EPA Resolves Enforcement Action with Vishay Dale Electronics LLC for Alleged Hazardous Waste Violations in Columbus, Nebraska
LENEXA, KAN. (MARCH 4, 2024) – Vishay Dale Electronics LLC has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $387,000 to resolve violations of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act at its Columbus, Nebraska, facilities.
The company is a worldwide manufacturer of electronic components, as alleged by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), violated multiple federal regulations intended to protect workers and the public from exposure to the hazardous waste it generated.
EPA inspected Vishay Dale’s facilities in May and October 2022 and determined that the company violated federal law by:
Storing hazardous waste beyond 90 days without a required permit.
Failing to properly label, contain, and maintain hazardous wastes.
Failing to inspect hazardous waste containers.
Failing to separate incompatible hazardous wastes.
Failing to maintain and operate one of the facilities to minimize the possibility of fire, explosion, or any unplanned release of hazardous waste.
In response to the inspection findings, Vishay Dale agreed to take the necessary steps to return its facilities to compliance and will send quarterly reports to EPA demonstrating proper hazardous waste management.
According to EPA, Vishay Dale qualifies as a “large quantity generator” of hazardous solvents, caustics, and wipes. Exposure to these kinds of waste may lead to injury or death. Federal law requires facilities that generate hazardous wastes to identify the waste and implement safe generation, handling, transportation, and disposal practices.
EPA identified the communities surrounding Vishay Dale’s facilities as potentially sensitive areas, because of exposures to air toxics cancer risk, toxic releases to air, wastewater discharges, Superfund proximity, and hazardous waste proximity.
EPA is strengthening enforcement in overburdened communities to address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of industrial operations on vulnerable populations.
Learn more about EPA programs that protect people from exposure to hazardous waste.
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The company is a worldwide manufacturer of electronic components, as alleged by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), violated multiple federal regulations intended to protect workers and the public from exposure to the hazardous waste it generated.
EPA inspected Vishay Dale’s facilities in May and October 2022 and determined that the company violated federal law by:
Storing hazardous waste beyond 90 days without a required permit.
Failing to properly label, contain, and maintain hazardous wastes.
Failing to inspect hazardous waste containers.
Failing to separate incompatible hazardous wastes.
Failing to maintain and operate one of the facilities to minimize the possibility of fire, explosion, or any unplanned release of hazardous waste.
In response to the inspection findings, Vishay Dale agreed to take the necessary steps to return its facilities to compliance and will send quarterly reports to EPA demonstrating proper hazardous waste management.
According to EPA, Vishay Dale qualifies as a “large quantity generator” of hazardous solvents, caustics, and wipes. Exposure to these kinds of waste may lead to injury or death. Federal law requires facilities that generate hazardous wastes to identify the waste and implement safe generation, handling, transportation, and disposal practices.
EPA identified the communities surrounding Vishay Dale’s facilities as potentially sensitive areas, because of exposures to air toxics cancer risk, toxic releases to air, wastewater discharges, Superfund proximity, and hazardous waste proximity.
EPA is strengthening enforcement in overburdened communities to address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of industrial operations on vulnerable populations.
Learn more about EPA programs that protect people from exposure to hazardous waste.
# # #
Learn more about EPA Region 7
View all Region 7 news releases
Connect with EPA Region 7 on Facebook and Instagram
Follow us on X: @EPARegion7
EPA's Southeast New England Program announces additional $1.25M request for proposals to advance resilience in disadvantaged communities
BOSTON (Mar 4, 2024) – The Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Opportunity to Advance Resilience (SOAR) Fund is an EPA New England program designed to improve climate resiliency in disadvantaged communities throughout southeast New England. With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the EPA program will invest at least $5 million in SNEP disadvantaged communities by 2027. This Request for Proposal (RFP) represents the second round of funding for a total investment of over $2.5 million to date.
Disadvantaged Communities in the SNEP Region are identified via this mapping application. State, local and tribal governments, public and private universities and colleges, public and private nonprofit institutions/organizations, community colleges, philanthropic organizations, interstate agencies, Intertribal Consortia, hospitals operated by state, tribal, or local governments, or are nonprofits, and others are eligible to apply. Click here for full details on eligibility and geographic limitations on projects.
