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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is announcing an extension to the comment period for the proposed rule on the definition of solid waste published in the Federal Register on July 22, 2011. EPA is proposing to revise certain exclusions from the definition of solid waste for hazardous secondary materials intended for reclamation that would otherwise be regulated under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The purpose of these proposed revisions is to ensure that the recycling regulations, as implemented, encourage reclamation in a way that does not result in increased risk to human health and the environment from discarded hazardous secondary material. The comment period is being extended to October 20, 2011.

Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2010-0742 by one of the following methods:

http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

E-mail: Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) to RCRA-docket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2010-0742.

Fax: Fax comments to: 202-566-9744, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2010-0742.

Information regarding these public meetings will also be posted at EPA’s Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/dsw/rulemaking.htm.

The Obama Administration just released a document that highlights the intent to clean up regulations throughout many of the departments and agencies.  I just read the EPA final plan.  See at http://www.whitehouse.gov/21stcenturygov/actions/21st-century-regulatory-system     If you go to this page, scroll down and on the right you will see EPA’s link for the final report after the various Departments are listed.

Featured plan:

The Environmental Protection Agency will soon propose a rule to reduce burdens on hazardous waste generators by moving from paper-based to electronic reporting, saving up to $126 million annually.
Read and Discuss on Slideshare | Download as PDF

On August 11, EPA issued an order directing E.I. DuPont de Nemours to halt the sale, use or distribution of DuPont’s Imprelis herbicide which was marketed to control weeds but reported to be harming trees such as Norway spruce and white pine.  This requirement ensures the safe production, handling, and application of the pesticide and prevents mislabeling.

For information on the order, go to www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/fifra/dupontimprelis.html

EPA’s investigation into Imprelis and damage to trees: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/regulating/imprelis.html

EPA has released a new action plan for researching chemicals used in spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation.  SPF insulation contains highly reactive chemicals that can cause skin, eye, and lung irritation, asthma, and chemical sensitization when absorbed through the skin or inhaled. When SPF is applied, both the ingredients and the byproducts of the process involve potentially toxic emissions that require protective measures for workers as well as any occupants.  Homeowners and others may unknowingly be exposed to risks from these chemicals.  The EPA chemical action plan is being developed under the Toxic Chemical Substances Act (TCSA).  EPA plans to look at reports of significant adverse health effects, consider a test rule requiring exposure monitoring studies, and consider additional chemical substances that may be present.  According to EPA, safe re-entry times put forward by manufacturers vary between 8 & 24 hours for one-component SPF and 23 & 72 hours for two-component SPF.  See http://epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/spf/when_is_it_safe_to_re-enter_after_spf_installation.html.

If you use SPF, follow current EPA recommendations for safety from the publication Quick Safety Tips for SPF Users (http://epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/spf/quick_safety_tips.html) and follow EPA’s Steps to Control Exposure (ttp://epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/spf/steps_to_control_exposure.html).

See http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/actionplans/mdi.html

and http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/spf/spray_polyurethane_foam.html.

EPA’s website that provides compliance assistance information and links to other resources for industrial or government sectors has been updated.  The revised site provides easy access to sector-based information such as Compliance Assistance Centers, sector notebooks, Small Business Administration business guides, EPA laws and regulations, and the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange (P2RX) topic hubs.

Direct links to assistance for sectors are on the right side of the main page.  Find the new pages at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/assistance/sectors/index.html.

The new Veterinary Compliance Assistance Center (VetCA) was launched July 15, 2011.  VetCA was developed with the assistance of the American Veterinary Medical Association and provides veterinarians with everything they need to know about meeting environmental regulatory obligations, all in one place.  VetCA includes tools, references, links, and best practices, designed to help you easily understand environmental regulations that apply to veterinary facilities.  VetCA covers hazardous material/waste, medical waste, carcass disposal, facility issues, and more.  Visit VetCA at http://www.vetca.org/.  Find all the Compliance Assistance Centers at http://www.assistancecenters.net.

American healthcare’s financial trajectory is unsustainable. According to CMS, the nation’s spending on healthcare increased from $2.34 trillion to $2.47 trillion from 2008 to 2009, and is predicted to increase another 80% by 2019. Every year we spend $16 billion on new healthcare facilities. If all of these facilities were high performance buildings, the healthcare system would literally save billions of dollars. All that is needed is for the systems to rethink the way their buildings are designed and constructed.  From a purely business perspective, it is the single number one way to cut spending as well as the easiest and most readily available.

