Hanford Environmental Report

Privacy & Security Notice

	Hanford Environmental Report
Dedicated to Environmental Compliance

Volume 25, Number 5 - May 9, 2003

From Washington, D.C.:

EPA RELEASES FINAL PACIFIC NORTHWEST SURFACE WATER QUALITY TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE

On April 29, 2003, EPA released the final guidance entitled, "EPA Region 10 Guidance for the Pacific Northwest State and Tribal Temperature Water Quality Standards" (Guidance). The Guidance is intended to assist states and tribes in adopting water quality standards for temperature that EPA can approve, consistent with the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Guidance is the product of a 3-year collaborative effort among EPA, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Washington State Department of Ecology, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nez Perce Tribe, and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. The EPA previously issued two drafts for public review in October 2001 and 2002 and received numerous public comments. The Guidance contains the following recommendations:

Establishing temperature criteria to protect salmon and trout
Protecting existing cold waters
Protecting fish in the vicinity of point-source discharges
Outlining approaches a State or Tribe could take to address situations where the recommended temperature criteria will be unattainable or inappropriate.

Water temperature criteria are used for determining waters that do not attain water quality standards under the CWA 303(d) list and require the development of the Total Maximum Daily Load that is used to calculate the temperature reduction needed from contributing sources to meet the criteria. Criteria also are used to set effluent limits for sources in the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System program and used by states for non-point control programs. The Guidance does not substitute for applicable legal requirements and it is not a regulation; rather, the guidance represents one approach for water temperature standards that states and tribes can adopt that likely would be approved by the EPA. The EPA has stated that the Guidance is optional and states and tribes can adopt alternative standards as long as the EPA determines the standards meet the CWA and ESA. For more information, email or call Marsha_A_Beery@rl.gov at (360) 709-0664 with Flour Hanford Compliance Services.

From Olympia:

ECOLOGY RELEASES FY 2004-2005 PERFORMANCE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

On April 29, 2003, Ecology released the "FY 2004-2005 Performance Partnership Agreement" (PPA) for public review and comment. The PPA documents contractual commitments between EPA and Ecology on activities of the State's nuclear waste, water quality and air programs, and covers the period July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2005. The purpose of the PPA is to provide the following:

Establish mutual environmental goals, strategies, activities, and performance measurement for State FY's 2004 and 2005
Maintain a core level of environmental protection for all of the State's citizens
Measure environmental progress using indicators that are reflective of environmental conditions, trends, and results
Allocate Ecology and EPA, Region 10, resources to the highest environmental priorities of the state
Establish a joint work plan for administering the federal grant dollars that EPA, Region 10, provides to Ecology for air quality, water quality, and hazardous waste management.

Comments on the PPA must be received by Ecology on or before May 30, 2003. The PPA can be found on the Internet at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0301019.html. For more information, email or call Marsha_A_Beery@rl.gov at (360) 709-0664 with Flour Hanford Compliance Services.

2003 LEGISLATURE PASSES ENVIRONMENTAL AND REGULATORY REFORM BILLS

The 2003 Legislature passed several environmental and regulatory reform bills as follows:

Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1002 - Mercury reduction and education. This bill creates a new chapter in Title 70 RCW to regulate mercury and mercury-added products. The bill also creates new requirements on labeling of certain mercury-added lamps, prohibitions on the sale of certain mercury-added products, and directs the Department of General Administration on the purchase of mercury-added products. The bill was sent to the Washington State Governor's office for signature on April 27, 2003.
Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1530 - Venue for declaratory judgment under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) (amends RCW 34.05.570). The bill allows for a declaratory action challenging an agency rule under the APA to be brought to Superior Court in Clark, Spokane, Whatcom, and Yakima counties in addition to Thurston County. The bill was sent to the Washington State Governor's office on April 27, 2003.
House Bill 1531 - Requiring the Washington State Governor's signature on significant legislative rules. The bill requires that the Governor sign the final order of adoption on significant legislative rules. The bill was sent to the Washington State Governor's office on April 14, 2003. The Governor vetoed the bill in its entirety on April 18, 2003. The House and Senate can override the veto with a 2/3rds vote of each House.
Engrossed Senate Bill 5256 - Revising rulemaking procedures. The bill requires that the notice of proposed rulemaking for rules subject to the significant legislative rulemaking process must contain a statement that a preliminary cost-benefit analysis is available. The bill also requires that if an agency files a supplemental notice of rulemaking, that a revised preliminary cost-benefit analysis must be made available and when the rule is adopted, a final cost-benefit analysis must be issued.
The Washington State Governor's office has 30 days to sign or veto all or parts of the bills or the bills automatically will become law. The Governor has called a special session set to begin May 12, 2003, and last for 2 weeks. During this time, bills such as House Bill 1531 that was vetoed could be acted on. The bills can be found on the Internet at http://www.leg.wa.gov under bill Information. For more information, email or call Marsha_A_Beery@rl.gov at (360) 709-0664 with Flour Hanford Compliance Services.

