?-9 ^
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FOREWORD
In the past, EPA's research program has
been criticized for not adequately supporting
the agency's regulatory activities and, at the
same time for not providing a longer range,
"over the horizon" viewpoint needed to guide
EPA's future strategies. In response, we have
made major changes within the past year and a
half to improve the planning and management
of research in support of the regulatory pro-
grams. For instance, under the direction of a
task force of top-level EPA managers, a new
system for jointly planning research with the
regulatory offices has been developed. This
new system has been successfully implemented
on a pilot scale. We are now extending it to the
entire research program. Also, in response to
these criticisms, we have recently established a
multidisciplinary strategic analysis group to
help identify future environmental trends and
potential problems, and develop sound policies
for averting the threats to human health and
the environment. I believe that we have made
significant progress in answering both
criticisms of the research program.
This Research Outlook series, plays an im-
portant role in shaping the changes now taking
place in EPA. It provides a mechanism for us
to describe in a concise fashion our plans for
future environmental research and develop-
ment. It provides the vehicle for an important
dialogue within the agency on how to achieve
the best balance between research answering
short-term regulatory needs and research an-
ticipating future problems. Finally, it provides
the basis for a creative exchange with our
Science Advisory Board, the Congress, the
scientific community, and the public.
As in last year's Outlook, we have relied on
our analysis of EPA's legislative mandates,
our scientific intuition, and an examination of
environmental trends. However, just as
research is a dynamic process, the plans which
describe what will be done must also be con-
stantly adjusted. Accordingly, the research
directions described here will change, some
slightly and some more significantly, as our
understanding improves.
While there is still a long way to go, I
sincerely believe that EPA's research program
is steadily moving toward a full partnership
with the agency's regulatory programs. I hope
that after reading this report you will also
share my belief.
Stephen J. Gage
Assistant Administrator
Research and Development
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RESEARCH
OUTLOOK
1979
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5 Library (PL-12J)
77 West Jackson Blvd., 12th Hoor
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
Office of Research and Development
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D.C., 20460
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This report is submitted pursuant to
section 5 of Public Law 94-475,90 Stat
2071, which requires the annual submittal
to Congress of a 5-year plan for environ-
mental research.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents
U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402
Stock No. 055-000-00176-6
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CONTENTS
Chapter Page
Introduction 1
Toxic Substances 2
Air Pollution 14
Industrial Wastewater 27
Watershed Management 35
Drinking Water 49
Energy and Environment 57
Solid Waste 74
Nonionizing Radiation 85
Global Pollution 93
Anticipating Environmental Research Needs 100
Epilogue 112
Appendices
Research Options 113
Interagency Coordination 119
International Coordination 122
Office of Research and Development 128
CHESS 131
Bibliographies 136
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INTRODUCTION
This Research Outlook 1979 describes
the research plan for 8 separate but inter-
related EPA programs. It also includes a
number of sections, such as "Global
Pollution" and "Research Options"
which discuss non programmatic aspects
of EPA research. The intent of this docu-
ment is to elucidate, in an informative and
interesting manner, the goals, priorities,
and expected results of our key research
programs. By focusing on the specifics of
our programs, this document is a con-
tinuation of the information contained in
Research Outlook 1978. Last year we
described in detail the environmental
problems to be investigated and presented
the pertinent philosophy that guides our
research and helps establish our research
goals. In contrast, this year we briefly
summarize the environmental problems
and associated research needs addressed
by each program and then discuss in some
detail our plans to fulfill those needs.
In the interest of brevity, research
milestones and expected dates of signifi-
cant research results were tabulated in
each program chapter. Where warranted,
the text discusses some of the major
points about each milestone although a
clear picture of our plans can be obtained
from the tables. The nonprogrammatic
chapters have tables of a different sort but
these too are to consolidate the essence of
each chapter's information. We mention
the summarizing tables for those readers
who have an interest in, but not the time
for, a complete reading of this report.
Many of our previous planning
documents have been criticized for a lack
of specificity and for leaving readers
wondering just what research will take
place. We have attempted to respond to
that criticism although the challenge was
formidable. That is, we want the docu-
ment to be concise and easily read but, at
the same time, to be specific enough to
give an adequate picture of our research
plans. To this end, Research Outlook
1979 occupies a middle ground; you'll get
an overview of what we are attempting to
accomplish, why we are attempting it,
who the results are for, and who will do
the actual work. However, we do not
delve into separate projects of each
research program. We hope we have
found the right level of detail.
The combined budgets committed to
the programs discussed in this report
represent approximately 90 percent ($283
million) of the total EPA research budget
for fiscal 1979. All of our research
laboratories play some part in one or
another of these programs, hence, person-
nel from each laboratory helped con-
tribute to this report.
We invite comments about this report
and about the research plans and pro-
grams that are discussed. If the report
stimulates dialogues about our research
we will have achieved much; if it leaves
you with a clear statement of future EPA
research we will have achieved all we set
out to do.
