vvEPA
Grants
.tgl justice grants
^out innovative pollution
brevention approaches.
Financial
Joes Wall Street care if
anies go green? John
anzi reports on this issue.
International
(Tl4D,od fever, plus a round-
'f^ofstories from Mexico to
esia*
Consumers
'f— — — j,
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\f preferable products yield
Enforcement
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Justrial processes
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics
Washington, DC 20460
April-May 1997
EPA 742-N-97-003
Pollution
Prevention
News
I995 Data Released on Expanded TRI
EPA has made public the latest data
from the Toxics Release Inventory for
reporting year 1995 on toxic chemical
releases into the environment. As in
previous years, the data show a continuing
decline in the volume of chemicals re-
leased from year to year, coupled with a -
continuing increase in the overall volume
of waste generated. Nearly 29% of the
21,951 facilities reporting to TRI claimed
to have undertaken at least one source
reduction activity in 1995.
This year's announcement includes an
expanded list of chemicals reported to the
TRI. The 286 chemicals added to the list in
1994 account for 237.7 million pounds —
about 10 percent —, of all reported releases.
Of the new chemicals, 94% have demon-
strated chronic health hazards and/or
environmental effects, including cancer or
reproductive disorders. Half of the addi-
tions are pesticides; almost 15% are
carcinogens; and many of the chemicals are
linked to adverse health effects in children.
One of the newly added chemicals, nitrate
compounds, was the fourth largest chemical
reported released and accounted for nearly
65 percent of all reported water pollution.
Primary sources of nitrate compounds are
manufacturers of fertilizers.
For the core chemicals reported in both
1994 and 1995, releases of pollutants
decreased by 4.9%, with the greatest
reductions occurring in releases to air and
surface water. Overall, from 1988 to 1995,
total releases (for chemicals reported in each
of the years) decreased by 1.35 billion
Continued on page 10
U.S., Canada Agree to Eliminate
Toxics in Great Lakes
The United States and Canada have
agreed to a milestone plan to protect
public health by virtually eliminating
persistent toxic substances from the Great
Lakes by the year 2006. The agreement,
signed in Washington by EPA Administra-
tor Carol M. Browner and Canadian
Minister of the Environment Sergio
Marchi on April 7, IL997, fulfills a promise
made by President Clinton and Prime
Minister Chretien in February 1995. This
marks the first time specific reduction
targets for toxic pollutants have been
jointly set by both countries.
The plan to virtually eliminate identi-
fied persistent toxic substances in the
Great Lakes, is based primarily on volun-
tary pollution prevention activities, but
builds on existing Canadian and U.S.
regulatory programs.
The strategy sets milestones to be
achieved from 1997 to 2006. Among the
U.S. milestones, the strategy calls for a 50
percent reduction of mercury uses nation-
ally; a 90 percent reduction nationally of
high-level PCBs used in electrical equip-
ment; a 75 percent reduction in total
releases of dioxins and furans from human
activity sources, such as incinerators, to
apply to aggregate releases to the air
nationwide and of releases to the waters of
the Great Lakes; and confirmation that
there are no releases of five bioaccumu-
lative pesticides: chlordane, aldrin/
dieldrin, DDT, mirex, and toxaphene.
Continued on page 10
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2 Pollution Prevention News
April-May 1997
Home and Garden
Beneficial Landscaping Takes Roof
i
Before.
After.
magine driving into work
past a woodland filled with
trillium, mayapple, and
Dutch-man's breeches — and now
imagine that workplace being an
EPA laboratory! Employees at the
National Vehicle and Fuel
Emissions Laboratory (run by
EPA's Office of Mobile Sources) in
Ann Arbor, Michigan will have
exactly this pleasure as NVFEL imple-
ments a pilot Model Ecological Restoration
Project over the next decade. The project
will include a student learning environ-
ment, a demonstration area for
corporations and communities to
learn about, and a scientific data
collection site. Beneficial land-
scaping is at the heart of the
project, and will feature native
Michigan habitats of fen, maple
forest, oak savannah, and prairie.
NVFEL is not alone in imple-
menting beneficial landscaping,
although the scale of its research
and demonstration components is unique.
EPA has issued guidance on such efforts
(Environmentally and Economically
Beneficial Landscaping Guidance for
Federal Facilities, 60 FR 40837) and an
EPA Task Group on Environmentally and
Economically Beneficial Landscaping is
working on promoting these practices. The
guidance urges a holistic approach to
landscaping which incorporates pesticide
risk reduction, water conservation and
ground water protection, wildlife habitat
enhancement, air pollution reduction, solid
waste reduction, and incorporation of
native plants whenever practical. Pollu-
tion prevention is a key element in benefi-
cial landscaping, involving environmen-
tally sensitive lawn care chemical use,
reducing emissions from use of lawn care
maintenance equipment, recycling green
waste, and reducing runoff. For more
information on the EPA Task Group, call
313-668-4333. For information on
NVFEL's project, call Mary Walsh, 313-
668-4205.
