EPA Proposed Rule on Airport Deicing System Discharges

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed regulations requiring airports to collect at least some of the deicing fluid after it is used on aircrafts with a goal of cutting chemical discharge by 22%. The regulations would require six of the 14 major U.S. airports that are the biggest users of deicing fluid to install deicing pads or other collection systems to capture 60% of fluid sprayed and to install deicing pads or other collection systems. Some of the targeted airports include:

• New York's John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports,
• Chicago's O'Hare,
• Boston Logan International,
• Cleveland-Hopkins International, and
• New Jersey's Newark Liberty International

It would then be the airports' responsibility to ensure that the collected fluid was treated and handled in accordance with requirements. Some 200 smaller facilities around the US would have to collect 20 percent of the fluid by using technologies such as a glycol recovery vehicle, while airports with fewer than 1,000 yearly jet departures would not be impacted.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address Stormwater Permitting & Regulatory Support, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP), Stormwater Monitoring and Stormwater Training.

Caltha LLP provides expert environmental consultant services in Texas 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 Assessment - Environmental Review Services

Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Phase 1 ESA) and Property Assessments
in Midwest

Caltha provides the technical resources to assist Buyers, Sellers & Lenders in evaluating properties in the Midwest.

Assessments typically address the likelihood and potential cost for future liabilities, and conducting assessments required to reduce direct liabilities for environmental cleanups. Assessment can also be conducted to evaluate compliance with applicable regulations. The property assessment services Caltha offers includes:
· Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment (ASTM E 1527-05)
· SBA required Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment or Environmental Investigation
· Environmental Review
· Facility Compliance Audits
· Records Search With Risk Assessment (RSRA)
· Transaction Screening Assessment (ASTM E 1528-00)
· Site Assessment Walk-through
· Lease Closure Walk-through
· Quantitative Environmental Liability Assessment
· Phase 2 Site Investigations

To request a quote for property assessment services, use link below:
Phase 1 ESA/Property Assessments in Midwest

Caltha LLP provides expert environmental consultant services in Texas 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

Regulation of Heavy Metals in Stormwater Discharges

As general permits for stormwater discharges are revised, States will attempt to address requirements for impaired waters into the permit requirements. How these requirements are expressed in the permit varies widely from State-to-State. Some States have developed requirements which promote pollution prevention measures.

As one example, the State of Texas has detected levels of selected heavy metals in surface waters which are of concern, and has promulgated numeric discharge standards for “hazardous metals” into the industrial stormwater permit. However, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approach is to allow facilities to do a self-assessment for sources of hazardous metals and implement pollution prevention measures to avoid the higher costs of hazardous metal sampling and testing. To be exempted, facilities must certify that:

• Facility does not use a raw material, produce an intermediate product, or produce a final product that contains one of the listed hazardous metals, or


• Any raw materials, intermediate products, or final products which contain a hazardous metal are never exposed to stormwater or runoff, or


• Facility collects and analyses stormwater samples from the facility and the results indicate that hazardous metal(s) are not present in detectable levels.
  

Waivers may be obtained on a metal-by-metal basis, or on an outfall-by-outfall basis. A waiver from hazardous metals monitoring does not exempt the facility from other benchmark monitoring requirements which may apply. [Read more about benchmark monitoring]

For more information on SWPPP services provided in Texas, go to:

SWPPP Requirements - Stormwater Monitoring - Stormwater Training

Caltha LLP provides expert environmental consultant services in Texas 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

PAH in Stormwater Runoff - Austin Studies

Collaborative studies by the City of Austin, TX, and the U. S. Geological Survey have identified coal-tar based sealcoat as a major and previously unrecognized source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination. Several PAHs are suspected human carcinogens and are toxic to aquatic life.

Studies in Austin, Texas, showed that particles in runoff from coal-tar based sealcoated parking lots have concentrations of PAHs that are about 65 times higher than concentrations in particles washed off parking lots that have not been sealcoated. Biological studies, conducted by the City of Austin in the field and in the laboratory, indicate that PAH levels in sediment contaminated with abraded sealcoat are toxic to aquatic life and are degrading aquatic communities.

This research has led the City of Austin to ban the use of coal-tar sealants for roads, parking lots, driveways, and other paved areas.

For more information on Caltha's Water Quality consulting services, go to:

Water Quality - Water Standards - Wastewater Discharge Permiting

Caltha LLP provides expert environmental consultant services in Texas 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

Texas SPCC Plans - Texas Spill Prevention and Reporting

Caltha LLP provides technical support to facilities nationwide to comply with US EPA Spill Prevention, Control & Countermeasure (SPCC) Rules (40 CFR 112) and State-specific spill prevention, spill preparedness and spill reporting requirements.

For more information, go to:

SPCC Compliance - 40CFR 112 - State Spill Requirements

Caltha specializes in preparing SPCC Plans, including using the new SPCC Template Plan format. SPCC rules and similar State rules can apply to:

· Above ground tanks
· Portions of underground tank (UST) systems
· Oil filled equipment
· Some electrical equipment and electric transformers
· Mobile fueling equipment
· Mobile tanks
· Temporary tanks
· Drums and totes
· Secondary containment systems
· Piping, valves and dispensing equipment
· Other

Caltha provides SPCC Plan services in a number of flexible formats, ranging from turn-key services where we provide a complete SPCC Plan, to ad hoc technical guidance to facility or corporate staff as they prepare Plans and compliance programs. Caltha also provides technical support in developing and implementing SPCC Inspection programs, and in developing and presenting annual SPCC Training.