Enviance Blog

EPA’s new site identifies biggest GHG emitters

Have you ever wondered what happens to all of the data collected as a result of the EPA’s Green House Gas (GHG) Mandatory Reporting Rule (MRR)?

It looks the EPA has put it to good use to help us get a better idea of where emissions are coming from—they’ve launched a new website that allows you to enter a location and see the top GHG emitters in your area. For the first time, the EPA is sharing data on the amount of CO2 and other pollutants emitted from over 6,700 utilities, factories and refineries in the U.S.

To find out what’s going on in your city, and see how it compares to others, visit the EPA site to get started. We were surprised by some of our results, will you be too?

 

Will we be breathing easier in 2012? EPA releases new air pollution regulations

As you may have seen, the U.S. EPA signed a rule on December 16, 2011 to reduce air pollution from power plants. Many are against the new directives, while others are applauding the EPA’s initiative to drastically reduce harmful emissions from industrial emitters. Regardless of your position, it is imperative that we all learn more about the new ruling and its effects on many industries.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the new rule:

The U.S. EPA signed a rule to reduce mercury and air toxics emissions from power plants, and also signed revisions to the new source performance standards (NSPS) for fossil-fuel-fired EGUs. This NSPS revises the standards that new coal- and oil-fired power plants must meet for particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule (MATS) applies to Emission Generating Units (EGUs) larger than 25 megawatts (MW) that burn coal or oil for the purpose of generating electricity for sale and distribution through the national electric grid to the public.  These include investor-owned units, as well as units owned by the Federal government, municipalities and cooperatives that provide electricity for commercial, industrial and residential uses.  The EPA estimates that there are approximately 1,400 units affected by this action – approximately 1,100 existing coal-fired units and 300 oil fired units at about 600 power plants.

The final MATS identifies two subcategories of coal-fired EGUs, four subcategories of oil- fired EGUs, and a subcategory for units that combust gasified coal or solid oil (integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) units) based on the design, utilization and/or location of the various types of boilers at different power plants. The rule includes emission standards and/or other requirements for each subcategory.

For all existing and new coal-fired EGUs, the rule establishes numerical emission limits for mercury, PM (a surrogate for toxic non-mercury metals), and HCl (a surrogate for all toxic acid gases).  For existing and new oil-fired EGUs, the standards establish numerical emission limits for PM (a surrogate for all toxic metals), HCl, and HF.  EGUs may also show compliance with the HCl and HF limits by limiting the moisture content of their oil.

The rule establishes alternative numeric emission standards, including SO2 (as an alternate to HCl), individual non-mercury metal air toxics (as an alternate to PM), and total non-mercury metal air toxics (as an alternate to PM) for certain subcategories of power plants.  The standards set work practices, instead of numerical limits, to limit emissions of organic air toxics, including dioxin/furan, from existing and new coal- and oil-fired power plants. Because dioxins and furans form as a result of inefficient combustion, the work practice standards require an annual performance test program for each unit that includes inspection, adjustment, and/or maintenance and repairs to ensure optimal combustion.  The standards also set work practices for limited-use oil-fired EGUs in the continental U.S.

Hopefully this overview clarifies some of the EPA’s new emissions regulations. Have an opinion on the new rule? Feel free to comment below!

GHG and the Crystal Ball: The EPA’s (not so clear) Path Forward for Regulating GHG Emissions

It’s hard to believe that the EPA first proposed its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Mandatory Reporting Rule (MRR) over two and a half years ago with the hope that it would gather enough information to better understand the breadth and scope of GHG emissions.

Within just a few months of the initial proposal, so many things changed that the agency finalized its Endangerment Finding in December of 2009 and began creating new regulations—including vehicle standards to address GHG emissions from transportation sources. In addition, the EPA created guidelines around Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and the Title V Gas Tailoring Rule for new major sources, and new source performance standards.

With all the new GHG regulations, many organizations are trying to understand how these laws will affect their business costs as well as their day-to-day operations, and are increasingly finding themselves trying to anticipate what sort of guidelines may be forthcoming.

To dive deeper into this topic, we are hosting a live webinar next week entitled “GHG and the Crystal Ball: The EPA’s (not so clear) Path Forward for Regulating GHG Emissions”.  John McManus, vice president of Environmental Services at American Electric Power (AEP), and Greg Gasperecz, vice president of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) at Enviance, will take a closer look at the impacts of GHG regulations on U.S. companies, and discuss:

• Background of the EPA’s GHG regulations
• Key takeaways from the last two years under the current Federal Administration
• Considerations on the path the EPA might take in regulating GHG emissions in the future

Join us!

Time: 11:00am PT/ 2:00 p.m. ET
Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Twitter Rashtag: #EPApredicts

Register Here!

NV Energy cuts GHG reporting prep time in half with Enviance

If you’ve ever seen the bright lights of Las Vegas, you may have wondered—between drinks—what a massive amount of electricity it must take to power the entire city.

