Government Watch
States get tough with nonpoint pollution Faced with fish kills and nutrient pollution of waterways from diffuse sources, a growing cadre of U.S. states are using enforceable controls on runoff from farms, forests, and urban areas. Although the laws have been on states' books for years, only recently have they been coordinated to achieve significant cuts in pollution, according to a new report from the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), an independent research center in Washington, DC. Although the federal total maximum daily load (TMDL) program to curb nonpoint source pollution has been ground to a halt by congressional action that blocks implementation of important new rules until October 2001, the report shows that states are nonetheless tackling the next frontier in water quality management. The federal Clean Water Act gives no significant authority to the U.S. EPA and the states to enforce limits on nonpoint sources of pollution, says James McElfish, senior attorney with ELI and author of the report. In this regulatory vacuum, the primary response from both states and the federal government has been to provide technical and financial assistance and promote voluntary best management practices such as stream buffers. The controversial TMDL program, opposed by Congress and the agricultural in-
dustry, only requires states to set a cap on pollutants entering waterways but does not require them to achieve the cap, he says. States have a number of enforcement tools, and at least 12 are beginning to use them, which shows that they could enforce pollution caps set under the TMDL program, according to McElfish. For instance, most states have a general provision prohibiting discharge of pollutants from both point and nonpoint sources to their waters. Alabama has used its general discharge provision to threaten legal action over sediment pollution of streams by logging operations, McElfish says. "Under the general discharge provision, Maryland has directed cessation of pollution from manure-spreading and logging," he adds. Although most of the states that use enforcement tools apply them after voluntary actions have failed and pollution has occurred, some states are taking action before pollution starts, McElfish says. Maryland's 1998 nutrient management law sets standards for manure management that farmers must meet or be faced with civil fines (Environ. Sci. Technol. 1998, 32 (13), 305A). "The ELI report reinforces the nationwide shift in emphasis from all voluntary to more mandatory control of nonpoint source pollution," says Al Shea, water-
Polluted runoff from logging is controlled by a combination of voluntary and mandatory measures that by next year will include enforceable performance standards.
directly at the synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry (SOCMI). The new rule, which is expected to reduce monitoring, record keeping, and reporting burdens for the manufacturers, combines 16 existing federal air rules into one. The rule is voluntary; manufacturers have the option of complying with the 16 regulations separately or complying with the CAR. The 16 rules, which involve reducing emissions of volatile organic compounds and air toxics, have many similarities, making SOCMI a good candidate for streamlining, EPA officials say. EPA plans to use the CAR as a model for consolidating other air rules in the future. The move toward consolidating federal air rules stems from an initiative announced back in 1995 as part of the Clinton administration's "reinvention" of environmental regulations.
Rethinking environmental indicators The United States should use indicators that focus on ecological integrity to evaluate the success of environmental protection programs, according to a draft report from the U.S. EPAs Science Advisory Board released this month. Most environmental indicators now in use measure administrative processes, such as number of permits issued, or levels of stressors, such as concentrations of pollutants in streams, says Stephanie Sanzone, EPA staff coordinator for the committee of independent scientists that wrote the report These measures lack information on the fundamental structure and function of ecological systems, she says. "For some ecological systems the most severe stressors are not chemical pollution, but alteration of the landscape by development and exotic species," she notes. "A Conceptual Continued on Page 505 A
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Environmental News shed management director in Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources. Because nonpoint source pollution differs based on local geology, hydrology, and politics, it would be a mistake for the federal government to apply the point source paradigm of technology-based water quality permits to nonpoint source generators, he cautions. "There is no single answer to the question of how to address nonpoint source pollution," concurs Christophe Tulou, deputy director for intergovernmental liaison with the Environmental Council of States, an association of environmental commissioners. But the states agree that it is appropriate for the federal government to set benchmarks and allow states to decide how to achieve them through a combination of voluntary and mandatory tools, he says. —JANET PELLEY
Stamping out dioxin in food? The main conclusion of a rapid response workshop looking at dioxin contamination of food is that better controls and tougher guidelines are needed in Europe to define minimum requirements for monitoring programs, analytical Dutch sign declaring methods, and quality assurance. "Our chicken is dioxin free." The October workshop, which was run by the European Science Foundation (ESF), brought together 67 European scientific organizations and government agencies, and included 20 key scientists from Europe and the United States. The European Environmental Research Organisation called for the meeting after concluding that current procedures do not adequately control dioxin exposure through contaminated food. The workshop discussion highlighted that overall exposure to dioxins had decreased in the past decade, but accidental exposures have raised serious concerns with the public. Past incidents include the January 1999 contamination of the food supply in Belgium with polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins from transformer oil. "This was a special meeting. The scientists involved do not usually meet under these conditions; rather, they report to their national dioxin surveillance teams," says Jens Degett of the ESF. The report will provide recommendations to the European Commission. —DAVE BRADLEY
Fill 'er up with sun power This month, petroleum giant BP will begin delivering on its promise of running all of the company's new gas stations on solar power by opening the first three "BP Connect" stations in the United States and the United Kingdom, says Sarah Howell, director of environment and corporate communications for BP. Transparent photovoltaic panels atop a see-through canopy that shelters motorists are expected to generate about 15% of the stations' power. Over the past two years, BP has been retrofitting solar panels onto the roofs of existing stations in nine countries in North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim, Howell says. "The real emerging market for solar is going to be in the urban centers where it is connected to the grid," she says. More than 200 BP gas stations will be running on sunshine by the end of this year, she adds.
The photovoltaic panels being installed in the stations are made by BP Solar, which is the world's largest manufacturer of solar technology, as well as one of the largest users of solar power. The panels in the U.S. versions of the new BP Connect stations will include 20 kW worth of solar panels at a market price of over $200,000, says Bo Harmon, deputy director of Global External Affairs
for BP Solar. Because the electricity generated by the panels is connected directly to the grid, no storage batteries are required, Howell says. The panels in the new BP Connect stations use a thin-film technology that has been available for two years. These thin-film panels are only 7% efficient compared to the 1315% efficiencies achievable with silicon crystalline photovoltaics, but they are less expensive to manufacture and cost only $11/W, Howell says. The thin-film solar panels can generate power, albeit less efficiently, when the weather is overcast, but they do not function when it is raining, she says.
The first of BP's next generation of gas stations are set to open this month in London, Indianapolis, IN, and Cleveland, OH. All of these "BP Connect" stations will run on solar power.
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BP plans to open a new BP Connect station each month in the United States in 2001, Harmon says. —KELLYN S. BETTS
