Back in 2007, U.S. EPA was sued by some States and environmental groups who challenged the legitimacy of the ozone standard -75 parts per billion (ppb)- selected by the Bush Administration. In 2009, the Obama Administration announced that it was reconsidering the 75 ppb standard.
U.S. EPA is likely to revise the standard to somewhere between 60 ppb
Its nice to receive recognition every now and again. Since starting my blog almost three years ago I have met a number of interesting business contacts, clients, reporters and people just interested in the topics I cover. That has been the most rewarding part of the process.
However, its still nice to be recognized as
The Ohio House has introduced a bill that would provide a tax incentive to clean up contaminated properties. House Bill 10, if enacted, would provide an exemption from penalties as well as a tax credit to encourage companies to voluntarily remediate property.
Similar to other existing tax incentives, the bill encourages companies to remediate property under Ohio’s Voluntary
The Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA) has long had a revolving loan fund to help finance brownfield clean up projects. However, the OWDA program has rarely been utilized because of two factors:
At this week’s Ohio Brownfield Conference, the State announced that they soon would be revamping the OWDA program to make it more attractive. The two major changes to be made are:
The biggest change is allowing responsible parties to be eligible for loans. Now companies have a new financing option if they want to address historical contamination on their property to eliminate liability risks. Companies can utilize the Ohio Voluntary Action Program (VAP) in performing their clean up.
Clean up under VAP is a far better option than clean up under traditional enforcement or regulatory programs like RCRA (hazardous waste regulatory program). VAP clean ups are:
The OWDA program may provided needed financing to companies wishing to take advantage of the VAP program.
We will need to see the details for the changes to the program once the State rolls them out. I was told that would occur in the next few weeks. However, these changes appear to make the OWDA Brownfield Loan Program much more attractive.
(See extended entry for the current program guidelines which will soon be changed)Continue Reading Ohio Revamps Brownfield Loan Program
Recently, the Toledo Blade had a story on the recent court ruling regarding the FDS Coke permit. The FDS permit has been the subject of numerous appeals which have dragged on years. The 10th Appellate Court recently issued a ruling sending the FDS permit back to the Environmental Review Appeals Commission for determination of whether construction had begun in order to maintain
As discussed in the Wall Street Journal, it didn’t take long before a flurry of bills were introduced in Congress to stop EPA from moving forward with its controversial greenhouse gas (GHGs) regulations. After passage of the deal to extend Bush era tax cuts, halting EPA efforts is seen as the next major action needed to continue the
Last week, Governor-Elect Kasich named the new Director’s for Ohio EPA (Scott Nally) and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (David Mustine). At the press briefing, Kasich reiterated his election theme of returning business growth to Ohio. This from the Columbus Dispatch:
"These departments are going to send a message to Ohio that we are open for
On December 17th, Ohio EPA re-issued a huge set of rules that impact industry, developers and the farming community. The surface water quality rule package includes interrelated sets of rules dealing with the following areas of regulation:
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected an industry request to delay implementation of U.S. EPA’s greenhouse gas permitting requirements. Industry had requested a stay on the effectiveness of the rules while it proceeds with its full legal challenge to the Agency’s Endangerment Finding.
(Prior Post Discussing Lawsuit and Industry Arguments for Blocking the Effectiveness
Boiler MACT Rules- On December 7th, EPA filed a motion with the Court requesting more time in order to re-propose the Boiler MACT rules and allow for public comment. In EPA’s motion to the Court, EPA sets forth following timetable if its motion is granted to move impending January deadline is moved to April: it will publish