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TOXIC SUBSTANCES
Toxic substances have spread
throughout the environment and are
now being found in humans* EPA's
research is working to gain the
understanding necessary for control*
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We open Research Outlook 1979 with
this toxic substances chapter in order to
emphasize the pervasive nature of toxics
research in EPA. With a few notable ex-
ceptions, such as hazards from nonioniz-
ing radiation or disease from viruses in
drinking water, toxic substances provide
much of an overview for our program-
specific research plans. Currently, $26.3
million is being spent on research in direct
support of the Toxic Substances Control
Act of 1976. However, a considerably
higher portion of EPA's research budget
is dedicated to toxics research albeit under
different names and within different pro-
grams. Therefore, as a prelude to the
research plans, goals, objectives and
priorities in the individual chapters that
follow, we begin this chapter with some
fundamental philosophies that guide our
research planning, the social conse-
quences of both the toxics problems and
our research programs, and some of the
complex issues we deal with daily.
The Problem
Modern industrialization of our society
has resulted in a dramatic increase in the
production and use of chemicals. Within
the past twenty years, the annual produc-
tion of the most common inorganic
chemical commodities such as salt,
sulfuric acid, lime, etc., has doubled. In
the organic chemical industry, production
has doubled in only the past decade, ex-
ceeding 110 million tons in 1977. Further-
more, these trends are expected to con-
tinue.
In parallel with the increase in chemical
production has been an enormous in-
crease in the number of different chemical
compounds being produced. The master
registry of the American Chemical Society
already lists over 4,000,000 known com-
pounds and the list is growing at a rate of
6,000 per week. Most compounds in the
master registry are exotic and exist only in
small quantities, however an estimated
70,000 different chemical compounds are
currently in common use; this number is
growing at a rate of about 1000 per year.
Some of these chemicals can be directly
toxic to man and the environment. Others
have delayed deleterious effects (such as
asbestos-caused cancer—effects may not
show up for thirty years) or subtle, little-
understood consequences. But with this
recognition of the long-term, less-than-
lethal hazards comes a dilemma that is
There is no doubt that
chemicals have played
an important role in
our current standard
of living.
key to the future role of chemicals in our
society. The dilemma is basically how to
derive maximum social benefit from
modern technology while limiting atten-
dant risk to an acceptable level. Max-
imum benefit at acceptable risk—it is this
issue which lies at the heart of the
regulatory dilemma; it is this issue which
has formed the basis for the ever-growing
body of Congressional regulatory legisla-
tion on the environment and public
health.
Benefits
The use of chemicals has resulted in
many benefits for our society. The vari-
ety, durability, safety and convenience of
thousands of consumer products can
clearly be attributed to the chemical in-
dustry. In agriculture, the increased use of
chemical fertilizers correlates with a con-
tinual increase in crop production in spite
of declining planted acreage during the
1950s and 1960s. Human lifespans have
doubled from 40 years in the 1800s to
almost 80 years today. Infant mortality
has decreased dramatically. Americans,
on the average, are larger, healthier, and
stronger than past generations. And the
epidemics that regularly swept through
the population have largely been con-
trolled. While non-chemical factors have
also contributed substantially to these
benefits, there is no doubt that chemicals
have played an important role in our cur-
rent standard of living.
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Risks
The health and environmental risks of
continual exposure to chemicals are not
well known. A percentage comparison of
the leading causes of death in 1900 with
those of 1960 shows a striking shift from
infectious diseases to a variety of chronic
degenerative diseases such as cancer or
diseases of the heart, lung and other
organs and tissues. Some of this shift can
be attributed to chronic diseases "taking
the place of" controlled or eradicated in-
fectious diseases. Some can be ascribed to
73
75
77
Years
U.S. PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC CHEMICALS
Source: Kline Guide to the Chemical Industry. Third Edition 1977.
-------
demographic factors such as the increase
in the general aging of our population;
chronic diseases in older people may oc-
cur because the diseases have had greater
time in which to manifest themselves or
because a latency period between ex-
posure and onset of a disease may have
expired. However, such factors alone can-
not explain all of the shift which we see.
For example, the absolute incidence of
cancer in our population shows an in-
crease even after correction for
demographic factors; thus the still
substantial "residual" increase must be
caused by other factors. Although we
aren't sure, toxic chemicals may be the
cause of this increased incidence of
cancer. There is a growing acceptance
Maximum benefit at
acceptable risk—this lies
at the heart of the
regulatory dilemma.
among the scientific and medical com-
munity that 50 to 90 percent of all cancer
is related to factors in our environment
such as cigarette smoking, exposure to
sunlight, occupational exposures to car-
cinogens, dietary habits (high fat/low
roughage), and, possibly, toxic chemicals.
Non-cancer health risks of chemicals
include contributions to virtually all
known chronic diseases. These diseases
can be caused by direct contact or through
influences on modulating body mecha-
nisms such as the neuroendocrine or im-
munologic systems. Reproductive
malfunctions or damage to embryo
development are also health risks
associated with some chemicals. In fact, it
is estimated that chemical induced
mutagenesis may be involved in as much
as 10 percent of all human disease.
These are only a few of the risks and
burdens to society which are posed by in-
creased chemical use. Other chemically-
caused effects are property loss in the
form of materials damage by corrosive
environmental pollutants, nutrient deple-
tion from soils by acid rain, or injury to
our natural ecosystems from the discharge
of toxic substances.