Briefly:

On April 3, 2003, EPA's Office of Inspector General released a report on EPA's review of the effectiveness of the pump-and-treat systems entitled, "Improving Nationwide Effectiveness of Pump-and-Treat Remedies Requires Sustained and Focused Action to Realize Benefits." The Inspector General's Office is tasked with identifying the progress and needs of ongoing projects conducted by EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. EPA's review of pump-and-treat systems is part of the Agency's superfund reform strategy. The Inspector General indicated that EPA should more accurately track the benefits of pump-and-treat systems, should set priorities for which sites or recommendations are most critical to track, establish a time line for tracking actions, and establish credible metrics to measure environmental and cost benefit outcomes of the recommendations. The Inspector General's report can be found on the Internet at http://www.epa/gov/oigearth/eroom.htm.
On April 8, 2003, EPA published a proposed rule to add benzene and 2-ethoxyethanol to the list of solvents whose mixtures with wastewater are exempted from the definition of hazardous waste under RCRA. Through this action, EPA also is proposing to provide flexibility in the way compliance with the rule is determined by adding the option of directly measuring solvent chemical levels at the headworks of the wastewater treatment system to the current requirements. EPA also is proposing to make additional listed hazardous wastes eligible for the de minimis exemption. Comments on the proposed rule must be received by EPA on or before June 9, 2003.
On April 15, 2003, EPA published a final rule revising the "Guideline on Air Quality Models" under 40 CFR Part 51 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Guideline is used by EPA, states, and industry to prepare and review new source permits and State Implementation Plan revisions. Through this action, EPA is: adopting a new dispersion model, Lagrangian puff modeling system called CALPUFF, in Appendix A that will become the preferred technique for assessing long-range transport of pollutants and the impacts on Federal Class I areas; removing the Climatological Dispersion, Regulatory Air, and the Urban Airshed Models from Appendix A; simplifying the complex terrain screening techniques in Section 5; revising Section 9 to reflect EPA's October 1997 settlement with the Utility Air Regulatory Group on specification of emissions from background sources; updating information in Appendix W; reorganizing the structure, and transferring Appendix B and C to EPA's website. The final rule becomes effective May 15, 2003.
On April 17, 2003, EPA released guidance entitled, "Guide for Industrial Waste Management" that contains best management practices companies can use to handle nonhazardous industrial wastes. The guidance describes the risk assessment tools for determining appropriate waste management practices for surface impoundments, landfills, waste piles, and land application units. The nonhazardous industrial waste's addressed by the guidance includes municipal solid waste, hazardous waste regulated under Subtitle-C of RCRA, mining waste and some mineral processing waste, oil and gas generated waste, radioactive waste, and construction or demolition debris. The guidance includes models for siting waste, adverse groundwater and hydrological impacts, examples of types of liners, expected leachate from various types of liners and waste, plus guidance on where to send the waste, and lists of approved EPA landfills. The guidance can be found on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/industd/index.htm.
On April 28, 2003, EPA reported that the "Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Reporting" forms and instructions and links to the TRI software are now available at http://www.epa.gov/tri. Facilities reporting their releases of hazardous substances in 2002 can use new software, TRI-Made Easy (TRI-ME), to submit TRI reports electronically and verify the information with an electronic signature. TRI reports could be submitted electronically previously but signatures to verify the accuracy of the data had to be mailed to EPA in hard copy until now. TRI data for 2002 are due July 1, 2003. The TRI program was established under the "Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act" and requires facilities to report annual releases and transfers of certain toxic chemicals.

*FEDERAL/STATE*
	*REGISTER REVIEW*

68 FR 16021: On April 2, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing that an Information Collection Request (ICR) on Part B Permit Application, Permit Modifications, and Special Permits has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments on the ICR must be received by EPA on or before May 2, 2003.

68 FR 16505: On April 4, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing that the EPA is planning to submit an ICR on Environmental Radiation Ambient Monitoring System to OMB for review and approval. Comments on the ICR must be received by EPA on or before June 3, 2003.

68 FR 16728: On April 7, 2003, EPA published a notice correcting the atmospheric lifetime and global warming potential listed for the substitute fire suppression agent that was published in a notice of acceptability related to the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program in the Federal Register on December 20, 2002. The correction became effective April 7, 2003.

68 FR 16729: On April 7, 2003, EPA published a direct final rule to correct the atmospheric lifetime and global warming potential listed for the substitute fire suppression agent that was published as a direct final rule related to the SNAP program in the Federal Register on January 27, 2003. The correction became effective April 7, 2003.

