Protection of health and the environment

Sustainability, hazard reduction, and protection of health and the environment remain great concerns for the process industries. Many of the raw materials used—especially those derived from oil, gas, and some plants and animals—have been and in some cases continue to be depleted at rates either large compared to known reserves or faster than replenishment. In addition, there is the desire for products, intermediates, solvents, catalysts, and other materials produced or selected for use in chemical manufacture to be as safe and nontoxic as possible during their use and to be recoverable or benignly degradable after their use. 

Developments to Date. It often has been stated that the basic policy objective of efforts to harmonize the U.S. and European laws is the achievement of consistent and effective protection of health and the environment. However, economic considerations — in particular, the avoidance (or minimization) of non-tariff trade barriers — constitute the principal force behind virtually all of these multilateral efforts. The trade in chemicals and chemical products constitutes a significant part of the overall trade between Western industrialized nations. Specifically, the U.S. enjoys a favorable balance in its chemicals trade, and this is particularly significant given the current recession. Thus, any unnecessary barriers to this trade may impose substantial burdens upon certain segments of the American chemical industry, and may constitute violations of the international General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). 

The new REACH system is setting high standards for the protection of health and the environment while aiming at safeguarding the competitiveness of enterprises and improving the potential for product innovation. This balance would be to the long-term benefit of chemicals manufacturers, importers, users, small and medium sized enterprises, consumers and for health and the environment. 

L. Kramer, Precaution, the Protection of Health and the Environment, and the Free Circulation of Goods Within the European Union, The Role of Precaution in Chemicals Policy, Eds., E. Freytag, T. Jackl, G. Loibl and M. Wittmann, Diplomatische Akademie, Vienna, Austria, 2001, p.47. 

The main objectives of RCRA ate to protect pubHc health and the environment and to conserve natural resources. The act requires EPA to develop and adininistet the following programs soHd waste disposal practices providing acceptable protection levels for pubHc health and the environment transportation, storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous wastes practices that eliminate or minimize hazards to human health and the environment the use of resource conservation and recovery whenever technically and economically feasible and federal, state, and local programs to achieve these objectives. 

The reasons for such strict regulation of air pollution are obvious protecting human health and the environment. Potential air pollutants are not only toxic in many cases, but they can travel over great distances, thereby impacting areas remote from the sources of emissions. There are two environments that are of concern, once chemicals are emitted to the surroundings ... 

Early in the Corrective Action process, a decision may be made concerning whether or not containment is necessary to protect human health and the environment (HHE). If the release or threatened release presents danger to HHE, immediate action must be taken to halt migration. Under these circumstances, actions termed "Interim Measures" may be required, and excavation or containment measures may be directed by the regulatory agency. However, the Owner/Operator will be responsible for their implementation. In the event that containment is not required as an interim measure, containment may still be needed as part of the overall Corrective Action to halt the pollution migration if wastes or contaminants are to be left on-site. 

The Clean Air Act is the comprehensive Federal law that regulates air en stationary, and mobile sources. This law authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and the environment. The goal of the Act was to set and achieve NAAQS in every state by 1975. This ng of maximum pollutant standards was coupled with directing the states to develop state... 

The OPP seeks to protect public health and the environment from the risks posed by pesticides and to promote safer means of pest control. 

Environmental catalysis has its potential in improving innovations in the field of catalysis and highlighting the new directions for research driven by market, social, and environmental needs. Therefore, it can be concluded that environmental catalysis plays a key role in demonstrating the role of catalysis as a driver of sustainability by improving the quality of life and protecting human health and the environment... 

One statute in particular, the CERCLA, or Superfund, is closely tied to RCRA both are designed to protect human health and the environment from the dangers of hazardous waste. While these programs are similar, they do have different regulatory focuses RCRA regulates how wastes should be managed to avoid potential threats to human health and the environment CERCLA focuses on actual releases, or substantial threats of a release in the environment of a... 

The TSDF standards also establish requirements to ensure that hazardous waste management units are closed in a manner that protects human health and the environment. The closure provisions require the facility to stop accepting waste remove all waste from management units and decontaminate all soils, structures, and equipment. Some units (i.e., land treatment units, landfills, and surface impoundments) serve as places for the final disposal of hazardous waste. These land disposal units must comply with additional postclosure requirements to ensure proper long-term unit maintenance. 

