Thirteen of the 95 plants earning certification in the 2020 Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star manufacturing category produce portland cement: Argos USA LLC, Calera, Ala. and Harleyville, S.C.; Ash Grove Cement, Seattle; Buzzi Unicem USA, Festus, Mo. and Chattanooga, Tenn.; CalPortland Co., Rillito, Ariz.; Cemex USA, Miami; Drake Cement, Paulden, Ariz.; GCC of America, Pueblo, Colo. and Rapid City, S.D.;…
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Holcim (US) staged a ribbon-cutting ceremony late last month to cap a two-year Hagerstown, Md., cement plant modernization. The company underscored a clinker capacity increase upward of 200,000 tons annually, plus emissions controls abiding new Environmental Protection Agency National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) thresholds.
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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “Growing Burden of EPA Unfunded Mandates on the States” report examines the current challenge state governments face as they work to comply with and implement myriad new federal environmental regulations. States administer 96.5 percent of all Washington, D.C.-delegated environmental programs, while federal grants to states only fund 28 percent of the amount needed to run them, the report finds.
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A survey of current or target projects that the Environmental Protection Agency conducted with states and territories finds that $271 billion is needed over the next five years to maintain and improve the nation’s wastewater infrastructure. Investment areas or subjects include the pipes that carry wastewater to treatment plants, technology that treats the water, and methods for managing stormwater runoff.
Sources: Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill.; CP staff
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed “Improving Coal Combustion Residuals Regulation Act of 2015,” (H.R. 1734) in a bipartisan 258-166 vote. Sponsored by Rep. David McKinley, (R-WV), it codifies the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent decision to regulate fly ash and other coal combustion residuals (CCR) under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) ‘solid’ versus ‘hazardous’ waste provisions.
Read MoreSources: Environmental Protection Agency; CP staff
EPA has teamed with companion agencies, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Landscape Architects, plus downstream stakeholder organizations to form a network advancing green stormwater management, water conservation and pollution control measures.
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The National Institute of Building Sciences 2013 report, Moving Forward: Findings and Recommendations from the Consultive Council, spans five key areas: The Building Workforce; Guidance on the Use of Non-Potable Water; Understanding the Energy/Water Nexus; Supporting the Existing State and Local Building Regulatory Infrastructure; and, Developing the Business Case for Private Sector Investment in Hazard Mitigation.
Read MoreResponding last month to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to curb existing power plant carbon dioxide emissions (2005 levels) nearly one-third over the next 15 years, AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department Sean McGarvey reviewed implications:
Read MoreIn a ruling on National Resources Defense Council v. EPA, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upholds major parts of an agreement the cement industry and Environmental Protection Agency reached on the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), under which producers will invest heavily in emissions treatment and controls equipment toward a 2016 compliance target.
Read MoreSources: Environmental Protection Agency; CP staff
Under agreement with the EPA, Rochester, N.Y., builder Atlantic Funding & Real Estate will pay a $50,000 penalty for stormwater control rule violations at its Gateway Landing development, and invest nearly $70,000 in a bioswale to filter silt and pollution from the site’s contaminated runoff into the Erie Canal.
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