Day: August 9, 2019

EPA Proposes New Method for Determining Applicability of New Source Review Under the Federal Clean Air Act

Read the full post at JD Supra.

Determining the applicability of the federal Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (“NSR”) program to new projects can be a difficult analysis.  Under EPA’s current rules, NSR applicability depends upon a two-step process. First, a calculation must be made to determine if the proposed project will cause a “significant emission increase” of a pollutant. If so, the second step requires that the facility determine if there is a “significant net emissions increase.”  If both calculations result in a determination that the emission increases are “significant” (as set forth in EPA’s rules), the proposed project is subject to NSR review. NSR applicability generally results in a longer permitting process and can require more stringent emission controls (as is the case for projects constructed in non-attainment areas). 

Solvent-Contaminated Wipes Exclusion/RCRA Guidance: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Addresses Application of Recycling Provisions

Read the full story from JD Supra.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a June 11th interpretive letter addressing the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) solvent-contaminated wipes exclusions (“Exclusions”)found at 40 C.F.R. 261.4(a)(26) and 40 C.F.R. 261.4(b)(18).

EPA addressed whether the Exclusions preclude a RCRA generator from using other RCRA recycling provisions such as:

  • Generator-controlled exclusion at 40 C.F.R. 261.4(a)(23)
  • Recyclable material requirements at 40 C.F.R. 261.6

Climate Change and Land

Download the document.

An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems

Why “Zero Waste” in Pasadena Is Increasingly Harder to Achieve

Read the full story at Pasadena News Now.

Pasadena is committed to achieving the goal of Zero Waste to area landfills by 2040. Reality, however, seems to be burying the goal — in spite of more green regulations and Internet-fueled drop in newspapers and printed matter — under massive mounds of Amazon boxes and dine-at-home cartons as lifestyles evolve.

Pasadena’s opportunity to achieve Zero Waste may be slipping away.

A tick detective wants to understand what drives tick abundance

Read the full story in The Conversation.

David Allen is an assistant professor in biology at Middlebury College who studies the ecology of ticks and tick-borne pathogens.

Unpicking microplastics

Read the full story at The Naked Scientists.

Recently the issue of microplastics has been in the news – they’re tiny bits of plastic from a few millimeters in diameter to even nanometers, that can be washed away from everyday objects including cosmetics and clothes, or can be from larger pieces of plastic breaking down over time. Because they’re so small, they aren’t easily filtered out by our current sewage systems, meaning they can end up in the sea, and can cause issues in the marine world. Now, scientists from the University of Adelaide in Australia have announced a new catalyst that they hope can speed up the breakdown of microplastics, in an environmentally friendly way. Ankita Anirban spoke to Ljiljana Fruk from the chemical engineering department at Cambridge, who wasn’t involved in the study, and took a look at this paper for us.

The bowls at Chipotle and Sweetgreen are supposed to be compostable. They contain cancer-linked “forever chemicals.”

Read the full story from The New Food Economy.

Testing by The New Food Economy reveals an industry secret: All fiber bowls contain PFAS, a troubling class of chemicals with no known half-life, even when they’re certified compostable. It gets worse from there.

Trust and Mistrust in Americans’ Views of Scientific Experts

Read the full story from the Pew Research Center.

More Americans have confidence in scientists, but there are political divides over the role of scientific experts in policy issues

Three Things You Can Do: Swap, Share and Donate

Read the full story in the New York Times’ ClimateFwd newsletter. If you’re looking for places to donate in Champaign-Urbana, check out ENB’s donation guide.

Have you ever seen lightly used household items — things like lamps, books, toys, furniture and clothes — piled up on the curbside and wondered if somebody wouldn’t want that stuff?

The answer is probably yes, and it might be easier than you think to connect your unwanted things with new owners.

Smokey Bear is 75: Look back at his legacy—and see his new life as an emoji

Read the full story at Fast Company.

The iconic public service announcement character has been stopping wildfires for three-quarters of a century. As he gets a modern makeover, see a selection from his best moments of the last 75 years.