Important Dates:
April 16, 2024; 11a-1p EDT| Informational Webinar via Microsoft Teams (recording will be posted to SNEP website)
May 1, 2024; 11:59PM EDT | Last Day to Ask Questions (email: SECoastalNE@epa.gov)
June 7, 2024; 11:59PM EDT | RFP Closing Date and Application Deadline
July 2024 (Date TBD) | Anticipated Deadline for Recipients to Submit Remaining Required Application Materials
August 2024 (Date TBD) | Anticipated Award of Funds
Fall 2024 (Date Negotiable) | Anticipated Project Start Date
Background:
SNEP's mission is to foster collaboration among regional partners across southeast New England's coastal watersheds to protect and restore water quality, ecological health, and diverse habitats by sharing knowledge and resources, promoting innovative approaches, and leveraging economic and environmental investments to meet the needs of current and future generations.
More information about SNEP can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/snep
Disadvantaged Communities in the SNEP Region are identified via this mapping application. State, local and tribal governments, public and private universities and colleges, public and private nonprofit institutions/organizations, community colleges, philanthropic organizations, interstate agencies, Intertribal Consortia, hospitals operated by state, tribal, or local governments, or are nonprofits, and others are eligible to apply. Click here for full details on eligibility and geographic limitations on projects.
Important Dates:
April 16, 2024; 11a-1p EDT| Informational Webinar via Microsoft Teams (recording will be posted to SNEP website)
May 1, 2024; 11:59PM EDT | Last Day to Ask Questions (email: SECoastalNE@epa.gov)
June 7, 2024; 11:59PM EDT | RFP Closing Date and Application Deadline
July 2024 (Date TBD) | Anticipated Deadline for Recipients to Submit Remaining Required Application Materials
August 2024 (Date TBD) | Anticipated Award of Funds
Fall 2024 (Date Negotiable) | Anticipated Project Start Date
Background:
SNEP's mission is to foster collaboration among regional partners across southeast New England's coastal watersheds to protect and restore water quality, ecological health, and diverse habitats by sharing knowledge and resources, promoting innovative approaches, and leveraging economic and environmental investments to meet the needs of current and future generations.
More information about SNEP can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/snep
USDA Announces Approval of D-SNAP for California Disaster Areas
WASHINGTON, March 1, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that low-income California residents recovering from severe storms and power outages beginning January 21, 2024, could be eligible for a helping hand from the USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP).
USDA Highlights the Life-changing Impact of the McGovern-Dole Program on African Day of School Feeding
Maputo, Mozambique, March 1, 2024 – Today U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small visited Mungazine Primary School in Mozambique, a USDA-supported school and school garden through the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.
MSC reinstates India-USEC ‘Indusa’ string amid now-routine Red Sea diversions
The capacity reinstatement is also a boon for Indian shippers facing intermittent void calls and longer transits as they try to maximize exports ahead of the current fiscal year closing on March 31.
Modest economic hit from Red Sea disruption obscures larger shipping changes
Even as the industry seemingly adjusts to the new status quo of routing ships around southern Africa, there are significant — yet less apparent — changes afoot in container shipping, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.
EPA finalizes stronger safety standards to protect at-risk communities from chemical accidents
WASHINGTON – Today, Mar. 1, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is announcing finalized amendments to the Risk Management Program to further protect at-risk communities from chemical accidents, especially those located near facilities in industry sectors with high accident rates. The “Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Rule” includes EPA’s most protective safety provisions for chemical facilities in history, requiring stronger measures for prevention, preparedness, and public transparency. The rule protects the health and safety of all communities by requiring industry to prevent accidental releases of dangerous chemicals that could otherwise cause deaths and injuries, damage property and the environment, or require surrounding communities to evacuate or shelter-in-place.
“Many communities that are vulnerable to chemical accidents are in overburdened and underserved areas of the country,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “This final rule is a critical piece of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advancing environmental justice by putting in place stronger safety requirements for industrial facilities and new measures to protect communities from harm.”
The final rule includes revisions to improve chemical process safety, to assist in planning, preparing for, and responding to accidents, and to increase public awareness of chemical hazards at regulated sources. The rule requires regulated facilities to perform a safer technologies and alternatives analysis, and in some cases, facilities will be required to implement reliable safeguard measures as practicable. This new requirement is expected to reduce the frequency and severity of accidents.
