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

Volume 21, Number 2 - February 12, 1999

From Washington, D.C.:

EPA ISSUES FINAL CHEMICAL ACCIDENT PREVENTION RULE AMENDMENTS

On January 6, EPA published its final chemical accident prevention rule amendments (64 FR 964) under 40 CFR Part 68. This rule expands the requirements for owners and operators of stationary sources that are subject to the rule to submit a risk management plan (RMP) to a central location specified by EPA by June 21, 1999. EPA is amending the rule to:

The rule became effective February 5, 1999. Kirk Peterson with Fluor Daniel Hanford's Environmental Protection organization is working with site staff to implement those provisions that are applicable to Hanford. For more information, email or call Kirk_A_Peterson@rl.gov of Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. at (509) 372-2364.

EPA RECENTLY ISSUES A DIRECT FINAL RULE AND DRAFT PREAMBLE FOR TWO RULEMAKINGS UNDER THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT

EPA recently issued the following direct final rule and draft preamble language for two rulemakings under the Safe Drinking Water Act:

For information on these actions, email or call Douglas_A_Rohl@rl.gov with DynCorp. at (509) 373-2553.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

There are several Bills recently introduced in this legislative session that could have an impact at Hanford. These include:

For more information, email or call Marsha A_Beery@rl.gov of Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc.'s Regulatory Interface at (360) 709-0664 or go to http://www.leg.wa.gov.

BRIEFLY

EPA is planning to issue draft guidance by March for government officials who are performing ecological risk assessments. EPA will be holding workshops in February or March to discuss the forthcoming guidance. EPA has learned that the most important issue on which the government officials or "risk managers" need guidance is deciding what part of the environment to protect.

EPA recently announced that it will be refining and unveiling a final corrective action administrative reform package in the next several months. As part of this reform, EPA has decided that it will not be continuing the rulemaking for the subpart S rule of 40 CFR Part 264. A proposed rule (55 FR 30798) was published in the Federal Register on July 27, 1990. This rule would have established national standards on when and how clean ups at hazardous waste sites under RCRA would occur. EPA has instead determined that it will issue guidance on its policies of those areas of RCRA's corrective actions program that would have been codified in this subpart. EPA will also be issuing guidance soon on performance-based cleanup standards and environmental indicators.

On January 15, EPA announced that it would be meeting with stakeholders interested in the applicability provisions of the New Source Review (NSR) Reform under the Clean Air Act (CAA) on February 2-3. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss EPA's new approach to NSR applicability. A copy of the announcement, including discussion points and stakeholders that are invited, is located on EPA's website at http://www.epa.gov/.

NOTICE

Ecology will be holding public meetings in Spokane and Seattle to discuss a proposed strategy for addressing chemicals that are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic. The meeting in Spokane will be held February 11 from 7pm to 9pm in the Lair Auditorium at Spokane Community College. The meeting in Seattle will be held February 25 from 7pm to 9pm in the Tahoma Room at the Mountaineers Building. For more information on these meetings, email or call Marsha A_Beery@rl.gov of Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc.'s Regulatory Interface at (360) 709-0664.


