EPAWATCH Will new PCB rule reduce disposal costs? A final rule offering more flexible disposal options for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) should save chemical manufacturers, the electric industry, and PCB waste handlers a minimum of $178 million annually, EPA said when it issued the rule in June {Federal Register, 1998, 63 (124) 35,383-35,474). An electric utility representative, however, said she is not sure EPA's cost savings estimates are realistic. "While [EPA] allows certain disposal alternatives that we haven't had in the past, we're not sure if people will be able to use those alternatives because we don't know what the reaction of disposal facilities will be," said Toni Allen, an attorney for the Utilities and Solid Waste Activities Group, which represents about 80 operating electric utilities and trade associations. The group filed a petition to appeal the rule in August, challenging the rule's ambiguities. The new rule addresses some 80 issues arid is considered deregulatory in nature because it contains decontamination procedures that allow the PCBs in certain products to be removed and disposed without requiring a permit from EPA. In addition, the agency will allow PCB waste to be handled at a wider range of facilities, giving PCB handlers more options. Likewise, wastes with low PCB concentrations—such as remediation wastes, automobile shredder fluff, and natural gas pipelines now can be disposed in municipal solid waste facilities. At a recent meeting, however, EPA officials acknowledged significant policy oversights in the rule. Environmentalists say the rule creates incentives for PCB handlers to dispose of the carcinogenic chemicals through deep well injection or burial rather than through dechlorination. "Our goal is to round up PCBs and destroy them in a way that
A reality check proposed for auto emissions testing Auto manufacturers would be required to conduct emissions tests on used cars for the first time under a rule proposed in July. EPA officials are hoping to have the program up and running by the end of 1999, in time for the 2000 model year vehicles. At present, auto manufacturers meet their Clean Air Act requirements by performing emissions tests on prototype cars, using engineering techniques to simulate aging. The "reinvented" Compliance Assurance Program 2000 (CAP 2000), proposed in July {Federal Register, 1998, 66(141), 39,653-39,680) would dommit the eanufacturers to begin testing privately owned cars to ensure that they continue to meet emissions standards, said Linda Hormes, environmental protection specialist with the Office of Mobile Sources. The used car testing in CAP 2000 is EPA's "payoff" for dramatically streamlining manufacturers' vehicle certification requirements, according to Hormes. In response to recommendations from a federal advisory committee including auto manufacturers and oil industry representatives, EPA has halved the amount of time— and paperwork—necessary for auto manufacturers to complete their certification requirements. EPA estimates these changes will save manufacturers $55 million annually. An auto industry spokesperson called the program "a good initial step." The CAP 2000 program stipulates that manufacturers conduct no maintenance prior to testing the used cars, nor can they screen the owners to determine how they were maintained. If more than 50% of the tested cars exceed any of the emissions standards by more than 1.3 times, manufacturers are obligated to perform further testing. And if those cars don't pass the tests, the Clean Air Act authorizes EPA to force manufacturers to recall models built around the problematic engines.
doesn't create dioxins," said Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics. "Burying or burning them just creates new environmental problems." The rule took effect Aug. 28.
Ozone deadline extension may spare Eastern cities Certain metropolitan areas will be allowed extra time to meet the onehour ozone standard under a policy decision announced in July. The policy drew complaints from politicians and representatives of the midwestem and southeastern power plants implicated in transporting NOx—an ozone precursor—to areas in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states. The deadline extension is aimed at areas classified as having "moderate" and "serious" ozone attainment problems. Eight areas in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states are likely candidates, according to Sha-
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ron Reinders, an environmental protection specialist with the Ozone Policy and Strategies Group. To be eligible, the areas must meet all of EPA's ozone nonattainment compliance requirements. The areas must also be affected by NOx transported from upwind states, based on broad criteria developed by EPA that Reinders describes as "intentionally vague." The most definitive proof that NO.,. is transported regionally resulted from a study by Ozone Transport Assessment Group (OTAG) {ES&T, ,ecember 1997, p. 554A). EPA anticipates that reductions in regional NO^ transport will result from regulations that were expected to be finalized in September, Reinders explained. But these reductions won't affect the downwind areas until early in the next century, she said. The bulk of the anticipated reductions are expected to result from emissions cuts by midwestern and
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