Research Rationale
Inherent in the concept of determining
acceptable risk are social judgments
rendered singly or collectively through
our various institutional processes. Scien-
tific research with its empirical and non-
judgmental nature, cannot alone deter-
mine an acceptable level of risk; non-
empirical factors such as socio-economic
and political considerations are also in-
volved. However, scientific research does
play a significant role in acceptable risk
decisions by providing necessary technical
information from which to estimate and
evaluate risks versus benefits. Then,
based upon the decisions that describe the
levels of acceptable risk, it is EPA's task
to regulate toxics in the environment to
insure those levels of risk are not ex-
ceeded. It is the generation, evaluation,
and continual update of the scien-
tific/technological data base necessary to
support that regulation that forms the
fundamental mission of the toxic
substances research program at EPA.
The Toxics Research
Program Plan
To fulfill our support mission in
chemical regulation over the next several
years, we have established two general
research goals, each encompassing a
number of subordinate objectives. These
goals are:
• to characterize the nature and extent
of risks posed by potentially hazard-
ous chemicals; and
• to develop control strategies,
technologies, systems and/or
management practices which will
prevent, interdict or at least
minimize exposure to hazardous
chemicals.
The first goal involves research in three
general areas: toxic substances effects on
humans and the environment, assessment
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INCREASES IN DEATHS FROM CANCER
en
E
H
a
W
cn
1
u
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program that covers personnel, methods,
equipment and data handling procedures.
Here, the quality assurance program must
be applied to each of these components
individually and as they function in an in-
tegrated research system.
Risk Research
Toxic Effects: Determination of human
health and ecological effects of toxic
materials requires development, valida-
tion, and standardization of toxicity
testing and screening methodologies. In-
herent in this research plan for toxic ef-
fects is the need for a data base for deci-
sions regarding which chemicals to study
and in what priority to study them. The
sheer size of the problem demands this
carefully planned research approach.
At present only a small fraction of the
nearly 70,000 chemical compounds in
common use have been subjected to
health effects testing. But of those tests
already made, the majority has been
limited to determining acute or sub-acute
toxicity and to ascertaining the potential
for compounds to cause cancer. Little
testing has been done to measure the
potential for other biological effects such
as mutagenicity, reproductive disorders,
neurotoxicity or the contribution of
chemical exposure to heart and lung
disease. The test methodologies which do
exist are frequently not standardized and
as a result do not allow comparisons to be
made. Furthermore, they tend to be time
consuming, laborious, and extremely ex-
pensive to perform.
25
Z
o
Z
o
_J
w
H
U
2
1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990
YEARS
FERTILIZER CONSUMPTION OVER TIME
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Technology Assessment Modeling
Project, 1978
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The large numbers of chemicals in-
volved require the development of test
methods that can quickly determine the
most harmful compounds. Although
some short-term tests and screening pro-
cedures exist (such as the Ames Test for
mutagenicity), no one short-term test can
Only a small fraction
of the chemical
compounds in use have
been subjected to health
effects testing.
identify all the different toxic effects a
substance can have. Each test is limited by
its inability to detect all classes of effects
and by its vulnerability to spurious
results. For these reasons, groups of
short-term tests must be assembled into
coordinated test batteries to form a
testing hierarchy for the system.
Each test in each tier must be evaluated
for overall accuracy, sensitivity and broad
spectrum characteristics. Ultimately, this
evaluation will lead to a practical group or
groups of tests (both short and longer
term) to determine human health risks.
This development of short-term batteries
has the highest priority within the EPA
toxic chemical research program. Within
this specific area, program emphasis will
be primarily on validation of existing test
methods; the development of new screen-
ing methods will be secondary.
The validation and development of
standard testing methodologies is a com-
plex process. The means by which toxic
substances act on the human body, non-
human organism, or ecosystem must be
determined before the scientific validity
of a test methodology can be assured.
Short-term screening tests must be vali-
dated by use of longer-term studies that
the short-term tests are designed to trig-
ger. Then, whenever possible, the longer-
term studies must be validated through
controlled or case-specific clinical studies
or epidemiology studies that identify
dose-response relationships.
Although our toxic effects research
projects focus on human health, the
overall perspective of our program is that
man is a part of an ecosystem and that by
better understanding ecology we will take
a vital step to providing a healthy environ-
ment in which man can live. Ecological
work directly supports health effects
research: certain aquatic "indicator"
organisms are used to detect the presence
of carcinogens, mutagens and teratogens
in the environment; information on the
mechanisms of toxic effects on parts of
the ecosystem may be useful in human
toxicological research; understanding of
the pathway of toxics through the eco-
system, particularly the human food web,
will aid in determining likely exposure
levels. In short, human health effects
research is incomplete without tandem
and supporting ecological research.
