Before you begin your construction project, have you thought through all of the potential environmental compliance requirements and issues that could affect your project? Depending upon whether this is new construction, renovation or demolition construction project, there may be different things to consider. On many new construction projects, storm water is something that must be considered. Failure to comply with these regulations can be costly.
The eCAP® Air Emissions Module is designed to ensure facilities are complying with environmental compliance requirements outlined in Titles I-VI of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) as codified in 40 CFR Parts 50-99, as well as any state and local regulatory agency-specific requirements. Based upon a plant’s air permit, the facility will be classified as a major source, synthetic minor or minor source. Facilities with a Title V Operating Permit or FESOP (synthetic minor) can purchase the Air Emissions Module-Major Source Option. Facilities with a general operating permit can purchase the Air Emissions Module-Minor Source Option.
For more information on eCAP®, contact one of the environmental compliance technicians at August Mack Environmental at 800.579.0770.
For more information on eCAP®, contact one of the environmental compliance technicians at August Mack Environmental at 800.579.0770.
How much should you budget for environmental compliance programs? That's always been a tough question, but not with eCAP®. For a monthly fee, eCAP® fixes your costs annually and takes care of the majority of your compliance issues. So you don't have to worry about hiring extra staff or taking personnel away from more productive and profitable tasks. And when new regulations lead to new compliance requirements, we make sure you know about them. With eCAP®, compliance is not an unpredictable expense, but a monthly investment in peace of mind. Call us about this Environmental Compliance Solution! To talk to Tom Anderson with August Mack Environmental about this program, call 317.916.3105.
Implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS) at your company can be extremely beneficial by providing a general framework for organizing the tasks for effective environmental management. Additionally, implementing an EMS can have the following benefits:
- Integrates existing environmental programs
- Creates an orderly process for understanding and meeting regulatory requirements
- Integrates environmental issues into mainstream business activities
- Reduces risks associated with environmental issues
- Builds an engine of continuous environmental performance
- Improves environmental performance
- Enhances image with public, regulators, lenders and investors
- Increases efficiency/reducing costs
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation of fugitive volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions, or leaks, arose out of the research projects conducted between the 1950s and 1980s at several facilities throughout the United States. The research concluded the cumulative effect of all the leaking components may present environmental and health problems to the surrounding area. The research also concluded when most components leak, they do so at very low levels, thus a majority of fugitive emissions come from a very small percentage (not exceeding 10 percent) of high leaking components. The need for fugitive VOC emissions was also necessitated by the fact that approximately 70 percent of total VOC emissions from facilities engaging in processing of gases and light liquids arose from uncontrolled emissions.
To learn more about LDAR, click here to read an article written by one of the environmental compliance specialists at August Mack Environmental.
I can't tell you how many times potential clients have asked me about "Going Green" and immediately want to discuss sustainable business strategies, such as recycling, planting trees, etc. My first response is to ask whether they are compliant with all of the required environmental compliance requirements. The typical response is either "yes" or an inquisitive look. Based upon my experience, many facilities are not fully compliant with the numerous environmental compliance programs that are applicable to their operations. They are not willfully violating these requirements, but they just do not realize what all the requirements are that affect them! There are regulations that may be applicable related to boilers, chemicals, waste disposal, storage of oil related products, underground storage tanks and the list goes on. This is why it is difficult to be fully compliant. So where should you start? Step back and perform a full environmental compliance audit. If you need help with that, call me at 317.916.3105.
The Safety and Environmental Base Module is the foundation of eCAP®. This module is designed to provide ongoing solutions to environmental compliance requirements. It provides routine interaction with the environmental compliance consultant experts and plant personnel to ensure consistent environmental regulation compliance and program improvement. This can be accomplished at three levels: program development, program implementation and compliance monitoring. In addition, training can be provided to employees to establish an understanding of the facility’s environmental, health and safety mission. At least one of these options are required and selections of additional options is dependent upon the facility’s compliance needs.
August Mack Environmental provides numerous webinars on a variety of topics, including environmental compliance programs, environmental compliance auditing, health & safety compliance, sustainable business strategies and environmental management systems. To attend one of our free webinars, visit:http://www.augustmack.com/webinars/.
