Hanford Environmental Report
Dedicated to the Goal of 100% Environmental Compliance

Volume 20, Number 4 - April 10, 1998

From Washington D.C.:

EPA RELEASES DRAFT REVISIONS TO THE PART 70 AIR OPERATING PERMIT RULE

On March 25, EPA released updated draft revisions to the Air Operating Permit (AOP) rule under Title V of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Proposed changes to this rule were first released in August 1994 and again in August 1995; however, because of several very controversial issues that EPA has not been able to resolve the rulemaking has not moved forward. Consequently, with the release of this draft, EPA is now continuing with the rulemaking and intends to have a proposed rule formally published in the federal register sometime in 1999. In this draft, EPA is proposing revisions to:

• the definition of "major source" regarding research and development activities, support facilities, and fugitive emissions;
• provisions on plantwide emissions caps;
• provisions on how a designated official must certify that the facility is complying with the CAA; and
• narrow the scope of the affirmative defense that is provided for violations that occur during facility emergencies.

EPA has not yet resolved questions regarding the extent of public review a company must undergo before getting their AOP permit revised and the extent of authority EPA has to veto state permitting decisions. EPA intends to have these more controversial issues resolved at the time the proposed rule is released. A copy of the draft rule can be obtained from the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/ramain.html. For more information, email or call Kirk_A_Peterson@rl.gov of Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. at (509) 372-2364.

From Olympia:

ECOLOGY RELEASES DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO THE MODEL TOXIC CONTROL ACT RULE

On February 17, Ecology released draft revisions to the MTCA rule. These rule revisions are, for the most part, the result of recommendations from the Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) which was created by the legislature in 1995 to look at ways to reform the MTCA regulation. The PAC issued its final report in December 1996. Consequently, Ecology began rulemaking in early 1997. For the past year, Ecology has been working with a thirteen member MTCA External Advisory Committee composed of interested stakeholders to develop the rule. Major changes Ecology is proposing to the rule include:

• a new section describing the steps for selecting a remedy;
• a new section on remediation levels - these levels would trigger a particular cleanup action;
• a new section on model remedies - these remedies are considered appropriate for addressing specific situations;
• new provisions to the ground water cleanup standards;
• adding a tiered process for cleanup of total petroleum hydrocarbons; and
• a new section describing the tiered process that will be used for evaluating ecological risks.

The Association of Washington Business (AWB) recently sent a letter to Ecology expressing its concerns that the draft rule was much less user friendly than the current rule and recommended that Ecology halt the rulemaking until AWB and it could reach agreement on the process for preparing a rule that was more readable. Ecology has responded to this letter by suggesting that they meet with stakeholders on April 1, 1998 to discuss stakeholder concerns and to determine a course of action. For more information, email or call Marsha_A_Beery@rl.gov of Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. Olympia Office at (360) 709-0664.

GOVERNOR SIGNS REGULATORY REFORM BILLS

Governor Locke recently signed into law two regulatory reform Bills as follows:

• Substitute Senate Bill 6575 was signed March 11, 1998. This Bill extends the powers of the Joint Administrative Rules Review Committee to allow it to review guidelines and documents that are generally applied in order to determine whether or not they are being used as rules that have not been adopted through the appropriate rulemaking process.
• Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2345 was signed on April 2, 1998. The Bill provides new procedures for the expedited rule adoption process and clarifies the appointment of the chairpersons of the Joint Agency Rules Review Committee. The Governor vetoed several sections of the Bill including provisions to: require state agencies to review their rules and policy or interpretive statements every 7 years; require notification to affected businesses when a interpretive statement or policy is issued and encourage state agencies to convene a meeting after a rule is adopted to identify ambiguities and problem areas.

These Bills will have an indirect impact on Hanford. They both become effective June 11, 1998. For more information, email or call Marsha_A_Beery@rl.gov of Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. Olympia Office at (360) 709-0664.