Jessica Landman, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that even if the Oregon decision withstands any challenges, it still does not address the much larger issue of nonpoint pollution sources on private land.
Steel Institute and the Chemical Manufacturers Association, are monitoring the development of this rule because it might set a precedent for work underway in a separate RCRA proposal to develop a new solid waste definition for secondary materials.
RCRA proposal tightens mining industry exclusion
CAM rule would cost $80 million annually
A hazardous waste management proposal may significantly narrow a special exclusion for wastes in the mining and ore industries. The proposal also suggests that the secondary manufacturing materials of these two industries be defined in a new way, which could establish a precedent for a new solid waste definition. On May 12, EPA proposed lengthy rules narrowing the Bevill exemption for wastes from the mining and ore processing industries [Federal Register, 1997, 62(91), 26041-26084). The exemption, established in 1984 and named after former Sen. Tom Bevill (D-Ala.), excludes wastes generated by mineral processing and ore extraction from the rigid hazardous waste management requirements of die Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA has proposed several times to tighten the Bevill exclusion and each rulemaking has been challenged in court by the mining and ore industries In examining the industry, EPA found that the Bevill exemption encourages companies to increase the volume of materials that can be processed under the Bevill rules, and in many cases, the exemption allows too many wastes to be excluded from RCRA. To address this, the proposal tightens the requirements on secondary waste materials generated from alternative feedstocks. For example, EPA is proposing that for mining and ore processing companies to qualify for an exemption, all feedstocks must be derived from virgin material If alternative materials are used secondary wastes will not be exempt from RCRA regulations Manufacturers routinely reuse secondary materials in their processing systems. But RCRA's definition of solid waste often puts these secondary materials under the hazardous waste regulation scheme. Because RCRA is so prescriptive, many companies choose not to recycle the secondary material, manufacturers say. Many manufacturers, including those represented by the Iron and
A proposed rule requiring major air pollution sources to monitor pollution control devices will cost substantially less to implement than a more stringent rule that would have required the same pollution sources to continuously monitor stack emissions. A recently released regulatory impact analysis shows that the compliance, assurance, and monitoring (CAM) rule will cost $80 million per year to implement. CAM replaced an earlier, enhanced monitoring proposal that would have required intensive data gathering and a huge infusion of new pollution-monitoring equipment, costing between $400 million and $800 million annually. The CAM proposal calls for greater reliance on existing monitoring equipment and techniques used with pollution control devices, said John Bosch of EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. The proposed rule requires mat major air pollution sources, such as manufacturing facilities, outfitted with pollution control devices develop plans to keep those devices operating properly (i.e., determine how and when to monitor them and how to correct problems quickly). The plans would also detail how collected data are used in an annual compliance certification The monitoring approach for any operation or facility depends on the type of control technology used to meet the applicable emission limit. A facility would have to keep records on equipment monitoring, work practice, and inspection procedures related to pollution control compliance. Peter Westlin, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, said the agency is not likely to issue a final rule by the July 7 deadline. "We are trying to meet that date, but we're running behind schedule," he said, adding that the rule might not be dispensed until November. The agency is currently reviewing comments on the CAM regulatory impact analysis.
Voluntary TSCA data collection recommended A federal interagency committee that recommends potentially harmful chemicals for testing plans to reduce mandatory data collection under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) by asking companies to voluntarily submit chemical health and safety data. The TSCA Interagency Testing Committee (ITC) said in its semiannual report that a voluntary data collection system will dramatically reduce the volume of data needed from manufacturers, importers chemical trade associations, procesSince its creation two decades ago, ITC has screened more than 40,000 chemicals and put about 3500 of them on its priority testing list. Currendy, EPA acts as a middleman, issuing TSCA data-reporting rules on all chemicals that appear on ITC's priority testing list and then organizing and providing those data to the committee. However, the mandatory reporting rules can result in a flood of information, creating a lot of work for industry and logjams for the agency, said Frank Kover, EPA chief of chemical information and testing branch, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. Under the new voluntary reporting system, companies will have 30 days to provide the committee with lists of potential data submissions and submission timetables after a data request is issued. ITC will review these lists, weeding out information it does not need. EPA will be called in to issue a mandatory reporting rule if ITC is not satisfied with the data received under the voluntary data request.
Draft guidance will require drinking water assessments States will have to assess their drinking water sources under a draft EPA guidance document due out Aug. 6. "State Source Water Assessment and Protection Programs" will require states to develop plans showing how they will delineate drinking water sources and conduct contaminant source inventories and susceptibility analyses two years after the final guidance is released. The document notes that states can use existing programs to develop water assessment for large wa-
VOL. 31, NO. 7, 1997 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 3 0 7 A