For example, in 2019, an explosion and fire at the TPC Group in Port Neches, Texas, resulted in the largest number of evacuees in history (50,000 people), as well as $153 million in offsite property damage. Had the provisions being finalized today been in effect prior to the TPC Group accident, the facility would have been required to perform a safer technologies and alternatives analysis and implement at least one safeguard measure, which may have mitigated or prevented the accident from occurring.
The final rule covers all 11,740 regulated RMP facilities across the country and contains more rigorous requirements for a subgroup of facilities that are more accident-prone and pose the greatest risk to communities. EPA estimates that accidental releases from RMP facilities cost society more than $540 million each year. There are approximately 131 million people living within three miles of RMP facilities, of which approximately 20 million identify as Black or African American, 32 million identify as Hispanic or Latino, and 44 million earn less than or equal to twice the poverty level.
The rule also includes provisions such as empowering workers in safety decisions and increasing access to RMP facility information for communities living and working in the surrounding areas. To further enhance public transparency, in the coming months, EPA is working toward making RMP information available on the agency’s website.
EPA incorporated robust stakeholder input and coordinated with other federal chemical safety and security agencies during the rulemaking process that were vital in developing a comprehensive proposal and effective final rule to further protect at-risk communities from chemical accidents. Final amendments to the rule include:
Requiring a safer technologies and alternatives analysis, and in some cases, implementation of reliable safeguard measures for certain facilities in industry sectors with high accident rates.
Advancing employee participation, training, and opportunities for employee decision-making in facility accident prevention, for example:
Reiterating the allowance of a partial or complete process shutdown in the event of a potential catastrophic release.
Implementing a process to allow employees and their representatives to anonymously report specific unaddressed hazards.
Requiring third-party compliance audits and root cause analysis incident investigation for facilities that have had a prior accident.
Enhancing facility planning and preparedness efforts to strengthen emergency response by ensuring chemical release information is timely shared with local responders and a community notification system is in place to warn the community of any impending release.
Emphasizing the requirement for regulated facilities to evaluate risks of natural hazards and climate change, including any associated loss of power.
Increasing transparency by providing access to RMP facility information for communities nearby.
The rule will be published alongside a query tool which will allow people to access information for RMPs in nearby communities. The agency intends to update the tool in the coming months to allow visualization of climate change hazards, a request of several stakeholders. This commitment aligns with a key goal of the National Climate Resilience Framework—to equip communities with the information and resources needed to assess their climate risks and develop the climate resilience solutions most appropriate for them.
Read more information on the rule visit EPA’s Risk Management Program rule website.
“Many communities that are vulnerable to chemical accidents are in overburdened and underserved areas of the country,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “This final rule is a critical piece of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advancing environmental justice by putting in place stronger safety requirements for industrial facilities and new measures to protect communities from harm.”
The final rule includes revisions to improve chemical process safety, to assist in planning, preparing for, and responding to accidents, and to increase public awareness of chemical hazards at regulated sources. The rule requires regulated facilities to perform a safer technologies and alternatives analysis, and in some cases, facilities will be required to implement reliable safeguard measures as practicable. This new requirement is expected to reduce the frequency and severity of accidents.
For example, in 2019, an explosion and fire at the TPC Group in Port Neches, Texas, resulted in the largest number of evacuees in history (50,000 people), as well as $153 million in offsite property damage. Had the provisions being finalized today been in effect prior to the TPC Group accident, the facility would have been required to perform a safer technologies and alternatives analysis and implement at least one safeguard measure, which may have mitigated or prevented the accident from occurring.
The final rule covers all 11,740 regulated RMP facilities across the country and contains more rigorous requirements for a subgroup of facilities that are more accident-prone and pose the greatest risk to communities. EPA estimates that accidental releases from RMP facilities cost society more than $540 million each year. There are approximately 131 million people living within three miles of RMP facilities, of which approximately 20 million identify as Black or African American, 32 million identify as Hispanic or Latino, and 44 million earn less than or equal to twice the poverty level.
The rule also includes provisions such as empowering workers in safety decisions and increasing access to RMP facility information for communities living and working in the surrounding areas. To further enhance public transparency, in the coming months, EPA is working toward making RMP information available on the agency’s website.
EPA incorporated robust stakeholder input and coordinated with other federal chemical safety and security agencies during the rulemaking process that were vital in developing a comprehensive proposal and effective final rule to further protect at-risk communities from chemical accidents. Final amendments to the rule include:
Requiring a safer technologies and alternatives analysis, and in some cases, implementation of reliable safeguard measures for certain facilities in industry sectors with high accident rates.
