[Sqg-program] FW: Compliance Assistance News Briefs--May, 2014

Fri May 9 07:23:13 EDT 2014

All
Worth a read. Some good links especially the updated SPCC guidance and Compliance Assistance information.

Glen Perrigan
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Road, MS4560
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2400
W:850-245-8749
F:850-412-0528
glen.perrigan at dep.state.fl.us
www.dep.state.fl.us

From: Tunis, Catherine [mailto:Tunis.Catherine at epa.gov]
Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2014 5:22 PM
To: Compliance Assistance News Briefs
Subject: [assistance-news] Compliance Assistance News Briefs--May, 2014

Environmental Compliance Assistance News Briefs From EPA's Office of Compliance

Multimedia

1.  New Online Mapping Tool for Environmental Impact Statements

Air

2.  Webinar Soon!  EPA's Rule for Stationary Engines at Drinking Water and Wastewater Facilities
3.  EPA Updates Oil and Gas Standards for Storage Tanks

Pesticides

4.  New Pesticide Labels Will Better Protect Bees and Other Pollinators

Toxic Substances

5.  How to Electronically Submit PMNs and other TSCA requirements

Water

6.  Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) Guidance
7.  NPDES General Permit Web Inventory With Stormwater General Permits
8.  "How's My Waterway" App Now More User-Friendly
9.  Planning Resource to Help Communities Manage Stormwater and Wastewater with Green Infrastructure
10.  Green Infrastructure Training Online
11.  Save Energy at Water Facilities

Compliance Assistance Resources for You

How to Subscribe to the Compliance Assistance News Briefs

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Multimedia

1.  New Online Mapping Tool for Environmental Impact Statements

EPA launched an interactive web-based mapping tool that provides the public with access and information on Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) filed with EPA for major projects proposed on federal lands and other proposed federal actions. When visiting the website, users can click on any state for a list of EISs, including information about the potential environmental, social and economic impacts of these projects.  The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to consider the impacts of proposed actions, as well as any reasonable alternatives as part of their decision-making process. For proposed projects with potentially significant impacts, federal agencies prepare a detailed Environmental Impact Statement which is filed with EPA and made available for public review and comment. EPA is required to review and comment on Environmental Impact Statements prepared by other federal agencies.  You can find comment letters submitted by the EPA on Environmental Impact Statements within the last 60 days by clicking on a state in the map. The tool also provides information on projects with open comment periods, including how to submit comments.  The tool supports EPA's commitment to utilize advanced information technologies that help increase transparency of its enforcement and compliance programs. EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance has recently launched the "Next Generation Compliance" initiative, designed to modernize its approach and drive improved compliance to reduce pollution. Learn more about the effort by visiting: http://blog.epa.gov/epaconnect/2013/08/nextgen/.  To use EPA's EIS Mapper, visit http://eismapper.epa.gov/.<http://eismapper.epa.gov/>  For more about EPA's NEPA Program, visit: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/.

Air

2.  Webinar Soon!  EPA's Rule for Stationary Engines at Drinking Water and Wastewater Facilities

EPA Region 1 will host a free webinar on May 14 to help facilities nationally understand the key elements of EPA's air quality regulations for stationary Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) that affect drinking water and wastewater facilities.  These regulations for the first time establish federal requirements that cover common engine uses including emergency electric power generation, non-emergency electric power generation, and pumping water.  You will learn what you need to know about how to comply with these rules. Hear from agency experts and get your questions answered.
Title:    EPA's Rule for Stationary Engines at Drinking Water and Wastewater Facilities Webinar
Date:   Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Time:   1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EDT
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/455440074.  Space is limited.  After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

