ohio epa

Don’t Wait! Register now for the Ohio EPA’s 8th Annual Compliance Assistance Conference

Every person (business or government agency) subject to the regulations of the Ohio EPA should attend the Compliance Assistance Conference hosted by the Ohio EPA scheduled for September 23rd & 24th.  The Conference should have something for everyone who needs to know about the environmental protection regulations of the OH EPA.  While a large part of the Conference is directed toward businesses that need to know the basic requirements of environmental regulatory compliance, the agenda also includes advanced topics such as air permitting requirements for Major Sources (Title V) and an in-depth look at the regulations pertaining to the management of hazardous waste.

The general agenda for the two-day conference covers a variety of environmental compliance-related topics, including:

  •  EPCRA, TRI and RMP Reporting
  • Air Permitting Basics and Reporting
  • Preparing for an Ohio EPA Inspection
  • Hazardous Waste Requirements – Basic and Advanced Sessions
  • Understanding Source Water Protection Areas and How to Protect Them *NEW*
  • SPCC Requirements – Basic Overview and In-Depth Course *NEW*
  • Reporting When Things Go Wrong
  • Solid Waste Basics and Recycling Opportunities
  • NPDES Permits and Electronic (e-DMR) Reporting and GIS Capabilities at Ohio EPA *REVISED*
  • Ohio EPA’s new eDoc Management System *NEW*
  • Major Source/Title V Permitting and New Source Review (NSR)
  • Effectively Communicating with Ohio EPA – Strategies for Success *NEW*
  • Storm Water Requirements for Industrial Activity *REVISED*
  • Wetland Requirements for Construction . . . and much more!

A special multi-session course is being offered this year on SPCC (Spill Prevention Control & Countermeasure) requirements, presented by an expert from US EPA.

If you require assistance completing minor source air permit applications, the Conference offers a hands-on session on this topic.

Also included new breakout sessions and new speakers to the line-up.

During the general session, business leaders will share their insight as to how they’ve gone above and beyond to meet their compliance obligations and implement sustainable business practices.

All this, and the fee is only $135/person for both days!

Be sure to attend my one day Hazardous Waste (RCRA) & HazMat Employee (USDOT) training seminar on September 25th in Columbus, OH!

Get your HazMat Employee & RCRA certification.
Hazardous Waste Personnel training, HazMat Employee Training

High-quality RCRA and HazMat Employee training

 

 

 

To view the complete conference agenda and register for the event, visit Ohio EPA’s Compliance Conference website at http://epa.ohio.gov/compliance_conference.aspx.

For more information contact:
Laurie Stevenson
Ohio EPA, Director’s Office
Deputy Director, Business Relations
614.644.2344
laurie.stevenson@epa.ohio.gov

Subscribe to the Ohio EPA Compliance and Prevention Quarterly Newsletter

Any business in Ohio, especially one involved in manufacturing, likely find itself subject to the regulations of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.  As a state with an authorized environmental program, the Ohio EPA is allowed to make its state regulations more strict and more broad than those of the Federal USEPA.  Even where the regulations of the USEPA and Ohio EPA are similar, there can be differences in how the state chooses to interpret and enforce those regulations.  If you are subject to the regulations of the Ohio EPA then it is in your best interest to pay attention to their announcements, notices, and deadlines.  A good way to do that is to subscribe to the quarterly newsletter published by the Ohio EPA.  It’s a great way to stay informed of regulatory updates that may have a direct impact on your compliance status and suggestions on pollution prevention technologies.

Subscribe to the Ohio EPA Compliance and Prevention Quarterly Newsletter

In addition to receiving updated information, you can use the above link to review past newsletters.  See what you missed!

My recommendation to anyone involved in regulatory compliance is to stay informed.  The Ohio EPA Compliance and Prevention Newsletter is one way to do that.

From the Ohio EPA website:

Keep up with current pollution prevention and compliance assistance activities in Ohio and elsewhere. Find out what other industries are doing in the environmental arena, get regulatory updates, and info on new P2 technologies. If you have any comments or suggestions, we’d like to hear from you. Please send any comments or suggestions to Dave Foulkes or call (614) 644-3469.

The Ohio EPA regulations require training for Hazardous Waste Personnel and HazMat Employees.  Contact me for this training or any questions you may have about the management of hazardous waste or the transportation of hazardous materials.

If your interest extends beyond Ohio, you may wish to consider subscribing to my monthly HazMat Transportation and RCRA Newsletter

2013 SUPPLEMENTARY ANNUAL REPORT FOR GROUND WATER MONITORING

The instructions, forms, and mailing list for the Ground Water Monitoring Report are supplied to the Division of Materials and Waste Management (DMWM) by the Division of Drinking and Ground Waters (DDAGW). Technical questions that are specific to your site should be asked of DDAGW staff through your DMWM District Office contact. Adobe Acrobat PDF files of the instructions and the Master Parameter List are available on DMWM’s 2013 Hazardous Report Web site.

