Articles

This article was originally published by Zanesville Times Recorder.

By Shawn Digity

"Cooperative federalism" was the name of the game April 2, as Eastpointe Business Park's AMG Vanadium became the local flagbearer of a joint U.S. and Ohio EPA announcement officials say will benefit numerous Ohio-based manufacturers.

In short, Ohio has been fully authorized for Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (or RCRA) permitting, explained EPA's regional administrator Anne Vogel during a celebration at AMG.

Now, Ohio EPA becomes a "one-stop shop," as Vogel called it.

This means Ohio EPA revised its own RCRA permitting policies on how it regulates, generates, transports, treats, stores and disposes of hazardous waste. Those policies now coincide with the U.S. EPA's standards.

Ohio manufacturing businesses can now apply for permitting just through Ohio, knowing they also match the federals EPA's guidelines.

"There's no duplication of effort between the federal and the state government," Vogel added. "What does it not mean is that there's any less protectiveness happening. The permits will be the same, protecting human health and the environment."

The process to gain the permitting authorization started in June 2023 when Ohio EPA submitted revisions of its program to the U.S. EPA. It was under review until November 2025.

"After coordinating efforts with the federal EPA, Ohio will proceed with our strong hazardous waste rules that ensure efficiency and accountability," said U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson. "Hazardous waste permitting decisions will now be made faster and closer to communities that they impact with a clear understanding of local industry and public health needs."

Hazardous wastes are solids, liquids or gases that can be byproducts or leftover materials of manufacturing processes that can pose harm to human or environmental health.

AMG Vanadium recycles spent refinery catalysts and produces ferrovanadium, an iron and vanadium alloy, according to its website. Its progenitor, Vanadium Corporation of America, opened an alloy plant in Cambridge in 1952 which is now the current site of AMG Vanadium, and opened a $300 million expansion in Zanesville's Eastpointe Business Park in 2022.

Click here to read the original article published by the Zanesville Times Recorder.