HARC provides current information on environmental laws and regulations. This service has proven to be a cost-effective way for its clients to gather information necessary to comply with increasingly strict, complex, and overlapping regulations. Operational and land use decision making is impossible without up-to-date regulatory information. From its many years of analyzing chemicals used in sugarcane and other crop production, HARC has developed expertise in the methodologies used to assess environmental contamination.
HARC monitors and evaluates all major federal and state environmental laws and regulations for their impact on agriculture. This review includes Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act, Federal Insecticide Fungicide Rodenticide Act, Toxic Substance Control Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and Coastal Zone Management legislation. Assistance is provided in establishing client's in-house regulatory programs and on-site visits can be arranged to review program effectiveness. Informal or formal environmental site assessments (Phase I or Phase II) are available.
HARC tracks proposed legislation and participates in the regulatory and legislative process by providing technical information to legislators and state and federal agencies. With science-based knowledge, regulators can be more effective in their decision-making and resources can be protected while agriculture continues to thrive.
Environmental laboratory services include sampling various media for chemical contamination such as pesticides, asbestos, metals, and petroleum products. For project quality assurance, the staff also reviews and interprets laboratory results from other sources to verify the accuracy of both the data and conclusions.
The department offers environmental project monitoring to oversee the quality of environmental work done by outside contractors to ensure compliance with appropriate regulations and contract specifications. This expertise is important for businesses faced with contractors who have limited experience in the relatively new area of environmental regulations which is associated with high costs, poor regulatory direction, adverse public exposure, and huge risk of liability. Services for landowners and lessees include advisement on plans and practices under the worker protection standards, wetland and endangered species regulations, nonpoint-source pollution, and groundwater protection. Customized, on-site hazard communication training is also available.
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