EPA announced a proposal to require coal-burning power plants to make the steepest emissions cuts in over a decade. The "Interstate Air Quality Rule" will require power plants to upgrade their facilities to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
This announcement is in addition to agency proposals to reduce mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants. Taken together, these rules will require utilities to spend tens of billions of dollars to reduce the emissions of these pollutants.
"These actions are the largest single investment in any clean air program in history," said EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt. "Together, these programs represent a historic achievement in meeting our new, more stringent national air quality standards and reducing harmful mercury emissions."
"While we continue to believe that the Clear Skies Act is the best approach to reducing power plant emissions, and we are committed to working with our congressional sponsors to move this landmark legislation through Congress, we must move forward with these steps now." Leavitt added.
A major focus of the rule is to proactively provide states with the strongest tools possible to help them meet the new health-based air quality standards, without harming their local economies.
The rules focus on states that significantly contribute to ozone and fine particle pollution in the Eastern United States. These rules would reduce power plant emissions in two phases. Sulfur dioxide emissions would drop by 3.7 million tons by 2010 (a cut of approximately 40 percent from current levels) and by another 2.3 million tons when the rules are fully implemented after 2015 (a total cut of nearly 70 percent from today's levels). NOx emissions would be cut by 1.4 million tons by 2010 and by a total of 1.7 million tons by 2015 (a reduction of approximately 50 percent from today's levels in the 30 states covered under the rules). Cumulatively, the rules will eliminate approximately 34 million tons of SO2 and NOx emissions between now and 2015 beyond the reductions achieved under current programs. Moreover, emissions will be permanently capped and cannot increase.
The proposed mercury rules would focus on coal-fired power plants primarily; the proposed cap-and-trade alternative would cut mercury emissions to 15 tons when fully implemented after 2018, a reduction of 70% from current levels.
The complete plan will consist of a set of new rules to cut the long-range transport of two gases called sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Mercury is also transported long distances, and the Agency will propose two alternative control plans, one of which will be a proven, market-based cap-and-trade approach that has demonstrated its ability to cut emissions faster and at less cost.
SO2 and NOx can be transported on the wind, causing environmental and health problems hundreds of miles away. SO2 and NOx emissions contribute to the formation of fine particles, which can pose serious health risks, especially for people with heart or lung disease (including asthma) and older adults and children. NOx emissions also contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, which poses risks for people with lung diseases and children and adults who are active outdoors.
Ozone can irritate the respiratory system, aggravate asthma, reduce lung capacity and increase people's susceptibility to respiratory illnesses like pneumonia and bronchitis.
Mercury is a highly toxic substance that can impair cognitive and motor skills and can impair reproductive, immune and endocrine systems in unborn children.
EPA will formally propose the Interstate Air Quality Rule in December 2003 and then take public comment. A final rule is planned for 2005. The mercury rules will be proposed by December 15.
States and Tribes Notified of Areas with Unhealthy Air
Areas that EPA believes should be required to reduce emissions to meet new ground-level ozone health standards were identified in letters sent to states and tribal nations on December 4, 2003. The EPA letters state whether the agency agrees with their suggested boundaries for attainment and nonattainment areas for the national 8-hour ozone standard.
"Our goal is clean, safe air for every American to breathe," said Administrator Mike Leavitt. "We are developing a suite of clean air controls that will help the states and tribes meet these important new health standards."
The letters are part of a formal designation process that began in July, when states and tribes sent updated nonattainment and attainment area boundary recommendations to EPA. The process plays an important role in letting the public know whether air quality in a given area is healthy. EPA issued the 8-hour ozone standard in 1997, based on information demonstrating that the 1-hour standard was inadequate for protecting public health. The new standard is based on 8-hour averages of ozone levels, which reflects a more realistic measure of people's exposure and is more protective of public health.
EPA may designate an area as nonattainment if it violated, or has contributed to violations of, the 8-hour standard over a three-year period. Those areas will be required to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, which "cook" to form ground-level ozone. Ozone is unhealthy to breathe – especially for people with respiratory diseases, and for children and adults who are active outdoors.
While EPA agrees with the majority of states' and tribes' recommendations, the Agency has not concurred with every suggested boundary. In those instances, EPA has outlined the areas it believes should be designated nonattainment or attainment. States and tribes will have the opportunity to discuss the differences with EPA and to submit any new analyses to support their recommendations. EPA is scheduled to make final designations by April 15, 2004.
