Climate change experts from SCS Engineers regularly work with members of the Meat Institute’s Sustainability Committee; this article highlights their experiences and the value and impact of their collaborative efforts on sustainability practices in the meat industry. You’ll find free educational resources on Scope 3 Emissions reporting for Meat Institute members, along with SCS resources open to all, following the article.
Experience and Rewards of Participation
Victoria Evans, MS, describes the most rewarding aspect of participating in the Meat Institute Sustainability Committee as the opportunity to engage directly with member companies, deepening her understanding of sustainability priorities and challenges in the meat industry. The monthly meetings facilitate meaningful discussions on critical topics such as greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting, Scope 3 emissions, and evolving climate disclosure requirements. A significant focus has been on regulatory requirements, such as California SB 253 for corporate-wide GHG reporting and SB 261 for climate-related financial risk disclosures, which begin in 2026. These discussions help SCS consultants better support Meat Institute members and stay aligned with the industry’s needs.
Notable Contributions
Victoria highlights a particular achievement: leading three educational sessions on Scope 3 emissions that involve detailed GHG accounting specific to the meat sector. This role has strengthened connections and fostered deeper conversations within the industry, supporting the Meat Institute’s Protein PACT initiative to reduce the environmental footprint of meat and poultry production.
Value and Encouragement for Committee Involvement
Aicha Slassi Senou, PhD, emphasizes the committee’s role as a unique forum for knowledge sharing among industry leaders, sustainability professionals, and technical experts. She notes it offers a collaborative environment to openly discuss challenges, exchange ideas, and learn from each other’s experiences. This is especially important as sustainability expectations and climate reporting requirements continue to evolve. She sees the value of how the committee accelerates progress by fostering collective effort and shared learning.
Reasons to Join the Meat Institute Sustainability Committee
Aicha encourages others to participate because the committee keeps members informed about emerging sustainability issues, such as climate reporting and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which are expected to continue to grow in importance. The Committee provides insights into regulatory initiatives, policy developments, and GHG accounting methodologies led by the Meat Institute. She cites how participation allows members to learn from peers, contribute to meaningful discussions, and advance the sector collectively. The relationships and practical knowledge you gain make involvement a valuable investment, regardless of where a firm is in its sustainability journey.
Scope 3 Recordings Are Available to Meat Institute Members Along With These Free Educational SCS Resources:
SCS Resources
The Meat Institute Sustainability Committee brings together people from across the meat industry to share ideas and work on practical ways to reduce environmental impact and communicate progress. By meeting regularly, the group tackles challenges, develops useful tools, and encourages better practices that protect the environment while keeping the industry strong and profitable.
Victoria Evans, MS, is SCS’s National Climate Change Practice Leader and One of our National Experts on Greenhouse Gas. She has over four decades of experience in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), energy, air quality, and the environment. She has over 25 years of experience in climate and GHG management, having directed or performed over 300 GHG studies for US and global corporations and government organizations. Her experience includes developing voluntary and mandatory GHG inventories and reporting, California Cap-and-Trade compliance strategies, carbon-reduction roadmaps, and life-cycle analyses. She has led regulatory and legislative analyses on carbon and energy for landmark initiatives and has advised on developing GHG reporting rules and protocols for carbon offset projects.
Aicha Slassi Senou, PhD, is a GHG and sustainability expert in GHG accounting, decarbonization planning, and life cycle assessments. She has successfully delivered over 30 third-party-verified Corporate GHG Inventories for scopes 1, 2, and 3, addressing auditors’ technical questions on data collection and calculations, in alignment with the WRI GHG Protocol’s Corporate Standards and ISO 14064-1. She manages corporate climate and GHG projects, including GHG inventories and climate disclosures (reporting to the Science Based Targets Initiative and CDP), creating sector-specific decarbonization strategies (including value chain engagement for Fortune 50 manufacturers), and net-zero road mapping for multiple clients.
Contact the experts at SCS Engineers for more information.
