2007
Dylan Starnes, an employee of the Atlanta based
Environmental Contracting Company, was sentenced to 33 months in
prison and three years of probation for improperly removing asbestos
from a low-income public housing project on St. Thomas. In addition
to the jail sentence, Starnes must also pay for the cost of medical
surveillance required for any people who were exposed to the
asbestos. Starnes was sentenced July 27, 2007. In 2002, Starnes, a
licensed and certified asbestos contractor, was hired by the Virgin
Islands Housing Authority to oversee the remediation of more than
220,000 sq. ft. of asbestos and to conduct air monitoring in the
housing project. The evidence at trial established that Starnes and
Cleve Allan George failed to follow applicable federal regulations
for asbestos removal outlined in their work plan, a violation of
federal law. George is the owner of the Virgin Island Asbestos
Removal Co.
EPA Extends Clean Water Act Deadlines for Animal
Feeding Operations
To respond properly to citizen comment on a federal
court order, EPA today announced a final rule extending certain
compliance deadlines from July 31, 2007 to Feb. 27, 2009 for
concentrated animal feeding operations.
One extension applies to water pollution permit
application deadlines for certain facilities that EPA defined as
CAFOs for the first time in 2003. The other extension relates to
when CAFOs that have a Clean Water Act permit are required to
develop and implement their nutrient management plans (NMPs). An NMP
is a plan that specifies the amount of manure that can be applied to
crops so the potential for nutrient runoff to water bodies is
minimized.
Until NMPs and other aspects of the regulation can be
implemented in accordance with the court ruling, state and existing
federal rules unaffected by the court ruling will continue to
protect water quality.
EPA has been regulating CAFOs for more than 25 years.
In response to a February 2005 federal court decision vacating some
portions of a 2003 CAFO rule, EPA proposed a revised rule in 2006.
The 2006 rule has not yet gone final.
These actions are extensions of the deadlines
originally promulgated in the 2003 rule. The extensions are
necessary to ensure that EPA finalizes the 2006 CAFO rule in
response to the court decision before the compliance dates come into
effect. These extensions will allow EPA time to respond adequately
to a wide array of public comments on the court decision and will
also provide time for states and the agricultural community to
adjust to the new requirements of the 2006 proposal once it goes
final.
EPA is encouraging its regional offices and States to
continue to implement their existing regulatory programs while the
agency's response to the court decision is being finalized.
The action being announced today will not affect
other aspects of the CAFO water permitting program. It solely
addresses timing issues associated with the court ruling.
Today's action will be published soon in the Federal
Register.
For further information, visit EPA's Animal Feeding
Operations Web page:
http://www.epa.gov/npdes/caforulechanges
EPA is releasing a second draft risk report as part
of the agency’s review of the national air quality standards
for lead. Completing and reviewing a risk assessment is part of the
extensive scientific and technical process EPA uses to review any
national ambient air quality standard.
EPA has provided the draft report to the Clean Air
Science Advisory Committee (CASAC), a group of independent
scientific and technical experts that provides advice to EPA. The
CASAC will review the report at a public meeting in Research
Triangle Park, N.C. on Aug. 28 and 29, 2007. EPA also is accepting
written comment on the draft assessment until Aug. 29.
This second draft assessment does not include any
conclusions or recommendations with regard to keeping or changing
the current lead air quality standard. EPA must propose whether to
revise or retain the current lead standards by May 1, 2008, and
issue a final rule by Sept. 1, 2008.
As a result of removing lead from gasoline and other
EPA regulations, airborne lead concentrations have decreased
dramatically in the United States. From 1980 to 2005, national lead
air quality levels have dropped more than 90 percent.
Main body of the report, appendices and fact sheet:
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/s_pb_cr_td.html
A new EPA publication will help the regulated
community design and implement voluntary water quality trading
programs consistent with EPA's 2003 National Water Quality Trading
Policy. This new guide will provide stakeholders with detailed
guidance on the fundamental concepts of trading which can accelerate
water quality improvement and reduce compliance costs.
"EPA's Trading Toolkit is the first-ever 'how-to'
manual on water quality trading," says Assistant Administrator for
Water Benjamin H. Grumbles. "This Toolkit will be useful not only
for permit writers but for anyone interested in designing a trading
program to improve water quality. It is part of EPA's efforts to
support and encourage innovation for water quality progress."
EPA is interested in public comment on the Toolkit.
Comments received through the document's Web site will be considered
for future updates.
The Toolkit, a Web-based document, is available on
the EPA's Water Quality Trading Web site at:
A limited number of hard copies are also available
through the National Service Center for Environmental Publications.
