Environment | WPN World People News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement in a case against Pace International LLC, (Pace) of Wapato, WA, for federal Clean Air Act violations that occurred within the Yakama Indian Reservation.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency settled with Titanium Metals Corporation (TIMET), one of the world’s largest producers of titanium products, over violations of federal chemical safety and release reporting requirements following a 2012 chlorine release at its Henderson, Nev. facility. The company has agreed to pay a $500,000 civil penalty and will hire an independent auditor to assess the facility’s emergency preparedness programs and overall chemical safety.

The European Parliament opposed the European Commission plans to authorise five GMO products, maize Bt11, 1507 and MON810 (seeds and products), and a glyphosate-resistant cotton, in a vote on Thursday. MEPs reiterated their call for a reform of the EU’s GMO authorisation procedure.

Arctic sea ice extent for September 2016 was 4.72 million square kilometers (1.82 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 median extent for that month. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole. Sea Ice Index data.

Years before many thought possible, at least 73 countries that together account for at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions—including the United States and China—have formally joined the historic Paris Agreement.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement with Valero Refining Company - California over improper management of hazardous waste and toxic chemicals at its crude oil refinery in Benicia, on October 5. Violations included illegally disposing benzene into an unlined stormwater retention pond and not alerting the public about all of its toxic chemical releases.

On October 5, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fined Semiray, an industrial processing facility, $65,000 for violating federal hazardous waste laws.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice, on October 4, announced the filing of a complaint against NGL Crude Logistics, LLC and Western Dubuque Biodiesel, LLC and a settlement with Western Dubuque to address alleged violations of the Renewable Fuel Standard.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its sixth year of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data, detailing greenhouse gas pollution trends and emissions broken down by industrial sector, geographic region and individual facilities. In 2015, reported emissions from large industrial sources, representing approximately 50 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, were 4.9 percent lower than 2014, and 8.2 percent lower than 2011.

The UNFCCC Paris Agreement on fighting climate change, the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal, will come into force next month, having met the necessary conditions much earlier than predicted, as the European Parliament agreed to its ratification by the European Union in a historic vote on Tuesday. The EU will join the US, China and India, other global players and major greenhouse gas emitters, at a November meeting of Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) in Marrakesh.