In April 2008, EPA promulgated regulations governing renovations in target housing (i.e., any housing constructed prior to 1978) and child-occupied facilities. The rule was designed to ensure that owners and occupants of target housing and child-occupied facilities receive information on lead-based paint hazards prior to the commencement of renovations and to ensure that firms performing such work are certified and safe work practices followed. (A copy of the final rule is available here.)
Pre-renovation notice requirements had been in effect since 1999; the April 2008 regulation simply specified a new pamphlet to be distributed to owners and occupants as of December 22, 2008. (A copy of that pamphlet is available here.)
However, the new regulations also require that, as of April 22, 2010, all renovations in target housing or child-occupied facilities be conducted by certified renovators and in accordance with specified lead-safe work practices. This represents a sea change in addressing lead paint issues in pre-1978 housing and child-occupied facilities. The term “renovations” is broadly defined in the regulations to include any “modification of any existing structure, or portion thereof, that results in the disturbance of painted surfaces” and includes such activities as modification of painted doors, window repair, and weatherization projects.
Significantly, and unlike the abatement requirements of New York City’s lead paint law, the EPA regulations go beyond rental housing and apply to work performed in co-ops and condominiums. Owners of rental properties performing renovation work themselves will need to be certified and ensure that the lead-safe work practices are followed. Where outside contractors are used, it will be prudent to ensure that the contracts require EPA certification. For co-ops and condominiums, it also would be prudent for the corporation or homeowners’ association to take steps to ensure that all work performed within the building complies with these new rules. Thus, alteration agreements for owner renovations may need to be changed and other steps taken to ensure that the EPA disclosure and renovation rules are followed by contractors working in the building.
For more information and assistance in ensuring that you are ready for these new regulations, contact Steven Russo or David Yudelson.
The promulgation of a proposed rule regulating coal ash has been delayed amid numerous meetings between industry representatives, environmental groups and federal agencies. On October 16, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) sent its proposed coal ash rule to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”). EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson had promised that a proposed coal ash rule would be published by the end of 2009. The rule may regulate coal ash as a “hazardous waste” under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”). However, the “noteworthy” number of meetings between industry groups, environmental groups and OMB, and the over 2,300 pages of documents OMB must review, have delayed the release of a proposed rule.
Industry representatives believe that regulating coal ash under RCRA would negatively impact companies who produce the ash as well as companies who beneficially reuse it (e.g., as structural fill or agricultural uses). Tom Addams, executive director of the American Coal Ash Association, a utility industry group, stated “[a] hazardous determination would make builders reluctant to use coal ash not because of what it may contain, but because of tort activity. If litigation was filed on a national basis, it would be mind-boggling to see what the defense costs were.” Industry representatives also believe that the toxic materials in coal ash are not in high enough concentrations for the ash to be regulated as “hazardous.”
Environmental groups want coal ash to be regulated as a “hazardous waste” because it contains mercury, lead, and other potentially toxic constituents. Representatives of these groups are concerned that industry may influence the outcome of the proposed rule.
The coal ash proposal could be published in the coming weeks.
More information about the meetings between industry, environmental groups and OMB is available at the OMB website.
This past April, EPA proposed regulations that would mandate reporting on emissions of greenhouse gas (“GHGs”) for thousands of facilities and source categories. (74 FR 16488 (April 10, 2009)). The comment period on the proposed rule has closed, and it is anticipated that EPA will issue its final rule in the coming months. If the rule is adopted as proposed, covered facilities will be required to measure GHG emissions starting on January 1, 2010 – and report emissions for calendar year 2010 on March 31, 2011.
The rule’s reporting requirement would apply to:
- Facilities in specified source categories, including:
- Electricity generating facilities that are subject to the Acid Rain Program or that contain generating units that collectively emit 25,000 metric tons or more of GHGs per year;
- Aluminum production facilities;
- Cement production facilities;
- Electronics manufacturing facilities that exceed certain annual production capacities;
- Petroleum refineries;
- Petrochemical facilities; and
- Certain municipal landfills.
- Facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of GHGs per year in combined emissions from stationary fuel combustion units, miscellaneous use of carbonates and certain specified source categories, including:
- Electricity generation;
- Food processing;
- Pulp and paper manufacturing.
- Facilities that do not contain a source in any designated source category, but include stationary fuel combustion units with an aggregate maximum rated heat input capacity of 30 mmBtu/hr or greater, and that emits 25,000 metric tons or more of GHGs per year from all such units;
- Suppliers of certain fuels and gases; and
- Manufacturers of mobile sources and engines (which would be required to report emissions from those vehicles and engines).
If a facility falls within any of these categories, emissions information will have to be collected as of January 1, 2010. Please contact us if you would like assistance in determining whether your facility would be subject to the reporting requirements and, if so, for help in preparing for compliance.
Additional information on the proposed rule can be found at EPA’s website.
