Cluster rule delays air controls for paper mills Kraft pulp mills would get eight years instead of three to implement emissions controls under proposed changes to the paper and pulp "cluster rule" (Federal Register r196, 61 (47), 9383-99). EPA is proposing to amend the air component of the proposed cluster rule (Federal Register 1993, 58(241), 66078-217), which would jointly regulate air emissions and wastewater effluent for most pulp and paper mills. EPA is considering letting mills install effluent controls first so air official said According to the new proposal, kraft pulp mills, which comprise about 130 of the 157 mills regulated under the rule, would get a five-year extension to "allow industry sufficient time to plan, coordinate, and implement the best combination of control technologies that emphasize the multimedia nature of pollution control." Most mills will need some reconstruction of their facilities to meet effluent control guidelines when the cluster rule is finalized, Penny Lassiter of the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards explained. "They can't really control their air emissions until they're done rebuilding," she said. The cluster rule was proposed in late 1993 as the first multimedia rule making, intended to simultaneously meet Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act requirements for pulp and paper manufacturing. The agency expects to finalize the rule by early fall, Lassiter said.
Medical waste rule delayed to consider new data The court-ordered April 15 deadline for a final rule on medical waste incinerator emission limits has been pushed back to July 25, 1997, an air official said. Because of significant new data, EPA requested and received a 15-month extension from the court to publish the data. The agency is now soliciting comments on the new data, which cover nearly every aspect of the February 1995 proposed medical waste incinerator rule said Fred Porter of the Emissions Stcindflrds Division The new data were submitted by environmental groups hospitals and medical waste incinerator operators during the comment period
The 1995 proposal, which would establish MACT for medical waste incinerators, was criticized by industry and environmental groups because the agency lacked sufficient data concerning the number of medical waste incinerators and their emissions. EPA based the proposal on an inventory of only seven incinerators, said Marjorie Clark of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The new data include updated information on the number of waste generators, emissions levels, the available and alternative technology, and even the definition of medical waste, Porter said. As part of the extension, EPA must publish the new data as a Federal Register nottce. According to the rule's principal author, Rick Copeland, the notice will contain no regulatory changes, but it "will provide EPA's inclinations as to how the new information might change the final regulations." Environmental groups and the regulated community agree that the extension is necessary to craft a rule that is more in keeping with the data.
Agency dumps obsolete air regulations Nearly 85 pages of Clean Air Act regulations that EPA says are obsolete or unnecessary will be eliminated under an April 11 final rule (Federal Register 1996, 6i(71), 16050-63)) The action is the second such removal, the first coming last summer, and further implements President Clinton's directive for federal agencies to purge the Code of Federal Regulations of unnecessary rules. Under this rule, EPA will remove regulations from 40 CFR 51 and 52, which govern state implementation plans. The first round of deletions removed rules that had been superseded. This round eliminates rules that, according to the Air Office's Maureen Delaney, duplicated statutes or other EPA guidance, did not add significantly to statutory provisions, unduly restricted or inhibited agency flexibility, or were otherwise overly burdensome. Because the deleted rules reiterated other policy guidance EPA expects no pending enforcement actions to be undermined EPA expects to publish a rule this summer that uses the same criteria to remove unnecessary rules governing mobile sources, Delaney said.
Electromagnetic Fields Biological Interactions and Mechanisms
Electromagnetic Fields: Biological Interactions and Mechanisms This volume provides a comprehensive survey of the multifaceted issues raised by environmental electromagnetic fields. Its 26 chapters are divided into six sections covering: •
• • • • •
physical characteristics of environmental electromagnetic fields intrinsic biological fields health-related risks therapeutic applications biophysical aspects of transduction mechanisms cellular mechanisms
Electromagnetic Fields: Biological Interactions and Mechanisms offers a fascinating examination of an exciting area of research that could help control the potential exposure risks and harness the untold therapeutic benefits of low-enerav EMFs Martin Blank Columbia Universitv Editor Advances in Chemistry Series No. 250 550 pages (1995) Clothbound ISBN 0-8412-3135-4
