STATEMENT BY CAROL M. BROWNER
EPA ADMINISTRATOR
America today disposes of nearly five million tons of
hazardous waste by burning them in 184 incinerators and 171
industrial furnaces, including 34 cement kilns. This volume is
the equivalent of full tank trucks stretched nose to tail from
Washington D.C. to Los Angeles. How we safely dispose of this
great quantity of waste is an issue that affects the health and
safety of all Americans.
Today, I am taking steps designed to immediately strengthen
the environmental safeguards for hazardous waste incinerators and
industrial furnaces — while at the same time taking steps that
move us in the direction of the real solution to the problem, which
is simply reducing the amount of waste we produce. The Clinton
Administration will use every tool under the law to *.*sure real
change for the safest possible hazardous waste disposal.
Until the late 1970s, much wast« was disposed of on the
ground, leading to hazardous waste sites. Recent efforts under the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act have sought to discourage
land disposal, and as a result, the amount of wastes being burned
has steadily increased. Now it is time to review the overall
strategy.
Among my highest priorities at EPA ia the development of
policies that prevent pollution at its source, before it is ever
created. No system of disposal, no matter how safe or well
regulated, can be as environmentally effective as. minimizing the
amount of wastes presently generated. The reduction of such wastes
in our commercial enterprises represents the future of hazardous
waste control, as well as the future of safeguarding the health of
our citizens and assuring the protection of our environment.
To begin this process, I would first like to announce today
that I am issuing guidelines for waste reduction programs that
generators of hazardous waste must develop in order to meet their
responsibilities under the current law governing hazardous waste,
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
These Guidelines are important because I will be making public
the list of generator* required to certify that they have such
programs, and I will ask these generators to make the details of
their programs publicly available.
in addition, I aa taking action today to immediately
strengthen our program for the regulation of incinerators and
industrial furnaces that burn hazardous waste:
Beginning today, EPA will make its chief permitting priority
over the next 18 months bringing already-operating hazardous waste
incinerators and industrial furnaces under permit controls. I
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believe that we must devote our resources to ensuring the safest
operation of existing facilities. This means that over the next 18
months we will give low priority to processing requests for new
capacity. This will have the general effect of temporarily
freezing capacity at existing levels.
Second, we will use our existing permitting authorities to
include in final permits for incinerators and industrial furnaces,
for the first time, dioxin emission standards, where necessary to
protect human health or the environment. Currently, the federal
rules generally only require that hazardous wastes must be burned
to a certain percentage destruction level for dioxin. The addition
of an emission standard provides a greater measure of certainty
that the actual emissions will present no unacceptable risks to
human health or the environment.
Third, under the same permitting authorities, we will,
starting today, be adding to new permits more stringent controls
for particulate matter, which controls metals. Currently, federal
rules require an older, less stringent standard for particulate
matter.
Fourth, we will be requiring that any issuance of a new
hazardous waste combustion permit be preceded by a complete risk
assessment. Currently, such risk assessments are not required.
This will assure that our permitting decisions incorporate the best
possible scientific basis.
Fifth, we will ensure that the issuance of hazardous waste
combustion permits be preceded by better and more timely public
participation. Currently, the public does not have the right to
participate in some significant aspects of permitting decisions,
such as a test burn. This will provide local citizens with the
opportunity to assure themselves that facilities in their
neighborhoods be operated safely.
All of these new guidelines will be applied not only to
existing facilities awaiting final permits, but, in time, to all
existing facilities as their permits come due for renewal.
Finally, I will b« convening a task force of EPA and stata
officials to undertake a broad evaluation of the role of hazardous
waste combustion in our national hazardous waste management
strategy. And I an asking that their evaluation and recommenda-
tions specifically include methods for promoting waste reduction.
I believe today's actions are a significant stride toward
strengthening our controls on hazardous waste incinerators and
industrial furnaces and, more importantly, they move us closer to
the ultimate goal of generally reducing the amount of hazardous
waste we generate.
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