One Million Radon-Resistant Homes
Radon-resistance — the latest feature
in home design? It's possible! Since
1990, approximately one million
homes have been built with radon-resistant
features.
EPA has been working to reduce public
exposure to radon, a colorless, odorless
naturally-occurring radioactive gas which
is estimated to cause 14,000 lung cancer
deaths per year. Radon hi the environment
is not considered a significant health
hazard, but it can accumulate to potentially
dangerous levels inside a building. Radon
levels inside homes can be lowered by
installing a few proven techniques to draw
radon away from living areas.
Techniques for building homes radon-
resistant include a 4" layer of gravel and
plastic sheeting beneath the foundation
slab, and a PVC suction pipe from below
the slab through the roof. At $350-500 on
average, building in radon-resistance from
the start is cost-effective compared to
remediating a radon problem later. An
additional benefit is an average energy
costs savings of about $65 per year.
EPA's Office of Air and Radiation is
promoting radon-resistance in new homes
by fostering the adoption of techniques in
building codes, encouraging home builders
to voluntarily use the techniques, and
increasing consumer awareness and
demand for homes with radon-resistant
features. In 1995, about 160,000 out of one
million new single family homes in the
U.S. were built with radon-resistant
features. For more information, contact
Paulina Chen, 202-233-9031.
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3 Pollution Prevention News
April-May 1997
Grants
Pollution Prevention Offers Solutions
in Environmental Justice Communities
April 15 marked the deadline for the
third round of applications in EPA's
Environmental Justice through
Pollution Prevention (EJP2) grant pro-
gram. Four million dollars in grant
funding is available in FY 1997 for pollu-
tion prevention approaches to environmen-
tal problems of minority communities and/
or low-income communities.
EPA's environmental justice program
was developed in response to a 1992 study
that found that people of color and low-
income communities experience higher
exposure to toxic pollutants than the
general population. Because many "envi-
ronmental justice" communities face
disproportionate environmental impacts,
one way to approach the problem is by
using pollution prevention, rather than
pollution control, to reduce environmental
risks at the source, while promoting public
involvement and economic benefits.
EJP2 grant funds go to support local
environmental, environmental justice,
community grass-roots organizations, and
tribal governments that promote environ-
mental justice using pollution prevention as
the preferred approach, as well as national
and regional organizations that partner with
such groups. The grant program aims to
have a direct impact on minority and low-
income communities. Following are some
examples of projects that have been funded
over the last two years.
Innovative Approaches
The E JP2 grant program offers the
opportunity for more innovative ap-
proaches to environmental justice. For
example, in Region 10, the Tulalip Tribes
of Washington State received $196,614 to
take a closer look at the competing de-
mands of economic development and
environmental protection, using sustain-
able development and pollution prevention
as the focus. One outcome of the project
will be a model Tribal Environmental
Policy Act (TEPA) that tribes can use to
review proposals for economic development
near reservations. Another new approach
funded through the grant program is a
revolving fund operated by the National
Association of Community Development
Loan Funds (NACDLF) which represents
46 private, nonprofit community develop-
ment financial institutions that provide
credit, capital, and technical assistance to
support the revitalization of low-income
rural, urban, and reservation-based
communities across the United States. The
fund will provide seed capital to several
small community development organiza-
tions to promote pollution prevention in
business development.
In'Region 1, a coalescing of environmen-
tal justice projects is occurring in Boston,
focused on the hazards posed by small
automotive shops located in low-income
neighborhoods. Health centers in these
neighborhoods have reported startling
incidences of accidental direct and indirect
exposure of the public to local automotive
shop toxins. The Bowdoin Street Health
Center received $53,450 to add a Certified
Industrial Hygienist to the community
health center's occupational health clinic.
The industrial hygienist will help small
area automotive repair/bodyshops and dry-
cleaning businesses comply with all regula-
tions and decrease the amount of hazardous
and toxic substances they use. The Depart-
ment1 of Health and Hospitals also received
$53,450 to develop a 15 to 20 minute
training film for auto shop owners on how to
establish and maintain sound environmen-
tal pollution prevention practices. Viewing of
the film will be required as part of the city's
auto shop permitting process. Other educa-
tional and outreach efforts related to
automotive shops are being conducted by
NEWMOA(the Northeast Waste Manage-
ment Officials Association) and a joint
collaboration of Roxbury Community College
and the Tellus Institute in the Roxbury
neighborhood of Boston.
Dry cleaners are another small business
concern with heavy minority ownership
; Cdntinued on page 10
For more information on
EJP2, contact Chen Wen,
202-260-4109.
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4 Pollution Prevention News
April-May 1997
Financial
Environmental Performance:
Does Wall Street Care?
