The rule is expected to eliminate 33,000 tons per year of HAPs, according to Paul Almodovar of EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. EPA estimates the cost to industry to be about $15.3 million annually, with an additional $7 million expected in capital costs. The rule affects some 750 wood furniture manufacturers, Almodovar said. The rule governs major sources, which are defined as those that emit or have the potential to emit more than 10 tons per year of a single HAP or 25 tons of two or more HAPs. However, small manufacturers can be exempted by limiting their use to less than 250 gallons of coatings and glues monthly. Sources that release 50 tons per year or more of HAPs must begin complying with the rule by November 1997, and emitters of less than 50 tons r » p r VP3T*
must begin complying by December 1998 Wood furniture manufacturing produces less than 1% of all HAP emissions
Costs of Great Lakes Guidance confirmed EPA compliance cost estimates for the Great Lakes Water Quality Guidance of $60-$380 million a year were confirmed by independent economic analysts DRI/McGraw-Hill, San Francisco, CA. The report, published in November, was commissioned by the governors of Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, who were concerned about cost estimates of earlier drafts. The cost effectiveness of the groundbreaking rule, the first to address water quality on a regional, basinwide basis, emerged as the principal concern of industry and the Great Lakes states governors during the drafting process. An influential 1993 DRI/McGraw-Hill assessment of the draft guidance commissioned by the Council of Great Lakes Governors found that costs could run as high as $2.3 billion per year because of expensive mandated treatment procedures, which were predicted to yield insignificant water quality improvements Cost reductions are mainly the result of new provisions for intake water quality and changes in how criteria standards for metals are calculated. The final plan will cut pollution entering the lakes by 7.6 million pound equivalents per year; the earlier plan would have cut 10.1 million
pounds. A pound equivalent is equal in toxicity to a pound of copper {ES&T, ,ept. 1995, 416A). The new DRI report also acknowledges that EPA has addressed the majority of cost-effectiveness issues by providing state regulators the flexibility to consider economic and technical issues as they implement the guidance. Despite these conclusions, the governors in their statement on the final guidance stated that they "remain concerned that the cost of compliance will be much higher than projected." They are also working on a coordinated implementation strategy to address their concerns, according to the statement.
More public comment on waste permits Companies that intend to build a hazardous waste treatment facility must hold public meetings prior to applying for a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permit under a final rule published Dec. 11 [Federal Register 1995, 60(237)) 63417-34]. The rule could add several years to the amount of time concerned community members or groups have to comment on the proposed facility, an EPA official said. The rule requires that companies hold a publicly advertised, informal public meeting prior to applying for a permit and submit documentation of the meeting as part of the permit application, according Patricia Buzzell of the Office of Solid Waste. Previously, public notification of the possible construction of such facilities was required only after EPA proposed granting or denying a permit. The rule was developed in response to complaints by community groups that they were shut out of the permitting process until it had reached the later stages, Buzzell said. Community members and groups now could get involved as much as four years earlier. "That alone is a significant difference," said Eli Eilbott deputy general counsel for the Environmental Technology Council which rpnrp^ipnts hazardous waste treaters He noted however that the additional time would not likely affect whether a permit is granted or denied "Approval or denial is going to be based on the merits of the proposed facility " The advance notice also will enable a company to determine the
level of local resistance to the proposed facility and whether it will render the venture not worth the effort, Buzzell said. "The industry would rather know that up front," she said. The costs of the rule, which goes into effect June 11, are expected to be less than $500,000 annually.
Low-VOC products could earn EPA "green label" Manufacturers of household and consumer products that surpass EPA standards for volatile organic compound (VOC) content soon may be able to tout their products as environmentally friendly. A voluntary program being developed by the Emissions Standards Division of the Office of Air and Radiation proposes to give manufacturers a "green label" for the products, according to an EPA official. On EPA's drawing board is a program that does for low-VOC-content consumer products what the Energy Star does for energy-efficient computer systems, namely, give them an agency label as more beneficial to the environment, said Dan Brown of the Emissions Standards Division. Brown originated the idea and will initiate a pilot project using one of the 24 consumer products for which VOC content standards were established in a recently finalized rule {ES&T, Jan. 1196, p. 12A). Brown said EPA will, in the pilot project, use a test market on a single item to try to prove the concept. EPA would collect sales data to assess whether the label had a significant impact on market share of the products, Brown said. If the sales data show that the label has a significant economic impact, the division would seek to expand the program, he said. Unlike Energy Star, the program will be based on limits established by regulation. In the consumer products VOC standards rule, general purpose cleaners have a 10% VOC content limit, Brown said. "But we know there are general purpose cleaners out there that have 1% or 2% or 3% VOC content," he said. The program has not yet been formally proposed, but Brown expects a request for proposals to be published within the next few months to begin the pilot project, which will also be used to develop criteria and guidelines for a formal program.
VOL.30, NO. 2, 1996/ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 6 7 A
