The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) reiterated its call for the creation of a national fire code for hazardous waste facilities following a deadly chemical fire in December. CSB had issued recommendations to the Environmental Technology Council (ETC), including the recommendation to petition the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to issue a standard specific to hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities after investigating accidents occurring in 2006 and 2009.
The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) announced that the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has approved two new construction and demolition safety standards – the ANSI/ASSE A10.1-2011 Pre-Project and Pre-Task Safety and Health Planning for Construction and Demolition Operations, and the ANSI/ASSE A10.26-2011 Emergency Procedures for Construction and Demolition Sites. The primary purpose of the new A10.1-2011 standard is to assist construction owners, project constructors and contractors with safe project planning. The new A10.26 standard applies to emergency procedures involving fires, collapses, hazardous spills and other emergencies that can endanger workers or other on-site people, ASSE said.
NSF International and Underwriters Laboratories have partnered to develop a health-based American National Standard, NSF/UL 440, for volatile organic emissions from building products and interior materials, furnishings, and finishes. The standard, which replaces the suspended GEI-NSF health-based product emissions standard, will be developed in accordance with NSF’s ANSI accredited procedures, with project management support provided by both organizations, the companies said.
Researchers at New Mexico Tech’s Petroleum Recovery Research Center with the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy (FE) have developed an online mapping portal to help oil and natural gas operators comply with a revised New Mexico waste pit rule. The pits are used to collect drilling wastes, produced water, and production fluids and wastes. In 2008, the state required additional hydrologic, engineering, and legal site criteria at the pits to protect soil and groundwater from contamination, the DOE said.
The Case IH’s Magnum Series tractor plant in Racine, Wis., has earned ISO 50001 certification to join the early crowd of companies meeting the standard. Third-party UL-DQS completed the audit and recommended the plant to the American National Accreditation Board (ANAB). The plant is also has been certified ISO 9001-, ISO-14001- and OHSAS 18001-certified, Case IH said.
The World Bank’s new methodology for estimating the emission reductions of sustainable agricultural practices has been approved under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), with the assessment conducted by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). The new methodology allows project developers to estimate GHG emissions reductions due to sustainable land management practices (SALM), including practices such as manure management, use of cover crops, and crop residual management and the introduction of trees to the landscape, allowing small farmers to enter the carbon market, SCS said.