The leading edge of the
financial services industry
is beginning to see a
connection between
environmental management
and financial performance.
John T. Ganzi is president
of Environment & Finance
Enterprise in Chapel Hill, NC.
by John Ganzi
How much does the financial services
industry care about the environ-
mental performance of businesses?
Until recently, the unfortunate — and
overwhelming — answer was: not very
much. But signs of change are in the
works, and a leading edge of the financial
services industry is beginning to see a
connection between the environmental
management activities
and record of a com-
pany and its financial
performance.
Some of the impetus
toward connecting
environmental and
financial performance
may be coming from
the real estate industry where a decade of ••
Super-fund experience has made environ-
mental due diligence a familiar practice.
Some of the impetus may come from the
public's interest in "social investing" and
concern for the environment. And part of
the impetus may be the empirical findings
of research studies that have lately
examined this issue.
Linking environmental performance to
financial performance could have multiple
positive effects. For example, if bankers or
bond and stock rating analysts understood
and monitored environmental manage-
ment, they might give higher ratings to
companies that are investing in cleaner
technologies and processes or pollution-
free products. Such companies would then
be rewarded by the marketplace with
better and cheaper access to capital (e.g.,
through credit lines, loans, commercial
paper, bond offerings, etc.). Other parts of
the financial services industry, such as
pension funds and foundations, might be
persuaded to invest some portion of their
own vast holdings in environmental
services companies or companies that are
more environmentally-friendly. As direct
investments by pension funds, investment
banks, and other financial services compa-
nies increased, other institutional stock-
holders might increase the sophistication
of their monitoring of the environmental
activities of the companies they invest in,
exerting a positive influence on corporate
management.
Calculating the
Bottom Line
Of course, all of these benefits assume that
"green" companies are also good financial
risks. Does being environmentally respon-
sible help or hurt a company's bottom line?
On the one.hand, a company that mini-
mizes its use of natural resources, insti-
tutes good housekeeping measures,
minimizes fugitive emissions, and reduces
exposures of workers and consumers to
toxic materials is keeping both its costs
and potential liabilities down, which
should eventually show up in its bottom
line or net income. On the other hand, a
company that invests a lot in pollution
prevention or control equipment may be
seen by potential investors as cash-poor
and unprofitable.
To, determine which of these is empiri-
cally the case, a number of researchers
have set out in recent years to calculate
the effect of environmental performance
on financial results (net income or stock
price). The first analytic study, appearing
in 1993 by James Hamilton at Duke
University, compared stock performance to
TRI data. Since then, over three dozen
reports have been done on this issue in
this country alone (see sidebar on next
page for summaries of several studies).
Virtually none of the studies has
reported any negative correlation between
environmental and financial performance
— meaning that corporate investments in
environmental performance do not harm
the companies' bottom line. About a third
of the studies showed no statistically
significant correlation between environ-
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5 Pollution Prevention News
April-May 1997
Financial
mental and financial performance; while
two thirds of the researchers found a
positive correlation.
Although these results are encouraging,
we should exercise caution in interpreting
them. To date, only a few of the studies
have tried to directly trace specific finan-
cial performance results to specific envi-
ronmental actions (such as retrofitting
processes to use less energy, capturing
fugitive emissions, reducing TRI releases,
etc.). However, on a more general level, the
studies have been able to show that
companies that are environmentally
friendly experience rising profits and stock
prices. Conversely, companies that are
environmentally unfriendly experience a
decrease in profits and stock price. In the
end, whether the relationship is direct or
indirect should not matter too much to the
financial services industry, as long as the
bottom line shows a consistent connection
between environmental responsibility and
more profitable companies.
What Next?
Although research studies are offering
good news, much still remains to be done
to convince naysayers on Wall Street that
environmental performance is a good
determinant of financial performance.
More comprehensive studies and studies
of a wider range of industries still need to
be done over a period of several years, to
determine what happened to the profits
and stock prices of companies that fall
into different categories of environmental
performance. Studies also need to be done
to determine which types of environ-
mental investments on the part of a
company are the most beneficial in terms
of the bottom line.
Another area for improvement is in the
dissemination of the findings of these
studies. Many academic reports are not
known about or read in the business
world. By contrast, the report of the World
Business Council on Sustainable Develop-
ment being released in May 1997 should
have a major impact, in that it is written
by a business group and documents the
experience of 12 companies in achieving
environmental and financial excellence.
Over time, the word will surely get out:
green is good for both the environment
and business.
The Research
1. James Hamilton, "Pollution is News: Media and Stock Market
Reactions to TRI Data," 1993. This study looked at the stock price of
chemical companies before and after the initial release of TRI data.
It showed that the greater the disparity between prior reported
emissions and TRI results, the higher the stock price for the firm.
Firms with little or no discrepancy between prior available data and
TRI data actually outperformed the chemical industry indexes. In
other words, firms were not solely punished or rewarded based on
level of emissions, but on level of disclosure and magnitude.