Behind the scenes, NV Energy is working tirelessly to keep the city up and running, while keeping a close eye on the resulting environmental impact. NV Energy provides electricity to 2.4 million citizens throughout Nevada as well as a state tourist population exceeding 40 million annually. Among the many communities served are Las Vegas, Reno-Sparks, Henderson, Elko, and parts of California.

Recently, Christine Klimek, senior environmental scientist at NV Energy, shared some of the environmental compliance issues her company faces during the webinar “Integrating GHG and Air Compliance Management and Reporting” with Enviance.

With 10 facilities and over 2,000 vehicles, NV Energy is the largest utility in the state of Nevada in addition to being a retail energy provider for California. As such, it tracks greenhouse gases (GHG) for mandatory EPA reporting and the AB 32 rule, as well as for voluntary reasons.

NV Energy is faced with various challenges:  it not only pulls data from different sources throughout the state, but also collects many types of data. It covers a huge territory, with purchased power making up a lot of its portfolio, so it must also track those sources. For a full look at its GHG profile, it needs to collect the last 10 percent of emissions (CO2 makes up 90 percent of emissions); this encompasses environmental data on fleet vehicles, emergency units, building electricity units, etc.

With Enviance, NV Energy is better equipped to manage its environmental data; as a result, it has already cut the time spent on data collection in preparation for reporting by 50 percent.

Watch the webinar here.

 

Mandatory & Voluntary: Why can’t we be friends?

Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of hosting a Webinar in conjunction with CH2M HILL and the GreenBiz Group. The webinar “Mandatory vs. Voluntary: Creating an Environmental Compliance Culture of Value,” featured Nigel Nugent, vice president of worldwide sales at Enviance, and Andrea Gardner, senior technologist of sustainability at CH2M Hill. Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz Group, moderated the discussion.

The webinar brought these experts together to discuss how companies can develop blended environmental compliance strategies that integrate both mandatory and voluntary activities. This approach to mandatory environmental compliance and voluntary sustainability reports may seem contrary to many companies, who tend to separate the two efforts among different departments, but there are many benefits that result from combining these activities.

First, let’s clarify the differences between mandatory and voluntary compliance. CH2M Hill’s Gardner emphasized that the biggest difference between these is that one that is reactive in nature while the other is proactive. For example, voluntary results are analyzed, and regulatory results are reported. Companies that are going above and beyond regulatory compliance requirements, and have implemented some form of voluntary compliance, are considered to be aspirational—they’re looking toward the future and proactively asking themselves, “What kind of company do we want to become? How can we minimize our environmental impact?” Conversely, regulatory compliance is focused on the here and now. They think in terms of “Where does my company stand from a compliance standpoint, at this very moment?” This line of thinking is much more risk-averse and reactive.

There are many advantages to a blended voluntary and mandatory compliance department, but only if it is implemented appropriately. Many companies set up separate departments for voluntary and mandatory–and prefer the separation. However, there are negative consequences if the disparate groups are not managed and monitored properly. For example, they may pursue projects that require the same company resources and conduct duplicate data collection—wasting both time and money. Isolated data sets collected and stored in each respective department’s database, can reduce effectiveness of planning and decision-making and cause internal confusion as companies struggle to determine which data set is the true accurate representation.

Watch the Webinar Now

These issues illustrate why many companies choose to house these extremely unique approaches to sustainability within the same department. According to Nugent, mandatory compliance teams are strengthened by the inclusion of voluntary sustainability. The likenesses between voluntary sustainability and regulatory compliance offer access to a host of benefits that can help decrease a company’s bottom line. The sharing of critical data, saved resources (by staffing only one team), a single repository for data management (allowing for more efficient data use), and streamlined operational processes all create tremendous value for the organization. Also, it provides a competitive advantage; since voluntary standards can eventually become mandatory, monitoring these early on helps organizations better prepare themselves.

It’s clear that there are many benefits to combining voluntary and mandatory compliance efforts if it’s done in a monitored and controlled fashion. However, it’s up to each individual organization to decide if this kind of strategy is what best suits their goals and needs.

Stay tuned for more webinars with Enviance customers and partners as we move into the waning months of 2011. We have much more in store for you!

Watch the Webinar here.

Do you know your Environmental Compliance Vulnerabilities?

If you are visiting our blog, you are probably well aware of the existing and ever changing environmental regulations companies from all sizes and verticals need to comply with nowadays. You are probably also aware that many companies are still failing to understand the importance in determining their environmental impact to their corporate value and cost to operations. Left uncalculated and ignored, these risks place a company in jeopardy of extreme financial loss and devaluation.

To help you better understand your environmental compliance vulnerabilities and the level of risk associated with your environmental regulatory non-compliance we have put together an online assessment tool.  Please take a few minutes to answer our survey and determine if the systems you have in place meet your needs, or identify where you may have an opportunity to reduce your environmental compliance exposure.

Check our Environmental Compliance Risk Assessment Tool here!

What natural gas and petroleum facilities need to know about subpart W regulations

Back in 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting, putting approximately 13,000 industrial facilities (representing 85% of GHG emissions in the U.S.) on the hook to monitor and report their annual emissions.  

