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  • What is a reactive and non-reactive solid EHS?

    Reactive solid means any extremely hazardous substance denoted with “a” in the “Notes” column in Appendix A or B of 40 CFR 355. Reactive solids are more likely than other solids to be dispersed into the air due to the energy or heat created from their reactivity with water or…

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  • How did states form their SERCs?

    How are States expected to form their State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) as required under Title III? States are required to establish a State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) under Title III. The SERC may consist of existing emergency response organizations or may be an entirely new mechanism to address this…

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  • How does EPA oversee cleanup at the derailment site?

    EPA leads the Unified Command consisting of different agencies to approve Norfolk Southern’s workplans and weekly activities. EPA also coordinates with other agencies to perform oversight, such as with Ohio EPA, the Columbiana County Health District, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. EPA and Ohio EPA personnel oversee safety…

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  • Pesticide applicator quantity applied to threshold or transportation exemption

    A farmer contracts with an applicator to spray pesticides on his fields. The applicator drives a tank truck onto the farmers' field and sprays the pesticide from the truck onto the fields. For purposes of Section 302 emergency planning requirements, are the EHSs in the truck considered present at the…

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  • State refusing to comply with the emergency planning provisions

    What will happen if a State refuses to comply with the emergency planning provisions? A governor who does not designate a State emergency response commission becomes the commission by default. While the governor could choose not to fulfill any of the Title III provisions, the public could still request information…

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  • Section 302 notification requirements and mixtures with unknown components

    Are facilities exempt from Section 302 notification requirements if they produce, use, or store mixtures whose extremely hazardous substance component information is not available on the MSDS provided by the manufacturer? If the facility which produces, uses, or stores mixtures knows or reasonably should know the components of the mixture…

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  • What are the health agencies doing?

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) are analyzing their Assessment of Chemical Exposure (ACE) survey results to assess the health impacts of the train derailment. CDC and ATSDR continue to support the Ohio and Pennsylvania health departments and will be…

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  • Now that the track is rebuilt, what else needs to be done and how long will it take?

    There is still a lot of work to do. Contaminated soil to the north and south of the tracks need to be removed. A full site assessment, including extensive sampling, of areas and properties near the derailment site needs to be conducted. A full assessment of impacted creeks will be…

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  • How will the volume of corn ethanol produced above the grandfathering threshold be treated?

    See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help . For grandfathered facilities, only the baseline volumes are exempt from the 20 percent GHG reduction requirement Thus, RINs may be generated for baseline volumes of fuel regardless of lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions performance. Volumes of fuel produced above…

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  • Do grandfathered facilities have an additional 6 months to submit their engineering reviews to EPA?

    See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help . Yes. In the preamble to the final RFS2 regulations at 75 Fed. Regs. 14709 (March 26, 2010), EPA stated that, in an effort to reduce demand on engineering resources in the interim between promulgation of the rule and…

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  • What is meant by "grandfathered" fuel?

    See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help . Under the RFS2 regulations, renewable fuel produced from facilities that commenced construction before December 19, 2007 and which completed construction within 36 months without an 18 month hiatus in construction and thereby exempt from the minimum 20% GHG…

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  • How long will the grandfathering provision be effective? Once a grandfathered producer registers and completes their engineering review, will their baseline volume ever need to meet the 20% GHG reduction requirement?

    See More Frequent Questions about Fuels Registration, Reporting, and Compliance Help . If a facility meets the requirements for exemption from the 20% GHG reduction requirement pursuant to 40 CFR 80.1403(c ) or (d), then the baseline volume of renewable fuel produced by that facility is exempt from the 20%…

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  • If there is a government shutdown, will work continue on the cleanup?

    A 45-day continuing resolution was recently passed to avoid a shutdown. EPA’s emergency response efforts, such as in East Palestine, would move forward under a lapse in appropriation. As a result, EPA personnel would continue to fully support those efforts during a lapse.

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  • What is the process for refilling excavated areas at the derailment site?

    Areas that were excavated as part of the derailment cleanup effort will be backfilled with clean soil. Before soil is chosen as backfill it is tested for chemicals and heavy metals. While the source of backfill is still being identified, some areas have been temporarily backfilled with ballast (large gravel)…

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  • TPQ calculations for hazardous substances in molten form

    Facilities are subject to emergency planning and notification requirements under EPCRA (also known as SARA Title III) when an extremely hazardous substance (EHS) is present at a facility in an amount equal to or in excess of its TPQ. For some EHSs that are solids, two TPQs are given (e.g…

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