3.  EPA Updates Oil and Gas Standards for Storage Tanks

EPA issued updates to its April 2012 oil and natural gas standards for storage tanks, which allow responsible oil and natural gas production while ensuring air emissions are reduced as quickly as possible.  The updates will phase in emission control deadlines, starting with higher-emitting tanks first, and will provide the time needed to ramp up the production and installation of controls.  Storage tanks that emit 6 or more tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) a year must reduce emissions by 95 percent. This rule establishes two emission control deadlines:
-Tanks that come online after April 12, 2013 are likely to have higher emissions and must control VOC emissions within 60 days or by April 15, 2014, whichever is later; and
-Tanks that came online before April 12, 2013 are likely to have lower emissions and must control VOC emissions by April 15, 2015.
The updated standards also establish an alternative emissions limit that allow owners/operators to remove controls from tanks if they can demonstrate that the tanks emit less than 4 tons per year of VOC emissions without controls. In addition, the rule streamlines compliance and monitoring requirements for tanks that have already installed controls.  This final action does not affect the April 2012 standards for capturing natural gas from hydraulically fractured wells.  These updates respond to petitions for reconsideration of the 2012 New Source Performance Standards for Oil and Natural Gas Production.  See http://www.epa.gov/airquality/oilandgas/actions.html.

Pesticides

4.  New Pesticide Labels Will Better Protect Bees and Other Pollinators

In an ongoing effort to protect bees and other pollinators, EPA has developed new pesticide labels that prohibit use of some neonicotinoid pesticide products where bees are present.  The new labels will have a bee advisory box and icon with information on routes of exposure and spray drift precautions. Today's announcement affects products containing the neonicotinoids imidacloprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin and thiamethoxam.  EPA will work with pesticide manufacturers to change labels to meet the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) safety standard.  In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and EPA released a comprehensive scientific report on honey bee health, showing scientific consensus that there are a complex set of stressors associated with honey bee declines, including loss of habitat, parasites and disease, genetics, poor nutrition and pesticide exposure.  EPA continues to work with beekeepers, growers, pesticide applicators, pesticide and seed companies, and federal and state agencies to reduce pesticide drift dust and advance best management practices. EPA recently released new enforcement guidance to federal, state and tribal enforcement officials to enhance investigations of beekill incidents. Learn more on the EPA's label changes and pollinator protection efforts: http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/ecosystem/pollinator/index.html.  See the infographic on EPA's new bee advisory box at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/ecosystem/pollinator/bee-label-info-graphic.pdf.

Toxic Substances

5.  How to Electronically Submit PMNs and other TSCA requirements

EPA amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) section 5 to establish electronic reporting requirements for TSCA section 5 submissions to reduce the administrative costs and burdens for both industry and EPA.  Find the regulatory text at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2010-01-06/html/E9-31004.htm.  This requires:
-Use of e-PMN software to fill out TSCA section 5 Premanufacture Notice (PMN) forms beginning April 6, 2010;
-Phase-in over a two-year period the mandatory use of EPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX) to electronically submit PMNs and other documents under TSCA section 5.
Note: All new TSCA section 5 PMNs must be submitted electronically through CDX and must use e-PMN software. On December 4, 2013, EPA issued the second regulation (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OPPT-2011-0519-0021) requiring:
-Use of e-PMN software and CDX to submit all Notices of Commencement (NOCs) beginning (March 4, 2014); and
-Use of e-PMN software and CDX to submit support documents for TSCA section 5 notices originally submitted prior to April 6, 2010.
Find slides and audio file from several "how-to" webinars at the bottom of this page: http://epa.gov/oppt/newchems/epmn/epmn-index.htm.

Water

6.  Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) Guidance

This revised guidance is intended to improve understanding the SPCC requirements and the role of the EPA inspector when conducting SPCC inspections and/or determining compliance with the SPCC rule.  The complete SPCC Guidance for Regional Inspectors document can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/spcc/spcc_guidance.htm. This document provides guidance to EPA inspectors, to owners and operators of facilities that may be subject to the requirements of the SPCC rule (40 CFR Part 112) and to the general public on how EPA intends the SPCC rule to be implemented. The guidance is designed to facilitate nationally-consistent implementation and interpretation of the SPCC rule a request from stakeholders and inspectors alike.