Managing safety for a single facility can be a challenging and daunting task. To complicate things, if your company has multiple facilities you could be facing additional, less obvious risks. The good news: knowing what to watch for and having a good system in place allows you to carry "lessons learned" from one facility to another. If your company operates multiple facilities this webinar will discuss how to minimize your costs and risks associated with multiple facilities.
Register here for the Environmental Compliance Assistance recorded webinar on Compound the Solution, Not the Problem - Safety Management at Multi-Facility Companies.
If safety is your concern, consider attending the National Safety Council Congress in San Diego. Tom Anderson, an environmental compliance specialist also will be speaking about an environmental topic during the technical sessions.
Click Here to Link to the Trade Show Registration
Tom Anderson of August Mack Environmental will be speaking during a session on Tuesday, October 5th during the 1:30-3:00pm session. He will be speaking on Environmental Record Keeping. You can also visit the August Mack Environmental booth in the Expo area.
Knowing the difficulties associated with compliance, August Mack has developed an environmental, health and safety compliance assurance program (eCAP®) that can revolutionize the way facilities manage environmental regulation compliance. eCAP® focuses on the facility’s regulatory compliance, while reducing facility expenses on an annual basis and allowing internal personnel to focus on production. August Mack’s proven program manages corporate risk by outsourcing a plant’s regulatory compliance for a fixed monthly fee.
Our experience shows that clients spend a significant amount of time and money participating in training seminars, policy and regulatory committee meetings to educate themselves and track the ever-changing regulatory requirements. After all the research and education, many manufacturers are still uncertain regarding the applicability of regulations for their specific operations. In the end, compliance can only be confirmed via regulatory agency inspections, which often result in “Notices of Violation”, penalties and fines. eCAP® is designed to eliminate all of these uncertainties and allows you to focus on your bottom line.
eCAP® provides a team of experts in all areas of EPA environmental compliance to implement, review and maintain an environmental management system that ensures compliance with current and future regulations. This allows the facility personnel to focus efforts on production requirements and August Mack experts to focus on the facility’s EH&S compliance issues.
eCAP® is modularly designed to help facilities achieve and maintain compliance with the following:
- Clean Air Act (CAA)
- Clean Water Act (CWA)
- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- Resource Conversation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
An Environmental Management System (EMS) is the business processes an organization uses to understand and manage their effect on the environment. An EMS follows the Plan - Do - Check - Act process (PDCA). The graphic below illustrates this process.
August Mack Environmental has a program that is specifically designed to meet the needs of an EMS. Our eCAP (Compliance Assurance Program) helps a facility manage its day-to-day environmental compliance programs. To learn more about eCAP, click here to visit our eCAP website.
It is estimated leaking components in facilities nationwide emit more than 40,000 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) each year. Recent EPA audits suggest that actual facility leak rates are over five times as much as what had been previously reported. The EPA is increasing enforcement and more facilities are becoming applicable to Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) program requirements through the Clean Air Act via New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) regulations.
This informative webinar will detail applicability requirements of facilities subject to LDAR program from NSPS and NESHAP regulations. The webinar will also explore implementation options that facilities have to fully execute LDAR.
Click here to view this recorded webinar presented by an August Mack Environmental Compliance Consultant.
Since its inception in 1999, eCAP® has been implemented for more than 100 clients throughout North America. When trying to determine the top benefits of eCAP, we asked our clients what they thought and four top benefits were mentioned: file organization, fixed cost structure, technical expertise and preservation of institutional knowledge.
Employees leave companies. Companies hire new employees. When an employee leaves a company that knowledge base, what is between their ears, leaves with them. To lessen the transition and the loss of knowledge that invariably happens during employee turnover is another key element of the eCAP® system. Documenting methodology, data collection points and emission factors is a function of eCAP®. The web page is a tool that allows the seamless flow of information from August Mack's environmental compliance consultants to our clients management staff. Process diagrams, report filings, worksheets, etc. are maintained on the Web site and provide a step by step historical record of facility inspections reporting functions and day-to-day corporate environmental compliance activities. This regimented effort reduces and eliminates that loss of knowledge that occurs when employees leave. It's a hallmark of the program.
To learn more about how the loss of institutional knowledge can impact your facility, click here to read an article written by one of the environmental compliance technicians at August Mack Environmental.
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