Federal Alert— new regulations This listing covers noteworthy regulations appearing in the Federal Register from Feb. 28 through March 24. Page ' numbers refer to those issues. PROPOSED Environmental Protection Agency—Proposes inventory reporting requirements as prescribed by Toxic Substances Control Act; comments by May 9 (March 9, page 13114). Proposes exemptions from requirements for tolerance for certain inert ingredients in pesticide formulations such as surfactants; comments by April 13 (March 14, page 13842). Food & Drug Administration—Proposes amendments to interim food additive regulations reducing the permissible amount of acrylonitrile migrating into food from 0.3 ppm to 0.05 ppm; comments by June 9 (March 11, page 13562). FINAL Environmental Protection Agency—Establishes pretreatment effluent guidelines for existing petroleum refining sources; effective March 23 (March 23, page 15684). Energy Research & Development Administration—Resumes sale of heavy water at $97 per lb; effective March 16 (March 16, page 14768). Food & Drug Administration—Announces final certification of various dyes for drug and/or cosmetic use; effective various dates (March 4, pages 12423-12426). Establishes temporary tolerance for PCB's as unavoidable environmental or industrial contaminants in food packaging materials; effective March 15 (March 15, page 14094). Reorganizes and recodifies rules on food for human consumption; effective March 15 (March 15, page 14302). NOTICES Environmental Protection Agency—Announces plans to classify most restricted use chemicals without registration (March 11, page 13581). Pesticide makers may label as such aerosol products that do not contain chlorofluorocarbon propellants; effective April 15 (March 22, page 15360). Food & Drug Administration—Announces prehearing conference on use of cyclamates in food in Bethesda, Md., on April 30 (March 4, page 12515). National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health—Requests information to establish safety standard for occupational exposure to glycidyl ethers; comments within 90 days (March 15/ page 14173). National Institutes of Health—Announces results and availability of a report on carcinogenesis bioassay of 1,1,1-trichloroethane (March 15, page 14181).
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C&EN April 4, 1977
much for minor excesses but is severely discouraged from going too far. The report concludes that it is now appropriate and necessary for EPA to inform Congress about problems the agency faces in implementing the environmental laws and to work with Congress to design amendments and additional legislation to reconcile conflicts and omissions in the law. Although Congressional action is needed in many cases, NRC also makes a number of recommendations for changes under EPA's control, particularly in the research area. As defined by NRC, EPA's R&D activities should include: assessment and integration of available information; determination of economic and social costs, benefits, and risks; development and standardization of measurement technology; development of control and process technology; design of monitoring systems; characterization of pollutants and discharges; assessment of trends in environmental quality; determination of the fates of pollutants; determination of the effects of pollutants and other man-caused environmental disturbances; investigation of fundamental physical, chemical, and biological processes; analysis and modeling of ecosystems; and investigation of alternative, economic, social, and legal strategies for environmental management. As a first step NRC recommends that management of all these activities be centralized in EPA's office of R&D. Such centralization, the report says, would add to the credibility of the agency's R&D work by allowing scientific information to be developed, analyzed, and assessed separately from the regulatory decision process. EPA acceptance of this recommendation would entail a major change in the agency's plans for implementing the Toxic Substances Control Act. It would mean removing research and assessment activities from EPA's Office of Toxic Substances and leaving that office only its decision-making functions intact. The agency's research efforts also should be slightly redirected so as to include what the report terms anticipatory research. Such research should not detract from the Office of R&D's main role of providing scientific and technical support for EPA's regulatory actions. But it should include such things as development of biological monitoring systems; characterization of agricultural, industrial, municipal, and commercial waste streams; development of an understanding of ecosystem processes; and support of programs in environmental toxicology and epidemiology. The third recommendation involves coordination by the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy to develop a federal environmental RD&D strategy that includes designation of the appropriate roles of all participating federal agencies and delineations of the relationships between federal and nonfederal R&D. Other NRC recommendations include having an environmental scientist head
EPA's R&D office; extensive peer review of proposed and ongoing research projects; setting up outside scientific advisory boards for all EPA laboratories; and placing more technically trained people with experience in pollution con trol at decision-making levels. •
Costle sets stage for change in EPA focus In his first public address since becoming head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Douglas M. Costle apparently set the tone of his tenure. Speaking to a Washington, D.C., meeting of the National Wildlife Federation, Costle strongly affirmed his belief that "our environmental concerns are totally compatible with economic necessity." At the same time he said that current environmental laws should be used more effectively, rather than new laws written. "1 suggest the time has come for an era of analyzing, reviewing, improving, and learning to administer effectively the laws already on the books." Costle, a 37-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer, was not just stroking environmental interests. Within hours he delivered the same speech to the National Association of Manufacturers, also meet ing in Washington. Costle told both groups: "The blunt truth is that if we do not put our environmental house in order, it is inevitably going to become a miserable habitation. And issues of jobs or economic growth will become academic." The new EPA administrator rejects the notion of some industrialists that vigorous pursuit of environmental quality is a drag on the U.S. economy. "Available evidence," he says, "shows that environmental protection laws have had a minimal impact on the gross national product and consumer price index, and they have not required a disproportionate share of capital spending." Leaders of such industries as steel, electric utilities, and
Costle: the blunt truth
chemicals might dispute this, however. Even so, says Costle, "If we were to achieve no more than current levels of industrial activity, I am convinced that the amount of pollution, if unchecked, would soon become totally unaccept able." Costle seemed to imply that there may be a change in focus in EPA's efforts to improve the environment. He noted that although there have been significant im provements in air and water quality since the Clean Air Amendments of 1970 and the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972, "other substances pose even greater threats to our national health than the pollutants that were the original targets of our environmental legislation." He cited World Health Or ganization estimates that 60 to 90% of all cancer is the direct result of environ mental factors and pointed out that Na tional Cancer Institute studies "reveal much higher cancer rates in areas sur rounding heavy industrial chemical use and activity." But now EPA has the Toxic Substances Control Act, Costle says, and this gives the agency the muscle it needs to regulate the introduction of toxic materials in the en vironment. He concedes, though, that "this regulatory task will not be easy. The fact that evidence exists that a particular chemical may cause harm is not—in and of itself—sufficient to warrant a total ban. In the complex technological society in which we live, judgments of risks and benefits must be made carefully. It is es sential that EPA approach this regulatory task with objectivity and openness and with scrupulous regard for the facts." But protecting the public health through environmental improvement is not the agency's only mission, according to Costle. "EPA also is concerned with the conservation of resources essential to our well-being," he says. "The passage last year of the Resource Recovery & Con servation Act gives EPA renewed oppor tunity to encourage the development of resource recovery technologies that will help solve the growing problem of solid waste by using this resource to create en ergy and increase our store of re-usable materials." Costle points out that full implementation of recovery programs could recycle more than 66 million tons of waste per year—more than half of all U.S. municipal waste. "In our hearts, we all know that our 'throw away' habit is not sustainable." The former Connecticut environmental protection commissioner also made a public pledge in his address to the two groups. "During my tenure as adminis trator [of EPA], I intend to do all in my power to improve the performance of this agency. I want the agency's work to be marked by balance and judgment, scru pulous credibility, thorough assessment, and tough, but fair, enforcement. Our decisions may not always please everyone, but no one will be able to say that we were arbitrary, that we discourage diversity of opinion, that we do not do our home work." Π
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April 4, 1977 C&EN
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