The Toolkit, a Web-based document, is available on
the EPA's Water Quality Trading Web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/trading/WQTToolkit.html
EPA Evaluated Air Toxics Risks from Petroleum
Refineries, Seeks Comment on Additional Emissions Reductions
Contact: John Millett, (202) 564-4355 / millett.john@epa.gov
A recent analysis by EPA on the risks from air toxics
emitted from petroleum refineries found that the risks to human
health and the environment are low enough that no further controls
are warranted.
Based on the results of the analysis, EPA is
proposing two options for controlling air toxics emissions from
refineries.
The first option requires no additional emissions
reductions because the risks are acceptably low.
As a second option, EPA is proposing requiring
additional emissions reductions for certain storage vessels and
wastewater treatment units. Under this alternative, EPA projects
that refineries could reduce air toxics emissions by about 1,000 to
4,600 tons per year from 153 facilities. The agency estimates this
alternative could cost up to $1.1 million or save up to $4.0 million
nationwide each year by reducing product loss.
EPA is seeking comment on both options.
EPA analyzed the petroleum refinery emissions as part
of a Clean Air Act requirement that the agency examine potential
risks that remain after implementation of standards known as maximum
achievable control technology (MACT) standards. MACT standards
require industrial facilities to reduce emissions of toxic air
pollutants.
EPA issued the MACT standard for petroleum refineries
in 1995. The rule reduces nationwide emissions of air toxics from
petroleum refineries by an estimated 53,000 tons per year.
EPA has issued 96 MACT standards covering 174
industry sectors. Those rules reduce air toxic emissions by an
estimated 1.7 million tons per year.
EPA will accept public comment on its proposal for 60
days following publication of the proposed action in the Federal
Register.
For more information on the rule:<link>
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3fs.html
Flexible Air Permits Proposed to Prevent Pollution
and Paperwork
Contact: John Millett, (202) 564-4355 / millett.john@epa.gov
EPA is proposing changes to air quality permitting
rules to encourage pollution prevention; provide increased
flexibility, enable industrial facilities to make rapid changes to
respond to market demands; save resources for state permitting
authorities, and improve public information.
The proposed changes would affect both EPA's
operating permits and New Source Review (NSR) programs. Under the
proposed changes to the operating permits program, a facility with a
flexible permit would explain its operational plans and possible
changes to those plans for the duration of the permit term –
typically 5 years. The state, local or tribal air quality permitting
authority would include permit conditions to ensure protection of
public health and the environment for all of those operating
conditions. These flexible permits do not provide approval for
operational changes not within the scope of conditions considered at
the time of the permit application, and facilities would still be
required to meet their requirements under the Clean Air Act.
The proposed revisions to the NSR program would
govern when advance approvals of certain changes would be
appropriate.
EPA and states have been testing many of the flexible
permitting approaches for more than a decade. Based on the agency's
evaluation of pilot projects, EPA expects that these proposed
changes will promote significant environmental and economic
benefits, while reducing administrative workload for both permitting
authorities and facilities.
EPA will accept comment on this proposed rule for 60
days after it is published in the Federal Register.
More about the proposal:
http://epa.gov/nsr/actions.html#aug07
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released
the first set of Hazard Characterizations on 101 High Production
Volume (HPV) chemicals. These characterizations are based on EPA’s
scientific review of the screening-level hazard, or toxicity, data
that was submitted by the U.S. chemical industry through EPA’s
HPV Challenge Program or other information previously collected by
the agency.
The HPV Challenge Program challenged companies to
provide the public with basic health and safety data on chemicals
that are manufactured in excess of a million pounds a year. The
hazard characterizations include a summary of the data submitted,
EPA’s evaluation of the quality and completeness of the data,
and an assessment of the potential hazards that a chemical or
chemical category may pose. EPA will combine this information with
human and environmental exposure information collected from EPA’s
Inventory Update Reporting to develop a risk characterization and,
based on that review, determine if additional action is needed to
ensure the safety of the HPV chemicals’ manufacture and use.
The agency intends to use this approach to assess
risks and identify and take needed action on 3000 HPV chemicals by
2012. This was one of the elements of the North American chemical
cooperation commitment announced by the U.S., Canada and Mexico at
the Security and Prosperity Partnership North American Leaders’
Summit in Canada in August. For additional information on this
announcement, visit the HPV Challenge Program Web site at
www.epa.gov/hpv.
EPA will continue to prepare and periodically post
additional HPV chemical hazard characterizations as they are
developed. The agency also intends to post risk characterizations on
chemicals when they are developed and completed, beginning later
this year.
Review the first set of hazard characterizations:
http://iaspub.epa.gov/oppthpv/hpv_hc_characterization.get_report