2. Stuart Hart and Gautam Ahuja, "Does It Pay to Be Green?" Univer-
sity of Michigan, 1994. Two years after emissions are decreased on a
per unit of production basis, various measures of financial returns
showed improvements, with the highest returns linked to firms with
the highest emission levels prior to reduction activity.
3. Mark White, "Corporate Environmental Performance and Share-
holder Value," Mclntire School of Commerce, University of Vir-
ginia, 1995. Firms that have signed the CERES (originally the
Valdez) Principles generate above-average risk-adjusted returns
compared to a portfolio of similar industry firms who have not
signed the principles. The results seem to reinforce the findings of
several other reports that there is real stock market value in being
green and promoting it.
4. Scott David Johnson, "An Analysis of the Relationship Between
Corporate Environmental and Economic Performance at the Level
of the Firm," University of California, 1995. A multiple regression
analysis of the Fortune 500 over a six year period, 1987-1992.
Study results were mixed: certain environmental issues were
apparently closely tied to financial performance, many others
appeared to have zero or negative correlation.
5. Jack Robinson and Charles Collins, "The Performance Impact of an
Environmental Screen," Winslow Management/Eaton Vance, 1994.
Stock prices of two portfolios of companies were compared over a
22-year period. The more environmentally friendly portfolio
outperformed the less environmentally friendly portfolio by 70
basis points each year, 15.0% to 14.3% over the 22 year period.
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6 Pollution Prevention News
April-May 1997
International
U.S. and Mexico Create
Border XXI Program
The United States and Mexico have
agreed to expand binational efforts to
address environmental, public health
and natural resources problems faced by
more than 10 million people who live on
either side of the border. Environmental
and health problems have accelerated with
rapid population and industrial growth in
• the region, an area extending for almost
2,000 miles and 62 miles on each side of
the border. The region encompasses parts
of four U.S. states (CA, NM, AZ, TX) and
six Mexican states.
Announced in December 1996, the new
five-year program called "Border XXI" is
the product of four U.S. agencies— EPA,
USDA, Health and Human Services, and
Interior—and two Mexican departments—
the Secretariat of Environment, Natural
Resources and Fisheries and the Secre-
tariat of Health.
The program's objectives include:
^- promoting pollution prevention and
recycling;
^- reducing and responding to health
problems arising from exposure to
chemical, physical, and biological
agents;
^- building or upgrading wastewater and
drinking water systems;
>• reducing air pollution in innovative
ways; and
^- promoting economic incentive programs
for reducing pollution more quickly and
cost-effectively.
The plan calls for expanded public
participation, greater involvement of tribal
nations and state agencies, and enhanced
coordination by government agencies. The
"U.S.-Mexico Border XXI Framework
Document" is available on the U.S.-Mexico
home page at http://www.epa.gov/
usmexicoborder. For further information,
call 800-334-0741.
Joint Implementation
Initiative Announces
New Projects
In December 1996, the U.S. Initiative on
Joint Implementation (USIJI) announced
its third round of projects. USIJI is a pilot
program encouraging U.S. private sector
participants to use their resources and
innovative technologies and practices to
reduce greenhouse gases and to promote
sustainable development worldwide. The
program works by pairing up businesses
and nongovernmental organizations in the
United States with their counterparts in
developing and transitional countries.
The seven new projects involve 11 U.S.
partners and nine foreign partners and are
located in Belize, Honduras, Mexico,
Bolivia, Panama, and the Russian Federa-
tion. Project technologies include: biomass
waste to energy; experimental cultivation
of a salt-tolerant plant that could be used
as a food source; forest preservation,
regeneration, and sustainable manage-
ment; and retrofitting a district heating
system with automated controls for energy
conservation and emissions reduction.
The USIJI Evaluation Panel is co-
chaired by the Department of Energy and
EPA with representation from other
federal agencies. Initiated in October 1993
as part of President Clinton's Climate
Change Action Plan, the two previous
rounds resulted in the selection of 15
projects in six countries. Businesses
interested in joint implementation oppor-
tunities should contact Elmer Holt at
DOE, 202-586-3248.
Chicago and Santiago,
Chile Join Forces for
Clean Cities
The cities of Chicago, IL arid Santiago,
Chile have created a historic partnership
under the U.S. Department of Energy's
Clean Cities Program to promote clean
transportation fuels such as natural gas
and renewable energy in their metropoli-
tan areas.
Continued on next page
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7 Pollution Prevention News
April-May 1997
International
Clean Cities is a voluntary program
which encourages communities, busi-
nesses and non-profit organizations to
pledge to incorporate alternative fuels and
alternative-fueled vehicles into their local
operations. This international pact will
lead the way in 'extending the benefits of
the program to other nations and expand-
ing market opportunities for U.S. alterna-
tive fuel companies. More than 100
companies and organizations now partici-
pate in Chicago's program, with over 3,000
alternative-fueled vehicles.
