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Overview of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a U.S. governmental agency tasked with protecting human health and the environment. It conducts research, monitor and set standards on air and water pollution, and inform and educate the public about environmental issues. In addition, the EPA frequently releases rules and regulations aimed at ensuring minimal environmental impact from human activities.

In the late 1960's, after mounting concerns about human impact on the nation's environment, the EPA was established by Executive Order and confirmed by the House and Senate in order to create a single government agency whose purpose was to monitor the environment and set standards to ensure it’s protection. The agency started operations on December 2nd, 1970.

The EPA is led by an Administrator appointed by the President and approved by Congress. It is based in Washington, D.C. and has ten regional offices, 27 laboratories, and over 15,000 full time employees. Moreover, it is authorized to impose fines and sanctions on those in violation of EPA regulations.

 

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Articles about Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Achieving Compliance Under the New EPA Clean Air Regulations
    Online Article

    Inspectioneering recently had the opportunity to chat with Kent Cheese, Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Bureau Veritas, a global leader in testing, certification and inspection. Mr. Cheese has more than 20 years of experience working across several industries, including petrochemical and refining. Our discussion focused on the recent fenceline monitoring rule set by EPA to reduce plant emissions and the steps owner-operators can take to achieve compliance.

  • 10 Ways to Improve Process Safety Management Success
    Online Article

    In the oil & gas, chemical and petrochemical industries, identifying, understanding, and controlling process hazards in order to prevent process-related injuries and incidents is of the utmost importance. EPA and OSHA have released numerous regulations aimed at eliminating process safety incidents on American soil. Help ensure your facility stays in compliance with these 10 simple tips for improving your PSM program.

  • Sands of Time Create The Mechanical Integrity Compliance Officer (MICO)
    November/December 2014 Inspectioneering Journal
    By Marc McConnell, P.E. at Pro-Surve Technical Services, Josh Yoakam at Holly Refining and Marketing - Tulsa, LLC, and Jeannie Beth Richey at Sasol North America, Inc.

    The role of an API inspector is rapidly changing. Necessary skills for success have transformed as technology, standardization, and regulations have become part of the way of life.

  • How Facilities Can Better Ensure SPCC Compliance
    May/June 2014 Inspectioneering Journal
    By Kelly Lagana at BLR

    Several catastrophic spills over the past few years have sparked significant interest in oil spill prevention across the industry. Not only do facilities with large amounts of oil want to prevent environmental damage, loss of product, and civil lawsuits, but, assuming their operations are based in the United States, they must also comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations.

  • SPCC Compliance Dates
    July/August 2011 Inspectioneering Journal

    On October 7, 2010, EPA maintained the November 10, 2010 compliance date for drilling, production or workover facilities that are offshore or that have an offshore component, and for onshore facilities required to have and submit Facility Response Plans (FRPs). However, EPA extended the compliance date an additional year for all other facilities to amend or develop a SPCC Plan until November 10, 2011.

  • Global, simultaneous inspection with Acoustic Emission Testing
    Partner Content

    AET is a powerful, non-intrusive inspection technique to verify the structural integrity of pressure vessels, spheres, high-temperature reactors and piping, coke drums, above-ground storage tanks, cryogenic storage tanks, and more.

  • The New SPCC Rule Incorporates Industry Standards and Best Practices
    November/December 2002 Inspectioneering Journal
    By Philip Myers at Chevron Texaco

    The purpose of the new SPCC rule is two-fold; i.e. to prevent oil spills from occurring and to respond to them if they do occur. We believe that few will argue that prevention is far better and less costly than response in general. The focus of this paper is to highlight how the new SPCC invokes existing industry standards as a requirement for implementation at all covered facilities in an effort to prevent spills. In particular, we focus on the most important industry standards that are required to prevent spills from occurring in existing facilities. Since the SPCC rule does not specifically identify any required standards the task of figuring out which standards are applicable and must be implemented is a challenging one. There are at least a hundred industry standards related to tanks and terminal facilities.

  • Inadequate Inspection Documentation Cited in One of Four Root Causes In 1995 Explosion
    May/June 1998 Inspectioneering Journal
    By Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the report on this catastrophic failure that involved two storage tanks in a Pennsylvania refinery. The report issued March 20, 1998, stated that while both tanks had roof replacements since their initial construction, no further information was available about routine inspection or maintenance procedures.

  • Maintenance, Mechanical Integrity, and OSHA
    May/June 1995 Inspectioneering Journal
    By Paul Pausky at F.B. Dunn & Associates, Inc., and Mark Fitzgerald at F.B. Dunn & Associates, Inc.

    Equipment maintenance methods and philosophies continue to evolve. What has taken many by surprise is the rate of change and the sense of urgency that now surrounds issues related to Mechanical Integrity (MI) in the field of maintenance management.

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