Data File Format

Please review the submittal instructions throughout the report form as they have changed. The five data files being utilized (Facility, Wells, Params, Sampling, and GWdata) have been updated. Minor changes have been made to the databases including removal of some non-required information and updating some columns. The five database files must be submitted in xls or dbf format, with the ability for Ohio EPA to manipulate the files to add them to the statewide database. The data format of each file, along with an example, has been provided as part of the instructions. The report form includes required information necessary for Ohio EPA to perform data validation on the submitted data and to include it in our statewide database. To request previous years’ electronic files or for other annual report questions, please contact Katie Rader of DDAGW’s Central Office via phone (614-644-3128) or e-mail (katie.rader@epa.ohio.gov).

*****Important Updates for 2014

  1. Particular attention will be paid by the Ohio EPA DDAGW reviewer to having correctlatitudes/longitudes in decimal degrees for the general facility (Facility Tab) and each well (Wells Tab). The annual report submittal will not be deemed accurate and complete if these portions are missing or in an incorrect format.
  2. Particular attention will be paid by the Ohio EPA DDAGW reviewer to use of the parametercode names provided in the 2013 Updated Master Parameter List. The annual report submittal will not be deemed accurate and complete if these portions are missing or in an incorrect format.
  3. A complete copy of the report and the diskette/CD must be sent to the Division of Materials and Waste Management (DMWM) Central Office in Columbus with an additional complete copy sent to the District Office of DMWM. Please reference the district office mailing on the cover letter that accompanies the submittal. Addresses for Central Office and each District Office are available on the first page of each form. All information may be submitted on diskette/CD in the required format.

A Notice From the Ohio EPA Regarding the 2013 Hazardous Waste Report – Reminder and Changes

Below is the text from a notice from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency regarding the Biennial Hazardous Waste Report due March 1, 2014 for calendar year 2013.  Read here how this once annual report was changed to biennial in 2012.

The reporting season has begun for the 2013 Hazardous Waste Report, which is due on March 1, 2014. This report is required of any facility that generated 2200 pounds or more of hazardous waste (or 2.2 pounds or more of acute hazardous waste) in any calendar month in 2013.

There are no changes to the reporting process, which means no changes to the eBusiness data entry screens or paper forms. eBiz users can now access reports from their facility’s entire period of record. In the past users were only able to access reports from 2009 or later. The only changes for the 2013 report itself are changes to some of the Management Method Codes and to the Waste Minimization Codes. You can see a list of these changes on pages 2 to 3, 29 to 30 and 62 in the Hazardous Waste Report Instructions. If you are filing a paper report or importing data files make sure that you are using correct and up to date codes or your report will fail data validation.

If you haven’t filed electronically before, please consider doing so this year. The software has many features that help you prepare the report quickly and more accurately than on paper. The software allows the user to validate some of the information provided in the report which helps to reduce the possibility of violations. It also includes the ability to copy a previous year’s report as a starting point for a new report, even if you haven’t filed electronically in the past. Remember, Ohio EPA recently started collecting Hazardous Waste Reports biennially. So the most recent report you will be able to access is from 2011. If you do plan on filing electronically this year for the first time make sure to start the process early so you can obtain a PIN and associate your Responsible Official with your facility.

The Responsible Official for the facility is the person who gets the electronic filing process started by applying for the eDRUMS service. To determine if you meet the requirement for either a Responsible Official or Delegated Responsible Official please reference OAC 3745-50-42. Begin by accessing our training materials on the hazardous waste reporting web page. These consist of three recorded webinars, or PDF copies of the PowerPoint presentations from the webinars:

  1. Getting Started in the eBusiness Center
  2. Applying for and Delegating the HW Service
  3. Preparing a Report in eDRUMS.

If your facility’s report was filed electronically for 2011 but there have been personnel changes, it’s time to have new users get eBiz accounts or terminate access rights for users no longer involved with the facility’s report. For information on removing preparers or Responsible Officials, see “Changing Roles in eBiz” on the Report web page.

If you have any questions, including questions or concerns about getting started in eBiz, please contact:

Thomas Babb, Hazardous Waste Report Coordinator
Thomas.Babb@epa.ohio.gov

(614) 914-2527

or

Paula Canter, System Administrator
paula.canter@epa.ohio.gov

(614) 644-2923

If you are a facility that is required to file an Annual Ground Water Monitoring Report in addition to the HWR please read these updates for the 2013 Reporting cycle.