Once designations take effect, they also become important components of state and local governments' efforts to control ground-level ozone. EPA anticipates publishing a final rule in early 2004 that will outline the requirements that nonattainment areas must meet as they work to clean their air. Deadlines for meeting the 8-hour ozone standard will range from 2007 to 2021, depending on the severity of an area's ozone problem.
To read the state/tribal recommendations and EPA response letters, go to http://www.epa.gov/ozonedesignations.
EPA Launches Online System for Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Compliance
A new online system which guides construction site operators through the Clean Water Act permit process required to protect streams, rivers, lakes and coasts from stormwater runoff from construction sites has been developed by the U.S. EPA.
The free electronic stormwater application, also known as the Stormwater Notice of Intent or eNOI, was developed by the Agency to meet the objectives of the President's eGov Initiative and the requirements of the Clean Water Act's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The eNOI system will save construction companies time and money with a simple, fast and accurate application process.
Currently, eNOI is available to Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Idaho, Alaska, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, many of the territories, Indian country and other areas where EPA is the NPDES permitting authority. Over the coming months, EPA plans to add additional features to the eNOI system and make it available to the states that operate the NPDES stormwater permitting program under delegated authority.
In July 2003, the second phase of EPA's stormwater rules came into effect. The rules require smaller construction sites disturbing between one and five acres to implement stormwater management controls and to obtain permit coverage. Sites disturbing five or more acres are regulated under a previous phase of the stormwater program.
The new Stormwater Notice of Intent or eNOI system is available online. The public can view the eNOIs at http://www.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/noisearch.
DOE Releases Proposed Guidelines For the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released proposed guidelines for the voluntary reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and reduction efforts designed to improve the accuracy, verifiability and completeness of greenhouse gas emission data reported under the registry program.
The registry program was established as a voluntary program by section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The proposed revisions to the guidelines for the 1605(b) registry fulfill President George W. Bush’s directive that DOE enhance its voluntary reporting program. The proposed revisions are a key element in the Administration’s efforts to encourage and document voluntary efforts to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Changes to the federal registry are necessary to significantly improve the documentation of participating entities’ efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“We believe these changes will provide a more complete accounting of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by companies that report on their emission reduction programs. Such clarity and transparency will encourage increased participation in the registry by those companies that take their reduction programs seriously,” said Under Secretary of Energy Robert Card, who led an interagency process that developed the changes to the 1605(b) program. Participants in the interagency process included DOE, the Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Office of Management and Budget.
The proposed revisions would enable the Department of Energy to fully recognize those participants in the registry who provide an accurate and complete accounting of their efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. The proposed guidelines will encourage major U.S. companies and institutions to undertake comprehensive reviews of their greenhouse gas emissions and to take actions to reduce emissions. By emphasizing the importance of providing a full accounting of all greenhouse gas emissions and emission reductions, the revised guidelines are designed to stimulate the type of broad, economy-wide effort that is needed to make substantial progress toward achieving the President’s goals for reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of the U.S. economy.
Under the revised guidelines, a wide range of entities, including utilities, manufacturers, landowners and citizens, will be able to register their greenhouse gas emissions reductions if they provide entity-wide emissions data and demonstrate entity-wide emission reductions after 2002.
Other provisions encourage participation in the registry by small emitters of greenhouse gases, such as households, farmers, and small businesses. Reporters not seeking to register reductions on an entity-wide basis can continue to report emissions and emission reductions without meeting the new entity-wide requirements. However, participants are encouraged to take full advantage of the opportunity to do entity-wide reporting, which can best showcase successful reduction efforts.
Other technical changes to registry reporting requirements are being developed and will be made available for review and comment at a later date.
The proposed guidelines released take into consideration the opinions of and strike a balance among the many comments received from states, industry and environmental groups during the numerous stakeholder reviews and meetings conducted by the interagency group. The proposed guidelines were published in the Federal Register on December 5, 2003 for a 60-day public comment period.