No Waste by 2010
says Canberra, Australia
In a draft Waste Management Strategy, the
city of Canberra, Australia sets forth its
goal of a no-waste society by 2010 and
describes it as "ambitious but achievable by
a community that is committed to conserv-
ing resources and protecting the environ-
ment." Developed after a series of local
workshops and forums, the strategy seeks
to avoid the costs of building new landfills
and help Canberra become more environ-
mentally responsible. The strategy calls for
a number of actions by which waste
generation can be eliminated 100 percent,
including: the introduction of mandatory
waste audits before development approvals
and encouraging cleaner production
methods and better landscape choices
(15%); developing and disseminating
information and incentives that will allow
consumers to make well informed choices
(25%); developing new resource recovery
technologies, new industries, and new
markets for recovered resources (60%).
To view the strategy, visit Canberra's
home page on the Web, at: http://
actg.canberra.edu.au/actg/dus/csg/org4/
act!2/wastestr.htm.
Going Public on
Polluters in Indonesia
Indonesia has introduced an initiative
called PROPER PROKASIH, a program
for pollution control, evaluation, and
rating. Under the program, companies
are assigned environmental performance
ratings which are made public. The
objective is to use public disclosure to
increase compliance with environmental
regulations and create incentives for
polluters to improve their environmental
management. Developed by Bapedal, the
Indonesian Environmental Impact
Management Agency, the program assigns
a color rating to each participating
company, as follows:
Gold: Factories or business activities that use best
available clean technology; promote zero
discharge of pollutants; and conduct environ-
mental impact management efforts with very
satisfactory results. Gold factories should
provide a strong example for others.
Green: Factories or business activities that
conduct environmental impact management
efforts and achieve better than standard
results. Over the years, criteria for green
companies will be adjusted to meet the
internationally-accepted ISO 14000.
Blue: Factories or business activities that comply
with all regulations.
Red: Factories or business activities that apply
some environmental management effort but not
sufficiently to comply with regulations.
Black: Factories or business activities that apply
no environmental management effort and
whose activities cause serious environmental
degradation. Publicizes environmental
performance ratings for individual companies.
According to David Wheeler and
Shakeb Afsah with the Policy Research
Department of the World Bank, the
PROPER program is already producing
results. Since June 1995 when a pilot
program was put into effect, the number of
companies in the red category has dropped
32%, while the blue category has increased
54%. Five of the 187 participating compa-
nies remain in the green category, and no
company has yet achieved gold status.
Indonesian officials gave companies in the
bad colors six months to improve before
publishing their ratings.
Wheeler and Afsah note that PROPER
is the first program of its kind in a devel-
oping country and is particularly suited to
developing countries in which legal
enforcement of pollution control standards
is difficult.
Five Years Later
On June 23-27, the
United Nations
General Assembly will
hold a Special Session
on Agenda 21, five
years after the 1992
UN Earth Summit hi
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Governments will take
stock of progress and
further their commit-
ments to Agenda 21,
the document of
environmental protec-
tion and sustainable
development agreed to
at the Earth Summit.
Contact Jim Sniffen,
United Nations En-
vironment Programme,
tel: 212-963-8094; fax:
212-963-7341; e-mail:
sniffenj@un.org
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8 Pollution Prevention News
April-May 1997
International
ISO 14000 Comes to EPA
A3 interest and activity related to the
new ISO 14000 standard increases,
EPA's involvement is on the rise as
well. EPA Offices and Regions are testing
the potential utility of environmental
management standards (EMSs), including
the ISO 14001 EMS, and their relation-
ship to improved environmental perfor-
mance, enhanced compliance, and pollu-
tion prevention. (The 14001 standards on
Getting Certified
Companies worldwide are scrambling to understand the new ISO environmental
management systems standard and to obtain certification. The first of the
international standards on environmental management were published in
September 1996. ISO 14001 certification means that an independent auditor
has determined that a company is managing its activities that impact on the
environment in accordance with the standard's requirements.
With all the interest in the standard, ISO has published new guidelines to help
businesses and other organizations which have achieved ISO 14000 certification
avoid making false or misleading claims in advertisements and other types of
announcements. Among misleading practices that ISO wants to avoid are:
>• Misuse of the ISO logo, which is a registered trademark.
^- Giving the false impression that it is ISO which has issued a certificate.
(Certification to ISO standards is carried out independently of the ISO
organization.)
>• Giving the false impression that ISO 14000 is a product standard signify-
ing that a particular product is environmentally friendly.
Of course, businesses and other organizations that invest time, energy, and
money to obtain ISO certification understandably wish to publicize their
achievement. To help them do so, ISO has produced a free leaflet, Publicizing
your ISO 9000 or ISO 14000 certification (ISBN 92-67-10249-4), available from
the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), 212-642-4900.
management systems and its accompany-
ing guidance standards, 14004, along with
the auditing standards are already
published and available.)
