EPA Brownfields Grant To ND Tribe

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa will receive a $200,000 Brownfields grant to clean up an abandoned Tribal Administration Building on Highway 5 West near Belcourt, North Dakota. The award is part of $69.3 million in EPA Brownfields grants provided to 245 communities across the nation to clean and redevelop contaminated properties, protect public health and create jobs.

The 30,000 square-foot administration building was constructed in 1989 and was recently abandoned because of repeated flooding. The building is contaminated with mold, unknown chemicals and electronic waste products. EPA’s grant will facilitate the cleanup and renovation of the building to provide the tribe with usable office space.

The 245 grantees include tribes and communities in 39 states across the country, funded by EPA’s Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grants, and Revolving Loan Fund Supplemental grants. The grants awarded will assess and clean up abandoned industrial and commercial properties. According to EPA, nearly half of the grantees this year are new awardees who demonstrate a high level of commitment for undertaking specific projects and leveraging the funding to move those projects forward.

Approximately 29 % of the grants are being awarded to non-urban areas with populations of 100,000 or less, 16 % are being awarded to “micro” communities with populations of 10,000 or less, and the remaining grants are being awarded to urban areas with populations exceeding 100,000.

Caltha LLP provides expert environmental consultant services in North Dakota to obtain environmental permits, evaluate regulatory requirements, and to develop cost effective compliance programs.
For further information contact Caltha LLP at info@calthacompany.com or Caltha LLP Website

EPA Brownfields Grant To Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will receive a $200,000 Brownfields grant to clean up the Smee School Teacher’s quarters located at 101 Main Street in the Wakapala community, North Dakota. The site is contaminated with heavy metals and inorganic materials. The award is part of $69.3 million in EPA Brownfields grants provided to 245 communities across the nation to clean and redevelop contaminated properties, protect public health and create jobs.

The 245 grantees include tribes and communities in 39 states across the country, funded by EPA’s Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grants, and Revolving Loan Fund Supplemental grants. The grants awarded will assess and clean up abandoned industrial and commercial properties. Nearly half of the grantees this year are new awardees who demonstrate a high level of commitment for undertaking specific projects and leveraging the funding to move those projects forward.

According to EPA, there are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in America. In 2011, EPA’s brownfields program leveraged 6,447 jobs and $2.14 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funds. Since its inception EPA’s brownfields investments have leveraged more than $18.3 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources and have resulted in approximately 75,500 jobs. More than 18,000 properties have been assessed, and over 700 properties have been cleaned up. Brownfields grants also target under-served and low income neighborhoods.

Caltha LLP provides expert environmental consultant services in North Dakota to obtain environmental permits, evaluate regulatory requirements, and to develop cost effective compliance programs.
For further information contact Caltha LLP at info@calthacompany.com or Caltha LLP Website

ECF Rule Withdrawn By US EPA

Due to difficulty of ensuring that emissions from burning ECF are comparable to emissions from burning fuel oil, EPA has now withdrawn the Emission Comparable Fuels (ECF) Rule, which had been finalized in December 2008. The ECF rule sought to reduce regulatory burdens by reclassifying fuels that would otherwise be regulated as hazardous waste, but generate emissions similar to fuel oil when burned.

The ECF rule was criticized for potentially allowing hazardous waste to evade the hazardous waste regulatory system, and for being difficult to administer. Industry members have also criticized it because of the detailed conditions for reclassification, which they believe will limited the rule’s use.

Caltha LLP provides expert environmental consultant services in North Dakota to obtain environmental permits, evaluate regulatory requirements, and to develop cost effective compliance programs.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at

info@calthacompany.com or Caltha LLP Website

Environmental Rule Updates - Environmental Compliance Topics

Caltha LLP maintains several websites to provide regulatory updates and discussion of current environmental, health and safety topics, as listed below. Interested parties can register to receive automatic notification when a new topic is posted.

SWPPP - Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans - Stormwater Permits - Stormwater Training
Discussions and comments on stormwater permitting programs in all States, including industrial, municipal (MS4) and construction sites. Topics include general stormwater permits, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans, monitoring, training, spill prevention and control, SPCC compliance.