Exposure Assessment: Effective assess-
ment of the hazards to people posed by a
toxic chemical requires not only
knowledge of the chemical's effects but
also the degree and duration of probable
human exposure. Our major research ef-
fort in this area will be to improve, to a
scientifically acceptable state, methods to
predict environmental concentrations of
The large numbers of
chemicals involved
require the
development of test
methods that can
quickly determine
the most harmful
compounds*
toxic chemicals including chemicals not
yet on the open market. More accurate
prediction methods will derive from an
improved ability to measure and model
the transport, transformation, per-
sistence, and fate of a chemical as it
moves through the environment from its
source to a receptor organism. The results
8
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X
a
a
z
z
o
5 I
Q
§
en
en
O
tf
a
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
1950
1960
1970
YEARS
1980
1990
INCREASES IN U.S. CROP PRODUCTION
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Technology Assessment Modeling
Project, 1978
of the exposure research will enable us to
better measure and predict the total body
burden exerted by toxic chemicals. These
improvements in exposure assessments
will result from:
• Models to predict the degree of ab-
sorption and distribution versus the
rate of excretion and removal from
human tissues,.
• Models to predict the transfer of
substances from one environmental
medium to another (i.e., air to
water)
• Methods and models for predicting
the likelihood of bioaccumulation/
magnification of toxic materials in
the food chain.
• Our ability to design and conduct
ambient monitoring studies to vali-
date predictive models.
Finally, we also need to improve, stan-
dardize, validate, and assure the quality
of our physical, chemical, and biological
analytical monitoring and measuring
methodologies.
Risk Assessment: Integration of known
effects with likely exposures is the fun-
damental research input to regulatory
decisions regarding a specific chemical or
class of compounds. From such informa-
tion it may be possible to determine the
degree of potential risk to be weighed
against benefits. Progress is being made
on methods to accurately determine
exposure-effect relationships but much
more needs to be learned. We need to
refine our methods that extrapolate
animal responses to man or otherwise
relate exposure to effects; we must also
-------
continue to develop techniques for deter-
mining all critical data items required for
accurate risk assessments. Until the
research into these areas is complete, we
must continue to apply existing state-of-
the-art techniques to produce risk
assessments and criteria documents in
support or EPA's regulatory mission.
Control Technology
Research
Source Characterization: A description
of the sources of toxic chemicals is
necessary to estimate potential human ex-
posures and to develop adequate control
measures. We will conduct research to
determine the magnitude of the problem
and to identify potential control points.
Information is needed to describe how a
chemical moves from a raw material
through its various product stages to an
end-use product and at what point in this
flow the chemical comes into contact with
man and the environment. Program em-
phasis is on characterization, assessment,
and prediction of:
• Emissions from industrial processes
for chemical production, handling,
storage, marketing, and emission
control, and
• Discharges and fugitive emissions
from hard-to-measure sources such
as agricultural and urban runoff or
airborne particulates from combus-
tion processes.
Control Measures: Measures to control
toxic chemicals once they have been
released into the environment are gen-
erally difficult to implement, prone to
failure, and expensive. For this reason,
EPA's strategy for toxics control is based
on implementing control measures at, or
as near as possible to, the source of the
potential toxicant's entry into the en-
vironment. Specifically, the strategy has
two primary thrusts. The first thrust in-
volves regulating the chemical composi-
tion of commercial products before they
reach the market place. Registration of
pesticides under the authority of the
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act and premarket testing of
chemicals as required by the Toxics
Substances Control Act are prime ex-
amples of the "product control
measures" we employ. In support of this
effort, our research program will continue
to develop or improve methods for toxici-
ty testing and exposure and risk assess-
ment.
The second major thrust of EPA's
strategy deals with controlling toxic
chemicals which enter the environment
through pathways such as industrial
Our approach is
oriented toward the
development of
methods for
controlling the
causes of pollution,
wastewater discharges or atmospheric
emissions. In the case of industrial
wastewater, control is achieved by using
mechanisms available under the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act such as ef-
fluent guidelines; whereas for controlling
atmospheric emissions, the Clean Air
Act's new source performance standards
or ambient air quality criteria might be
used. For this type of control, our
research program is involved in the
development or improvement of specific
technologies and management practices
which allow the standards to be met.
While there is still much to be done, we
hope to eventually develop, or foster the
development of, the recycle and reuse
techniques necessary for "closed-loop"
industrial production. Achievement of
this long term goal will not only limit the
release of potential toxicants into the en-
vironment but will also permit better
utilization of this country's basic
materials and natural resources.
The concept of internal process modi-
fication has already proven feasible in
some industrial production cycles (see
the "Industrial Wastewater" chapter of
10
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TOXIC CHEMICAL RESEARCH GOALS, MAJOR OBJECTIVES
AND EMPHASIS AREAS
To characterize the nature and extent of risk
posed by potentially hazardous chemicals.
TOXIC EFFECTS
• Improve toxicity methods for ascertaining chemical dose/effect relationships
- Short-term testing and screening methods
- Acute and chronic toxicity test methods
- Clinical and epidemiological methodology
• Conduct clinical and epidemiological studies to determine causal relationships of
priority toxicants, acting singly or in combination, to environmentally induced
diseases
• Elucidate toxicological mechanisms of action
• Determine non-human effects of toxic chemicals
EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT
• Elucidate toxicant transport, transformation, persistence and fate phenomena
- Methods for measuring total body burden
- Transport, transformation, modeling, etc.