U.S. EPA may require owners and operators of hazardous waste combustion units to comply with additional performance standards by virtue of the omnibus authority. This authority allows U.S. EPA to incorporate additional terms and conditions into a facility s permit as necessary to protect human health and the environment. 

U.S. EPA s mission is to protect human health and the environment. In order to further this mission, Congress has enacted many environmental laws to address releases, or threats of releases, of hazardous constituents. An understanding of these laws is necessary to determine where RCRA fits into the national environmental protection program established by Congress and implemented by U.S. 

Short-term effectiveness. This is an examination of the effectiveness of alternatives in protecting human health and the environment during the construction and implementation of a remedy until response objectives have been met. 

Hazardous waste combustors (HWCs) also are regulated under the Clean Air Act (CAA).6 The CAA protects human health and the environment from the harmful effects of air pollution by requiring significant reductions in the emissions of the most dangerous air pollutants. These pollutants are known or suspected to cause serious health problems such as cancer or birth defects, and are referred to as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). 

The growing concerns about the public health and environmental impacts of pesticides have led many in the general public and the government to question whether all the benefits of pesticides, such as the perfect red apple, are worth the associated costs of environmental pollution, human illness and loss of life, bird kills, and the destruction of other beneficial natural organisms. Indeed, some agriculturists have been viewed as primarily concerned with promoting commercial interests rather than protecting public health and the environment. 

At the same time, however, there is emerging evidence that PMN requirements have significantly inhibited innovation in the chemical industry. Section 5 has inevitably had some impact on innovation, and EPA regulations that add to the basic statutory requirements are likely to impose burdens on the chemical industry that are unnecessary. That is why CMA recommends that the Agency, at a minimum, limit those regulations to the clear requirements of the statute. Requirements such as supplemental reporting of PMN information, mandatory consumer contacts, advance substantiation of confidentiality claims, and the "invalidation" of incomplete PMNs, will only serve to increase the costs of a process that already imposes substantial burdens. Since EPA can adequately protect human health and the environment without these requirements, they should be eliminated. 

The proposed strategy is discussed in earlier sections of this report and in NRC (1999). The strategy appears reasonable and is expected to protect public health and the environment. 

For many, familiarity with the TSCA generally stems from its specific reference to polychlorinated biphenyls, which raise a vivid, deadly characterization of the harm caused by them. But the TSCA is not a statute that deals with a single chemical or chemical mixture or product. In fact, under the TSCA, the EPA is authorized to institute testing programs for various chemical substances that may enter the enviromnent. Under the TSCA s broad authorization, data on the production and use of various chemical substances and mixtures may be obtained to protect public health and the environment from the effects of harmful chemicals. In actuality, the TSCA supplements the appropriate sections dealing with toxic substances in other federal stamtes, such as the Clean Water Act (Section 307) and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (Section 6). 

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), enacted in 1976, provides the principal authority to the EPA to regulate the handling and disposal of hazardous wastes. The many regulations now in place are directed at the intention to protect human health and the environment by law, and various direct and indirect measures of toxicity and possible human and environmental exposures guide... 

This convention aims to eliminate and phase out of the 12 most hazardous POPs (amongst which the below mentioned Annex C chemicals) with the goal of protecting human health and the environment from the impacts of POPs... 

Additional design, operating, and monitoring requirements may be necessary for facilities managing dioxin wastes in order to reduce the possibility of migration of these wastes to groundwater, surface water, or air so as to protect human health and the environment. 

The main objectives of the Chemicals Program are to assist OECD Member countries efforts to protect human health and the environment through improving chemical safety, to make chemical control policies more transparent and efficient and save resources for government and industry, and to prevent unnecessary distortions in the trade of chemicals and chemical products. 

Also, US-EPA has mechanisms in place to track the thousands of new chemicals that industry develops each year with either unknown or dangerous characteristics. US-EPA then can control these chemicals as necessary to protect human health and the environment. TSCA supplements... 

Consider the following RFP titles for EPA grants offered in 2006. What need is addressed in each title How does each need fit into the overarching mission of the EPA, which is to protect human health and the environment ... 

The mission of this Department is to protect human health and the environment by regulating pesticide sales and use, and by fostering reduced-risk pest management . 

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