(Fwd) Action Alert; Public Meetings on Right-to-Know

["Charlie Cray" <ccray@dialb.greenpeace.org>]

Action Alert!
-------------------------------
Paul Orum                               
Working Group on Community Right-to-Know
218 D Street, SE;  Washington, DC  20003
Ph: (202) 544-9586; E-mail: orum@rtk.net
------------------------------------
Feb. 5, 1998

Public Meetings on Right-to-Know

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled 
two more public meetings (in Dallas and New York) on potential 
changes to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).  The meetings will 
address both how to improve TRI and several anti-right-to-know 
issues pressed by industry.

Public interest groups should speak at these meetings to defend and 
promote our right-to-know about toxic chemicals and pollution.  To 
speak, you must sign up in advance (see below).  Limited phone 
lines are available for those who cannot travel to the meetings--first 
come, first served !

This Action Alert provides:

(*) Meeting dates, times, and places (for these two meetings);
(*) A summary of specific TRI issues raised for comment by EPA;
(*) Broad TRI issue summaries to help you prepare brief comments;
(*) EPA's Federal Register notice (63 FR 5517).

Please circulate this memo and encourage others to sign up to 
speak.


I.  Meetings:  Where and When

EPA held the first three of up to nine meetings last Fall.  The next 
two meetings will be:

(*) Dallas, Texas, February 24 (sign up to speak by Feb. 19);
9:00 a.m., Adam's Mark Dallas, Seminar Theater, 400 North Olive.

(*) New York, N.Y., April 2 (sign up to speak by March 27);
9:00 a.m., US EPA Region II, 290 Broadway, Room D, 27th Floor.

To sign up to speak, call EPA contractor Debra Jones at (301) 907-
3844.  Leave your name, organization, address, phone, fax, and e-
mail.  EPA will send you a detailed issues paper.  EPA's contact is 
Michelle Price at (202) 260-3372.


II. Summary of Issues Raised by EPA

EPA is requesting public comments on several specific issues.  
However, we suggest that you focus on areas closest to your own 
experience and expertise.

Some industries want EPA to revise the TRI definition of "release" 
such that toxic waste dumped in certain landfills (with RCRA 
Subtitle C permits), piled in slag heaps, or injected deep 
underground is not considered a "release" to the environment.  
Naturally, public interest groups oppose such regulatory sleight of 
hand, support full reporting, and believe that the law is clear that 
these are indeed releases (See 1.a., below).

EPA has already denied a petition from the Chemical 
Manufacturers Association to change the definition of "release."  
EPA did, however, change the TRI reporting form to indicate the 
class of underground injection wells used (on-site only) and to 
indicate whether wastes are sent to RCRA Subtitle C landfills.  
Public interest groups have proposed other changes to help show 
where toxic chemicals go (See 1.b., below).

EPA is also requesting comment on how to distinguish waste that is 
generated at the reporting facility from waste that is generated 
elsewhere but managed at the reporting facility (Form R, section 8).  
Public interest groups have proposed that EPA simply add boxes to 
the reporting form to record the amount of total waste that is not 
generated at the reporting facility (See 2.b, below).

EPA is also requesting comments on chemicals sent to public 
sewage plants.  Currently, when a company reports that it dumped 
toxic chemicals down the sewer, one cannot determine if the sewage 
treatment plant destroys some or all of most chemicals.  However, 
this is also true of other off-site shipments under TRI, whether to 
treatment, recycling, or energy recovery.  Therefore, we favor 
requiring sewage plants to report toxic releases under TRI, along 
with all other facilities that receive off-site shipments of TRI 
chemicals (See 1.f, below).

More detail is found in EPA's issues paper, which the agency will 
automatically provide when you sign up to speak at one of the 
public meetings.

However, don't feel restricted.  Raise the issues you want EPA to 
respond to regarding TRI.  The issues in EPA's paper were largely 
included at the behest of the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) under pressure from industry.  Public interest groups should 
not limit our issues just because we don't have similar access to 
OMB.


Issue Summaries

Discussions among public interest groups have identified five broad 
areas for improving TRI (offered as suggestions, not a complete 
list).  These areas are:

[1]  release reporting;
[2]  source reduction reporting;
[3]  thresholds for reporting;
[4]  integrated reporting; and,
[5]  chemical use reporting.