• Improve analytical monitoring methodology
- Analytical method development, validation and standardization
- Monitoring network development
- Data quality assurance programs
RISK ASSESSMENT
• Develop and evaluate risk assessment models
- Improve basis for extrapolating sub-mammalian and mammalian test results to
humans
• Prepare integrated risk assessment and criteria documents for priority compounds
and/or chemical classes
To develop control strategies, systems and/or
management practices which will prevent, interdict
or at least minimize exposure to hazardous chemicals.
SOURCE CHARACTERIZATION
• Ascertain and/or predict potential environmental release of hazardous chemicals
- Develop and maintain inventory of chemical sources, production processes and
chemical handling, storage, use, marketing and disposal practices
- Identify target points for application of control technologies and/or management
practices
CONTROL MEASURES
• Develop "at the source" chemical control strategies and technologies
- Improve in-stream control through modification of production processes and the
development of recycle/closed loop technology
- Improve necessary end-of-pipe treatment technologies
• Develop alternative strategies and management practices for nonpoint source control of
hazardous chemicals
- Agricultural and urban runoff
- Mining
- Alternative methods of pest control
• Develop preventative removal and mitigation practices for hazardous chemical spills
11
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this report). Techniques such as incinera-
tion, ozonolysis, adsorption, biological
modifications, and chlorolysis offer a
spectrum of solutions ranging from com-
plete destruction to conversion to useful
saleable products. Although much work is
needed to develop knowledge needed to
apply these techniques, the potential ex-
ists for their integration into manufactur-
ing processes or centralized treatment
facilities. Our research program will also
continue to support and evaluate "end-
of-pipe" treatment techniques for in-
dustries in which closed-loop production
is not yet achievable or practical.
When dealing with point sources of tox-
icants from individual production lines or
manufacturing plants, specific tech-
nological solutions to toxic emission
problems are often feasible and at-
tainable. On the other hand more com-
plex or nonpoint sources of toxicants such
as agricultural and urban runoff or wastes
from mining activities are not so
amenable to precise solutions. The
research for these sources is planned to
emphasize development and evaluation of
effective methods for mitigating pollution
from toxic chemicals. The primary thrust
of our approach here will be to develop
methods to control the cause (i.e., the
source) of the pollution rather than to
control pollutants after they have been
discharged into the environment.
Human health effects
research is incomplete
without tandem and
supporting ecological
research.
Other EPA chemical research will focus
on the development of new, less hazard-
ous uses of beneficial chemicals in society.
One example of research in this area
relates to chemical control of infectious
diseases. Chlorination to disinfect drink-
ing water and organic wastes has been an
important component of public health
protection for many years. But recent
evidence shows that the chlorine combines
with other chemicals to generate com-
pounds that have the potential for induc-
ing cancer. As a consequence, EPA will
continue to support research to develop
and evaluate alternatives to chlorine
disinfection.
EPA will also continue to support
research to develop new or improved
systems and equipment for the preven-
tion, containment, control, treatment,
removal, recovery and disposition of
spills or other acute releases of hazardous
polluting substances.
Assessment of
Program Capabilities
The capabilities of EPA research to res-
pond to the problems posed by toxic
chemicals are related to recognition of the
immensity and pervasiveness of the
overall problem. But solution of the tox-
ics problem will require mobilization of
vast resources of our society. No one sec-
tor of society, let alone a single govern-
ment agency, commands the resources
and expertise necessary to cope with the
entire problem. A major challenge to
EPA, therefore, is to forge an effective
partnership among the various federal
and state regulatory and research agen-
cies, the academic community, and
private enterprise.
EPA contributes to this partnership in a
variety of ways. Of our total monetary
research resources, only about one-third
are expended in-house bv EPA scientists.
Approximately 50% is expended through
extramural grants and contracts with
universities and private organizations.
The balance is expended through fund
transfers to other federal agencies for
work on problems of mutual concern.
Interagency agreements also support
the partnership. EPA has always used
such agreements to some degree,
however, during the past year interagency
coordination and cooperation received
even further impetus through the forma-
tion of the Interagency Regulatory
Liaison Group (IRLG) which consists of
12
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EPA, the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA), and the
Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC). These federal agencies are the
principal ones responsible for regulating
toxic and hazardous substances. The
IRLG will help to more closely coordinate
regulation development, enforcement ac-
tions, general information exchange, and
the effective planning and use of available
research resources,
Solution of the toxics
problem will require
mobilization of vast
resources of our society*
The IRLG is already producing some
tangible results in research planning and
coordination. Notable among these
results has been the development of a
joint EPA/FDA neurotoxicology
research program. This program ad-
dresses the critical information gap in our
understanding of the behavioral and other
neurotoxicological effects of environmen-
tal contaminants. EPA had developed on-
ly a modest capability in this area at its
Health Effects Research Laboratory in
North Carolina, but was unable to devote
sufficient resources to mount a serious at-
tack on the problem. At the same time,
the FDA was preparing to start a small
neurotoxicology program at its National
Center for Toxicological Research.
However, it was recognized through the
IRLG that separate small programs would
be less effective than a combined pro-
gram, thus the EPA and FDA programs
have now been merged. The merger will
enable a better response to the regulatory
needs of all the IRLG agencies. Location
of the joint program at EPA's North
Carolina facility takes advantage of the
close proximity of the National Institute
for Environmental Health Sciences which
is also involved in neurotoxicology
research.