Join SCS Engineers Vice President Dana Blumberg on July 15 for the Making the Grade: Solid Waste webinar, where ASCE and SCS Engineers will examine the current state of solid waste infrastructure across the United States.
Building on findings from ASCE’s 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, the discussion will evaluate how solid waste infrastructure measures up in safety, resilience, capacity, and innovation. Industry leaders will discuss the factors that influenced the sector’s grade, explore emerging challenges and opportunities, and share firsthand perspectives from the field.
Dana will join experts from SWANA, EREF, Frederick County Public Works, and Tetra Tech to discuss the future of solid waste infrastructure and the solutions that can strengthen long-term sustainability. Register now!
Need a review of your report? Or support to prepare it? Feel free to reach out to us. We are happy to have a chat with you!
Proposed PFOA and PFOS Compliance Extensions
The first proposed rule, if finalized, would continue supporting the health-protective federal drinking water standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) while establishing an opt-in process through which eligible drinking water systems may apply for up to two additional years—until 2031—to become compliant with Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs).
Under the proposed rule, drinking water systems seeking the federal exemption that have one PFOA or PFOS sample result at or above 12 ppt must select and implement control measures during the exemption period and provide public education and outreach to consumers. Drinking water systems wishing to receive additional compliance time will need to seek an extension via EPA if meeting these criteria as follows:
Systems that do not opt for an extension remain subject to the original 2029 compliance deadline.
The proposed compliance extension rule was published in the Federal Register on May 20, 2026. The EPA will accept written comments on the proposed rule in the public docket for 60 days at www.regulations.gov under Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2025-1742.
Proposed PFAS Recission Rule
The second proposed rule is entitled Rescission of Regulatory Requirements and Removal of Related Provisions for Four PFAS Substances (PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (GenX), and the mixture of These Three PFAS Plus PFBS). If finalized, the proposed rule would address some stakeholders’ legal concerns regarding statutory requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) when establishing drinking water regulations for these four PFAS constituents.
EPA seeks to clarify the sequential order for regulating a particular drinking water contaminant and to seek public comment on whether such regulation is appropriate first. Only after the public has had the opportunity to comment on that proposal and after the EPA has finalized a determination to regulate, may the EPA publish a proposed regulation for the contaminants listed in the previous paragraph.
Following the proposed recission rule publishing in the Federal Register, the EPA will accept written comments on the proposed rule in the public docket for 60 days at www.regulations.gov under Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2025-0654.
Federal Register Publication and Resources
The two proposed rules will be published in the Federal Register with a 60-day public comment period, and EPA will hold a public hearing on July 7, 2026.
For more information about the proposed rules, including pre-publication versions of the proposals, fact sheets, directions for submitting comments, and information about a forthcoming public hearing, visit EPA’s webpages here and here, or contact an SCS Engineers expert near you.
As demand for securing domestic sources of critical minerals grows, mapping and quantifying their geologic sources is more important than ever. These critical minerals often escaped notice during historical exploration because attention was focused on commodity metals (e.g., gold, silver, copper), and their concentrations are often significantly lower than those of the precious metals. Exploratory drilling can help significantly close the gap in critical mineral data scarcity across the nation, reducing risk from both technoeconomic and environmental standpoints.
Let’s look at a project in Missouri. The Missouri Geological Survey has expanded its efforts to better understand the subsurface geology as it evaluates formations that may contain rare-earth elements and other strategic resources. These broader state efforts reflect a growing nationwide focus on geologic mapping, core preservation, and resource evaluation to find and quantify critical minerals in the U.S.
Our SCS Critical Minerals team, along with HAD, Inc. drillers, recently supported one of these efforts through deep bedrock coring designed to collect high-quality, continuous core for geologic characterization, resource assessment, and long-term archival use. The work included coordinating safe drilling operations, overseeing continuous core recovery, and supporting lithologic logging and field documentation.