Below are issue summaries for these five areas.  These summaries 
include responses to specific TRI issues raised by EPA for its 
public meetings.

Public interest groups recommend:

[1] Release Reporting:

[1.a] Report all releases as releases.  The law is clear that toxic 
chemicals injected underground, left in slag piles, or dumped in 
landfills (regardless of regulatory status) are released to the 
environment; there is no magic place for industry to dump its waste 
that is simply "away" but not the environment.  ("Environment" and 
"release" are defined in the Emergency Planning and Community 
Right-to-Know Act at sections 329(2) and 329(8)).

[1.b] Add additional boxes and codes to the TRI reporting form 
(Form R, at sections 5.5 and 6.2) to better indicate the disposal 
methods used for toxic chemicals, such as type of landfill and class 
of underground injection well (on- and off-site), and different forms 
of disposal such as slag, tailings, or combustion ash (on- and off-
site).

[1.c] Consider better ways to interpret to the public what actually 
happens to TRI chemical releases.  For example, some have 
suggested distinguishing between "direct releases" (to air, water, 
etc.) and "indirect releases" (to lined landfills, deep injection wells, 
etc.).  While these terms are imperfect, they are the best we have 
heard.  Note that TRI already distinguishes between environmental 
media (air, land, water, etc.).

[1.d] Recognize documented toxic pollution from slag piles, coal 
combustion waste, deep underground injection, lined landfills, and 
other disposal methods.  The Working Group on Community Right-
to-Know has submitted examples of contamination from all of these 
disposal methods; please raise further specific examples at your 
public meeting.

[1.e] Include in the definition of "release" reporting on chemicals 
transferred off-site as products.

[1.f] Improve understanding of toxic releases from public sewage 
plants (called "publicly owned treatment works," or POTWs) by 
requiring these POTWs to report under TRI.  EPA guidance can 
help POTWs report releases by identifying typical pass-through and 
destruction rates for TRI chemicals.


[2] Source Reduction Reporting:

[2.a] Require facilities to report total production waste (sections 8.1 
through 8.7 added together).  This reporting is "the quantity of the 
chemical entering any waste stream (or otherwise released to the 
environment) prior to recycling, treatment, or disposal" as required 
by Section 6607(b)(1) of the Pollution Prevention Act.  This change 
is needed to shift the attention of facility managers, the news media, 
regulators, and the public from reducing releases to reducing waste 
at the source.

[2.b] Distinguish wastes generated at the reporting facility from 
those generated elsewhere.  Do this by adding boxes to the Form R 
to record the amount of total production waste (as above) that is 
generated at the reporting facility and that is received from off-site.  
This will improve data presentation, help reveal source reduction, 
and address any so-called "double counting" issues.

[2.c] Require facilities to report actual quantities of waste prevented 
through source reduction.


[3] Thresholds for Reporting:

[3.a] Lower reporting thresholds to obtain meaningful reporting on 
persistent toxic chemicals (such as dioxin, lead, mercury, and 
recognized bioaccumulators), including from power plants, 
refineries, and other facilities that use raw materials with very low 
concentrations of toxic chemicals (below the de minimis 
exemption).

[3.b] Do not raise reporting thresholds for Form A (the alternate 
low release threshold reporting form, under which facilities that 
produce less than 500 pounds of total production waste file a short 
Form A that does not identify where that waste goes).  Raising the 
Form A threshold would deprive communities of basic right-to-
know information.


[4] Integrated Reporting (for Public Access):

[4.a] Establish a single facility identification number for each 
facility regulated under Federal environmental laws.  Incorporate 
part 1 of the Form R (facility identification) into a unified one-stop 
reporting system for all Federal environmental laws.  This will 
integrate information reported under environmental laws for better 
public access (as well as reduce burden on reporting facilities).

[4.b] Require universal registration of facilities that use toxic 
chemicals or are regulated under Federal environmental laws.  Link 
this information to other EPA data such that any person can readily 
obtain environmental information on a local factory, its parent 
company, an entire industry, a zipcode or city, or a regulatory 
requirement.


