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

Volume 20, Number 8 - August 21, 1998

Notice:

Because the editor of the Hanford Environmental Report (HER) will be on vacation in September, there will not be an issue of the HER published that month. The next issue will be published on the 2nd Friday of October.

From Washington D.C.:

EPA EVALUATES NEED TO AMEND WATER QUALITY STANDARDS

On July 8, EPA published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in the Federal Register (63 FR 36741) to solicit public comment on its current thinking of possible changes to the Water Quality Standards rule and policies. This ANPR is a follow-up to the previous draft ANPR that was published in the Federal Register in 1996 and public meetings held in 1997 but is narrower in scope based on public comment and provides EPA's current thinking on the issues. A main theme of the ANPR is the need for better data and new types of data to support a more refined approach to water quality protection that would be workable by States and Tribes who would be implementing it. EPA is requesting comments on sections of the regulation including:

• water quality criteria;
• uses;
• antidegradation;
• mixing zones; and
• independent application or weight of evidence approach.

In order to address these items, EPA has included a list of questions or statements for stakeholder comment. EPA is planning to hold three public meetings during the 180-day comment period. Also, included in the ANPR is a summary of potential program and regulation changes. Comments on the ANPR must be received in EPA by January 4, 1999. For more information, email or call Jay_J_Kapadia@rl.gov of Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. at (509) 373-4932.

EPA EXTENDS INTERIM POTENTIAL TO EMIT POLICY

EPA has recently decided to extend its interim policy on how a facility's potential to emit air pollution is determined for enforcement purposes after it was unable to complete final rules on this subject by July 31, 1998. The policy, which was developed in January 1995, will remain in effect until December 31, 1999 at which time EPA plans to have the new rule promulgated. The new rule is being developed as a result of a series of court cases that ruled to overturn or remand existing agency rules on potential to emit determinations. These cases challenged EPA's requirement that any limits used to lower a source's potential to emit must be "federally enforceable". This precluded sources from counting limitations that state and local air rules have on calculating potential to emit.

EPA's interim policy contains conditions a source must meet to get out of the major source status based on their potential to emit. These include:

• maintain adequate records that show their actual emissions are less than 50 percent of the applicable major-source threshold and they have operated at that level since January 1994; or
• have actual emissions between 50 percent and 100 percent of the major source threshold and are subject to state limits that are "enforceable as a practical matter".

For more information on how this could impact your specific activity, email or call Kirk_A_Peterson@rl.gov of Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. at (509) 372-2364.

From Ecology:

UPDATE OF ECOLOGY'S MTCA RULEMAKING

Ecology is continuing its rulemaking to amend the Model Toxic Control Act rule. This rulemaking began in early 1996 after the Policy Advisory Committee which was created by the 1995 legislature to review the MTCA rule released its recommendations. Subsequent to the report release, Ecology convened an Advisory Committee of interested stakeholders to assist it in the rulemaking process.

In February 1998, Ecology released a draft MTCA rule for review and comment by the stakeholders. After review of the draft, the business community expressed major concern over some areas of the draft rule which they felt didn't follow the PAC recommendations and were not user friendly. Ecology responded to these concerns by hiring an independent facilitator, Dan Ballbach, to assist in resolving these issues. The agency also, at that time, told the stakeholders that they could submit their own rule language in place of Ecology's. Consequently, the business community developed their own draft rule and submitted it to Dan in June 1998. At the same time, Ecology submitted a revised draft rule to Dan who is currently reviewing both drafts with the intent of putting together a compromise rule. He has also been meeting with stakeholders to discuss their various concerns with the draft rules. Dan intends to have a compromise rule ready for Ecology and stakeholder review by mid-August. For more information, email or call Marsha_A_Beery@rl.gov of Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. Olympia Office at (360) 709-0664.

Briefly:

EPA will be holding several meetings around the U.S. to discuss implementation of the PCB Mega rule. The meetings will be held in Washington D.C., Denver, Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, and Chicago. EPA plans to address each section of the rule separately. Details of the meetings and how to register can be obtained from the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/opptint/pcb/meeting.htm.

DOE released a draft environmental impact statement on proposals to dispose of more than 50 tons of surplus plutonium at selected federal facilities. The draft EIS looked at four sites including the Hanford Reservation in Washington, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, the Pantex Plant in Texas, and the Savannah River Site in North Carolina. DOE will hold five public meetings on the EIS throughout the U.S. A copy of the EIS can be obtained by calling (800) 820-5134 or a summary of the EIS can be obtained from the Internet at http://www.doe-md.com.

EPA recently held a two-day forum to discuss areas of the land disposal restriction (LDR) program that need improvement. The forum attendees included federal and state regulatory agencies, hazardous waste generators and treaters, and environmental organizations. Topics discussed were whether the land ban program is protective of human health and the environment, whether it is cost-effective, how it can be made more flexible and innovative, and how the land ban rules can be made more understandable and enforceable. EPA expects to have an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking on LDR reforms by the end of 1998.