LOTT EYEING POSSIBLE WAY OUT OF SUPERFUND DEAL WITH CRAPO

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) and his staff are negotiating to break his commitment not to move brownfields legislation this year under the condition that Environment & Public Works Committee (EPW) Chairman Bob Smith (R-NH) expeditiously moves the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), sources close to the issue say. This legislation includes billions of dollars in water development projects and is a favorite among members of both parties, particularly during an election year. These sources say Lott might be...

APPEALS COURT SAYS EPA LIKELY HAS POWER TO EXPAND SUPERFUND SITES

A federal appeals court earlier this month suggested that EPA likely has the authority to expand the boundaries of existing Superfund sites without necessarily engaging in a public notice and comment period. However, the June 15 ruling from U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit did not allow EPA to automatically expand the boundaries of the Bunker Hill Superfund site, ruling instead that it did not have jurisdiction to determine whether EPA's efforts to expand the boundaries of the...

EPA PAPER AIMS TO IMPROVE REGIONAL USE OF INSTITUTIONAL CONTROLS

EPA officials are developing a new institutional controls (ICs) guidance as part of an effort, set to begin this summer, to improve regional implementation of ICs at both Superfund and corrective action sites. This effort is being prompted by a belief among top-level waste officials that regions are not adequately monitoring and enforcing ICs. Until now, regional officials say they have not been required under the law to implement ICs in the way headquarters has required. Waste Chief Time Fields...

EPA RECYCLING MEETING TO FOCUS ON 'REASONABLE CARE' STANDARD

EPA officials have scheduled a public meeting next month to help the agency determine whether they should issue guidance to implement the Superfund Recycling Equity Act (SREA). The meeting will focus on what is necessary for a recycler to meet the agency's "reasonable care" compliance standards under the exemption, an issue of key importance to recyclers. The issue of reasonable care is important because it is the standard for determining whether recyclers qualify for the exemption from Superfund liability. In...

MAINE SUPERFUND LIABILITY DEAL COULD BECOME NATIONAL MODEL

A federal district court in Maine has approved a first-ever Superfund cleanup agreement transferring liability for the site from 3,000 potentially responsible parties (PRPs) to a waste cleanup company, dramatically streamlining the cost and time associated with the cleanup while making it possible for the remediation company to turn a significant profit at the same time. Sources close to the issue say that if the May 30 agreement is successful, it may serve as a model for other Superfund cleanups...

DREDGING DISPOSAL MANAGEMENT PLAN FOCUSES ON VOLUNTARY ACTIONS

A draft California Long-Term Management Strategy (LTMS) to reduce disposal of dredged materials in the San Francisco Bay emphasizes volunteer actions prior to instituting mandatory controls. Environmentalists want to see an automatic trigger to launch mandatory waste discharge requirements if the voluntary program is unsuccessful but regulators are undecided how a mandatory program would be activated, according to sources. The LTMS's goal of reducing the amount of sediment and other materials dredged and disposed in the bay should greatly improve...

EPA REINFORCES USE OF TOXICITY FACTORS FOR DIOXIN SUPERFUND RISKS

EPA is reasserting its confidence in the methodology it uses for comparing the toxicity of dioxin-related compounds at Superfund sites. The methodology, known as toxicity equivalent factors (TEFs), allows scientists to calculate the total risks posed by dioxin-type chemicals at waste sites. The methodology allows EPA to compare the risks of a host of dioxin-like compounds to the risks posed by the most toxic of these compounds 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD). The dioxin-like compounds include 170 so-called congeners, or dioxin-like compounds, including...

COURT HANDS EPA VICTORY IN BATTLE OVER REGIONAL NOX CONTROLS

A federal court has given EPA the green light to require state action this year on the agency's ambitious regional plan to control the emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx) throughout the eastern United States. The ruling is a major victory for EPA's efforts to control transboundary pollutants and reduce smog in the East that the agency says is partly caused by power plant and other emissions from the Midwest. The court action means states throughout the eastern half of the...

EASTERN STATES EYE REQUEST FOR REGION-WIDE OXYGENATE WAIVER

Several Northeast and mid-Atlantic states may ask EPA for a region-wide waiver from the Clean Air Act's oxygenate-in-fuels requirement, in the event that Congress fails to pass legislation this year allowing governors to vastly reduce or eliminate the use of the oxygenate methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) because of concerns over groundwater contamination. While EPA has received several requests from individual states for a waiver from the requirement, sources say this would be the first attempt at securing a region-wide...

TEXAS CALLS FOR EPA AID TO DEFEND FIRST-TIME AIRPORT EMISSIONS RULE

Texas officials are asking for EPA's help to fend off an airline industry challenge to a first-of-its-kind state rule that would require steep emissions reductions from ground support equipment at several state airports. Industry lawyers argue in the lawsuit that the federal government, not states, has authority to set air pollution standards for the aviation sector under the Clean Air Act. In the lawsuit, a Texas state court will decide whether the state has the authority to require 90 percent...