[5] Chemical Use Reporting:

[5.a] Require facilities to report a simple materials accounting of 
the chemicals they use (including the amounts brought on site, 
produced or used up, and shipped off-site as waste or product).  
This information enables people to measure, and thus promote, 
pollution prevention.  Chemical use data helps people to: tell where 
chemicals go (as waste or product); identify low cost prevention 
opportunities; understand the life cycle of a chemical; establish 
baselines for planning; validate emissions data; improve public 
understanding; improve chemical management capacity; assess 
worker exposure; establish formal employee prevention programs, 
and other uses.

[5.b] Require facilities to report how many workers are exposed to 
each TRI chemical above background levels.


Prepared by the Working Group on Community Right-to-Know; 
218 D Street, SE; Washington, DC  20003; phone:  (202) 544-
9586; fax (202) 546-2461; e-mail: orum@rtk.net




*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   

[Federal Register: February 3, 1998 (63 FR 5517-5518)

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[OPPTS-400124; FRL-5769-4]

Public Meetings on the Toxics Release Inventory Reporting Form
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EPA will hold approximately nine public meetings to 
solicit comments relating to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) 
reporting form, the Form R. The purpose of the meetings is to 
obtain comments from stakeholders on ways to improve the type of 
right-to-know information available to communities and to help 
streamline right-to-know reporting to ease the paperwork burden for 
businesses affected by the requirements. Since the Agency is 
looking for ways to help reduce the reporting burden, these meetings 
will also provide an opportunity for affected entities to participate in 
the development of a rule clarifying the Pollution Prevention Act 
reporting requirements currently contained in Section 8 of the Form 
R. In particular, the Agency is interested in comments and 
suggestions regarding the burden of Section 8 reporting on small 
entities. The first three of these public meetings were held in 
November 1997. This notice announces two upcoming meetings. 
Additional meeting dates will be announced through future Federal 
Register notices.

DATES: The meetings will take place:

Tuesday, February 24, 1998, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Adam's Mark 
Dallas, Seminar Theater, 400 North Olive, Dallas, TX. Participants 
must register to speak by 5 p.m., Thursday, February 19, 1998.

Thursday, April 2, 1998, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. USEPA Region II, 290 
Broadway, NY, NY, Conference Room D, 27th Floor. Participants 
must register to speak by 5 p.m., Friday, March 27, 1998.

ADDRESSES: All comments should be sent in triplicate to: OPPT 
Document Control Officer (7407), Office of Pollution Prevention 
and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., 
Room G-099, East Tower, Washington, DC 20460. Each comment 
must bear the docket control number ``OPPTS-400123.''

    Comments and data may also be submitted electronically to: 
oppt.ncic@epamail.epa.gov. Follow the instructions under Unit II. 
of this document.  No Confidential Business Information (CBI) 
should be submitted through e-mail.

    All comments which contain information claimed as CBI must be 
clearly marked as such. Three sanitized copies of any comments 
containing information claimed as CBI must also be submitted and 
will be placed in the public record. Persons submitting information 
on any portion of which they believe is entitled to treatment as CBI 
by EPA must assert a business confidentiality claim in accordance 
with 40 CFR 2.203(b) for each such portion. This claim must be 
made at the time that the information is submitted to EPA. If a 
submitter does not assert a confidentiality claim at the time of 
submission, EPA will consider this as a waiver of any 
confidentiality claim and the information may be made available to 
the public by EPA without further notice to the submitter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Price, 
(Mail Stop 7408), Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., 
SW., Washington, DC 20460, telephone: (202) 260-3372, fax 
number: (202) 401-8142, e-mail: price.michelle@epamail.epa.gov. 
To register to speak via conference call or in person, contact Debra 
Jones (TASCON) at (301) 907-3844.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    EPA plans to hold approximately nine public meetings to solicit 
comments relating to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting 
form, the Form R. The first three meetings took place in November 
1997. The docket number for the November meetings is ``OPPTS-
400117'' and the comments presented at these meetings are available 
for review as described in Unit II. of this document.

    The purpose of the meetings is to obtain comments from 
stakeholders on ways to improve the type of right-to-know 
information available to communities and to help streamline right-
to-know reporting to ease the paperwork burden for businesses 
affected by the requirements. Topics for comment include the 
following: format of the Form R; nomenclature used in the Form R; 
opportunities for burden reduction in both the Form R and Form A; 
additional clarification of the elements in the Form R; and EPA's 
presentation of the data in public information documents.

