Category: News You Can Use

News You Can Use

Posted on by Conversion Technology

Adam Haroz, CTI’s Director of Engineering, will be speaking at this year’s American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) conference. He will be presenting on the topic of Robot Risk Assessment Requirements. He will review the updated standards and regulations around robot safety, as well as risk assessment methodologies and risk reduction techniques. The presentation will be on Monday, June 5th.

https://safety.assp.org/

The creation of the NFPA 660 standards is in the works. The NFPA standards governing combustible dust are being combined into a new overarching standard, NFPA 660. The first public comment period has ended. The updated standard is expected to be published early next year.

https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=660

 

PH Haroz Becomes Member of 7 Continents Marathon Club

Posted on by Conversion Technology

Congratulations to PH Haroz, President of CTI, for completing a bucket list item of running a marathon in all 50 United States and on all 7 continents. He completed a marathon in Antarctica in December of 2021 and became a member of the exclusive 7 Continents Marathon Club.

Antarctic Ice Marathon 2021
Antarctic Ice Marathon 2021

This quest was 12 years in the making. He is not even close to being finished with running, and the CTI family look forward to cheering him on with pride for many more runs to come.

Upcoming Webinars

Posted on by Conversion Technology

Join CTI for our upcoming webinar presentations:

  • October 20, 2020: Roles, Responsibilities, and Accountability of Machine Guarding
    Sponsor/Event: VPPPA Region IV 2020 Safety & Health Excellence Virtual Conference
    Speaker: Adam Haroz, EIT
    More Info: http://www.regionivvppconference.com/)
  • November 11, 2020: Combustible Dust Basics, Standards, and Requirements and DHA Methodologies
    Sponsor/Event: Association for Rubber Products Manufacturers (ARPM) Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Summit
    Speaker: Adam Haroz, EIT
    More Info: https://arpminc.com/ehs/)
  • November 19, 2020: Completing Multisite DHAs Across Many Locations in Food and Grain Industries
    Sponsor/Event: Dust Safety Science
    Speaker: Jeff Davis, PE
    More Info: https://dustsafetyacademy.com

FREE WEBINAR: Combustible Dust Hazards and NFPA Compliance for Storage Tanks

Posted on by Conversion Technology

Title: Combustible Dust Hazards & NFPA Compliance for Storage Tanks
Date: Thursday, October 15, 2020
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CST
Duration: 1.5 hours
Register: https://go.cstindustries.com/l/797123/2020-09-11/2zgrc

CTI has teamed up with the Fike Corporation and CST to co-host an educational webinar to discuss Real World Insight From a Team of Industry Experts on Dust Testing Analysis and Recommendations for Deflagration Venting and Suppression.  The webinar will cover:

  • Combustible Dust Hazard Analyses & NFPA Standards
  • Combustible Dust Deflagration Mitigation & NFPA Compliance
  • Dust Hazards for Storage Systems Design Criteria & NFPA Influence

Georgia EPD Increases Air Permit Fees

Posted on by Conversion Technology

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD) have issued a draft of the “Air Permit Application & Annual Permit Fees” manual and associated proposed rules update. The fees manual is released annually detailing application fees, annual permit fees, and procedures for calculating the fees and emissions for facilities. With this change, the annual air permit fees will increase effective July 1, 2020 and will apply to the fees due on September 1, 2020. Additionally, the fees for air permit applications will increase effective March 1, 2021. This proposed change is still open for comment. The GAEPD held an online public meeting on Monday, March 30, 2020 at 2:00 pm. There were no comments received during the meeting. Written comments can still be submitted, but must be received by 4:30 PM on Monday, April 6, 2020. The proposed updates will then be voted on at the Board of Natural Resources meeting on May 19, 2020.
Continue reading “Georgia EPD Increases Air Permit Fees” →

Proposed Increases to Air Permit Fees by the Georgia EPD

Posted on by Conversion Technology

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD) has issued a draft “Air Permit Application & Annual Permit Fees” manual. Under this manual, the annual permit fees will be increasing, effective for fee payments this year. The fees for NSPS and Synthetic Minor Sources will be increasing by $500 and Title V Sources will now have an additional annual maintenance fee of $800. The GAEPD is also proposing to double the Air Permit Application fees, beginning March 1, 2021.

The GAEPD is hosting an online public hearing on these proposed amendments on Monday, March 30, 2020 at 2:00 pm. We at CTI will be participating in the public hearing and will post updates accordingly.

Check back with our blog for updates.

Environmental Deadline List

Posted on by Conversion Technology

Environmental rules and regulations include deadlines for submission of reports, plans, fees, training, inspections, and analytical testing. Some of these tasks need to be submitted to the U.S. EPA, some to the State Regulatory Agency, and some to both. Some tasks are only required to be kept on file. We hope that this list of deadlines will assist your facility in maintaining compliance.
Continue reading “Environmental Deadline List” →

Changes to NFPA Standards for Fire and Explosion Protection – International Biomass Conference Feb 3-5

Posted on by Conversion Technology

Come see Jeff Davis, PE present at the International Biomass Conference (Feb. 3-5) in Nashville, TN. He will be presenting “Changes to NFPA Standards for Fire and Explosion Protection” at the workshop on Monday February 3rd and as part of a panel in the general session on Tuesday February 4th.

For more information: http://biomassconference.com/ema/DisplayPage.aspx?pageId=Agenda_Biomass_Conference___Expo#iqiuwy

Podcast – History of OSHA Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program

Posted on by Conversion Technology

CTI’s Director of Engineering, Brian Edwards, joined Dr. Chris Cloney, the Managing Director and Lead Researcher at DustEx Research, to discuss the history of OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) on combustible dust.  In this free, 45 minutes podcast, you can hear Brian and Chris discuss:

  • The origin of the combustible dust NEP
  • The programs and regulations that were in place before the NEP
  • The OSHA rulemaking process
  • The challenges of establishing a national standard
  • How OSHA is currently regulating combustible dust standards

DSS045: History of the OSHA Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program with Brian Edwards

If you have any questions related to the NEP or combustible dust safety, you can contact Brian at bedwards@conversiontechnology.com.

EPA Proposed Changes to the Plywood and Kiln MACT

Posted on by Conversion Technology

On September 6, 2019, the EPA published a proposed amendment to what is commonly referred to as the Plywood or Kiln MACT. This proposed amendment does not address lumber kiln emission standards. EPA has stated that the lumber kiln emission and work practice standards will be addressed in a later proposed amendment.

This proposed amendment to 40 CFR 63, Subpart DDDD: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Plywood and Composite Wood Products (PCWP) is based on the completion of the residual risk and technology review. The review has found that no revisions are necessary to the current controls in the original rule. The rule does propose removal of the startup, shutdown, and malfunctions plans as EPA has deemed this to be sufficiently addressed in the work practice standards of the regulation, as well as by the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The proposed rule is open to comments until October 21, 2019. All submissions must include Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2016-0243-0034. The EPA encourages that comments be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal located at https://www.regulations.gov/.

If you need help identifying how this proposed rule change will affect your facility or need assistance with providing comments to the EPA, please contact us at (770) 263-6330 or cti@conversiontechnology.com.