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| PACNY's Holiday Meeting at Skaneateles, NY |
Future Environment Designs is looking forward to 2025 as many of our clients have asked for initial courses in the coming year and we look forward to assisting them with their needs. We will continue to service the other areas of the State (such as Plattsburgh, Rochester, Syracuse, Hudson Valley, and Buffalo) looking for quality training. Thank you to all our clients for helping us maintain a 4.8 rating out of 5 for another year! Your positive feedback means a lot to us. If you'd like to share your experience, please visit our course reviews at CourseCheck. We look forward to continuing our work on the Professional Abatement Contractors of New York (PACNY) Board of Directors (if reelected), event, and communications committees. In addition, some indoor air quality consulting work has also come through the door for the New Year we look forward to meeting those needs, too.
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| Anthony's Restaurant in Plattsburgh, NY |
On a more global note, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 3, 2024, that it has determined that disturbing and handling asbestos associated with legacy uses, and asbestos as a chemical substance, poses an unreasonable risk to human health. EPA's Risk Evaluation for Asbestos Part 2: Supplemental Evaluation Including Legacy Uses and Associated Disposals of Asbestos - Part 2 of the Risk Evaluation for Asbestos, EPA considered chrysotile (serpentine), crocidolite (riebeckite), amosite (cummingtonite-grunerite), anthophyllite, tremolite, actinolite, and Libby Amphibole Asbestos (and its tremolite, winchite, and richterite constituents). EPA considers this expansion to be consistent with the focus of Part 2 of the Risk Evaluation for Asbestos on legacy uses and associated disposals. Additionally, the EPA assessed the relevant conditions for the use of asbestos-containing talc because talc has been implicated as a potential source of asbestos exposure.
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| Rockefeller Centre, NYC |
It will be interesting moving forward since this announcement means rules or regulations must be promulgated to mediate the risk. Especially with a new administration that is looking to reduce regulation. It will be interesting to see if we get another SNUR. See our post on the SNUR. Several items we hope will be addressed:
- a National Aggressive TEM Clearance requirement for all-size asbestos projects. Read my post regarding clearance.
- a reduction of the exposure limit for all asbestos workers. Remember EPA in Part One set an exposure limit of 0.005 f/cc for chlor-alkali workers. Read my post regarding Part One.
- in addition, a plan to replace phase contrast microscopy with a better method for evaluating worker exposures.
- Getting rid of the greater than 1% rule for asbestos-containing materials (ACM). Changing it to any percentage even trace amounts would eliminate some confusion between EPA and OSHA regulations.
- Coming up with a method for handling Libby-Amphibole Asbestos.
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| Bergdorf Goodman, NYC |
On a personal note, we will miss our youngest sister Dr. Melissa Garcia who passed on in May. This has altered our view of things a bit. How short life is and the time we have on this planet can end at any time. Specifically, most will not see much of a difference because we have always been a positive (glass half-full) person. Though we're starting to feel our age. Our worries and cares are very different now and going forward.
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| Bryant Park, NYC |
We look forward to seeing many of you in 2025 as we continue our journey together!