FTC PROBE OF MIDWEST FUEL PRICES OFFERS NO QUICK ANSWERS

A highly publicized investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over alleged price gouging by petroleum refiners in the Midwest is not likely to offer any immediate solutions to the politically charged situation. Refiners have argued that EPA's reformulated gasoline requirements are the reason for sky-high prices in the region, particularly in Chicago and Milwaukee. The FTC gasoline probe was prompted by a request from Vice President Al Gore following a campaign swing through Milwaukee. Gore intensified his push for...

REFORMULATED GAS MAY BOOST PRICES TEN TIMES EPA'S ESTIMATE

A newly-unveiled congressional study finds that implementation of EPA's reformulated gasoline (RFG) program may be responsible for raising gas prices in the Midwest by as much as 50 cents per gallon -- ten times EPA's own estimate of five to eight cents per gallon. The June 16 Congressional Research Service (CRS) memorandum says that several factors, including the transportation of ethanol used in RFG, the high cost of crude oil prices, low inventories of both crude oil and gasoline and...

USDA AIR QUALITY TASK FORCE DRAFTING CAFO AIR STRATEGY

Members of an Agriculture Department task force on air quality are in the early stages of drafting a report that will include recommendations on what should be done at the federal level to help reduce air pollution from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The paper -- which will review the current status of policy, science, pollution levels, and human health risk -- comes at a time when EPA is stepping up its enforcement action against CAFOs. Members of the task...

MONITORING EFFORT RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT ONLINE DATA AVAILABILITY

A Kentucky university environmental center will as early as next week make air toxics monitoring data for a slate of hazardous air pollutants available to the public online, in a move that raises questions about availability of air monitoring data over the Internet. A university source familiar with the effort, part of a larger project to gauge the air quality impacts and health effects from an industrial area in West Louisville, KY, says it could be one of the first...

ACTIVISTS SEEK INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT TO BLOCK U.S. KYOTO POSITION

Environmentalists are pressing international climate change negotiators to block U.S. proposals the activists argue would render an international climate change treaty ineffective in actually reducing the total emissions of greenhouse gases. The groups claim that a weakened version of the treaty, known as the Kyoto Protocol, might win domestic support, but will lose support elsewhere around the globe. International delegates are currently working in Bonn, Germany on language to the treaty giving nations flexibility to meet carbon reduction targets. The...

GORE PLAN USES BUDGET SURPLUS TO 'CLEAN UP' COAL-FIRED UTILITIES

Vice President and presidential contender Al Gore announced recently he would use the budget surplus generated in part by the "careful fiscal management" of the Clinton administration to address emissions from coal-fired power plants. The plan, however, stops short of prescribing specific actions Gore would take as president and only directs a portion of the money to go into a trust fund for clean air. And environmentalists say the plan is in direct violation of the Clinton administration's mantra of...

INDUSTRY REJECTS DEFINITION OF 'RELEASE' FOR TOXIC REPORTING

The mining and waste disposal industries are again raising strong concerns about EPA's definition of the term "release" under the agency's right-to-know program, charging that the definition includes toxic materials contained in storage facilities but not actual toxic releases. The industry concerns are emerging shortly after EPA released its latest Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data reporting emissions for 1998. The latest data contains first-time reporting from both the mining and waste disposal industries. That data shows 282 million pounds of...

HOUSE DEMOCRATS SEEK EPA CAUTION, USDA ROLE ON PESTICIDE REVIEWS

Over 50 House Democrats say EPA should not cancel pesticide registrations for which there are no alternatives. The lawmakers are demanding that EPA develop a plan that would give the Department of Agriculture (USDA) a "strong role" in implementing the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), which requires EPA to review all pesticides, according to a recent letter from the lawmakers to EPA Administrator Carol Browner. Click here to download a copy of the letter in Adobe Acrobat format. Click here...

EPA SENDS EMBATTLED WATER ACT RULE TO WHITE HOUSE FOR REVIEW

EPA officials have sent a new version of their embattled Clean Water Act impaired waters rule to the White House for review, despite dissatisfaction with the proposal amongst Congress, industry, states and environmentalists. In fact, despite a series of last minute changes to the proposed rule, EPA has apparently been unable to win over one-time supporters and has increased the frustration of industry and state officials, sources close to the issue say. Click here to download a copy of the...

SCIENCE PANEL MAY ASK EPA TO BOOST ARSENIC DRINKING WATER LIMIT

EPA's Science Advisory Board may recommend EPA more than double its proposed standard for arsenic in drinking water, breaking sharply with agency officials who have pushed forward extremely tight limits despite pressure from Congress, industry and drinking water officials. During a recent meeting of the board's Drinking Water Committee (DWC), members of the panel discussed recommending levels of 15, 10 and 20 parts per billion (ppb), well above EPA's favored level of 5 ppb, sources close to the issue say...

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