68 FR 16747: On April 7, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing that the Agency is establishing the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on All Appropriate Inquiry. EPA determined that the regulatory negotiation process will ensure that the Agency obtains a diverse array of input from both stakeholders and state officials who are familiar with and have experience in implementing processes to conduct all appropriate inquiry.

68 FR 16749: On April 7, 2003, EPA published a correction to a proposed rule published in the Federal Register on January 7, 2003 on the SNAP program. The correction is made in the listing of a product name. These corrections are effective April 7, 2003.

68 FR 17233: On April 8, 2003 - EPA published a proposed rule to add benzene and 2-ethoxyethanol to the list of solvents whose mixtures with wastewater are exempted from the definition of hazardous waste under RCRA (refer to briefly, this edition). Comments on the proposed rule must be received by EPA on or before June 9, 2003.

68 FR 17937: On April 14, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing that EPA was planning to submit as ICR on Drinking Water Regulations Compliance and Cost Retrospective Survey to OMB for review and approval. Comments on the ICR must be received by EPA on or before June 13, 2003.

68 FR 17941: On April 14, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing that EPA was extending the comment period on the "Draft Final Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment" and the "Draft Supplemental Guidance for Assessing Cancer Susceptibility from Early-Life Exposure to Carcinogens" from March 3, 2003 to June 2, 2003. Comments on the guidelines must be received by EPA on or before that time.

68 FR 18439: On April 15, 2003, EPA published a final rule revising the Guideline on Air Quality Models (refer to briefly, this edition). The final rule becomes effective May 15, 2003.

*68 FR 18640: On April 16, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing that the final document entitled, "Toxicological Review of Benzene - Noncancer Effects" is available and can be found on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ncea under What's New and Publications menus. The document characterizes the potential noncancer health hazards from environmental exposure to benzene.

68 FR 19208: On April 18, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing the EPA plans to conduct the second phase of a demonstration program on the treatment of arsenic in drinking water. EPA recently promulgated a standard that limits arsenic concentrations in drinking water to 10 ug/l. The demonstration program is intended to identify and evaluate the ability of commercially available technologies and engineering or other approaches to cost effectively meet the new standard in small water systems. Requested information must be received by EPA on or before July 15, 2003.

68 FR 19810: On April 22, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing that an ICR on NPDES and Sewage Sludge Management (SSM) State Programs has been forwarded to OMB for review and approval. Comments on the ICR must be received by EPA on or before May 22, 2003.

68 FR 20140: On April 24, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing that an ICR on Applications for NPDES Discharge Permits and the SSM Permits has been forwarded to OMB for review and approval. Comments on the ICR must be received by EPA on or before May 27, 2003.

68 FR 20137: On April 24, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing that an ICR on NPDES Modifications and Variance Requests has been forwarded to OMB for review and approval. Comments on the ICR must be received by EPA on or before May 27, 2003.

68 FR 23123: On April 30, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing the OMB responses to Agency ICRs.

68 FR 23133: On April 30, 2003, EPA published a notice announcing a workshop to address the mechanisms of asbestos toxicity and to review the most recent state of science on asbestos. The workshop will be held on June 12-13, 2003, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago, from 8 am to 5pm. Information on the workshop can be found on the Internet at http://www.eap.gov/swerrims/asbestos-ws/index/htm.

Dangerous Waste Regulations - WSR 03-07-049: On April 2, 2003, Ecology published a final rule amending Chapter 173-303 WAC, "Dangerous Waste Regulations," to adopt a conditional exclusion for controlled substances and pharmaceuticals. The final rule became effective April 14, 2003.

WSR 03-08-028: On April 16, 2003, the Washington State Department of Health (WDOH) published a pre-proposal statement of inquiry to begin rulemaking to create a new chapter of rules for onsite sewage systems with flows between 3,500 and 14,500 gallons per day. Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule by contacting Jane Lee, Rule Development Committee Coordinator, 425/ 453-1340 at the WDOH.

WSR 03-08-036: On April 16, 2003, WDOH published a proposed rule to revise the fee schedule for the Division of Drinking Water. The proposed fee increases will be raised to the fiscal growth factor for fiscal year 2003 by 3.29%. Comments on the proposed rule must be received by WDOH on or before May 23, 2003.

WSR 03-08-037: On April 16, 2003, WDOH published a final rule amending the requirements for variances, exemptions, and waivers plus strengthen protection against microbial contaminations and radionuclides, lead, and copper in drinking water under Chapter 246-290 WAC, "Public Drinking Water System" regulations. The final rule became effective April 28, 2003.

[Hanford Home Page] [Index List]

For technical questions regarding the subject matter, please send email to: Wayne_E_Toebe@rl.gov