IOWA ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES LAW SECTION

The Iowa Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section web page is a voluntary effort by members of The Iowa State Bar Association's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section and is not a formal publication of the Iowa State Bar Association. This page is intended to provide a resource for attorneys interested in finding a centralized resource for on-line data, including regulations, laws, and EPA sites. Where possible, we have tried to collect information that is specific to the state of Iowa and the laws, cases and regulations that are specifically applicable to Iowa environmental concerns.


Environmental Law Resources on the Web

1. EPA Sites

EPA Home Page www.epa.gov

EPA's Superfund Home Page www.epa.gov/superfund/

EPA's Record of Decision site. www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/rodsites/index.htm
Searches can be conducted by state, county, or site name.

Brownfields Home Page www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/
EPA policy statements and a good FAQ page regarding Brownfields are provided.

Toxic Release Inventory Page www.epa.gov/tri/

A Phase I Inventory of Current EPA Efforts to Protect Ecosystems www.epa.gov/ecoplaces/

EPA's Air Facility Subsystem (AFS) (formerly AIRS) www.epa.gov/Compliance/planning/data/air/afssystem.html
The Air Facility Subsystem (AFS) contains compliance and permit data for stationary sources regulated by the U.S. EPA and state and local air pollution agencies. AFS is used by some state and local government agencies to track permit data.

EPA's AirData web site for air monitoring. www.epa.gov/air/data/
The AirData Web site gives you access to air pollution data for the entire United States.

National Primary Drinking Water Regulations www.epa.gov/safewater/mcl.html
National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs or primary standards) are legally enforceable standards that apply to public water systems.

Model CERCLA Section 107 Agreement for Recovery of Past Response Costs www.usdoj.gov/enrd/107.htm

Model CERCLA Section 122(h)(1) Agreement for Recovery of Past Response Costs www.usdoj.gov/enrd/122h1.htm

Policy on the Issuance of Comfort/Status Letters www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/gdc.htm#ci
The "Policy on the Issuance of Comfort/Status Letters" is designed primarily to assist parties who seek to cleanup and reuse brownfields.

HAZDAT www.atsdr.cdc.gov/haz-usa1.html
An interactive map of the United States is featured on this site. Selecting a given state generates a list of each site in that state. HazDat was developed to provide information on Superfund sites and the hazardous substances released from those sites. Information available in HazDat includes site characteristics, activities and site events and contaminants found. HazDat also contains data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) database, including the CERCLIS number, site description and site latitude and longitude.

Envirofacts www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html
This EPA relational database integrates data from four EPA program systems: permit compliance system (PCS), CERCLIS, TRIS, and RCRIS. It is probably the best single environmental data resource available.

EPA's Chemical Registry System. www.epa.gov/crs/index.htm The Chemical Registry System (CRS) provides information on chemical substances and how they are represented in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations and data systems.

EPA Region 3 Hazardous Risk Assessment. www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/risk/index.htm This is the EPA's version of a RBCA-style ranking of hazardous risks. Use at your own risk as it is still under development.


2. Additional Federal Sources


ATSDR ToxFaq www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html
The ATSDR ToxFAQsTM is a series of summaries about hazardous substances developed by the ATSDR Division of Toxicology. Information for this series is excerpted from the ATSDR Toxicological Profiles and Public Health Statements. Each fact sheet serves as a quick and easy to understand guide. Answers are provided to the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about exposure to hazardous substances found around hazardous waste sites and the effects of exposure on human health.


ATSDR Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs)for Hazardous Substances www.atsdr.cdc.gov/mrls.html
An MRL is an estimate of the daily human exposure to a hazardous substance that is likely to be without appreciable risk of adverse noncancer health effects over a specified duration of exposure. These substance-specific estimates, which are intended to serve as screening levels, are used by ATSDR health assessors and other responders to identify contaminants and potential health effects that may be of concern at hazardous waste sites.


ATSDR Toxicological Profile Information Sheet www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxpro2.html
ATSDR produces "toxicological profiles" for hazardous substances found at National Priorities List (NPL) sites. These hazardous substances are ranked based on frequency of occurrence at NPL sites, toxicity, and potential for human exposure.


Federal Register Environmental Subset www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/
The full text of selected Federal Register documents regarding the environment or environmental issues are included here. These documents are posted daily to the EPA's gopher and web servers. The Environmental Subset provides coverage from October 1, 1994 through the present organized by year, month, and day.

FedWorld Information Network www.fedworld.gov
FedWorld has extensive links to almost every publicly-accessible federal database. This is a product of the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) operated by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Office of Surface Mining http://www.osmre.gov/

U. S. Geological Survey http://www.usgs.gov/
USGS is the nation's largest earth science research and information agency. USGS maps are available from the site.


3. Iowa Sources


Iowa Geological Survey Bureau www.igsb.uiowa.edu/

Iowa Geographic Map Server komodo.gis.iastate.edu/new_site/
he entire state of Iowa can be viewed in aerial photographs, USGS maps, and other maps at 2 meter resolution. ISU is rapidly supplementing the older black and white aerial photographs from the early to mid-1990s with color infrared 2 meter photos, beginning with cities.

Iowa PROfiles City-by-County Index www.profiles.iastate.edu/citybycounty/
For population and economic data on Iowa cities and counties or for help in submitting applications for Brownfields projects, this site is very good.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) www.state.ia.us/government/dnr/index.html

IDNR Environmental Protection Division www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/epd/

IDNR Animal Feeding Operations Unit www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/epd/wastewtr/feedlot/feedlt.htm

IDNR Water Quality Bureau www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/epd/wtrq/wtrqbur.htm

IDNR Air Quality Bureau www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/epd/airq/aqbur.htm

IDNR Energy and Geological Resources Division of the Geological Survey Bureau www.igsb.uiowa.edu/

Code of Iowa. www2.legis.state.ia.us/Code.html

4. Other Sources


American Society for Testing and Materials Web Site www.astm.org/
ASTM provides a source of engineering standards commonly used in many environmental audits.

CDMS, Inc. AgChem MSDS and label information. www.cdms.net/manuf/default.asp
CDMS is a privately held corporation located in Marysville, CA. Founded in 1983, the company provides America's premier software service to access crop protection product label, MSDS, WPS and DOT information.

University of Pittsburgh School of Law Environmental web site entitled: Hazardous Substances and Hazardous Waste. www.law.pitt.edu/fox/regre/regch06.htm
This web site has a comprehensive list of RCRA related web resources.

Disclaimer

The material contained in this web page is not intended to be a definitive analysis of the subjects discussed. The reader is cautioned that neither the section nor its members intend that reliance be placed upon these materials in advising your clients without confirming independent research.



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