- the EPA implements many regulations on a wide variety of fieldsnew york city west side highway traffic image by Jorge Moro from Fotolia.com
The Environmental Protection Agency or EPA is an agency of the U.S. government that is responsible for protecting human health and the environment. To accomplish this task, the EPA sets standards for working conditions, such as setting a maximum pollution threshold, procedures to take in case disease outbreak, and dealing with various workplace hazards. The EPA also regulates and set limits for pollution by factories and businesses as well as surveying overall environmental health, such as air and water quality. - Certain pesticides identified by the EPA can only be applied by certified applicators or under the supervision of certified applicators. Programs that certify applicators can be located in various states and territories, and must adhere to EPA standards. In order to ensure that these training programs follow EPA standards, the pesticide safety education program (PSEP). This program periodically assess pesticide applicators, testing their knowledge of various pesticides and application processes. This allows the EPA to ensure that all certified pesticide applicators can perform their job safely and effectively. Periodically, the PSEP takes a national assessment of all certified applicators to achieve an understanding of the overall knowledge and competency of pesticide applicators throughout the United States.
- Underground storage tank (UST) systems that store hazardous substances must be installed and maintained according to EPA standards. Substances that qualify as being hazardous are listed under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). There are currently about 1,200 substances that are listed under the act. USTs that house hazardous materials must have a secondary containment system and a monitoring system for leak detection. A secondary containment system is a second wall that encloses the primary wall of the UST. That way, if the hazardous substance breaks through the primary wall, it can be contained by the secondary wall before damaging the environment. Examples of secondary containment systems include placing one tank inside of another tank or placing one pipe inside of another pipe. Placing the UST inside of a concrete vault, or lining the UST system with a material that is not affected by the hazardous substance.
- Manufacturers of the following engines and vehicles must pay a fee to the EPA. Manufacturers of motor engines and motor vehicle engines, which includes light-duty vehicles, light-duty trucks, medium-duty passenger vehicles, motorcycles, and heavy-duty engines and vehicles. Locomotive engines as well as marine compression engines are also included in the fee.
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