tion that can remain in the soil after a cleanup. The most protective level, Tier 1, requires the least amount of preliminary site assessment but the strictest cleanup. Remediating a site using Tier 1 guidelines would bring the property closest to background or pristine levels. Considerable disagreement over the requirements for Tier 2 and Tier 3 arose between state and federal regulators and the industry representatives developing the standard. To meet diese cleanup levels, site owners would have to provide more information on the pollution history of the site and complete more field testing to determine the appropriate cleanup level. Tier 2 strikes 3. bcil3J1CC between the most stringent cleanup and the most lenient Tier 3 which requires even more site analysis before is determined. RBCA 2 requires that an ecological risk assessment be conducted for each tier. The RBCA standard for petroleum cleanups also includes an ecological risk assessment but does not describe how to conduct one. An ASTM task group is developing ecological risk assessment procedures for Tiers 1 and 2 of the chemical contamination standard. Although both RBCA standards were designed for use at sites with contamination below the levels established for the federal Superfund program, the riskbased standards could influence the program during the ongoing debate over Superfund reauthorization next year. Some regulators think risk-based corrective action is a better "mousetrap" for returning contaminated sites to the tax rolls, said Helen Waldorf of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and chair of the ASTM RBCA task "Right now, you can use riskbased corrective action for remedial investigation but not for making a decision about cleanup at a Superfund site. If they change the statute, then this concept can be used in the decision of how to clean up the site as well as to determine where the contamination is. EPA has taken this as far as they can," said Waldorf. DEBRA A. SCHWARTZ
EUROPEAN
NEWS
European Union environment ministers have agreed on stricter limits on pesticides and lead in drinking wa>" ter at their quarterly meeting Oct. 16. The coun- J8P* cil accepted a European Parliament amendment to limit total pesticides to 0.5 micrograms per liter (pg/L), in addition to a 0.1 -pg/L limit for individual pesticides. The European water industry opposes the total-pesticides limit Francis RHIaerts of Eureau, the water suppliers' association, said the 0.5-pg/L limit "makes no sense as it is impossible technically to analyze all pesticides." Ministers also agreed on an 80% cut in levels of lead in drinkihq water reducing limits from 50 to 10uq/L after 15 years. The directive proposed in 1995 revises the EU's 1980 drinking water law. Tighter air pollution standards on sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, lead, and particulate matter (PM) were formally proposed by the European Commission on Oct. 8. If adopted by the European Parliament and Council, the proposal is expected to result in a 10% cut in S02 and N0 2 emissions and a 50% reduction in PM, 0 emissions across the EU. Although EL) members expect that the proposed limits for S02 and lead will easily be met, meeting the standards for NO, and PMiB could prove to be more difficult because of a rapidly growing motor vehicle fleet. The new N0 2 standard is 200 micrograms per cubic meter (pg/m3) over an hour and 40 pg/m3 over a year, to be met by 2010. The commission estimates that PM fB emissions from cars will have to be cut in half to meet the proposed limit values of 30 pg/m3 over a year by 2005 and 20 pg/m3 by 2010. Paris suffered its worst outbreak of nitrogen dioxide air pollution in two years on Sept 30, causing officials to invoke emergency measures. French environment minister Dominique Voynet ordered restrictions on car use as nitrogen dioxide levels rose above 400 pg/m3 at several monitoring stations. Only cars with license plates ending in an odd number were permitted to drive in the greater Paris area on Oct. 1, and public transport was free of charge to passengers. A coal-fired power station close to Paris was also shut down at the request of Voynet Proposed EU-wide energy taxes would create jobs, boost economic growth, and cut carbon dioxide emissions, according to a European Commission working paper obtained by ENDS Environment Daily in October. The document supports a draft directive on energy taxes proposed by the commission that would set the first EU-level minimum tax rates for a range of fuels, including coal, electricity, and natural gas. The taxes would go into effect in 1998 and increase in 2000 and 2002. The report was based on three analyses using different macroeconomic models; calculations assumed that labor taxes would be reduced to balance higher energy taxes. The models estimated a growth in gross domestic product of between 0.02% and 0.2% and a decline in C02 emissions of 0.5-1.6%. Compliance with the EU law on nitrate pollution is "abysmal," according to a report by the European Commission released in October. EU environment commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard said it was "totally unacceptable" that most member states had failed to implement the 1991 directive. The directive was designed to protect waters from nitrate pollution from agricultural sources through measures including designation of "nitrate vulnerable zones" and action plans to protect them. According to the report, groundwater nitrate concentrations exceed the current standard of 25 mg/L over 87% of EU agricultural land. Legal actions are under way against 13 of the EU's 15 member countries for failure to transpose the nitrate directive into national law or failure to comply with its requirements. —Reprinted with permission from ENDS Environment Daily, Environmental Data Services, Ltd., Londoo (http://www.ends.co.uk, e-mail
[email protected]).
VOL. 31, NO. 12, 1997/ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYY NEWS * 5 5 7 A
