News and Analysis
Ohio EPA Recognizes OMA Members for Sustainability Efforts
October 6, 2017At Ohio EPA’s first sustainability conference this week OMA members were among companies recognized for their sustainability efforts.
Bendix and Kenworth earned Silver Level Encouraging Environmental Excellence Awards, while Crown Equipment, General Motors and Honda were awarded Gold Level Encouraging Environmental Excellence Awards.
Click here to learn more about Ohio EPA’s Encouraging Environmental Excellence (E3) Program and how to apply. 10/5/2017
OMA Submits Additional Comments to Ohio EPA on Air Pollution Equipment
October 6, 2017OMA submitted two additional sets of comments to Ohio EPA in response to its updated draft rules for startup, shutdown or malfunction and scheduled maintenance rules as they pertain to air pollution control equipment.
The first set of comments was submitted in conjunction with other business allies and outlined four specific areas of needed change. The second set of comments was submitted by OMA alone and focused on maintenance days for specific equipment used in certain manufacturing industries. 10/5/2017
OMA Files Concerns with Ohio Lake Erie Commission re. Draft Action Plan
September 29, 2017This week the OMA filed comments with the Ohio Lake Erie Commission on its Draft Domestic Action Plan 2018; portions of the plan could be detrimental to manufacturers.
OMA outlined its concern regarding the draft plan’s call for a legislative mandate of a 1.0 mg/L monthly average phosphorus limit for all treatment works in Ohio. OMA wrote: “… this radical and unjustifiable shift in NPDES permitting in Ohio is completely unfounded, arbitrary, contrary to current statutory programs in Ohio, and not scientifically defensible. It would impose unnecessary and extensive costs on regulated parties without measurable decrease in Lake Erie phosphorus loads. … For the Action Plan to meet due process and other legal requirements and to align with the Action Plan’s broader adaptive management protocols, the legislative mandate must be removed from the draft Action Plan.”
The OMA environment committee will learn more about this plan – among other issues – when it meets on October 26 in Cleveland at our host member, ArcelorMittal. Register now. 9/28/2017
Universal Waste Webinar – a Few Seats Left
September 22, 2017Ohio EPA has a few spots left for its Universal Waste webinar on September 27. You can register here.
This webinar will provide an overview of the recently updated rules that govern the management and disposal of universal wastes.
The webinar will be helpful to small and large quantity handlers of universal wastes as well as to transporters and permitted hazardous waste facilities. 9/20/2017
Opportunity to Comment on Startup, Shutdown, Malfunction Amendments
September 22, 2017On October 25, 2016, Ohio EPA released draft amended rules for public comment related to changes to Ohio’s startup, shutdown or malfunction and scheduled maintenance rules as they pertain to air pollution control equipment.
The amendments were being made in response to a U.S. EPA call for modifications to the rules on June 12, 2015 in 80 FR 33840.
The OMA submitted two sets of comments (here and here) in response to the interested party rules package.
Ohio EPA is providing the OMA with an additional opportunity to review the changes based on the comments received. Several new amendments were drafted responding to the comments, along with a new amended business impact analysis and a response to comments document for the amended draft rules.
Please let OMA’s Rob Brundrett know if you would like to file additional comments after reviewing the latest changes. The deadline for filing new comments is October 4, 2017. All comments should be sent electronically to EPA’s Paul Braun. 9/20/2017
Universal Waste Rule Changes Spearheaded by OMA Move to JCARR
September 15, 2017This week Ohio EPA filed with Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) the long awaited universal waste rules governing paint and paint-related wastes among other hazardous wastes.
A public comment period will run until October 17, 2017. A public hearing on this proposed rulemaking will be held in accordance with the Ohio Revised Code. The hearing will be held at Ohio EPA, 50 West Town Street, Columbus, Ohio in Conference Room A, on October 17, 2017 at 10:30 a.m.
The proposed rules, public notice, and the response to comment documents are available for download on the DERR website on the hazardous waste rules Proposed Rules tab. If you need more information, please contact EPA’s Karen Hale.
A big thank you to all the OMA members who participated in the work group to make these beneficial changes possible. 9/14/2017
OMA Asks U.S. EPA to Reconsider 2015 Ozone Standards
September 8, 2017This week the OMA along with other business allies across the country sent a letter to U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt asking the agency to reconsider its 2015 ozone standard.
In the letter the groups state: “Despite over three decades of cleaner air and before states can catch up with EPA’s delays in implementing existing (2008) ozone standards, EPA finalized tighter standards of 70 parts per billion that could bring additional areas of the country into nonattainment.”
Ohio, which has made major strides in air quality over the last 30 years, is vulnerable in some regions of the state falling into nonattainment. Without offsetting reductions in nonattainment areas new manufacturing investment is not permitted.
With the improvements made over the past decades it is important to leave the 2008 ozone standards in place and allow Ohio and other states to work to lower levels in a more reasonable time frame. 9/7/2017
Ohio Looks to Create Phosphorous Discharge Limit for Permitted Facilities
September 8, 2017The Ohio Lake Erie Commission and the State of Ohio have released a draft Ohio Domestic Action Plan to reduce phosphorus entering Lake Erie under the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement with a goal of reducing phosphorus loading to Lake Erie by 40% by 2025. The draft Ohio plan is a continuation of the Western Basin of Lake Erie Collaboration Implementation Framework finalized by the State of Ohio in early 2017.
The Ohio Lake Erie Commission will coordinate finalizing the Ohio Domestic Action Plan with Ohio EPA, Ohio Department of Agriculture, Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which each share responsibility for implementing the plan. Each agency will be accountable for implementing their respective areas of authority included in the state plan to meet the overall 40% reduction.
Included in the plan is a proposal to create an annual discharge limit of 1 mg/l of total phosphorous for every permitted facility. This could prove problematic for manufacturers.
Public comments can be emailed to the commission and are being accepted until the close of business on Sept. 25. The commission will host two public meetings on Sept. 12 and 13, 2017, to provide information about the draft plan. Both meetings will be held from 7-9 p.m. The Sept. 12 meeting will be at Lake Erie Center, 6200 Bay Shore Rd, Oregon. The Sept. 13 meeting will be at Painesville Township Hall, 55 Nye Rd., Painesville. 9/7/2017
Ohio EPA Announces TMDL Rule Early Stakeholder Outreach
August 25, 2017Ohio EPA announced that comments regarding the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program Rule OAC 3745-2-12 ESO are due September 12, 2017.
According to Ohio EPA: “Dischargers covered under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit are indirectly impacted through the setting of permit effluent limitations based upon the wasteload allocations established in the TMDL. The rule amendments will provide for formalized stakeholder notification and comment opportunities and participation in the TMDL development process which should lead to a better TMDL product and improved water quality.”
These rules are being considered due to changes made in House Bill 49, the state operating budget. 8/23/2017
Ohio EPA Announces Early Stakeholder Outreach – Hazardous Waste Management Program
August 25, 2017Ohio EPA announced that early stakeholder outreach (ESO) comments for the Hazardous Waste Management Program are due September 26, 2017.
The rule changes under consideration are federally-driven updates. Ohio’s hazardous waste rules must match their federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) counterpart regulations in 40 CFR Parts 260 to 279.
A number of Ohio rules need to be rescinded, added or amended to address changes to, or the creation of, their federal RCRA counterpart provisions, as published in the Federal Register. 8/23/2017