Advancing employee participation, training, and opportunities for employee decision-making in facility accident prevention, for example:
Reiterating the allowance of a partial or complete process shutdown in the event of a potential catastrophic release.
Implementing a process to allow employees and their representatives to anonymously report specific unaddressed hazards.
Requiring third-party compliance audits and root cause analysis incident investigation for facilities that have had a prior accident.
Enhancing facility planning and preparedness efforts to strengthen emergency response by ensuring chemical release information is timely shared with local responders and a community notification system is in place to warn the community of any impending release.
Emphasizing the requirement for regulated facilities to evaluate risks of natural hazards and climate change, including any associated loss of power.
Increasing transparency by providing access to RMP facility information for communities nearby.
The rule will be published alongside a query tool which will allow people to access information for RMPs in nearby communities. The agency intends to update the tool in the coming months to allow visualization of climate change hazards, a request of several stakeholders. This commitment aligns with a key goal of the National Climate Resilience Framework—to equip communities with the information and resources needed to assess their climate risks and develop the climate resilience solutions most appropriate for them.
Read more information on the rule visit EPA’s Risk Management Program rule website.
EPA launches new office to strengthen engagement with agricultural and rural communities
WASHINGTON – Today, March 1, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it is establishing a new office to expand engagement opportunities with agricultural and rural communities. The creation of the first-ever EPA Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs represents the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing commitment to improving environmental stewardship and economic opportunity for America’s farmers and ranchers, as well as strengthening the vitality of small towns and rural communities.
“Farmers and ranchers are crucial partners as we work together to deliver clean air, clear water, and climate solutions, all while playing the critical role of ensuring an abundant fiber, fuel and food supply,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “With the launch of this new office, we are ensuring agricultural and rural stakeholders will continue to have a seat at the table for many years to come.”
Administrator Regan announced the creation of the new office alongside U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack while delivering remarks at the 2024 Commodity Classic in Houston, Texas, the largest farmer-led annual convention in the country. He is the first EPA Administrator in history to attend the seminal event.
The new Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will be led by Rod Snyder, who has served as Administrator Regan’s Senior Advisor for Agriculture since October 2021. The new office will expand on the work of the Ag Advisor and increase coordination with a network of existing agriculture policy advisors located in all ten EPA regional offices across the country.
In close coordination with EPA’s program offices and regions, the office will forge practical, science-based solutions that protect the environment while ensuring a vibrant and productive agricultural system. In support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Rural Partners Network, the new office will also collaborate with small, underserved towns and rural communities that are seeking federal investments in infrastructure upgrades and other community improvement opportunities.
Additionally, the new office will facilitate closer coordination with relevant federal and state partners such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and state departments of agriculture. The office will also house EPA’s existing Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee (FRRCC). The Committee provides independent policy recommendations to Administrator Regan on a range of policies that impact agriculture and rural communities.
Please visit the Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs website for more information.
“Farmers and ranchers are crucial partners as we work together to deliver clean air, clear water, and climate solutions, all while playing the critical role of ensuring an abundant fiber, fuel and food supply,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “With the launch of this new office, we are ensuring agricultural and rural stakeholders will continue to have a seat at the table for many years to come.”
Administrator Regan announced the creation of the new office alongside U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack while delivering remarks at the 2024 Commodity Classic in Houston, Texas, the largest farmer-led annual convention in the country. He is the first EPA Administrator in history to attend the seminal event.
The new Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will be led by Rod Snyder, who has served as Administrator Regan’s Senior Advisor for Agriculture since October 2021. The new office will expand on the work of the Ag Advisor and increase coordination with a network of existing agriculture policy advisors located in all ten EPA regional offices across the country.
In close coordination with EPA’s program offices and regions, the office will forge practical, science-based solutions that protect the environment while ensuring a vibrant and productive agricultural system. In support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Rural Partners Network, the new office will also collaborate with small, underserved towns and rural communities that are seeking federal investments in infrastructure upgrades and other community improvement opportunities.
Additionally, the new office will facilitate closer coordination with relevant federal and state partners such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and state departments of agriculture. The office will also house EPA’s existing Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee (FRRCC). The Committee provides independent policy recommendations to Administrator Regan on a range of policies that impact agriculture and rural communities.
Please visit the Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs website for more information.