EPAWATCH NYC watershed pact settles longstanding feud Officials from EPA, New York City, the state, and upstate regions announced Sept. 10 an agreement to protect the water quality of the upstate watershed and allow the city to avoid building what city officials estimate would be a $6 billion filtration plant downstate. The watershed provides drinking water for 9 million downstate residents, including those in New York City. The pact resolves a 10-year dispute that pitted city officials against upstate representatives, who had opposed land use rules and land acquisition plans proposed by the city to protect the watershed. The upstate officials have agreed to new city-issued regulations for the watershed and will allow the city to acquire "environmentally sensitive" land in the watershed. City officials have agreed to design a filtration system that can be built if the water quality degrades. The city also has committed to provide $300 million for water quality improvements, including upgrades of all 105 public and privately owned sewage treatment plants feeding the system. It will also install microfiltration at its sewage treatment plants to protect against parasites, including Cryptosporidium and Giardia. Once the agreement is signed, EPA will issue a filtration avoidance determination, allowing the city to avoid filtering its drinking water supply until April 15, 2002. Boston and San Francisco are among several major cities to which EPA has granted a filtration waiver because the systems' waters, coming from pristine sources, meet federal standards. New York's watershed differs from these because the watershed is dotted by towns, homes with septic tanks, and farms, each contributing some pollution, EPA officials said. The officials plan to sign the agreement in mid-December following a series of public meetings sponsored by EPA, the city, and the upstate regions.
New policy focuses on threats to children's health EPA has called on all federal agencies, academia, the private sector, and Congress to focus their environmental health decisions on the effects such decisions will have on children, as part of a new report released on Sept. 11. In the report, "Environmental Health Risks to Children," EPA points out the "wide array" of children's health problems that can be brought on by environmental factors. Because of their behavior, including crawling and playing outside, children are exposed more to pollutants and related health risks. For example, the report notes that many of the most common air pollutants can cause or contribute to asthma and that asthma is the number one cause for hospital admissions for children. The report commits EPA to a national agenda, including setting health standards to ensure protection of children and reevaluating five of EPA's "most significant current standards." The standards will be chosen with the help of public comment and scientific peer review. The agency also pledges to identify and expand research on children's susceptibility and exposure to pollutants and is calling on Congress to fund two new National Centers of Excellence on Children's Environmental Health at two medical institutions to provide a focus for this research.
Chemical industry air toxics rule modified In a legal settlement with the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) and Dow Chemical Co., EPA re-proposed in late August portions of the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the chemical industry [Federal Register, 1996, 61 (166), 43698718). The so-called HON rule (hazardous organic NESHAP) is required under the Clean Air Act 1990 Amendments and is part of a series of regulations to cut industrial toxic air emissions. The chemical industry HON is the first air toxics emissions standard for a major industry issued under the Air Act Amendments. Its finalization in June 1994 led to CMA's and Dow's suit covering some 75 technical issues. The settlement and re-proposal focus on air emissions recovery systems for industrial wastewater treatment facilities, according to Janet Meyer, an EPA environmental engineer in the Coatings and Consumer Products Group who is leading the proposal's development. In particular, most of the rule affects process wastewater, heat exchange systems, and in-process equipment. Accord-
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ing to EPA, wastewater was redefined to incorporate the concept that only when water is discarded from a process is it subject to the HON wastewater provisions and to distinguish between process fluids and waste materials. However, Meyer added, the reproposal includes a host of recordkeeping and technical corrections. Some were editing changes but others will affect important parts of the rule, such as the location of air monitoring equipment that measures air scrubber efficiency. EPA expects to publish the final revised rule by the end of the year, Meyer said. Because of the changes and delay, compliance with modified provisions will be extended for two years beyond the current compliance date of April 22, 1997, Meyer added.
Ecological risk assessment guidance proposed The first agency-wide ecological risk assessment guidelines have been proposed to provide a starting point for EPA offices interested in developing their own risk assessment guidance to meet a region's particular needs. Ecological problems are numerous and varied, and scientists and
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