Another example of the improved coor-
dination brought about by the IRLG has
been the joint participation in the Zero
Base Budgeting process with the National
Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences, the National Cancer Institute,
and the National Institute of Occupa-
tional Safety and Health. Here, an
analysis was performed of their collective
research programs in order to develop a
better integrated toxic chemical research
budget for the fiscal 1980 submission to
Congress. This kind of integrated action
will continue to provide cost effective
response to the hazards of toxic chemical
exposure.
13
-------
AIR POLLUTION
We have no choice but to breathe
the air around us. EPA's research is
working to insure that it is clean*
14
-------
Significant progress has been made in
cleaning the air of the United States. Ef-
forts by federal, state, and local air pollu-
tion control agencies have resulted in
reductions of particulate and sulfur diox-
ide concentrations, but concerns remain
about the quality of air throughout the
nation. The more that is learned about the
complex mixture of fine particulate's and
other pollutants that are in the air, the
deeper the concerns regarding their poten-
tial adverse effects on health and welfare.
Concerns remain about
the quality of air
throughout the nation*
Our atmospheric research program will
concentrate on three particularly trouble-
some pollution problems: (1) inter-
regional transport and transformation of
air pollutants; (2) the fate and effects of
air pollutants; and (3) their diffuse
sources. As we investigate these areas we
will address the major concern that
aerosols formed from various gaseous
and particulate air pollutants can have
adverse health and environmental effects.
We will also address the possibility that
strategies designed to deal with long-term
regional and interregional air quality
degradation may be ineffective because of
projected pollution emissions increases
from the number, type and distribution of
future sources. The atmospheric research
program is specifically designed to pro-
vide information to directly support EPA
regulations for establishment and revision
of standards and development of control
abatement strategies.
In addition to a thorough investigation
of the pollution-related problems, our re-
search response will include an attempt to
resolve questions of accuracy of past air
pollution data that have resulted from a
lack of detailed standards methods. We
feel a completely standardized collection
and analysis system is a prerequisite to
successful research in pollution abatement
control.
Air Pollution Research
Interregional Transport
and Transformation of
Inhalable Particles,
Ozone/Oxidants, and
Secondary Organics
Particles.The interregional transport
and transformation of particles is a
primary health and environmental con-
cern. When these particles and their
precursors are inadequately controlled,
visibility problems and the formation of
acid rain can result. Some of these par-
ticles, when breathed, can penetrate
deeply into the respiratory system and
cause potentially serious adverse health
effects. Most of these "inhalable" par-
ticles are formed by reactions of pollution
gases after the gases have been released in-
to the atmosphere. Such reaction prod-
ucts include sulfate and nitrate particles
that can be transported long distances.
Epidemiology studies have indicated that
low atmospheric sulfate levels may pro-
duce a variety of respiratory health pro-
blems such as aggravated asthma and
bronchitis. In addition to sulfates, at-
mospheric nitrates are suspected of caus-
ing adverse human health effects. How-
ever, very little is known to date on this
issue and clearly more experimentation is
needed.
In EPA's research program, we will
evaluate the adverse chronic health effects
risks associated with particles that are
subject to interregional transport. This
evaluation will be achieved through
animal toxicology studies on chronic ef-
fects of exposure to particles of varying
chemical composition including sulfates
and nitrates. Subsequent studies will
assess the effects of exposure to mixtures
of particles of known chemical composi-
tion. Concurrently, long-term epidemiol-
ogical studies are being designed and con-
ducted. Our particle research will deal
with inhalable particles (defined as having
an aerodynamic diameter of 15 micro-
15
-------
REGIONAL ATMOSPHERIC EMISSIONS OF SO2
FROM UTILITY AND INDUSTRIAL COMBUSTION
FEDERAL
REGION
103 TONS
II
III
IV
VI
VII
HII
IX
331.1
1.1
877.4
3.0
4,048.5
13.7
1,951.8
6-6
552.2
1.9
272.1
0.9
102.5
0.3
TOTALS: 29,565.
5.4 . f
_4«MHBHMH,*
100.0
1990
W3 TONS
259.6
889.7
,
665.6
813.1
498.7
192.7
%
1.3
4.3
3,205.8 A rV. 15.4
L
v<. x,<^
28.0
3.2
3.9
2-4
0.9
20,784.1
.1 _|
.j^jHPlKBLA^
100.0
Source: United Stales Environmental Protection Agency. Technology Assessment Modeling Project, 1978.
16
-------
meters or less). This perspective is consis-
tent with an Inhalable Particles Standard
which is an option EPA is considering in
the review of the existing Total Suspended
Particle Standard. (The research plan to
deal with this contemplated change has
been jointly developed by research per-
sonnel and representatives from the air
regulatory and enforcement offices.)
Research into the improvement of air
quality simulation models (AQSM) to
predict the long-range transport of par-
ticles is also necessary. To improve these
models we will conduct:
• laboratory and chamber studies to
identify transformation processes
and important removal mech-
anisms;
• direct field measurements of in-
teractions between chemical-
physical and meteorological
parameters and particle variables
such as rates of formation, disper-
sion, transport and deposition; and
• development and validation studies
of quantitative relationships among
those parameters and variables to
allow prediction of long-range
transport.
