The new challenges posed by Climate Change and regulatory agencies, like the EPA rigorously enforcing compliance with the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, require companies to adopt a global, corporate view of their water resource needs.

Enviance has put together a Water Management Success Kit that compiles practical, educational materials to help companies manage water resource risks strategically while reducing their exposure. The Success Kit includes:

• Enviance Webinar: Greg Pulliam, Senior Manager Industrial Systems, Water & Process from CH2M Hill and compliance specialists from Georgia Pacific and Entergy share their experiences using the latest technology to manage water programs

• Enviance White Paper: Water Management: Climate Change and Compliance

• Enviance Case Study: Read how Entergy developed a proactive Wastewater Management Program to save time and reduce 50% of NPDES violations

• EPA Memorandum: Read the latest memorandum from EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson

• UN White Paper: Climate Change and the Global Water Crisis: What Businesses Need to Know and Do

Download your Water Success Kit today!

 With greenhouse gas (GHG) and other pollutants meeting increased  scrutiny worldwide, governmental agencies have put multiple regulations and environmental programs in place to tackle this growing problem. Meeting these rapidly evolving emissions permitting and reporting requirements by tracking information separately, using multiple systems and spreadsheets has proven to be a waste time, money and personnel.

Enviance has just released a new White Paper to help you better understand and learn how to handle the issue. This educational White Paper exposes how a centralized Environmental Management System can help your company effectively track and manage data to achieve:

• Cost savings

• Increased confidence in data reporting
 
• A more accurate view of your compliance status

Download the White Paper here!

The approaching mid-term elections in California this November will be significant to near-term efforts in greenhouse gas emissions regulations. With AB32 up for popular voting, Californians will decide in favor or against moving forward with more strict regulations for GHG emissions. If approved, AB 32 also includes the implementation of a cap and trade system by 2012.

The recent developments in the Gulf and the release of the US Department of Defense Quadrennial Defense Review Report mentioning climate change as a  matter of national security have put the subject on the radar of federal legislators. The rest of the country and the world will be watching California’s approach to climate change legislation.

Read the full article published on Forbes.com here

The upcoming California midterm elections represent the equivalent of the Normandy invasion for national climate legislation: an epic battle whose outcome will likely determine the near-term fate of efforts to collar greenhouse gas emissions.

In November, in addition to electing a new governor, 37 million Californians will exercise their version of direct democracy by voting on a ballot initiative designed to kill AB 32, the landmark climate legislation enacted in 2006 and widely regarded as the most aggressive climate legislation on planet Earth. It calls for a host of greenhouse-gas reduction measures, including the implementation of cap and trade by 2012. The Public Policy Institute of California predicts that more than $150 million dollars will be spent on this throw-down.

Given the relatively broad support in the U. S. House of Representatives for climate legislation, as evidenced by the passage of Waxman-Markey, it is unlikely that any federal response to California's cap and trade plans would terminate those plans without simultaneously establishing some alternative market-based approach. Consequently, should California persist in its plan to implement cap and trade by 2012, you can bet on Congress passing meaningful climate legislation by 2011, implementing a federal mechanism that will set a price on carbon.

If California voters opt for a middle course, preserving AB 32 but electing a governor who opposes the legislation, the result would still be to accelerate federal climate legislation. In this case, the California legislature and the newly elected governor will be tasked with honoring the will of the people. History has proven it dangerous for California governors to ignore the California electorate. This middle option might slow the charge but not terminate it, and Congress will still be forced to deal with California's cap and trade plans.

Should the voters of California decide to kill AB 32, the results could be the most dramatic for the U.S. climate debate. California has a long-standing, well-earned reputation for accepting the imposition of regulations deemed necessary to protect the environment. Both the California air regulations of the 1960s and 1970s and the vehicle standards of today illustrate this point. A decision to kill AB 32 would stand as an abrupt reversal of this long-honored tradition and would broadcast to the world California's decision that climate change legislation is simply not affordable at this time. The result would fuel the arguments of those federal legislators favoring no action and would chill the enthusiasm of even the most ardent advocates of climate change legislation. Delay in the passage of any federal climate legislation with teeth is highly likely under this scenario.