    These public meetings are also intended to help serve the 
Agency's effort to assure that the concerns of small entities are 
addressed in the development of regulations. The Agency is 
preparing a proposed rule to clarify the Pollution Prevention Act 
reporting requirements currently contained in Section 8 of the Form 
R, and would like to receive comments from affected entities 
regarding those reporting requirements. In particular, the Agency is 
interested in comments and suggestions regarding the reporting 
burden on small entities.

    The sections of the Form R that EPA would like specific 
comment on are Sections 5, 6, and 8. In Section 5, there have been a 
number of issues raised with regard to the definition of ``release,'' 
particularly with respect to Class I underground injection wells and 
RCRA Subtitle C landfills. Several commenters believe that EPA's 
interpretation of the EPCRA definition of ``release'' will lead to the 
misperception that a reported EPCRA section 313 ``release'' 
necessarily results in an actual exposure of people or the 
environment to a toxic chemical. The Agency would like to hear 
suggestions on ways to collect and disseminate the data that are 
consistent with the Agency's interpretation of the EPCRA definition 
of ``release'' and would address the concerns raised regarding public 
misperception.

    There have also been a number of issues raised with regard to the 
reporting of toxic chemicals in wastes in Section 8 of the Form R.  
Section 8 collects information on waste managed at the facility 
whether or not the waste was generated at the reporting facility. 
Some individuals are concerned about public misperception of the 
data in Section 8 because of the focus on the amount of waste 
managed at the facility, not waste generated. EPA would like 
comments on ways to change Section 8 of the Form R which would 
continue to allow the user to assess wastes managed by the facility 
but would minimize the perception that the wastes reported in 
section 8 were generated by the reporting facility.

    On any of the above issues, EPA would like to receive specific 
comments from interested parties for changes, modifications, 
deletions, and/or additions of data elements to the Form R and the 
Form A. These issues are outlined in greater detail in an issue paper 
available on the TRI Home Page at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/tri 
under the heading ``TRI Stakeholder Dialogue'' and the subheading 
``TRI Public Meetings.''

    Individuals wishing to attend these meetings or participate via 
conference call must sign-up in advance in order to assure that all 
participants have an opportunity to speak. Depending on the 
number of individuals registered, oral presentations or statements 
will be limited to approximately 5 to 15 minutes. To register, 
contact Debra Jones (TASCON) at (301) 907-3844. For those who 
cannot travel to the public meeting location, there will be 10 
conference call lines available on a first come, first serve basis for 
individuals to provide comment. When registering, give your name, 
organization, postal (and electronic, if any) mailing address, 
telephone and fax numbers. If there is insufficient interest in any of 
the meetings, that meeting may be canceled. Individuals registered 
will be notified in the event a meeting is canceled. The Agency bears 
no responsibility for attendees' decision to purchase nonrefundable 
transportation tickets or accommodation reservations.

II. Public Record and Electronic Submissions

    The official record for this action, as well as the public version, 
has been established for this action under docket control number 
``OPPTS-400123'' (including comments and data submitted 
electronically as described below). A public version of this record, 
including printed, paper versions of electronic comments, which 
does not include any information claimed as CBI, is available for 
inspection from noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
legal holidays. The official record is located in the TSCA 
Nonconfidential Information Center, Rm. NE-B607, 401 M St., 
SW., Washington, DC 20460.

    Electronic comments can be sent directly to EPA at:
    oppt.ncic@epamail.epa.gov
    Electronic comments must be submitted as an ASCII file 
avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption. 
Comments and data will also be accepted on disks in WordPerfect 
5.1/6.1 or ASCII file format. All comments and data in electronic 
form must be identified by the docket control number ``OPPTS-
400123.'' Electronic comments on this action may be filed online at 
many Federal Depository Libraries.

---------
Charlie Cray
Greenpeace US Toxics Campaign
847 W. Jackson Blvd., 7th floor
Chicago, IL 60607
Ph: (312) 563-6063
Fax: (312) 563-6099
Note new e-mail address: Charlie.Cray@dialb.greenpeace.org