ECO Update is a Bulletin series on ecological risk assessment of Superfund sites. These Bulletins serve as supplements to Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund, Volume II: Environmental Evaluation Manual (EPA/540-1-89/001). The information presented is intended to provide technical information to EPA and other government employees. It does not constitute rulemaking by the Agency, and may not b...

RTI, under a contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has developed a Web-based ArcIMS application, called the Web-Based Reach Indexing Tool (WebRIT). WebRIT is used to create, validate, and update National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) reach indexes, latitude/longitude coordinates, and other locational data. The initial version of WebRIT used a traditional ArcIMS architecture,...

In January of 2005, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the notice of the Animal Feeding Operations Consent Agreement and Final Order, offering animal feeding operations (AFOs) the opportunity to participate and help fund a nationwide emissions monitoring study that will be used to develop methodologies for estimating emissions from AFOs. As part of the Consent Agre...

On June 19, 2003, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) issued “Planting Trouble: Are Farmers Squandering Bt Corn Technology?” That report presented data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that found significant noncompliance by farmers in Iowa (IA), Minnesota (MN) and Nebraska (NE) with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) refuge requirements for corn...

On August 3, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Clean Power Plan (CPP) under Clean Air Act 111(d). The CPP limits carbon dioxide emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired electric power plants by providing state specific goals for carbon dioxide emissions from affected electric generating units. As part of the CPP, EPA considered the potential impacts of the CPP on ...

Wildland fires release large amounts of particulate matter (PM), CO, S02, NO,, and Volatile Organic Carbon (VOC), which can cause serious consequence of regional and local air quality (Sandberg et al., 1999). All these components except VOC are the principal pollutants whose emissions are subject to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) established by the U.S. Environmental Protect...

Perchloroethylene, also known as tetrachloroethylene or perc, has been used safely in industry for over 50 years. It is an effective, nonfl ammable solvent that does not contribute to the formation of smog (ground-level ozone) or to the depletion of stratospheric ozone. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the use of perchloroethylene as a replacement for stratospheric ozon...

In its first full Term with its newest member, the U.S. Supreme Court marched decidedly to the right with decisions narrowing abortion rights, striking down affirmative action programs, invalidating campaign finance regulations, and making it more difficult for victims of employment discrimination to seek redress. In the face of this rightward shift the most surprising decision of the Term was ...

Atrazine is a common agricultural herbicide with endocrine disruptor activity. There is evidence that it interferes with reproduction and development, and may cause cancer. Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved its continued use in October 2003, that same month the European Union (EU) announced a ban of atrazine because of ubiquitous and unpreventable water contaminat...

EPA is promulgating a significant new use rule (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for elemental mercury use in barometers, manometers, hygrometers, and psychrometers. This action will require persons who intend to manufacture (including import) or process elemental mercury for an activity that is designated as a significant new use by this final rule to notify EPA at least 90 ...