FEDERAL/STATE
REGISTER REVIEW
64 FR 688
On January 5, EPA published its proposed rule to lower the reporting thresholds for certain persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals including dioxin and dioxin-like compounds subject to reporting under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention. Comments on the proposed rule must be received in EPA by March 8, 1999.
64 FR 964
On January 6, EPA published its final rule modifying the chemical accident prevention rule under 40 CFR Part 68 (see article, this edition). This rule requires owners and operators of stationary sources that are subject to the rule to submit their risk management plans to a central location specified by EPA by June 21, 1999. The rule became effective on February 5, 1999.
64 FR 1092
On January 7, EPA published its final rule allocating essential-use allowances for the 1999 control period. Essential-use allowances permit a person to obtain controlled ozone-depleting substances as an exemption to the January 1, 1996, regulatory phaseout of production and import. The rule became effective January 7, 1999.
64 FR 1494
On January 8, EPA published its direct final rule on the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation for public water systems under 40 CFR Part 141 to suspend monitoring by small and medium systems for monitoring scheduled to begin after December 31, 1998 (see article, this edition). The rule becomes effective March 9, 1999, unless EPA receives adverse comments by February 8, 1999. EPA also published a proposed rule (64 FR 1499) in this same Federal Register, should it receive adverse comments on the direct final rule. Comments on the proposed rule must be received in EPA by February 8, 1999.
64 FR 1607
On January 11, DOE published a notice announcing its interest in receiving grant applications for performance of innovative research to investigate DOE surface contamination/vadose zone issues. The deadline for submittal of formal applications to DOE is April 19, 1999.
64 FR 2280
On January 13, EPA published its proposed rule to review the Clean Water Act national effluent limitations guidelines and pretreatment standards for wastewater discharges from centralized waste treatment facilities. This proposed rule would establish technology-based effluent limitations and pretreatment standards for wastewater discharges of new and existing centralized waste treatment facilities which accept hazardous or non-hazardous industrial wastes, and wastewater, and/or used material from off-site for treatment and/or material recovery. Comments on this proposed rule must be received in EPA by March 15, 1999.
64 FR 2760
On January 15, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry published a notice on the status of ATSDR's Superfund-mandated Substance-Specific Applied Research Program authorized by CERCLA and SARA. There are 124 priority data needs identified for the first 38 hazardous substances listed for this program, and 64 priority data needs identified for another 12 hazardous substances added later to the list. ATSDR provides a status of this program every three years.
64 FR 2942
On January 19, EPA published its final rule adding 17 new sites to the National Priority List (NPL). The NPL is intended to guide EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation on the extent of hazardous waste contamination and to determine what CERCLA-financed remedial actions may be appropriate. The final rule becomes effective February 18, 1999.
64 FR 2942
On January 19, EPA published its proposed rule adding 11 new sites and withdrawing one site from the General Superfund Section to the NPL. Comments on this proposed rule must be received in EPA by March 22, 1999.
64 FR 3028
On January 20, EPA published its direct final rule amending 40 CFR part 58, Appendix D to shorten the ozone monitoring season in Washington and Oregon from April 1 through October 31 to May 1 through September 30. The direct final rule becomes effective March 22, 1999 unless EPA receives adverse comment by February 19, 1999. EPA has also published in this same Federal Register a proposed rule (64 FR 3056) to approve Washington's and Oregon's request to modify their current ozone monitoring season should it receive adverse comments on its direct final rule.
64 FR 3139
On January 20, the NRC published a notice announcing that its draft "Contingency Plan for the Year 2000 Issue in the Nuclear Industry" is available for public review and comment. This document describes the NRC's current plan and approach in addressing contingencies for potential unanticipated events due to the Y2K problem. Comments must be received in the NRC by February 15, 1999.
64 FR 3382
On January 21, EPA published clarifications and technical amendments to its final RCRA subpart CC rule promulgating standards to reduce organic air emissions from certain hazardous waste management activities. The final standards were published in the Federal Register on December 6, 1994. These standards control organic emissions from certain tanks, containers, and surface impoundments used to manage hazardous wastes. The amendments became effective January 21, 1999.
64 FR 3714
On January 25, the Bureau of Reclamation published a notice announcing that the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (FPEIS) for implementing provisions of Phase 2 of the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project (YRBWEP) was available. The purpose of the YRBWEP is to meet the competing water needs of the Yakima River Basin. The Bureau will make a decision on the proposed action in the FPEIS by February 25, 1999, after which time they will complete a Record of Decision identifying the action that will be taken. A copy of the FPEIS can obtained from the Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Columbia Area Office, 1917 Marsh Road, Yakima, Washington 98907.
64 FR 3986
On January 26, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published a notice advising the public that a Final Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the NRC and DOE had been issued. This MOU continues the relationship between DOE and the NRC that was founded through statute. The MOU also updates the management policy that the NRC and DOE have established through NRC-funded research programs at the DOE laboratories. The effective date of the MOU was November 24, 1998.
64 FR 3861
On January 26, EPA published an interim final rule under the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program listing a refrigerant blend known as MT-31 as unacceptable for all refrigeration and air-conditioning end-uses. This interim final rule became effective January 26, 1999.
64 FR 3865
On January 26, EPA published an interim final rule under the SNAP program lisiting hexafluoropropylene (HFP) and any blend containing HFP as unacceptable for all refrigeration and air-conditioning end-uses. The interim final rule became effective January 26, 1999.
64 FR 4422
On January 28, the ATSDR published a notice listing sites that are proposed or on the NPL that the ATSDR has completed public health assessments on during the period April 1998 through September 1998.

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For technical questions regarding the subject matter, please send email to: Wayne_E_Toebe@rl.gov
URL: http://www.hanford.gov/pubs/envnews/feb1999.html
Last Updated: February 11, 1999