United States environmental issues

During late 1994, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) published a public document (PD-1) relative to the use of triazine herbicides by American farmers. In doing so, they placed atrazine and simazine in Special Review. USEPA s PD-1 triggered a benefits study of unprecedented proportions on the following issues benefits of atrazine and simazine use economic and biological impact of the loss of these products feasibility and efficacy of alternatives environmental benefits associated with atrazine and simazine use best management practices and comparative performance of alternatives. 

In September, 1998 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a rale (known as the NOx SIP Call) that required 22 states and the District of Columbia to submit State Implementation Plans (SIP s). These SIP s would reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) - compounds that react with other chemicals in the atmosphere to form ozone (or smog). EPA required these reductions after determining that NOx and ozone are transported by the wind to downwind states, which results in unhealthy air quality in the downwind states156. 

USEPA (1999b). Overview of Issues Related to the Standard Operating Procedures for Residential Exposure Assessment, Presented to the USEPA Science Advisory Panel for the meeting on September 21, 1999, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticide Programs, Washington, DC, USA. 

USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) (1991b) Summary Report on Issues in Ecological Risk Assessment, Risk Assessment Forum, EPA/625/3-91/018. US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. 

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)i called for the creation of a massive list of all the chemicals in commerce in the United States. The list is the TSCA Inventory, or more simply, the Inventory. To compile the Inventory, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an Inventory Reporting Rule in 1977 requiring companies to report all the chemicals they had manufactured or imported in the previous three years, and the result was inclusion of approximately sixty-two thousand chemicals on the Inventory. Since that time, over twenty-one thousand more chemicals have been added to the Inventory." ... 

Section 12(b) of TSCA requires exporters to notify the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before, or on the date of, export of certain chemical substances or mixtures. The covered chemical substances are those (i) for which data are required under 4 or 5(b), (ii) for which an order has been issued under 5, (iii) for which a rule has been proposed or issued under 5 or 6, or (iv) with respect to which an action is pending, or relief has been granted under 5 or 7. A significant new use rule is a rule under 5 and chemicals that are the subject of proposed or issued significant new use rules are subject to the 12(b) notification requirements. ... 

D) After the submission to the Administrator of test data sufficient to evaluate the health and environmental effects of a chemical substance subject to an injunction issued under subparagraph (B) and the evaluation of such data by the Administrator, the district court of the United States which issued such injunction shall, upon petition dissolve the injunction unless the Administrator has initiated a proceeding for the issuance of a rule under section 2605(a) of this title respecting the substance. 

Mercury is a toxic environmental contaminant and is a primary issue of concern for several government agencies (e.g.. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Environment Canada, and Health Canada). Mercury transport and fate are global issues since, due to its dispersion and transformation into bioavailable forms, it can bioaccumulate not only in contaminated sites but also in remote freshwater lakes [1-3]. For example, Kejimkujik Park (Nova Scotia, Canada) has no known local anthropogenic inputs of mercury and yet contains fish and loons that have some of the highest blood mercury concentrations in North America [4,5]. 

On September 25, 2009, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) set more stringent emissions standards for coal preparation and processing facilities. The final rule, according to USEPA, reflects improvements in air emission control technologies that have been developed since the new source performance standards (NSPS) for these sources were first issued in 1976. 

When dealing with any industrial solvent, environmental, health, and safety (EH S) issues are among the most critical concerns for workers. The chemical industry segments which produce solvents support responsible environmental uses of the chemicals as well as safe work practices. These concerns for environmentally acceptable practices are in part the result of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The EPA endeavors to implement federal laws designed to protect the country s air, water, and soil from harmful pollution. The enactment of these important laws, which have helped the EPA accomplish their task of limiting pollution of the enviromnent, are reviewed in this chapter. 

Russell, H., Matthews, J., Sewell, G. (1992). TCE removalfrom contaminated soil and ground water-, EPA ground water issue EPA/540/S-92/002 United States Environmental Protection Agency. Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory Ada, Oklahoma USA... 

United States Environmental Protection Agency The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) issued a Maximum Contaminate Level (MCL) of 0.006 mg/L for antimony in their National Primary Drinking Water Standards (USEPA 2009). Common sources of antimony contamination listed in this document include fire retardants, ceramics, solder, electronics, and discharge from petroleum refineries. Release of antimony from degradation of household- and food contact plastics were not included as sources of drinking water contamination. 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST is the source of many of the standards used in chemical and physical analyses in the United States and throughout the world. The standards prepared and distributed by the NIST are used to caUbrate measurement systems and to provide a central basis for uniformity and accuracy of measurement. At present, over 1200 Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) are available and are described by the NIST (15). Included are many steels, nonferrous alloys, high purity metals, primary standards for use in volumetric analysis, microchemical standards, clinical laboratory standards, biological material certified for trace elements, environmental standards, trace element standards, ion-activity standards (for pH and ion-selective electrodes), freezing and melting point standards, colorimetry standards, optical standards, radioactivity standards, particle-size standards, and density standards. Certificates are issued with the standard reference materials showing values for the parameters that have been determined. 

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