In assessing whether this delay would be substantial or moderate, attention should be paid to an important position that has been taken by the U.S. Department of Defense in the Quadrennial Defense Review Report (February 2010). In that review the DoD declared, for the first time in such a report, that it must deal with the impacts of climate change as a matter of national security. Given the elevation of climate concerns to national security status and given that as a people our nation has always found a way to finance our national security needs, it seems to go without saying that we will find a way to finance the need to deal with the climate crisis. The Quadrennial Review pronouncement makes climate change legislation inevitable, even if not imminent. And the daily, live broadcasts of the Gulf disaster will likely shorten the time frame, putting climate legislation closer to imminent than inevitable.

California's midterm election will help to set the pace for confronting the climate challenge. With a projected $150 million in the war chest for duking it out over this ballot initiative, it should be quite a show.

Come on in--the water's warm(er).

—Lawrence Goldenhersh, founder and CEO, Enviance

Just over a month ago, I had the high honor of being one of 150 people to be invited to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day with President Obama in the Rose Garden at the White House.

In his remarks, President Obama acknowledged both the progress we’ve made as a nation since that first Earth Day in 1970 and the serious challenges we need to overcome to create the clean energy economy that must be our future.   

As underwater cameras provide us with live coverage of hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil spewing uncontrollably into the Gulf daily, all Americans sense both the gravity of the challenges we face and the need for effective and immediate action. This catastrophe doesn’t have a political party—it is an American problem and the solution must come from our nation as a people.

Our leaders and elected representatives must collaborate to quickly achieve the reforms necessary for effective government oversight. Our science community must be funded to provide the knowledge required to understand both the environmental risks and the steps necessary to reduce those risks to acceptable levels. Our Corporate citizens must be charged to act responsibly and incentivized to advance the state of enabling technology as quickly as possible. Our markets must be engaged to take our sustainability quest global. And each of us, individually, must make energy decisions at home that advance our march to the energy efficient nation we know we must be.

From Enviance’s 10 years of work and leadership in developing emissions management technology solutions for companies and governmental agencies, I know both that technology will play an important role in the climate solution and that the needed collaboration is possible.

Mother Earth is demanding that we stop the bickering and re-ignite the innovative spirit, drive and “can do” collaboration that put Americans on the moon. As we can see on television, every second counts.

—Lawrence Goldenhersh, founder and CEO, Enviance

Adopted under the Clean Air Act, EPA released today new thresholds on SO2 emissions and monitoring requirements and reporting for the gas.

Relevant points about the new standard are:

• Improvements in public health protection, especially for children, the elderly, and people with asthma. These groups are susceptible to the health problems associated with breathing SO2.
• Health benefits valued between $13 billion and $33 billion, including reduced hospital admissions, emergency room visits, work days lost due to illness, and cases of aggravated asthma and chronic bronchitis.
• States will be informed on where they are required to place SO2 monitors. Approximately 163 SO2 monitoring sites nationwide are required by this rulemaking.
• It is estimated that 41 new monitoring SO2 sites will need to be established, nationwide.
• All newly sited SO2 monitors must be operational by January 1, 2013.

Download a copy of the Final SO2 Rule here!

More SO2 resources here!

On May 13th, the EPA released its final Tailoring Rule on GHG Emissions regulations. The rule addresses greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA) permitting programs – PSD and Title V.

In this interactive 30 min webinar, Enviance Vice-President of Environment, Health and Safety, Greg Gasperecz, demystifies the changes proposed and regulated by this new rule and discusses what to expect from EPA in the upcoming months.

In this webinar you will learn all about the EPA’s final regulations:

• Gases that will have mandatory reporting requirements and thresholds

• Step-by-step approach to regulations starting in 2011 through 2016

• Best Available Control Technology (BACT) guidance

Staying up to date on government regulations can be challenging. Take advantage of this educational webinar by Enviance.

Watch Webinar Now!

