Newsletter

With urging by the President, Congress moved to approve a measure to avert a potential rail strike that would have had almost certainly had severe negative impacts on the U.S. economy. By a bipartisan vote of 290 to 137, the House approved the measure, HJR 100, and sent it to the Senate. The Senate took up the measure with a 80-15 vote to approve on December 1. President Biden signed the measure into law on December 2.

When a friend asked Byrne Evans if he wanted to join him to work at International-Matex Tank Terminals’ (IMTT) St. Rose Terminal one summer, Evans jumped right on in. After his initial experience, Evans extended that summer job into what has become a full-time career, today working as EHSS Director – Northeast Region for IMTT.

“I really enjoy getting out into the field and talking with the employees of our company,” Evans said. “We have some great people that work with us and getting to go to all our locations and meeting them is a great perk of my job. I often have to deliver training on various environmental and safety topics and I really enjoy coming up with way to make the training interacting and valuable.”

September 2022 marks 20 years ago that Michael Santee, CSP, CPP, Environmental, Health, Safety and Security Manager, was hired by CITGO Petroleum Corporation. Initially working for the company as a Regional EHS&S Manager in their Terminals and Pipelines Business Unit, Santee had limited experience in the terminal industry at the time, but possessed an extensive background in EH&S compliance activities.

“I remember one of my first important meetings was the annual one-day ILTA EH&S Committee Meeting that was held in Portland, Maine with less than 15 individuals at the table,” Santee recalled. “Now these meetings include 50 -75 members, twice per year, spanning multiple days.”

The Waterways Journal

SEPTEMBER 23, 2022  BY JIM MYERS 

Washington, D.C.—Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) released his much-anticipated permitting reform text, but initially it appeared to do little to resolve bipartisan opposition or clear a path to a continuous resolution (CR) needed to keep the government temporarily funded. 

Key provisions call for a two-year target for environmental reviews for certain major energy and natural resource projects, a one-year target for other projects, a lead agency to coordinate reviews, 150-day statute of limitations on court challenges and dispute resolution procedures for resolving disagreements. 

Proposed Superfund Ruling

The EPA’s proposed designation of PFOA and PFOS as “hazardous substances” under CERCLA continues to receive pushback from multiple industry groups. The EPA recently rejected a request for a regulatory impact analysis (RIA) on the proposed rule, which would have required the EPA to provide a direct and indirect cost estimate of the rule.

Some industrial groups, including several water and solid waste agencies, have requested a 60- or 90-day extension on the comment period for the Superfund proposed ruling due to the novelty of the rule and controversial nature. The current deadline for comments on the proposed ruling is November 7.