To implement the President's directive, DOE led extensive interagency consultations, issued a public Notice of Inquiry, established a website to distribute background analyses and receive stakeholder comments, held four public workshops (USDA hosted two additional workshops on agricultural and forestry issues), and met with numerous stakeholder groups. Another public workshop is being planned to discuss the proposal. More information on this workshop and on the proposed guidelines is available at http://www.pi.energy.gov/enhancingGHGregistry/. Those wishing to offer comment on the proposed guidelines can do so by emailing 1605bgeneralguidelines.comments@hq.doe.gov
EPA Proposes Listing Nonwastewaters from the Production of Certain Dyes as Hazardous
EPA is proposing to list nonwastewaters from the production of certain dyes, pigments, and FD&C colorants as hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which directs EPA to determine whether these wastes present a hazard to human health or the environment.
EPA is proposing a mass loading-based approach for these wastes. Under this approach, these wastes are hazardous if they contain any of the constituents of concern at annual mass loading levels that meet or exceed regulatory levels. If generators determine that their wastes are below regulatory levels for all constituents of concern, then their wastes are nonhazardous. If their wastes meet or exceed the regulatory levels for any of eight specific constituents of concern, the wastes must be managed as listed hazardous wastes. However, even if the wastes meet or exceed the regulatory levels, the wastes would not be hazardous if two conditions are met: the wastes do not meet or exceed annual mass loadings for toluene-2,4-diamine, and the wastes are disposed in a Subtitle D landfill cell subject to the municipal solid waste landfill design criteria or in a Subtitle C landfill cell subject to applicable design criteria. When mass loadings meet or exceed the specified annual levels, the generator may still manage as nonhazardous all wastes generated up to the loading limit.
This proposal would also add the toxic constituents o-anisidine, p-cresidine, 1,2-phenylenediamine, 1,3-phenylenediamine, and 2,4-dimethylaniline associated with these identified wastes to the list of constituents that serves as the basis for classifying wastes as hazardous. In addition, this proposal would establish treatment standards for the wastes.
If these dyes and/or pigments production wastes are listed as hazardous waste, then they will be subject to stringent management and treatment standards under Subtitle C of RCRA.
Additionally, this action proposes to designate these wastes as hazardous substances subject to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The proposal would not adjust the one pound statutory reportable quantity (RQ) for K181 waste, nor would EPA develop a ``reference RQ'' for the new constituents identified for K181.
Other actions proposed in this notice would add o-anisidine, p-cresidine, 1,3-phenylenediamine, toluene-2,4-diamine, and 2,4-dimethylaniline to the treatment standards applicable to multisource leachate and also to add these chemicals to the Universal Treatment Standards. As a result, a single waste code would continue to be applicable to multisource landfill leachates and residues of characteristic wastes would require treatment when any of these chemicals are present above the proposed land disposal treatment standards.
EPA will accept public comments on this proposed rule until February 23, 2004.
For more information, contact the RCRA Call Center at (800) 424-9346 or TDD (800) 553-7672 (hearing impaired). In the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, call (703) 412-9810 or TDD (703) 412-3323 or visit http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/id/dyes/index.htm.
New EPA Administrator Outlines Plans and Aspirations for the Agency
Pledging to replace conflict with common sense and collaboration, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike Leavitt outlined his guiding principles, conveyed his plans and aspirations for the Agency and previewed a 500-day action plan to significantly improve the nation's air quality.
"Real environmental problem-solving takes place in the productive center, not at the emotional extremes," he said. "The productive center is the place where the best ideas compete and a fair process for decision-making exists."
Leavitt's speech to Agency employees came after three weeks of cross-agency introductions, discussions and briefings. Drawing from an environmental philosophy called Enlibra - a word derived from Latin roots that means "to move toward balance" - Leavitt explained that the eight principles of Enlibra form the prism through which he views environmental issues.
"The Enlibra principles are just common sense, really, and many other people have reached the same conclusions on their own," he said. "But do not underestimate the value of common sense, particularly as the counter to conflict."
Putting words to work, Leavitt previewed a 500-day plan to clean up the nation's air. The plan provides a road map for how the new Administrator intends for the Agency to achieve the most productive period of air quality improvement in American history.
Specific action steps include supporting the President's Clear Skies cap and trade initiative, acting on 8-hour ozone non-attainment and working to ensure compliance with ozone and particulate standards, addressing mercury emissions from power plants, and placing stringent controls on off-road diesel engines.
"The cap-and-trade approach shows us again and again that people do more and they do it faster when they have an incentive to do what is in the public's interest," said Leavitt. "More, better, faster, newer... that's the tune you will hear from me."
