Odds and Ends

[Guest guest]

Consumers can now tap into an array of information concerning their drinking

water at EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water Web site

(http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo.htm). This site offers statistics about

water suppliers' compliance with EPA and state rules, links to state plans

for using federally provided drinking water funds, annual state and national

compliance reports, and contact information for state drinking water and

drinking water source protection programs. According to EPA, the site will

also link to water systems' consumer confidence reports as they become

available online this year.

Biofiltration for Air Pollution Control, J. S. Devinny; M. A. Deshusses; T.

S. Webster (CRC Press LLC, 1999, 317 pp., $69.95). Designed to help

practitioners " do it right, " this book provides a comprehensive survey of

biofiltration technology and conveys a basic understanding of how

biofiltration works by means of contaminant mass transfer and

biodegradation.

Visionary Manufacturing Challenges for 2020, National Research Council

(National Academy Press, 1998, 172 pp., $34.95). Taking an international

view of future manufacturing, this book identifies 10 strategic

technological areas as the most important for research and development, as

well as six grand challenges in the areas of human-technology interface,

environmental concerns, and miniaturization that must be overcome.

>List members responsible for chemical safety and compliance may find the

>OSHA Chemical Safety and the Solvent Safety Databases on CD-ROM useful

>reference tools.

>

>The PDF format offers instant search / retrieval and page-for-page

accuracy.

>

>See http://www.env-sol.com/#ChemRefs for further information.

The Small Business Environmental Home Page

(http://www.smallbiz-enviroweb.org) provides information on environmental

compliance and pollution prevention through a host of publications, videos,

and links to other sites. Sponsored by Concurrent Technologies Corporation,

a service company, the site features regulatory updates, compliance and

pollution prevention assistance by industry sector, and a list of funding

sources for your business. Through the site, users may gain access to

databases and libraries on pollution prevention and the ISO 14000

environmental management standards.

All You Can Eat (http://www.foodnews.org/), a new Web site maintained

by the Environmental Working Group, informs people about the pesticides they

are likely to have ingested along with their conventionally grown food. The

site lets users choose from a menu with hundreds of options, including baby

food, and its search engine pulls up pesticide data gleaned from over 90,000

government lab test results. In addition to the name of the pesticide and

its common agricultural uses, the site also lists its known health effects

and recommends actions consumers can take to reduce their pesticide

exposure.

Scientists involved in ecological risk assessments for estuaries should

visit Biological and Ecotoxicological Characteristics of Terrestrial

Vertebrate Species Residing in Estuaries (BEST)

(http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/resshow/rattner/bioeco/preamble.htm), a new U.S.

Geological Survey (USGS) site. BEST contains ecotoxicological summary data

for 25 terrestrial vertebrate species commonly found in estuaries and

generally considered to be valued natural resources, including American

Oystercatcher, Snapping Turtle, and Mink. The summaries range from 3 to 46

pages long and were compiled from more than 700 references obtained from

computerized literature searches of Fish and Wildlife Reviews, BIOSIS,

AGRICOLA, Biological Abstracts, TOXLINE, and Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries

Abstracts. The site is part of a program by toxicologists from the USGS

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md., " to assess and monitor the

effects of environmental contaminants on biological resources. "

EPA WATCH

Feds launch civil rights investigation in NYC

The federal government has launched an interagency, civil rights

investigation into the environmental and health concerns raised by poor

African-American and Hispanic communities in New York City (NYC),according

to the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).

The investigation was announced March 6, following an eight-hour

meeting between officials from federal departments, including EPA,

Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, Health and Human

Services, CEQ, and many NYC community leaders, said Helen

Cervantes-Gross, spokesperson for EPA Region II. CEQ's Bradley

announced a list of 20 issues that a New York City-based interagency task

force will consider, although those issues have not yet been agreed to by

all agencies. A similar task force, comprising local residents and federal

officials, has been formed in Los Angeles.

