021. EPA is offering these repeated sessions to increase opportunities for participation. Both sessions will provide an overview of the TSCA risk management requirements, the findings from the final risk evaluations, the tools available to manage the unreasonable risks from Asbestos, Part 1: Chrysotile Asbestos and PV29, and an opportunity for input on environmental justice concerns. These consultations are open to the public, and EPA is inviting national, local, and non-governmental organizations, communities, and other interested stakeholders to participate. 

Find registration information for the environmental justice consultations and more information on EPA’s risk management outreach at https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-management-existing-chemicals-under-tsca 

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On Top of Mold and Poor Disinfection Issues, Employees at Plant That Ruined Millions of J&J Covid Vaccine Failed to Shower, Change Clothes

NBC by Berkeley Lovelace, Jr. Baltimore, MD

Some employees at the Emergent BioSolutions plant in Baltimore failed to shower or change clothes, which is required when working in the factory and it likely played a role in ruining millions of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 doses, according to a memo released Wednesday by a key House committee. Inspections of the Bayview facility conducted last year also flagged problems with mold, poor disinfection of plant equipment, and inadequate training of employees, staff for the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis said in the memo. The committee is holding a hearing Wednesday examining the biopharmaceutical company’s role in ruining the J&J shots. 

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EPA Ordered to Update Lead Paint Standards by Ninth Circuit

Courthouse News by Carson McCullough

National – EPA’s current standards regarding the dangers of exposure to deteriorating lead paint are flimsy to stand and require some serious reworking, the Ninth Circuit ruled Friday. The ruling follows a lengthy legal battle between the EPA and a number of environmental advocacy groups over the current hazard standards linked to lead exposure from paint. For decades, lead paint was used in homes, schools and other public works across the country. Lead-based paint was ultimately banned in the 1970s when it became clear how toxic the paint chips and peelings are for children, though millions of older structures containing lead paint still stand today. 

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Legionella Concern as Offices Reopen

Downtown Magazine  by Stacy Gittleman

National – Across the nation, schools, businesses, and office spaces are embroiled in what is known as “hygiene theater” to assure the public that indoor spaces are safe to return to work, learn, shop, exercise, and dine in once the pandemic ebbs. Back at the office, workspace experts are trying their best to implement guidelines from the CDC, repartitioning and reconfiguring layouts to maximize physical distancing of desks, installing plexiglass barriers, and posting one-way foot traffic signs around workstations. Some schools and businesses have deployed high-tech devices for temperature checks as the world figures out how to get back to a new, post-pandemic normal. But prolonged inactivity in all the buildings we normally occupy in day-to-day life has heightened the presence of another underlying hazard lurking in our man-made water systems that not even the CDC’s offices could evade: the presence of Legionella. 

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EPA Would Restore Asbestos Reporting Rules Under Planned Settlement

Department of Justice by Cameron Ayers

National – The EPA is on the cusp of a settlement with anti-asbestos activists, one that eventually would require asbestos importers to once again report exposure and use data. During a virtual court hearing April 15, a Justice Department representative announced that the EPA has reached an agreement in principle to settle with the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and other entities that sued the agency over its regulation of asbestos. Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), companies that produce or import toxic chemicals must disclose exposure and use data to the agency as specified by the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule. Asbestos was one such chemical until the agency exempted it from the requirements in 2017. 

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Revision to ASTM Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process

JD Supra

Washington, DC – The current (E1527-13) version of the ASTM Phase I standard, used by EPA and the states to determine whether sufficient environmental due diligence has been conducted for a purchaser to utilize CERCLA defenses, is scheduled to be updated this year. While the revised standard has not been finalized, several possible changes of potential significance have been proposed. 
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