Nearly 99 percent of all hospitals in the United States are not green.  Yet, they could, and frankly, should be. Because they are not, thousands of healthcare facilities have bad indoor air quality, use noxious building materials, over‐consume energy & water and are not ideal for you to visit. You are more likely to come into contact with toxic metals and chemicals in hospitals than any other building type. The medical profession has only recently started to view green building as a real option.

Green Design Doesn’t Have to Cost More

Honestly, why should anyone paying more when it’s not necessary? Energy is one of the largest expenses for healthcare facilities. They use double the amount of energy per square foot than office buildings. The healthcare industry spends $6.5 billion on energy each year which in turn is passed along to the consumer.  Through sustainable design, energy reductions of 12 to 20 percent are achievable.  As the green product market matures, greater energy savings will be possible for a minimal capital investment.  Moreover, if the entire industry redesigned their buildings to save 20 percent on energy that would translate to a billion dollars in savings each year. Not doing so is money down the drain. For UPMC‐East, we were able to cut their energy usage by nearly 16 percent meaning hundreds of thousands of dollars saved every year.

Read the complete article at TreeHugger

Practice Greenhealth has announced the formation of the Greening the Supply Chain™ Initiative. The Initiative extends Practice Greenhealth’s leadership role in supporting hospitals by engaging businesses in meeting the emerging demand for more environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) practices for products within health care facilities, GPOs and in the business marketplace. These businesses are coming together with those in the health care sector to address all those elements that are essential to producing environmentally preferable products and processes.

The comprehensive Greening the Supply Chain™ Initiative is being launched in order to provide a common set of tools for purchasers, suppliers and manufacturers to ensure that environmentally preferable products are indeed available, cost competitive, of comparable quality, and generate a sector wide market shift in the direction of sound EPP practices.

The Greening the Supply Chain™ Initiative encompasses:

• Practice Greenhealth’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Supporter Program, a collaborative effort between GPOs and Practice Greenhealth to bring greater environmental consciousness to the purchasing process;
• Development of Standardized Environmental Disclosure Questions for Medical Products, based on the Kaiser Permanente Sustainability Scorecard, to create an industry standard for evaluating the sustainability of medical products;
• Establishment of the EPP Business Leadership Coalition, designed to provide broader, shared involvement on the part of hospitals, GPOs and businesses;
• Practice Greenhealth’s EPP Partnership Program, a collaborative relationship between Practice Greenhealth and hospitals that mirrors the work of the Supporter Program;
• Expansion of education and training opportunities for those involved in the EPP process.

Each element of the Practice Greenhealth Greening the Supply Chain™ Initiative brings with it a wealth of resources and materials designed to educate, inform and generally assist those entities involved in greening the supply chain in the health care sector.

Practice Greenhealth suggests that the proposed Greening the Supply Chain™ Initiative will provide additional leverage in the manufacture and production of environmentally preferable products through the development of relationships that go beyond the health care supply chain and include a thorough analysis of the supply chains of vendors.

“Health care systems are now leading the way in making environmental sustainability issues key criteria for purchasing decisions, alongside clinical outcome, quality and cost,” said David Hearn, Kaiser Permanente’s vice president for IT and Facilities Procurement. “Kaiser Permanente has made significant progress toward reducing waste, removing harmful chemicals from operations and conserving energy. We look forward to working with Practice Greenhealth and the larger health care community to collaboratively green the supply chain in meaningful ways.”

“Many products used in health care environments have environmentally preferable alternatives that may reduce health impacts to patients and staff, eliminate hazardous waste disposal, save energy and water, or reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from a facility,” said Anna Gilmore Hall, Executive Director of Practice Greenhealth. “Greening the supply chain is an essential element for any health care facility embarking on a journey toward sustainable health care. Purchasing products and services with a reduced impact on human health and the environment takes into account one or more environmental attributes in products and services and applies them in the supply chain process.”

To learn more about the Greening the Supply Chain™ initiative visit: www.practicegreenhealth.org/gsc