The EPA has proposed new rules directed at emissions from sewage sludge incinerator (SSI) units. SSI units are typically found at wastewater treatment facilities and, according to the EPA, are the sixth-largest source of mercury air emissions in the US. The proposal not only limits mercury emissions, but also sets standard and emission guidelines for eight other pollutants, including lead, cadmium, hydrogen chloride, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, dioxins and furans, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide. However, mercury is of particular interest because the proposed emission standard is more stringent than the mandates that were set under the Clean Air Act.

Learn more about Mercury emissions from sewage incinerators…

Recently, the EPA announced it intends to propose a rule to reduce mercury waste from dental offices. Mercury is a concern to human health because it is considered a persistent bioaccumulative toxic element.

According to the EPA, dental amalgams, or fillings containing mercury, account for 3.7 tons of mercury discharged into US waterways each year.

Read more about Reducing Mercury from Dental Offices

In August 2010 the EPA issued a notice proposing new and revised analytical methods to be used under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

The proposed rule, entitled “Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants Under the Clean Water Act; Analysis and Sampling Procedures”, will affect numerous EPA Methods, ASTM Methods, Standard Methods, and alternative test methods.

EPA methods:

Read more about the proposed CWA Methods…

In June 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took action to ban the use of endosulfan in the United States because it poses unacceptable risks to agricultural workers and wildlife, and can be pervasive in the environment.

The decision was based on a revised ecological risk assessment report, first written in 2002, which highlights that farm workers face greater risks than were previously known. The EPA also found that endosulfan, a colorless solid, poses excessive risk to aquatic and terrestrial wildlife, as well as to birds and mammals that consume aquatic prey which have ingested endosulfan.

Read more about EPA’s plan to ban the use of endosulfan…

In a Federal Register notice published June 23, the EPA proposed changes to its permitting program under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to ensure the use of sufficiently sensitive analytical methods for monitoring chemical pollutants in discharge water.

Specifically, the new rule affects the CWA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Its purpose is to specify that applicants and permittees must use analytical methods that are capable of detecting and measuring pollutants at, or below, current water quality criteria.

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