Water Quality Standards - Aquatic Toxicology - NPDES Permit Limits
Discussion of a variety of topics related to State and Federal water quality standards, ambient water quality criteria, sediment criteria, NPDES & site-specific discharge standards, water quality management, aquatic toxicology, aquatic community impacts, and water quality assessment.

Environmental Sustainability - Sustainable Environmental Management Systems
Discussion of sustainability topics, including pollution prevention, waste reduction, material reuse, environmental management systems, product stewardship, and international environmental standards.

Environmental Due Diligence - Site Assessments - Phase I ESA - Environmental Liability
Discussions and comments regarding environmental due diligence, environmental liabilities, CERCLA liabilities, Phase I environmental site assessments, corporate liabilities, environmental compliance liabilities, quantitative environmental liability assessment.

Regulatory Briefings
Regulatory Briefings are published periodically by Caltha to highlight new or proposed regulations on a wide range of environmental, health & safety topics. These briefings are generally 2- to 4-pages in length and provide an overview of the regulations and discuss potential impacts on the regulated community. Participants must sign up to receive an email link to new Regulatory Briefings as they are posted.

Caltha LLP provides expert environmental consultant services in North Dakota to obtain environmental permits, evaluate regulatory requirements, and to develop cost effective compliance programs.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at
info@calthacompany.com
or
Caltha LLP Website

North Dakota EHS Consulting Services - Environmental Consultant

Caltha LLP provides expert technical consulting services to private and public sector clients across North Dakota. For further information, clink on links below:

North Dakota (NDDH) Air Permit Compliance – Air Emission Permitting Services
North Dakota (NDDH) Stormwater Permit Compliance – Storm Water Permitting Services
North Dakota (NDDH) Environmental Assessment– Phase I (Phase 1) ESA Services
North Dakota Environmental Audit – Environmental Compliance Services
North Dakota Environmental Training Services
North Dakota Haz Com – Hazard Communication Compliance Services

For further information contact Caltha LLP at
info@calthacompany.com
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Caltha LLP Website

North Dakota Environmental Consultant Services

Caltha LLP is an Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Consultant serving a broad range in public and private sector clients in North Dakota.

Caltha’s practice areas include:

• Air permitting
• Wastewater permitting
• Stormwater permitting
• Environmental review
• Waste management consulting
• ISO 14001 – Environmental management system consulting
• EH&S Training
• Site assessment & environmental due diligence
• Risk assessment
• Hazard communication
• Product stewardship support
• Temporary EHS staffing

For further information contact Caltha LLP at
info@calthacompany.com
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Caltha LLP Website

New EPA Waste Rule - Definition of Solid Waste

The US EPA "Definition of Solid Waste" rule goes into effect on December 29, 2008. The rule is a hazardous waste regulatory exclusion, intended to streamline the requirements for recycling certain materials, such as sludges, by-products and spent materials. EPA estimates that 1.5 million tons of hazardous secondary materials will be exempted from regulation as hazardous wastes each year under this rule. By removing unnecessary regulatory controls, EPA expects to make it easier and more cost-effective to safely recycle hazardous secondary material.

The rule provides conditional exemptions for:

• materials that are generated and legitimately reclaimed under the control of the generator;
• materials that are generated and transferred to another company for legitimate reclamation under specific conditions; and
• materials that EPA or an authorized state determines to be non-wastes through a case-by-case petition process.

This rule also includes a provision to help determine which recycling activities are legitimate under the new exclusions and non-waste determinations.

It is important to note that in some States, revisions to State Rules may be necessary before waste generators can take advantage of these changes. States can decide whether or not to fold the new Federal rules into State rules.

Caltha LLP provides technical support to waste generators on waste management regulations, waste minimization and pollution prevention.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at
info@calthacompany.com
or
Caltha LLP Website

RCRA Training Hazardous Waste Training in North Dakota

Caltha LLP offers a number of different training opportunities related to RCRA training and compliance with State and Federal hazardous waste rules. Training sessions are offered periodically in locations around North Dakota (Click here to request upcoming schedule), or are presented at an individual facility to meet employee training requirements.

Waste-related training offered includes:

RCRA Training (required for large quantity generators - LQGs)
RCRA Compliance Overview

For further information contact Caltha LLP at
info@calthacompany.com
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Caltha LLP Website