In order to comply with the mandatory EPA GHG Reporting Rule, most companies are opting for a software solution to help them avoid costly errors and reduce the time needed for reporting.

Is it estimated that approximately 30,000 facilities will have to perform an assessment to determine if their GHG emissions exceed the 50,000 metric ton reporting threshold to comply with EPA’s rule, so companies are turning to centralized and automated solutions to help them with the task.

From knowing the calculation capabilities of the system to how it will integrate with other existing facilities systems, you need to know what to ask your vendors when searching for a GHG Emissions reporting solution.

This new White Paper from Enviance will help through the questions and a spare you the hassle of researching vendors without knowing what to ask!

Download the White Paper!

On May 13, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule that addresses greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA) permitting programs. This final rule sets thresholds for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that define when permits under the New Source Review Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and title V Operating Permit programs are required for new and existing industrial facilities.

This final rule “tailors” the requirements of these CAA permitting programs to limit which facilities will be required to obtain PSD and title V permits. Facilities responsible for nearly 70 percent of the national GHG emissions from stationary sources will be subject to permitting requirements under this rule. This includes the nation’s largest GHG emitters— power plants, refineries, and cement production facilities.

Download EPA’s Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule

In a move that ended weeks of intense speculation and leaked details, Senators John Kerry and  Joseph Lieberman announced today the American Power Act, defining U.S. goals to preserve the environment, strengthen America’s economy and national security, and lead the world in clean energy manufacturing and investment.

Some highlights of the bill:

• GHG emission reduction targets—the bill presents several focal points for achieving environmental and economic goals, including reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Specifically, the bill sets emissions percentages compared to 2005 levels as 95.25% by 2013, 83% by 2020, 58% by 2030 and 17% by 2050.

• Commercial & industrial emission caps—while the bill does not put a tax on carbon, it directs the EPA to set emission limits on about 7,500 facilities that emit over 25,000 tons of carbon annually, accounting for nearly three‐quarters of U.S. carbon pollution. The bill allows for emission offsets, including renewable energy credits, offset projects and also allows for companies to buy and sell pollution vouchers, making it profitable to reduce pollution.

• Carbon shares the spotlight—even though carbon dioxide (CO2) is most commonly associated with the said GHG emissions, the bill will also regulate greenhouse gasses which are lesser known, yet whose impact is in many cases worse than CO2: methane (CH4), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), nitrous oxide (N20), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). Though less familiar to most audiences than CO2, these emission types are well known within the environmental, health and safety (EH&S) community who use Enviance’s Environmental ERP system to monitor and manage GHG emissions.

• A new motivation for curbing climate change—whereas the traditional arguments for climate legislation are prevalent throughout the bill (environmental and economic), the Kerry-Lieberman bill also highlights a more recent motivation: national security. The bill aims to reduce US dependence on foreign oil, claiming that this dependence “presents significant national security challenges for the United States,” as “massive portions of the infrastructure of the United States, including critical military infrastructure, are at risk from the effects of climate change” (Kerry & Lieberman, 2010, p. 10). National security was also cited as a concern in regards to climate change in the Department of Defense’s recent Quadrennial Review.

Over the course of the coming weeks, the legislation will be debated and amended as proponents and opponents make their arguments. But what can’t be debated or amended is the fact that the climate debate is getting its Congressional day in the sun and some form of legislation, regulation or national policy—in the form of a bill or additional agency-driven mandates—will likely emerge from the process.

Download the Executive Summary of the Climate Bill

Download the entire Climate Bill

Enviance releases today an Educational Webinar to discuss the changes proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule.

Our Vice-President of Environment, Health and Safety, Greg Gasperecz gives a retrospective look on GHG regulations since 1999 and shares his comments about what’s coming ahead on Greenhouse Gas accounting.

If you want to learn more about how the upcoming Tailoring Rule will impact: EPA’s regulations for PSD and Title V; Emissions thresholds that will trigger compliance needs; Control technology necessary to comply with new regulations, watch our complementary webinar!

Download Webinar Now!