Our research plan also includes studies
to provide standardized monitoring
systems that will assure comparable data
throughout the system. This will be
achieved by developing reference
methods, standard reference materials
traceable to a common source, laboratory
and monitoring station certification and
data handling systems for all generated
data. A network for monitoring inhalable
particles will be established at approx-
imately 300 sites. Associated studies using
supplemental mobile monitors in selected
cities will provide a precise description of
population exposure at these locations.
Ozone/oxidants and precursors. The
transport and transformation of ozone/
oxidants and precursors also need
thorough investigation. At present we do
not possess an assured capability to
predict their interregional transport
because most currently available models
are limited to urban scale pollution.
However, we are beginning to develop
and validate models that can address
ozone/oxidants interregional transport
processes. The first step in the develop-
ment of these models is to quantify multi-
day, rather than multi-hour, dispersion
and transport. This necessitates the ability
to predict movement of air masses at the
regional scale. Studies will concentrate on
field collection of meteorological and air
quality data sufficient to develop the
transport component of an interregional
model.
Trace elements can
cause biological damage
to organisms, ecosystems
and humans,
The second step is to identify and quan-
tify removal processes for ozone and its
precursors. In particular we need to know
deposition velocities for soil, vegetation
and water surfaces. A combination of
laboratory and field studies will be carried
out to measure the rates of these pro-
cesses.
The third step in the development of a
model is to define and quantify multi-day
chemical mechanisms associated with
transport. These mechanisms will be
studied in smog chambers designed to
simulate atmospheric chemistry. Field
studies will provide validation of the
laboratory results and will support
development of the interregional oxidant
model.
Secondary organics. The transport and
transformation of secondary organics is
the final problem in this category to be
addressed. Secondary organics, however,
is not recognized as a serious and present
problem, as are inhalable particles and
ozone, and thus must be considered as
only a potential problem. We therefore
need to develop an understanding about
the prevalence, concentrations, forma-
tion, and transport of primary and second-
17
-------
DECREASES IN SUMMER VISIBILITY: 1958-1973
(All Readings Taken at < 90% Relative Humidity)
10 MILES 8 MILES 6 MILES
Source, Energy—Air Pollution: A Picture Book of Systems Behavior, Washington University, 1978.
18
-------
ary organic particles and vapors in urban
air. We do know that the atmosphere is a
fertile medium for a variety of oxidation
processes and products and that ambient
air in metropolitan areas contains large
amounts of hydrocarbons. We need to
determine, however, if this combination
creates organic air pollution. Potential
adverse health effects of secondary
organic products have not been evaluated,
although it is possible that toxic concen-
trations now exist in some polluted air.
This general lack of knowledge about
organics prevalence and concentrations in
urban atmospheres dictates that our in-
itial research concentrate on characteriz-
ing the problem.
Our research will develop practical
methods capable of identifying and
measuring specific organics in ambient
air. Reliable methods are lacking for
direct in situ chemical characterization of
ambient organic aerosols. Major prob-
lems that must be overcome to develop
such methods are artifact formation and
the unreliability of capture methods to
collect quantities large enough for
analysis.
Included in our research will be field
studies to determine the presence of
secondary organics in urban ambient air.
These field studies are necessary to predict
potential population exposures to secon-
dary organics of known or suspected tox-
icity. The results of the studies will in-
dicate the need for further study of health
effects, source controls, and transport
and transformation.
Fate and Effects of Trace
Elements and Visibility
Degrading Pollutants
Trace elements and organic compounds.
Trace elements are of concern to our
research program because they can cause
biological damage to organisms,
ecosystems, and humans. Some trace
elements are transition metals that per-
form valuable roles in the regulation of
cellular activity but may be toxic in high
concentrations. Other heavy metals may
be required by cells in trace amounts but
may be toxic to those same cells at
relatively low concentrations. Many trace
elements may be fairly prevalent in the air
since most are emitted by combustion
sources and industrial processes.
Although controls will reduce the amount
of emissions of trace elements from in-
dividual sources, the increase in the
number of sources will in many cases
cause trace element air pollution levels to
increase. The trace metals problem is
more potential than actual because we
generally do not find them in significant
concentrations except in localized situa-
tions. However, until more definitive in-
formation becomes available on their
health effects, emissions, and fate, trace
metals will continue to be a concern.
Our trace elements research will quan-
tify emissions of trace elements from sta-
tionary and mobile sources and will
evaluate control technologies. The emis-
sions characterization studies will provide
the requisite data base for integrated risk
assessments of specific trace elements.
The control technology evaluations will
concentrate on studying and possibly
testing a series of new collection ap-
proaches including charged droplet scrub-
bers, ceramic membrane filters, magnetic
filter beds, and a number of new types of
fiber filters. The purpose of the evalua-
tions will be to identify potential cost-
effective means to reduce trace element
emissions.
The chemical form in
which the element is
found may be as
important as the
quantity.
We will also develop methods to iden-
tify the chemical form of trace elements in
emissions and the ambient environment.