EPA's Voluntary Standards Network is
responsible for developing and coordinat-
ing Agency policies and participation in
voluntary standards, including ISO 14001.
This coordination ensures that the Agency
speaks with one voice on important issues
and activities as they pertain to standards,
EMSs, and ISO 14001. A formal, coordi-
nated EPA position on ISO 14001 is
expected to be issued in June.
EPA's Pollution Prevention Division
(PPD), which administers the network
within EPA, views ISO and EMSs in
general as potentially powerful tools to
achieve pollution prevention goals. ISO
14000 standards present the opportunity
for industry to cost-effectively accomplish
the goals of pollution prevention via a
multi-media approach that can integrate
business goals and environmen-
tal objectives. PPD is working
with a Multi-State Work Group
to develop ways to quantify the
still unclear relationship be-
tween an EMS and actual
environmental performance. The
work group is developing a
matrix of performance indicators
to test the impact of an ISO
14001-based EMS in pilot
projects across ten states.
PPD is also working with the
National Pollution Prevention
Roundtable to develop segments
on pollution prevention that can
be incorporated into ISO 14000
auditor training courses. The
14001 standard specifies com-
mitment to "prevention of
pollution" as a required element
of an organization's environmen-
tal policy. The Roundtable and
PPD hope to inculcate the
pollution prevention hierarchy
into the normal, accepted
approach that any organization
would take in order to meet the
requirement of the standard.
ISO guidance standards for labeling,
life cycle assessment and environmental
performance evaluation are also receiving
close attention by EPA as they near
publication. There are concerns about how
these standards will impact EPA's efforts
in consumer labeling and EPA's positions
on World Trade Organization matters.
For more information, contact Mary
McKiel at 202-260-3584 or Eric Wilkinson
at 202-260-3575. On the Web, see
www.isol4000.org.
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9 Pollution Prevention News
April-May 1997
Consumers
Environmentally Preferable Products
EPA's Environmentally Preferable
Purchasing Program promotes
federal purchasing of goods and
services that have reduced impacts on
human health and the environment. The
goal is to make environmental performance
a factor in purchasing decisions, along with
product performance and cost. An update
on the EPP program (EPA 742-F-96-002)
and a number of other documents men-
tioned below are available from the Pollu-
tion Prevention Information Clearinghouse,
tel: 202-260-1023, fax: 202-260-0178.
As the update describes, a number of
pilot projects currently underway are
providing hands-on experience and insights
for the program to build on. Pilot projects
include partnerships with the Department
of Defense (interior and exterior renova-
tions at the Pentagon) and the General
Services Administration (GSA) for cleaning
products and latex paints.
The joint EPA/GSA Cleaning Products
project has identified seven attributes of
the environmental performance of clean-
ing products. They are:
^- skin irritation
^- food chain exposure
^- air pollution potential
^ fragrances
^- dyes
^- packaging reduced/recyclable
>• minimal exposure to concentrate
A complete matrix evaluating commer-
cially available, biodegradable cleaners and
degreasers against these seven attributes is
printed in GSA's February, 1996 Commer-
cial Cleaning Supplies catalog, which is
being updated. (For a copy of the complete
matrix, call 1-800-241-7246.) Since 1993,
the federal government has procured over
$12.2 million worth of biodegradable
cleaning products. The GSA/EPAteam is
attempting to quantify the project's effect
on these purchasing decisions.
A report on the Cleaning Products Pilot
Project (EPA742-R-97-002, February 1997)
has been issued, which discusses the
progress of the project as well as lessons
learned. The report concludes that inter-
How States and Counties Purchase Green
A Study of State and Local Government Procurement Practices that
Consider Environmental Performance of Goods and Services (EPA
742-R-96-007, Sept. 1996) reports on interviews conducted with
purchasing staff in four states (Maine, Minnesota, Washington, and
i Wisconsin) and two counties (King County, WA; San Diego, CA) from
December 1995 to June 1996. The agencies interviewed expressed a
: commitment to buying recycled content products, but much less focus
ion products based on other environmental factors such as energy
efficiency or source reduction, although this may be changing.
, Researchers found that one of the most important factors for the
, success of a recycled products procurement program is the enthusi-
asm and commitment of the person(s) in charge of the program. This
is especially so since in most places the structure for making deci-
sions about environmentally conscious procurement is not well
defined. Thus, for example, in King County, purchasing coordinators
iplay a key role in contacting and influencing staff in customer
.agencies about procurement decisions. By contrast, San Diego
County has developed a computerized requisitioning system which
:guides county agencies to purchase a recycled product if it has been
deemed a suitable substitute for a virgin product.
