The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against Promesa Systems Inc., a New York City nonprofit organization providing care to individuals with developmental disabilities, for allegedly firing an employee who voiced workplace safety and health concerns and filed a complaint with OSHA. Also named in the suit is Promesa Systems' wholly owned subsidiary, East Harlem Council for Community Improvement Inc., and three managers.
Yesterday at the National Press Club, administration officials highlighted recent grants released by the Partnership for Sustainable Communities to support more livable and sustainable communities across the country.
EPA is presenting the 10th annual Green Power Leadership Awards honoring 18 EPA Green Power Partners for their achievements in using green power, helping to grow the nation’s voluntary green power market, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The 18 award winners are using more than 5 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually, equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of more than 700,000 vehicles.
EPA is awarding 17 cooperative agreements to nonprofit organizations and a university, totaling approximately $2.4 million to improve indoor air quality nationwide. Americans spend about 90 percent of their time indoors where levels of air pollution may be two to five times higher than outdoor levels. Indoor air pollutants, such as dust mites, can trigger asthma attacks and radon can cause lung cancer.
U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso today called for a ban on the practice of cleaning out debris from gas piping using pressurized natural gas. In a video safety message released today, Dr. Moure-Eraso called the practice, known in the industry as a gas blow, to be “inherently unsafe activity.” The CSB’s safety message follows an investigation into the February 7, 2010, explosion at the Kleen Energy power plant in Middletown, Connecticut that killed six workers.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 499 citations, 61 orders and three safeguards during special impact inspections conducted at 15 coal and 15 metal/nonmetal mine operations last month.
EPA has chosen eight communities to receive technical assistance on sustainable growth and development issues. The assistance will help local governments address infrastructure constraints, protect water quality, set development standards, and create options for housing and transportation. EPA will work in collaboration with its partners at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Transportation (DOT) to help communities become more environmentally and economically sustainable as part of the agency’s broader work through the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.
EPA is inviting small businesses to participate in an advocacy review panel focusing on formaldehyde. The agency plans to implement regulations for the new Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act, enacted in July 2010.The proposed regulation will establish limits for composite wood products (hardwood plywood, medium-density fiberboard, and particleboard) so these products meet emission standards.
OSHA is proposing to issue an interpretation of the term “feasible administrative or engineering controls” as used in the general industry and construction occupational noise exposure standards and to amend its current enforcement policy to reflect the interpretation. For the purpose of enforcing compliance with these standards, the proposal states that “feasible” has its ordinary meaning of capable of being done.
EPA is proposing to add nine hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the general Superfund section of the National Priorities List (NPL). Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.
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