7.  NPDES General Permit Web Inventory With Stormwater General Permits

Under the Clean Water Act Action Plan (October 15, 2009), EPA committed to creating a website that provides a national web-based inventory for all non-stormwater NPDES general permits issued by states and the Agency.  This has now been updated to include stormwater permits.  The web inventory includes 767 non-stormwater and stormwater general permits and is designed with a search tool to provide easily accessible information on master general permits, such as:  permit category, permit number, state, permit title, EPA Region, issuance and expiration dates, estimated number of facilities covered by each master general permit, and permitting authority.  Where a general permit is available on a state website, the web inventory provides a link so that the specific terms of the general permit can be easily viewed.. The non-stormwater portion has also been updated.  Find the inventory at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/permitissuance/genpermits.cfm.

8.  "How's My Waterway" App Now More User-Friendly

EPA released an enhanced version of "How's My Waterway," an app and website to help people find information on the condition of thousands of lakes, rivers and streams across the United States from their smart phone, tablet or desktop computer.  The app and website, found at http://www.epa.gov/mywaterway, uses GPS or zip code or city name to provide information about the quality of local water bodies. The new version of the site includes data on local drinking water sources, watersheds and efforts to protect waterways, as well as a map-oriented version of "How's My Waterway" designed for museum kiosks, displays and touch screens, available at: http://watersgeo.epa.gov/mywaterway/kiosk/.  The enhanced version includes new data and improvements based on user feedback to the original site.

9.  Planning Resource to Help Communities Manage Stormwater and Wastewater with Green Infrastructure

EPA has released "Greening CSO Plans: Planning and Modeling Green Infrastructure for Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control" to provide municipalities and sewer authorities with tools to help quantify green infrastructure contributions to a CSO control plan. Communities with combined sewers often view green infrastructure as an attractive way to reduce stormwater flows going into their sewer system, thus helping to reduce capital and operational costs at publicly owned treatment works. Greening CSO Plans will help communities make cost-effective decisions to maximize water quality benefits. This resource explains how to use modeling tools such as EPA's Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) to optimize different combinations of gray and green infrastructure to reduce both sewer overflow volume and number of overflow events.  See http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure/upload/Greening_CSO_Plans.PDF.  For more information on CSO plans and remedies, see http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure/gi_regulatory.cfm#csoplans.

10.  Green Infrastructure Training Online

Find information on upcoming webinars and listen to archived webinars at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure/gi_training.cfm.  Archived webinars include:
-Case Studies: Implementing Green Infrastructure under Enforcement Orders
-O&M and Green: Best Practices for Green Infrastructure Operations and Maintenance
-Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure ( a series of six two-hour webcasts)
-Updating Local Codes to Cultivate Green Infrastructure and Foster Sustainable Stormwater Management

11.  Save Energy at Water Facilities

EPA has issued Energy Efficiency in Water and Wastewater Facilities: A Guide to Developing and Implementing Greenhouse Gas Reduction Programs to provide comprehensive information for local government staff and policy makers on designing and implementing energy management programs for water and wastewater facilities, including their new, existing, and renovated buildings and their day-to-day operations.   Find the Guide at http://www.epa.gov/statelocalclimate/documents/pdf/wastewater-guide.pdf.

Compliance Assistance Resources for You

1. EPA's Compliance Assistance Homepage http://www.epa.gov/compliance/assistance
2. Sector Notebooks http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/publications/assistance/sectors/notebooks/index.html
3. Compliance Assistance Centers http://www.assistancecenters.net/
4. State Resource Locators http://www.envcap.org/statetools/index.cfm
5. Small Local Governments Compliance Assistance Policy http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/incentives/smallcommunity/smalllocalgovca.pdf
6. Small Business Compliance Assistance Policy http://www.epa.gov/compliance/incentives/smallbusiness/

For more compliance and enforcement news and information, visit http://www.epa.gov/compliance.

How to Subscribe to the Compliance Assistance News Briefs

Subscribe to EPA's Free Compliance Assistance News Briefs at https://lists.epa.gov/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=assistance-news. Please encourage your colleagues to subscribe.

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