So far, copier paper with recycled content is the only product
•purchased by all of the agencies interviewed and is becoming more
;the rule than the exception. Nevertheless, the cost of recycled paper.
;(and other recycled content products) remains an important barrier
to widespread procurement of these products.
agency teamwork ultimately produces
better results, even though it may take
additional time to work through differences
in approaches and perspectives. An unex-
pected difficulty encountered in the course
of the pilot project was identifying all of the
stakeholders. As new stakeholders ap-
peared, significant time was spent explain-
ing, defending, and modifying decisions
made earlier in the process. Another lesson
learned was that the input of customers —
the federal agency personnel who purchase
cleaning products — was invaluable.
Nevertheless, information dissemination is
slow because government procurement is
becoming increasingly decentralized. One
GSA official compared changing the
government's procurement procedures with
turning the Queen Mary cruise ship in a
bathtub: "It's not impossible, it just takes
time and patience."
For more information about the
EPP program, contact Eun-Sook
Goidel, fax: 202-260-0178, or
by e-mail at:.
goidel.eunsook@epamail.epa.gov.
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10 Pollution Prevention News
April-May 1997
Continuations
Editorial Staff:
Maureen Eichelberger,
Editor
Rob Holman
Gilah Langner
Free Hand Press, Layout
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W (60%post-consumer).
1995TRI Data
Continued from page 1
pounds, a 45.6% decline. However, total
waste generated in 1995 from all TRI
chemicals was over 35 billion pounds, a 7%
increase since 1991. Federal facilities,
reporting to TRI for the second year, showed
a 23.6% decrease in releases from 1994 to
1995, although 49 (25%) fewer federal
facilities filed reports in 1995. Reasons for
non-filing will be examined over the coming
weeks; non-filers may represent closures of
military installations or facilities that
adopted of pollution prevention measures
that lowered the usage of TRI chemicals
below reporting thresholds. More informa-
tion on TRI data is available from EPA's
hotline at 1-800-424-9346 or online at
www.epa.gov/opptintr/tri.
TRI Expansion
Signed on Earth Day
Earth Day 1997 (April 22) saw the
signing of a final rule by EPA Administra-
tor Carol M. Browner that increases by
about 30 percent the number of industrial
facilities required to participate in the
community right-to-know program. The
additional 6,100 facilities in seven
industrial sectors will be required to
make annual reports of the amount of
toxic chemicals they release into the air,
water, and land to EPA's Toxics Release
Inventory (TRI).
The seven new industrial categories
are: metal mining, coal mining, electric
utilities, commercial hazardous waste
treatment, petroleum bulk terminals,
chemical wholesalers, and solvent
recovery services.
In addition, 700 chemical manufactur-
ing facilities which already report right-
to-know information to the TRI will also
be required to report on additional types
of pollution, such as hazardous waste
treatment activities. The expansion,
originally proposed in June 1996, brings
to a total of 31,000 the number of facili-
ties participating in TRI.
Great Lakes
Continued from page 1
The Great Lakes contain 18 percent of
the world's fresh surface water. The region
is home to 33 million people in the U.S.
and Canada, nearly half of whom draw
then1 drinking water from the Lakes.
Despite their depth and size, the Great
Lakes are particularly vulnerable to toxic
contaminants because the contaminants
remain in the system for many years.
Many of these pollutants are long-lasting
and bioaccumulate, becoming more
concentrated as they move through the
food chain from plants to fish to wildlife
and people. Toxic contaminants are
present in the Great Lakes at unaccept-
ably high levels, making some fish unsafe
to eat, presenting a continued human
health risk and suppressing the economic
potential of the fisheries'industry. Today,
there are fish consumption advisories in
all of the Great Lakes states, based
primarily on PCBs, mercury, and tox-
aphene contamination.
Environmental Justice
Continued from page 3
and environmental impacts in low-income
neighborhoods. One,'Region 9 project
focused on Korean-American dry cleaners
who make up close to 70 percent of the
industry in the greater Los Angeles area,
and roughly 60 percent of the industry
nationwide. The project brings together
the Korean Youth & Community Center,
UCLA's Pollution Prevention Education
and Research Center, and Clean by Nature
(Southern California's first 100 percent
wet cleaning shop) to develop a wet
cleaning outreach and education program.
In Region 6, the National Center for
Appropriate Technology received $236,442
for outreach efforts to Hispanic-American
farmers and rural communities in the
Texas Panhandle who often suffer from
disproportionate exposure to pesticides.
The project is designed to increase access to
and use of practical technical information
on integrated pest management and other
sustainable agriculture practices.