The SCS team helps extract reliable subsurface data from deep bedrock intervals, including dolomitic units and underlying Precambrian formations, strengthening our understanding of mineralization potential and the geology of the Viburnum Trend. Data from this drill core will help to identify what critical minerals may be present, how they occur, and in what concentrations– all of which are essential to evaluate their potential for recovery and utilization.
The Missouri Geological Survey will analyze each core for critical mineral and rare-earth element concentrations using a suite of analytical tools, including x-ray fluorescence (XRF) scanning and other geochemical characterization methods. These data will help researchers better understand what elements are present, how concentrations vary with depth and geology, and how mineralization occurs within the subsurface.
Projects like this highlight the value of integrating drilling, coordination, geologic interpretation, and resource-focused evaluation into a single, well-executed field program that can be recreated across the U.S. As public and private stakeholders invest in domestic critical minerals and energy transition initiatives, we support efforts to turn subsurface data into actionable information to determine resource value and profitable extraction techniques while meeting rigorous mining regulations for environmental protection.
Mining is one of the most highly regulated and environmentally sensitive industries in the U.S. At the same time, federal and state priorities emphasize the strategic importance of domestic rare earth element and critical mineral production, both from conventional and, increasingly, unconventional resources. Learn more here, or contact one of our National Experts!
SCS Engineers is proud to participate in the ISWA World Congress 2026, taking place November 9–11 at the QEII Centre in London. Centered on“Beyond Waste: A global call to action,” the event brings together leaders to share best practices and advance solutions that protect human health, the environment, and global economies.
As an ISWA 2026 Gold Member, SCS Engineers actively drives progress across the industry. This year’s program highlights key priorities including human rights in waste management, political commitment, sustainable waste planning. It also explores the economics of resource management, and the transition to a circular economy by 2050.
SCS is well represented at ISWA. SCSer James Law, PE, BCEE, serves as President of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA). He is leading efforts to strengthen global collaboration and address the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Adedeji (Deji) Fawole also plays a key role as Vice Chair of the ISWA Landfill Working Group.
Join us in London as we collaborate with global partners to move the world beyond waste.
Join SCS Engineers, Sponsors and Exhibitors at the IEA’s Annual Environmental Training Symposium & Conference on May 7th at the San Diego Mission Valley DoubleTree by Hilton in San Diego, CA. For 40+ years, this event has excelled in providing a balance of valuable information, including environmental compliance guidance, and regulatory and legislative updates.
The Annual Environmental Training Symposium & Conference attendees consist of environmental, health, and safety professionals, NGO representatives, environmental engineers, environmental consultants and attorneys, and government affairs representatives. These participants represent manufacturing, biotech, and high-tech companies, as well as the Department of Defense, and federal and state regulators.
The 20+ conference sessions vary from year to year depending on current legislation and regulations. We hope to see you there!
Join SCS Engineers at the 17th Annual KWEA/KsAWWA Water & Wastewater Joint Conference, taking place September 9–11, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency and Century II Expo Center in Wichita, Kansas. This joint event brings together members of the Kansas Water Environment Association and the Kansas Section of the American Water Works Association for a dynamic program focused on the latest developments in water and wastewater.
Attendees can explore a diverse range of technical sessions covering emerging industry topics, regulatory updates, and advancements in equipment and controls, along with an expanded exhibition featuring the newest technologies. The conference also offers valuable networking opportunities, hands-on competitions, and the opportunity to earn continuing education and professional development credits.
Connect with Monte Markley at the event to learn how SCS Engineers supports clients with innovative, practical solutions across water and wastewater systems while helping navigate evolving industry challenges. Register now.
Join SCS Engineers at the Central States Water Environment Association (CSWEA) 99th Annual Meeting, taking place May 19–21, 2026, at the Saint Paul River Centre in Saint Paul, Minnesota. This event brings together resource recovery professionals, including facility operators, consulting engineers, regulators, and educators, to explore the latest trends and solutions shaping the water and energy recovery industry.
Learn how SCS Engineers partners with clients to deliver innovative solutions in water, wastewater, and resource recovery. Register now.
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