On the same day, EPA announced the partial acceptance of an

environmental justice complaint, which was signed by Rep. José Serrano

(D-N.Y.) and as many as 17 South Bronx church and community groups. Filed

under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the petition alleges that the

city and state violated the civil rights of the Black and Hispanic community

members by allowing 35 garbage transfer stations and " dozens " of other waste

facilities to be built in their South Bronx neighborhoods.

The South Bronx petition joins 26 other civil rights petitions that

have been on file with EPA, some since 1992.

Proposal relaxes dumping rules for lead paint debris

Home contractors and others disposing of lead-based paint debris would no

longer have to test the waste prior to dumping under two rules proposed in

December.

The proposals would drop requirements that construction debris

contaminated with lead-based paint be tested and, if lead levels are high

enough, be disposed as hazardous waste. The draft rules also would end

disposal of lightly contaminated debris in municipal solid waste (MSW)

landfills, because these dumps leach lead more often than other landfills,

according to the Federal Register.

Instead, EPA proposes that all lead-based paint debris be disposed of

in construction and demolition or hazardous waste landfills or incinerators,

regardless of whether it is hazardous or not. EPA reports that most test as

nonhazardous. (Federal Register 1998, 63(243) 70,190-70,249).

The purpose of the new rules is to protect children's health by

removing obstacles to the cleanup and removal of lead-based paint in

residential buildings, said Spector, environmental protection

specialist with the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. She said the

move is projected to boost lead paint removal by reducing disposal costs

from $316 per ton to $37 per ton. Lead poisoning affects the health of

roughly 900,000 children and infants and can cause learning disabilities and

mental retardation, according to EPA.

But the proposed rules are unlikely to reduce removal costs " because

most debris tests nonhazardous and is disposed in municipal solid waste

landfills, " said Jim Wachtel, executive director of the Alliance for Safe

and Responsible Lead Abatement. He claimed that the switch to disposal in

construction and demolition landfills threatens groundwater because these

landfills don't have the liners, monitoring, and leachate collection systems

found in MSW landfills. If finalized, the proposals " will produce larger

volumes of waste and put more groundwater at risk, " Wachtel said.

Both Wachtel, who represents an alliance of lead removal industries and

environmental groups, and landfill operators believe dumpers should be

required to test lead-based paint debris, and if not hazardous, be allowed

to put it in MSW landfills. " Municipal solid waste landfills are the most

protective of the environment, " said Guzzone, with the Solid Waste

Association of North America. EPA is wrong when it claims that municipal

landfills leach lead much more aggressively than construction landfills, he

said. " We have serious concerns about directing lead-based paint debris to

facilities with little or no environmental protection and/or regulatory

oversight, " he concluded.

" If they have any new data on leachate, we'd be happy to look at it and

take it into consideration, " said EPA's Rajani Joglekar. The comment period

for the proposals ended April 2.

Petitioners request improved focus on " inerts "

Increasing pressure from manufacturers and environmentalists is driving EPA

to focus more on the " inert " ingredients in pesticide formulations. The

Chemical Producers and Distributors Association (CPDA) has asked the agency

to speed its approval process for inerts, while the Northwest Coalition for

Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) and eight state attorneys general have

petitioned for full disclosure of inert ingredients on pesticide labels.

The term " inert " covers everything but the active ingredients in

pesticide products, from water and fragrances to emulsifiers, adjuvants, and

surfactants. According to a 1998 report from the NCAP, 26% of inert

chemicals in use are classified as hazardous by various regulatory programs.

While 2311 inerts are in use, only 7 are disclosed, NCAP found.

At the January 1999 Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee meeting, an

EPA official reported that manufacturers are waiting for tolerance levels,

or an exemption from a tolerance, for 77 inert ingredients. Fifteen final

inert decisions were issued during the 1998 fiscal year.

