We’ve seen a lot of significant environmental regulatory activity in February, including the revised publication of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and a . We put together an on the EPA proposal.
Also, we noticed a greater focus on surface water this month, such as a revived interest in , raw sewage and contaminated stormwater issues.
With that said, I found these articles selected from BC’s BLR source the most impactful to our clients this month:
Tier II Reports: EPCRA’s Hazardous Chemical Inventory (Infographic)
BLR has a simplified breakdown of everything you want to know about the March 1 deadline to successfully complete your facility’s hazardous chemical inventory report. If you have further questions, we also provided additional guidance from the USEPA on report submissions by state requirements and common errors for mixtures, lead-acid battery guidance, and waste products (state-specific).
National Compliance Incentives proposed for 2020–2023
This new program, formerly the National Enforcement Initiatives, has put more weight on compliance assistance and less on enforcement as the first step for the USEPA. Eight NCIs have been proposed, including returning focus on keeping raw sewage and contaminated stormwater out of surface waters.
Get ready to pay more for noncompliance penalties
At the beginning of the month, the USEPA announced a 1 percent increase in maximum civil penalties that the federal agency may impose for environmental violations. The EPA’s intent was to increase maximums in response to inflation in order to maintain the penalties’ impact and promote compliance.
