On January 6, 2023, EPA published revisions to 40 CFR Part 19, Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment Rule in the Federal Register. The rule adjusts the maximum (and minimum) statutory civil monetary amounts for the statutes administered by EPA. For the Clean Air Act, the rule increased penalties from $109,024 per day per violation to $117,468 per day per violation. The rule also increases the monetary penalty for Clean Water Act violations from $59,973 to $64,618. This highest statutory civil penalty tier applies to violations that occurred after November 2, 2015, where penalties are assessed on or after January 6, 2023. A second monetary penalty tier applies to violations that occurred after November 2, 2015, where penalties are assessed on or after January 12, 2022, but before January 6, 2023. The rule becomes effective on January 6, 2023. A copy of the rule is available here.
Category: Industry News
EPA Publishes Revisions to Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule in Federal Register
NEW UPDATE:
On July 19, 2022, EPA extended the comment period on the proposed “Revisions and Confidentiality Determinations for Data Elements Under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule” from August 22 until October 6, 2022. A copy of the Federal Register notice is available here.
On June 21, 2022, EPA published the proposed “Revisions and Confidentiality Determinations for Data Elements Under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule” (i.e., 40 CFR Part 98) in the Federal Register. A few selected proposed amendments are discussed below.Read more »
EPA Good Neighbor Plan
Federal Implementation Plan Addressing Regional Ozone Transport for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard Published in Federal Register
UPDATE:
On May 12, 2022, EPA extended the deadline to submit public comments on the proposed “Good Neighbor Plan” from June 6 until June 21, 2022. A copy of the Federal Register notice is available here.
On April 6, 2022, EPA published the proposed “Federal Implementation Plan Addressing Regional Ozone Transport for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard” in the Federal Register. EPA is proposing this rule under the “good neighbor” or “interstate transport” provision of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). The proposed rule, referred to by EPA as the Good Neighbor Plan, includes several key components discussed below.Read more »
CEMS Training Doesn’t Have to Be Boring
The Inaugural CEMS Academy Training Workshop Shares An Exciting Approach To Learning About Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS).
The inaugural CEMS Academy Training Workshop kicked off with the Welcome Reception the evening of March 30. The CEMS Academy is instructed and sponsored by VIM Technologies, Air Hygiene, Inc., Universal Analyzers, and STI CEMS. The reception was an excellent opportunity to meet and network with several engineering and environmental professionals before the training the following day.Read more »
VIM Technologies Attended The 2022 Analyzer Technology Conference
The conference was the first in-person gathering for many in the industry after a 2-year hiatus.
The largest North American conference for process analyzer technology, the Analyzer Technology Conference (ATC), was held in Galveston, Texas from May 15 to May 18, 2022. As a major provider of emissions compliance software for CEMS and PEMs, VIM Technologies was proud to be in attendance to support the ATC organization, as well as our current and future clients.Read more »
EPA Postpones ECMPS 2.0 Reporting Tool 2023 Deadline
On May 6, 2022, the Clean Air Markets Division (CAMD) of EPA announced that the development of the new ECMPS 2.0 Beta web-based reporting tool has been extended through 2023. Read more »
30th Annual EPRI CEM User Group Conference
VIM Technologies was happy to not only attend but to exhibit at the 30th Annual Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Continuous Emissions Monitoring (CEM) User Group Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana on May 11 and May 12. Staff members Rudi Muenster, Larry Fisher, and Norma Vestey were all excited to be on-site after the exceptional surge of virtual conferences over the past two years.Read more »
EPA Publishes Testing Provisions for Air Emission Sources in Federal Register
On April 26, 2022, EPA published the proposed Testing Provisions for Air Emission Sources in the Federal Register. The proposed regulation includes corrections to inaccurate testing provisions, revisions to outdated test procedures as well as approved Read more »
PADEP CSMM Revision 8 Requirements
VIM Technologies is offering an intermediate level, fully online Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) CSMM Revision 8 Requirements training course, by instructors Bill Mitchell (Sr. Environmental Engineer) and Ashley Partington (Compliance Specialist), February 22-23rd, 2022.
This course is designed to provide a summary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) quality assurance, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements. The course will begin Day 1 with an introduction to PADEP Revision 8 reporting requirements, monitoring specifications, certification/recertification process, and initial/ongoing QA testing requirements. Day 2 will explore the requirements of the quarterly PADEP EDR, data elements, and will also include a discussion of hourly validation and data substitution. An overview of RACT III will also be provided.
The course would be beneficial to Environmental Managers as well as Instrument & Control Technicians with CEMS responsibilities. The training would be valuable to personnel with limited PADEP experience, or as a refresher for more seasoned environmental professionals. The course will be presented in two(2), three-hour sessions over two consecutive days for $399.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP)
The Environmental Quality Board (EQB) is moving forward on the Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) III rule that was proposed to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) on October 17, 2019. The purpose of this rule was to revise the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for compliance with the primary and secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. RACT applies to major sources of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and/or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted statewide. This revision to the rule will provide additionally reduced emissions limits for NOx and VOCs from the previous PA RACT rules. The compliance deadline for RACT III will be January 1, 2023.Read more »