Initially, these regulations did not include petroleum and natural gas requirements, until the EPA issued the subpart W rule in November 2010. Subpart W requires petroleum and natural gas facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year to report annual methane (CH4) and CO2 emissions.

Of the 13,000 reporting facilities, 2,800 will need to report on the subpart W rule, a complex set of regulations that would require a significant amount of effort to be put forth by the petroleum and natural gas industries. Fortunately, the initial reporting deadline for subpart W may be extended to September 30, 2012 if recently proposed revisions are adopted. This would give facilities the opportunity to get their monitoring and reporting strategies in place in the meantime. 

To outline best practices on how the eight key petroleum and natural gas industries affected by this directive can keep compliant with subpart W, Greg Gasperecz, Enviance’s vice president of Environmental, Health and Safety, recently dissected the new rules in an educational webinar.

In this presentation, Greg shares his insights on subpart W, giving a full background and overview of mandate, and addressing the changes/updates that have occurred since promulgation. He also discusses compliance strategies and tips for reporting, including real-world examples to help shape strategies within organizations.  

Watch the Webinar here.

 

Sincerely,

The Enviance team

 

It's Back to School Week at Enviance! Our 5 hottest Educational Resources!

 

With the start of a new school year upon us, what better time to talk about Education? Throughout the years, we have maintained an ongoing effort to produce educational resources in topics relevant to the Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) community to help disseminate best practices and contribute to Industry growth. We have received a tremendous response from clients, partners and friends that have been relying on our resources to keep up to date with the latest Industry trends.

If you haven’t been an avid reader of our selection of White Papers and don’t know where to start, worry not! We put together a list of our Top 5 White Papers to share with you this week!

Ever wanted to know what your peers and even competitors are reading to keep informed? Follow our links below and learn more about what is helping them effectively and efficiently manage EH&S requirements.

TOP 1 RESOURCE: THE EMISSIONS TRIFECTA: Combining Title V, Air Emissions Inventory and GHG Reporting

The Emissions Trifecta White Paper is our most popular white paper of all time. It discusses how streamlining emissions data (Title V, Air Emissions Inventory and GHG) into one comprehensive, centralized system that has been designed to capture and report the data required for a variety of different regulatory environmental programs saves companies time, money and personnel.

TOP 2 RESOURCE: SUPPLY CHAIN ENVIRONMENTALISM: Using Environmental ERP to Manage Environmental Impact for Competitive Advantage and Profit

This white paper introduces a new approach to managing the supply chain which defines Supply Chain Environmentalism as the enhancement of competitiveness through either cost reduction or product differentiation, or both, achieved by reduction of environmental impacts (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, etc.) in the supply chain.

TOP 3 RESOURCE: THE BIG PICTURE: A Method to Compare Facilities' Environmental Performance

The Method to Compare Facilities Environmental Performance white paper explains how you can compare facilities' environmental performance by using environmental compliance and sustainability data, such as emissions and water in a summary mode to produce "smart scores". 

TOP 4 RESOURCE: The Value of Public Perception: Transforming Environmental Efforts From Compliance-Driven to Risk Management

Many companies fail to understand that their environmental footprint creates risk to their business that's on par with losing their largest customer. The need for the role of environmental management to transform from simply meeting compliance requirements to pervasive risk management has become more evident in recent years.

TOP 5 RESOURCE: CASE STUDY WEBINAR: Streamlining Compliance by Automating Data Collection and Inspections with System Integration and Mobile Technology

Find out how a real company facing real environmental compliance challenges was able to efficiently overcome them by designing and implementing new processes and systems.

In this webinar, you 'll learn how one company went from needing 8 Environmental Managers about 6 days a month to input data to requiring only 4 to 6 hours of review time a month instead of data entry work. See how this company captured environmental field data faster, responded quickly to environmental incidents with workflow processes and saved time and money in personnel and violation fines. 

What’s your employee’s time worth? A case study in efficiency

Enviance is proud of its customers’ accomplishments and we love to share their success stories. Throughout the year, we host webinars highlighting great results and best practices in the field. Most recently, Patriot Coal, a leading producer and marketer of coal in the eastern United States, and CH2MHill, a leading global provider of engineering, construction, and operations services, took center stage to discuss how Patriot uses the Enviance system to meet compliance obligations from the EPA and Department of Justice, plus other bottom line benefits, in Patriot Coal Saves Time and Money, Automates Water Management.

In the webinar, Patriot shares some impressive results, including a massive reduction in the time it took to input inspection data, which amounts to roughly 40,000 data points per month. Prior to Enviance, Patriot’s environmental data collection and inspections were done by hand, and took eight environmental managers six full days a month to input. After installing Enviance, the process was automated by the cloud-based system, reducing the time to just 4 to 6 hours of review a month. In the year after deploying Enviance, Patriot inspected 33% more outlets, and cut effluent limit violations from 120 to 3.

To hear the full story and view the webinar, please click here.