If you are required to submit the biennial hazardous waste report in Ohio, that means you are also required to provide formal training (classroom or on-the-job) to all facility personnel annually so they are able to manage hazardous waste in compliance with the regulations (Ohio has an authorized hazardous waste program, so you must refer to state regulations).  In addition to hazardous waste management procedures, employees must be trained on your facility’s emergency response procedures.  I can provide this training (also HazMat Employee training required by the USDOT) in a variety of formats:  Seminars, Onsite, Web-Based.  Please contact me for a free consultation about your training requirements.

Ohio Annual Hazardous Waste Report Changed to Biennial

In an article last year I wrote of the proposed change to the frequency of the Hazardous Waste Report in Ohio.  The (at that time) proposal would change the frequency of the report from annual to biennial (every two years).

On January 24, 2013 the Ohio EPA announced the finalization of the rules package (known as the “Biennial Set”) making this proposal effective as of February 5, 2013.  As of that date the Hazardous Waste Report in Ohio will be due March 1st of every even-numbered year for the previous calendar year.

This eliminates the Annual Hazardous Waste Report due March 1, 2013 for calendar year 2012 in Ohio.  The next due date for the report will be March 1st of 2014 for calendar year 2013.

This change will impact the reporting responsibilities for the following Ohio facilities:

  • Treatment Storage & Disposal Facilities (TSDF)
  • Large Quantity Generators of hazardous waste
  • Small Quantity Generators of hazardous waste – if required to submit the report by Ohio EPA

This change should not have any impact on facilities outside of Ohio except for TSDF’s who accept hazardous waste from generators in Ohio, they may need to only provide information to their customers every other year instead of annually.

This change brings Ohio in line with the regulations of the US EPA which mandate a biennial frequency for the hazardous waste report.  Ohio prior to this rule was like many states with an authorized hazardous waste program that choose to go above and beyond the Federal standards.

More information on the rule is available at the Register of Ohio.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions about the regulations of the US EPA or the Ohio EPA.

Ohio EPA to Change the Annual Hazardous Waste Report to Biennial

The Biennial Hazardous Waste Report (due March 1st of every even numbered year for the previous calendar year) is a requirement of the US Environmental Protection Agency for the following:

  • Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSDF’s) of hazardous waste.
  • Large Quantity Generators (LQG’s) of hazardous waste.
  • Small Quantity Generators (SQG’s) of hazardous waste who receive a notice to submit the Report.

However, States with an Approved Hazardous Waste Program may require the Report to be submitted annually (March 1st of every year for the previous calendar year).

Read about the 2011 Hazardous Waste Report due March 1st of 2012.

Until recently Ohio was a state with an approved hazardous waste program that required the Hazardous Waste Report to be submitted annually.  That changed with Ohio Senate Bill 294 which was signed into law by Governor John Kasich in early June and became effective September 5, 2012.  The Ohio EPA does a good job of summarizing how this will impact regulated industry within the state, so I’ll quote the website.

Generator and Facility Report Frequency will change from Annual to Biennial

Senate Bill 294 was signed by the Governor in early June, and becomes effective September 5, 2012.  One component of that bill allows the Director of Ohio EPA to report certain hazardous waste management data to the Governor biennially now instead of annually.  Ohio EPA intends to change certain annual reporting requirements to biennial reporting requirements to correspond with the federal program. 

Under these intended rule changes, your “Hazardous Waste Annual Report” currently due March 1, 2013, for 2012 data would not be required to be submitted to Ohio EPA.  Your first biennial report would be due March 1, 2014, for 2013 data. 

However, if you normally submit other reports/data with your annual report that are not part of that report (e.g., the ground water monitoring annual report required by OAC 3745-65-94), those other reports/data will maintain their annual reporting requirement.

It is our goal to have annual to biennial rule amendments effective prior to March 1, 2013. If the process is delayed for some reason, Ohio EPA will use enforcement discretion and you will not be held to the annual report requirement that is changing to biennial.

So there you have it, right from the Ohio EPA website.  While this will reduce the reporting requirement for hazardous waste generators in Ohio, it doesn’t affect any other rules applicable to generators of hazardous waste, such as the requirement for Large Quantity Generators of hazardous waste to provide annual training for Facility Personnel who may come into contact with hazardous waste or respond to a hazardous waste emergency.  The requirement for training can be found at 3745-65-16 of the Ohio Administrative Code referenced from 3745-52-34(A)(4).

Whether you are located in Ohio or anywhere else in the Union, the hazardous waste regulations of both State and Federal agencies are constantly changing and require you to keep abreast of those changes.  Contact me with questions about the hazardous waste regulations in your state or arrange to attend one of my training sessions.