News from NGE | Environmental & Engineering Solutions

The deadline to submit your annual Toxic Release Inventory (TRI or FORM R) reports to the EPA is just around the corner on July 1, 2021. Before preparing these reports, you should ensure you are familiar with changes to reporting requirements for RY 2020.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule included a new notification requirement that will take effect in 2021 for small quantity generators (SQG) of hazardous waste. Be sure that you understand this new SQG Notification Requirement and how these changed will affect your state. 

On September 1, 2021, the USEPA will require SQGs to submit a re-notification of their generator status.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the finalized amendments to the General Provisions that apply to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) under section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) in the Federal Registrar on October 1, 2020.

These amendments allow a source to reclassify to an “area source” (non-major) of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP)s at any time upon reducing its Potential to Emit (PTE) below 10 tons per year (tpy) of a single HAP or 25 tpy of all HAPs combined.

In 2019, the EPA added hazardous waste aerosol cans to the federal universal waste list, which allows generators to manage the cans with the less burdensome universal waste requirements. The final rule became effective on February 7, 2020, and applies to those who generate, transport, treat, recycle or dispose of hazardous waste aerosol cans.  Under the universal waste rule, generators and handlers can store cans for a year and manage all aerosols together provided they are punctured and drained of any free liquid. (Note that the collected liquid from draining the aerosol cans will likely be considered hazardous waste.)

Don’t miss federal and state environmental compliance deadlines in 2021. Our 90-day compliance overview will remind you of upcoming environmental deadlines in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and federally. Click on the corresponding link to learn more about these compliance deadlines that may apply to your facility. To look further into the future, you can download the 2021 NGE compliance calendar or add these dates directly to your personal calendar using the links below.  

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals that have been the subject of new regulations in recent years.  Beginning with the 2020 reporting year, 172 new PFAS chemicals have been added to the list of reportable chemicals under Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) program.  Facilities that manufacture, process, or use 100 pounds or more per year of any of the listed PFAS chemicals must include those chemicals in their annual TRI report due July 1, 2021.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its finalized reporting requirements and amendments to the 2020 Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR).  They have also announced that the submission period has been extended once again from November 30, 2020, until January 29, 2021.

TSCA CDR requires U.S. manufacturers and importers of certain chemicals to report information on these chemicals to the US EPA. In March of 2020 changes were finalized for the 2020 CDR submission requirements.

Comment period extended until May 31, 2020.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the proposed 2020 National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP).  The EPA is seeking public comment on the proposed changes until May 31, 2020. Upon approval, these changes would replace the 2015 MSGP for stormwater discharge related to industrial facilities in areas where the EPA is the NPDES permitting authority.

Several Per- and Polyfluroalkyl Substances (PFAS) were added to the Toxics Relief Inventory (TRI) list in Section 7321 of the National Defence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020. Below is the list of chemicals that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  has added, these chemicals have an effective date of January 1, 2020.

The deadline for filing your annual Toxic Release Inventory (TRI or Form R) report is rapidly approaching, and there are some changes for RY2019.

On June 7, 2018, EPA finalized a rule that adds a category of 13 specific nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) list of reportable chemicals. NPEs are nonionic surfactants used in adhesives, wetting agents, emulsifiers, stabilizers, dispersants, defoamers, cleaners, paints, and coatings.  The final rule is effective for the 2019 TRI reporting year with the 2020 submittal (July 1, 2020).