Leavitt envisions a new wave of national environmental productivity beginning in America. "It is emerging not from legislative initiatives," he said, "but from people joining together in collaborative networks for environmental teamwork."
Citing the Western Regional Air Partnership as an example of successful regional collaboration, the Administrator heralded the importance of collaborative process and EPA's role as a convener. Leavitt said that every significant step of environmental progress he has ever been involved with came about through collaboration.
"Collaboration does not eliminate litigation, but it can minimize it. Collaboration doesn't take away hard decisions, but it improves acceptance," said Leavitt in his speech. "They [good collaborations] elevate the ideas that create faster progress, better innovation, newer technology. They become the successes that show us the way."
Pollution Reduction Enforcement Numbers More Than Double
The compliance assurance and enforcement results for Fiscal Year 2003 were released showing that environmental benefits increased an estimated 131 percent over FY2002. Estimated pollutants reduced, treated or properly managed totaled approximately 600 million pounds, compared to 260 million in the previous year.
"Our accomplishments this past year clearly demonstrate the Administration's commitment to a vigorous enforcement and compliance assurance program – those numbers are impressive," said John Peter Suarez, EPA's Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "Through collaboration with states, tribes local governments and private citizens, we've been able to build a program that maximizes environmental and public health results."
In addition to the approximately 600 million pounds of pollutants to be reduced, treated or properly managed, EPA enforcement resulted in the treatment of over 3.7 million tons (7.5 billion pounds) of contaminated soil. Last year, EPA began estimating as well the gallons of contaminated groundwater to be treated (6.5 billion), acres of wetlands that will be restored (1,050), and the number of people served by drinking water systems that will be brought into compliance (2 million) as a result of EPA enforcement activity.
As a result of enforcement settlements, almost $2.9 billion in injunctive relief will go toward the cleanup of polluted sites and protection against further environmental harm. A settlement in another case, with Virginia Electric and Power Company, filed three days after the fiscal year deadline of Sept. 30, includes a commitment to spend $1.2 billion to install new pollution control equipment and upgrade existing controls. Had that settlement been added to EPA's 2003 total, the cleanup numbers would be more than $4 billion. In addition, the value of Supplemental Environmental Projects, which are undertaken voluntarily as a result of an enforcement settlement action, were up 12 percent to $65 million this year.
In the Superfund Program, EPA secured private party commitments for cleanup and cost recovery that exceeded $1.1 billion. More than 87 percent of new remedial action starts at non-federal Superfund sites were initiated by private parties.
When Caterpillar failed to conform to a settlement it had agreed to in 1999 by selling diesel engines that exceeded one or more of the set emission limits. In 2003, they were ordered to pay $128 million in stipulated penalties for the engines that didn't meet the test.
The number of businesses provided with compliance assistance increased 22 percent in 2003; more than 700,000 entities were assisted. The Web-based Compliance Assistance Centers registered more than 800,000 visits last year. "This assistance activity heads off pollution before it starts," Suarez said, "and helps business run their environmental programs more efficiently and effectively."
EPA's FY2003 enforcement and compliance results also include:
- Over 98 million pounds of sulfur dioxide to be removed from the air;
- Nearly $2.9 billion committed by violators to correct violations, restore the environment and prevent future damage;
- A combined total of 146 sentence years for criminals who willfully or knowingly broke the law;
- Almost 19,000 compliance inspections conducted by EPA across the nation; and
- $167 million in administrative, criminal and civil judicial penalties.
"EPA's going after what really counts – reducing pollution and protecting public health," said Suarez. "We don't count our success in the number of notices of violation we write, as some would suggest."
This year, EPA changed the way it tallies enforcement cases, switching to a simpler, more logical system. In the past, the agency awarded extra credit for cases that involved multiple facilities or multiple environmental statutes. This year, EPA began counting cases on a one-for-one basis. The FY2003 numbers reflect the actual number of case initiations and the number of facilities impacted by those cases. This information will correspond more clearly to the data available to the public on ECHO, EPA's web-based Enforcement and Compliance History Online research tool. ECHO, which was launched one year ago, has hosted one million public database searches.
"This is important information and we are finding better ways to make it directly available to the public in keeping with the Administration's emphasis on greater transparency," said Suarez. "We feel the information is a powerful tool to achieve compliance and deter environmental harm."
More information about EPA's enforcement and compliance programs, its accomplishments and ECHO can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/compliance .