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As a consultant and trainer, I have Often been asked this question: 'Should our company get ISO 14001 EMS certification?' My short answer has always been: 'It depends.' The longer [...]

Congratulations--you are now in charge of your company's environmental compliance programs. Here are some practical tips you can use to excel in your job: 1. Stay current with environmental regulations. [...]

In a typical year, the Environmental Protection Agency and state environmental agencies conduct over 90,000 inspections throughout the United States. The goal of these inspections is to ensure that companies [...]

The so called 'cradle-to-grave' concept under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requires you to account for hazardous waste from the time it is generated until the time you [...]

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review entitled 'IT Doesn't Matter' generated a lot of discussion and controversy. The premise of the article was that information technology (IT) was [...]

Here are some practical ideas on how to interact with your colleagues at the plants. Let's start by taking a hard look at the plant manager. The degree to which [...]

Why is it important to do due diligence? To avoid the potential of spending millions of dollars to fix someone else's problems. If you are acquiring or leasing a property, [...]

Many organizations have purchasing policies that require at least three different quotes from vendors or consultants and then go with the lowest bidder. This policy may work well for common [...]

Eight tips on choosing the right occupational safety consultant for the job are given. Companies are advised to hire 'real-world' consultants, or consultants who have demonstrated practical experience in the industry. For small jobs, companies should never hire big firms to avoid paying a disproportionate amount for such a small job. Companies are also advised to avoid consulting firms which advertise themselves as 'full-service.'

To audit or not to audit ... that is the question facing many environmental managers. This article describes two types of environmental audits and answers the question as to when [...]

If you are a large company and have a wastewater discharge permit, and you have had recurring violations of your permit conditions, there is a pretty good chance that some [...]

If you have a manufacturing facility that conducts some of its activities outdoors, chances are that you will be required to obtain a stormwater permit from either your state agency [...]

When Congress passed the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990, they included an air permitting system designed to consolidate many local and state air permits. In general, under a Title [...]

The following is based on a true story. While names of participants and corporations must be withheld, the true identities of individuals involved are much less important than the lessons [...]

Many companies sign on to ISO 14001 because their customers won't do business with them without it. If your organization has no economical reason to get certified and yet you [...]

EPA's website, www.epa.gov, is treasure trove of practical and useful information. This column shows you some examples of how to get at these gems for free. If you are the [...]

Many chemical accidents are caused by a lack of ownership of certain plans or procedures on the part of the plant personnel. This month's column dicusses a few practical ideas [...]

Roy: Your comments about TRI on your Balance column hit the target right on. TRI data are extremely misleading and thus misused by many--especially by the media (out of ignorance) [...]

Unless you have a fully staffed environmental department, chances are you will need consultants at one time or another. I worked as an environmental consultant for more than 14 years [...]

Let's face it: Bad things can happen to good people. This is why it's important to prevent and prepare for the occasional chemical spill or accident. Learning from other's mistakes [...]

The ability to work effectively with regulatory agencies is a critical element in any Environmental Management System. If you have a cordial and professional working relationship with your agencies, you [...]

Much has been written about Environmental Management Systems as part of achieving ISO 14000 certification. This column provides practical ideas on integrating some of the key EMS elements over the [...]

Under RCRA regulations, a hazardous waste must first be classified as a RCRA solid waste. If the solid waste meets one or more of the four hazardous characteristics (ignitability, corrosivity, [...]

Let's say you are responsible for your company's environmental program. Doing the wrong things can create big problems for everyone. Here are some practical ideas to avoid compliance nightmares: 1 [...]

One morning, you come into the office and your production manager tells you that management has finally decided to install a new production line after a year of planning and [...]

A small quantity generator is an entity that generates between 100 and 1,000 kg of hazardous wastes each calendar month. It is necessary to keep close tabs on how wastes [...]

As the person responsible for environmental compliance, you are required, under federal laws, to provide a myriad of training programs to your employees. Hazardous chemicals If you have any chemicals [...]

On Jan. 11, 2002, President Bush signed the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, better known as the brownfields law. The act accomplished the following: 1. Amended the [...]

If you are the person who is responsible for your company's environmental management program, you carry certain personal liability. For example, if EPA were to find out or suspect that [...]

The Clean Water Act requires owners or operators of all onshore and/or offshore facilities to prepare an SPCC plan if they have more than 1,320 gallons aggregate above ground storage, [...]

The following is a list of common hazardous waste violations that have been cited by many state agencies. Below are some simple and practical ways you can put in place [...]

Your career path will eventually require you to look up a rule in the Code of Federal Regulations (Regs) or explain it to someone. Your boss might just demand to [...]

Provides tips in choosing hazardous waste hauler for environmental services in the U.S. Need to ensure the legal permission of transporters from the Environmental Protection Agency; Selection of a Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) for hazardous wastes; Request for and audit package from the candidate TSDF.

Part II. Presents tips on how environmental consultants can connect with potential clients. Importance of returning phone calls; Importance of listening to clients; Personal touch from consulting firms.

The article focuses on the requirements of the training programs for environmental compliance according to the Hazard Communication Standard by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the U.S. The author discusses the training prerequisites in protecting employees from exposures to dangerous chemicals in the workplace and the key to provide such training to employees. Furthermore, he talks about the environmental programs that require the implementation of best-management practices.

This article presents information on the mixing zone concept, a practical way to minimize wastewater treatment costs in the U.S. The concept of a mixing zone is quite simple; it is an approved geographic zone in the receiving water where one or more site specific water quality criteria can be exceeded. The site-specific water quality criteria are federally mandated levels of quality that each state has to set for its receiving waters. This is for the purpose of preventing degradation and preserving existing beneficial uses. A mixing zone is basically an area where pollutants are mixed with cleaner receiving waters to dilute their concentrations in the water. In other words, it is a zone of variance. Federal regulations under the Clean Water Act allow individual state agencies to develop their own mixing zone guidelines for their specific bodies of water. As with all federally delegated programs, these state developed guidelines are subject to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency overview and approval. A common dilution ratio in a mixing zone is 100:1. In such instances, you are allowed to discharge 100 times the level of the water quality standard for a particular parameter at the end of the pipe as long as you are able to meet the water quality standard for that parameter at the edge of the defined mixing zone. This is a rare instance where dilution can be a solution to pollution.