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11 Pollution Prevention News
April-May 1997
Enforcement
Finding Pollution
Prevention Opportunities
Targeting industries and processes that •
are ripe for pollution prevention is the
subject of a new report, Identification of
Pollution Prevention (P2) Technologies for
Possible Inclusion in Enforcement Agree-
ments Using Supplemental Environmental
Projects (SEPs) and Injunctive Relief,
prepared by Nicholas A. Ashford and
Dimitrios M. Stratikopoulos of the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology for EPA's
Office of Compliance. The report describes
an approach for identifying and applying
promising technologies for 12 industrial
sectors, processes, and product lines that
can be promoted as part of enforcement
settlements (see box).
In addition, the report lays out a frame-
work and method for screening the vast
numbers of industries and industrial pro-
cesses for ones that present a high poten-
tial for tangible environmental benefits if
P2 technologies are implemented.
The report's authors note that sectors or
processes characterized by "technological
stagnation" often have huge potential for
progress in pollution prevention, and
present "an obvious choice for regulatory
intervention encouraging technological
progress." Another major finding is that
there are a small number of generic
technologies widely used in many SICs
where pollution prevention options can
significantly enhance the environmental
profile of many companies. These technolo-
gies include alternatives to vapor
degreasing and paint removal.
For copies of the report, (EPA 300-R-97-
00), call the National Center for Environ-
mental Publications and Information in
Cincinnati, Ohio at 1-800-490-9198 or the
National Technical Information Service in
Springfield, Va., at 703-487-4650. The
report may also be downloaded from the
Internet at http://www.epa.gov/oeca.
SIC Code/Process Technological Options Payback Period
334: Lead smelting
2869: Batch organic
chemicals manufacturing
2819: Hydrochloric acid production
2821: Polypropylene production
2865: Manufacturing of plasticizers
2911: Petroleum refining
3471: Surface finishing of
fabricated metal products
285: Manufacturing of colorants
34-35-36-37 Vapor degreasing
34-35-391 Metal plating
28-35-36-37 Paint removal
285-34-35-36-37 Painting
of metal parts
Use of an improved design mold eliminates the cutting
process and results in less scrap to be smelted
Ultrasonic cleaning system chemicals replace the use
of solvents and caustic
Installation of an acid gas adsorption system
Vinyl Acetate (VA) recovery system
Recycling of distillation overhead of plasticizers waste and
installation of on line analyzers to reduce by-products
Installation of an oily water treatment unit to remove
insoluble emulsified oil from the desalter wash water
Installation of an aqueous cleaning system
eliminates the use of TCA
Installation of additional mill chambers and pumps to reduce
the frequency of cleaning and the amount of purge generated
Use of an aqueous wash system instead of TCA
Wastewater purification and metal recovery
Use of a cryogenic process for paint removal from steel
structures, substitutes the use of acids or pyrolithic oven
Substitution of solvent based paint with powdered paints
< 18 months
Fast
Fast
2.5 years
~ 8 years
~ 3 years
1.4 years
< 1 year
2.5—3 years
3 years
< 1.5 years
< 1 year
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12 Pollution Prevention News
April-May 1997
Calendar
DATE/SITE
June 10-21
Medford,MA
June 13-15
Kouai,ll]
July 8-11
Saratoga Springs, NY
July 16-17
Baltimore, MD
July 28-30
Chicago, IL
Aug. 17-22
Crested Bulte, CO
August 26-28
Allan!a,GA
August 26-29
Palm Booth, FL
September 7-11
Washington, DC
September 24-25
Cincinnati, OH
Oct. 7
Oak Lawn, IL
EVENT
Tufts Environmental Literacy
Institute (course)
Clean Oceans '97
1 997 ACEEE Summer Study on
Energy Efficiency in Industry
Partnership for the 21st Century:
Greening Federal Purchasing
1997 Federal Facilities Multi-Media
Compliance/Pollution Prevention Conf.
The Practice of Pollution Prevention:
A Critical Evaluation
13lh Annual Pollution Prevention Conf.
I2th Annual Aerospace Hazardous
Materials Management Conf.
Toxic Release Inventory/Right-to-Know
Data Use Conference
Streamlining Life Cycle Assessment
8th Annual Pollution Prevention
Conferences Tech Fair
SPONSOR
Save Our Seas
ACEEE, NYSERDA,
EPA, DOE
EPA, Office of the Federal
Environmental Executive
EPA, Region 5
Engineering Foundation
DOE
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Unison Institute
EPA
Illinois EPA, WMRC,ComEd
CONTACT
Tel: 61 7-627-3464
Fax:617-627-3099
Tel: 800-767-41 01
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Andrea Fletcher
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Annette McCarthy
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E-MAIL/WWW
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http://planet-howaii.com/sos/
Debbie Giallombardo
ace3-conf@ccmail.pnl.gov
Tel: 202-822-9058
Fax: 202-429-0422
Pans Angara
engfnd@aol.com
http://www.engfnd.org
http://www.P2XIII.org
p2xiii@groupz.net
http://www.summits.
com/AIA97
Jeff Thomas
thomasje@rtk.net
Keith Weitz
kaw@rti.org
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