The manufacturers say that at a rate of 15 decisions annually, it would

take EPA five years to address the backlog; however, new petitions continue

to be filed with EPA. In a Jan. 7 letter, CPDA asked the agency to create a

separate branch for inerts with additional staff and resources. A separate

branch " would increase the likelihood that inert programs will receive

proper attention, adequate funding, and increased accountability, " CPDA

President Warren Stickle wrote.

Kerry Leifer, team leader for inert ingredients in EPA's Registration

Division, said the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) " has certainly

slowed our ability to approve inerts. EPA is grappling with how to better

handle inerts, while balancing competing priorities mandated by the FQPA,

including reviewing 9700 existing pesticide tolerances.

Stickle charged that the inerts backlog thwarts the introduction of

reduced-risk pesticides, such as ones with better surfactants that " stick "

more effectively to plants, rather than rolling off into the environment.

" Companies are not investing money in new inerts, " Stickle said.

Meanwhile, the agency has not responded to identical petitions

submitted in January 1998 by the attorneys general, NCAP, and 180 cosigners,

representing environmental, consumer, and labor organizations in 36 states,

which argue that pesticide labels should list inert ingredients. The

petitioners believe that full disclosure will encourage manufacturers to use

less toxic ingredients. Twenty inerts have been classified as known or

suspected carcinogens by federal or international agencies, 187 are

considered hazardous air and water pollutants, and 118 are considered

occupational hazards, according to NCAP.

Pesticide manufacturers generally consider the inerts in a product to

be proprietary trade secrets.

Although the law allows EPA to require disclosure of any risky

pesticide ingredient, Leifer said the agency is reviewing how much

additional disclosure the law permits.

Corps, EPA agree on sediment quality criteria

The long-standing disagreement between EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers (Corps) over sediment quality criteria (SQC) appears to have

ended. Both agencies have agreed that numerical standards will not be used

as legal requirements. Instead, the numbers to be known as sediment quality

guidelines (SQG), will be used as guidance in conjunction with biological

tests. The agencies are ready to sign a memorandum of understanding sometime

this spring, according to Corps and EPA officials.

The agreement finally opens the door for EPA to establish a national

approach for evaluating contaminated sediments, which often preserve a

legacy and a layer of earlier pollution by persistent bioaccumulative

compounds. Such evaluations are intended to play an important role in a wide

range of regulatory decisions including Superfund cleanup levels, open-water

disposal of dredged sediments and permits for industrial discharges,

according to EPA's Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy, which was

published last May. Last year, an agreement was scuttled over

terminologyES & T , July 1998, p. 306A).

Representatives from environmental groups who met with EPA officials

last month said the current agreement takes the legal teeth out of efforts

to clean and protect sediments.

The numerical standards were intended to protect the most sensitive

organisms. Replacing such comprehensive standards with a few biological

tests that may overlook the most sensitive organism weakens the level of

protection, said Jackie Savitz, executive director of the Coastal Alliance.

EPA intends to regulate industrial discharges to protect fresh water

sediments from further contamination, according to the Contaminated Sediment

Management Strategy. Stationary sources, such as factories, would have been

required to meet the numerical limits through their National Pollutant

Discharge Elimination System permits, said Green, Sierra Club sediment

campaigner. Because the agreement weakens the legal status of the criteria,

there is no obvious way to further control pollution from stationary

sources, said Green. Both the Corps and EPA have agreed to continue

discussing this issue. But the Chemical Manufacturers Association and the

American Petroleum Institute have asked EPA not to put any further

requirements on stationary sources.

Despite assurances from both agencies that environmentalists would be

included in any discussions about sediments, " we were brought in at the

eleventh hour, " Savitz said.

The environmentalists concerns may be premature, according to EPA

Ambient Water Quality Program manager Reiley. She noted that states

determine their own sediment quality standards; EPA provides advice. The

EPA-Corps agreement is just the start of the long process toward generating

national sediment quality guidance. The next step is a draft user's guide

for state and federal regulators, which should be published for public

comment this summer, she said. The guide will provide advice on how to

evaluate contaminated sediments.