Present methods of analysis typically do
not note chemical speciation or particle
size. But the chemical form in which the
element is bound may be as important as
the quantity because toxicity is related to
19
-------
MAJOR
MILESTONES
Research on Interregional Transport and
Transformation Problems
OBJECTIVES
FIRST PRIORITY
Health Effects of chronic exposures to
particles
Improve air quality models to predict
long range transport of particles and
ozone oxidants
Control technology for particles
control
Standardized monitoring system
SECOND PRIORITY
Multi-day transport of oxidants
Quantify ozone and precursor sink
processes
Define and quantify chemical
mechanisms
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
Data from animal toxicology studies on
effects of particles of selected
chemical composition. (FY 82)
Data from animal toxicology studies on
effects of selected sulfates and
nitrates. (FY 80)
Data from animal toxicology studies on
effects of mixtures of particles of
known chemical composition — post.
(FY 82)
Data from long-term air pollution epi-
demiology studies on inhaled particulate
matter, metals, sulfates, nitrates,
energy-related emissions, and airborne
carcinogens. (FY 82)
Data from controlled human clinical
studies of particles, NO2, and Oj
both alone and in combination. (FY 83)
Data on chemical mechanism, rates of
formation, dispersion, transport and
deposition of particles and
ozone/ oxidants. (FY 79)
Improved models to predict long range
transport. (FY 80)
Evaluation of precharger for electro-
static augmentation of precipitators.
(FY 80.)
Implementation of inhalable particulate
networks in 100 stations by FY 79,
160 stations by FY 80 and a goal of
300 stations by (FY 83).
Development of transport component of
interregional model. (FY 80).
Deposition rates for soils, vegetation,
and water surfaces. (FY 80)
Interregional ozone air quality model.
(FY 81)
20
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
(CONT.)
OBJECTIVES
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
THIRD PRIORITY
Methods to identify and measure
organics
Determine prevalance of organics in
ambient air
Improved measurement method for
specific organics. (FY 80)
Data from urban field characterization
studies. (FY 81)
the chemical composition, concentration
and particle size. To address this measure-
ment methods problem we will examine
the use of molecular emission (fluores-
cence and Raman scattering) for iden-
tification of specific compounds.
Our trace elements research will also
provide the scientific basis needed to
assess potential health and environmental
risks from trace element emissions. Ef-
fects research is especially important for
those metals that form metalalkyls,
because such compounds accumulate in
cells and are poisonous to the central ner-
vous system of higher organisms. General
health and ecological toxicity test
methods must be developed for better
prediction of potential effects from trace
metals in different chemical forms.
Transport and transformation studies will
be carried out to provide better methods
for predicting the ultimate form and
distribution of trace metals, including the
potential for uptake into the food chain.
Visibility. Degradation of visibility has
the potential for producing human and
material costs in the form of automobile
accidents, transportation delays, and
mental depression caused by hazy
weather. Over the past 25 years, signifi-
cant visibility degradation has occurred in
the eastern third of the United States.
Research into this situation has noted the
existence of a large (regional) hazy air
mass concentrated over a multi-state area.
Trend analyses have indicated a high cor-
relation between the appearance of the air
mass and elevated ambient sulfate levels.
In the western portion of the United
States where increased development and
use of energy resources is anticipated,
major concerns have been raised about
the potential for increased visibility
degradation. As a result, our research
program is currently funding several pro-
grams in the West (e.g. VISTTA which
stands for Visibility Impairment due to
Sulfur Transport and Transformation in
the Atmosphere).
The naturally occurring
pollutants of primary
concern are
hydrocarbons.
To date, the specific causes and effects
of visibility degradation have not been
quantified. Some qualitative information
includes studies of expanding urban
21
-------
development along coastal areas
associated with local visibility problems
brought about by local microclima-
tological changes; reduced visibility in
particular areas attributed to transport of
fine particulate emissions from other
regions; and local emissions as the
primary cause of visibility reduction. Our
research on visibility degradation is
designed to help us better understand the
extremely complex and inadequately
researched fundamental aspects of the
problem.
In our research we intend to determine
the chemical composition of the fine par-
ticulate size fraction primarily responsible
for visibility degradation. Several
analytical techniques have evolved over
the past few years that should greatly
assist in these characterization studies.
Among them are carbon analysis (for
measuring total organic carbon, total in-
organic carbon, and elemental carbon),
ion chromatography (for increased ac-
curacy and quicker analyses of sulfates,
nitrates, ammonium, chloride, bromide)
and improved techniques and instruments
for measuring visibility-related param-
eters (telephotometer, nephelometer, ab-
sorbtion coefficient measurement).
measurement).
MAJOR MILESTONES
Research on Trace Elements and
Visibility Problems
OBJECTIVES
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
FIRST PRIORITY
Quantify emissions of trace elements
and evaluate control technologies
Measurement methods for chemical
forms of trace elements
Health and environmental effects
SECOND PRIORITY
Chemical composition of aerosol
causing visibility degradation
Relate aerosols to sources
Methods to assess human and economic
costs
Emissions data from source characteriza-
tion .studies. (FY 79)
Evaluation of filters technologies.
(FY 80—FY 83)
Performance data on instruments. (FY 81)
Test methods for predicting health
effects. (FY 80)
Test methods for predicting ultimate
form and distribution. (FY 80)
Chemical composition from characteri-
zation studies. (FY 79—FY 81)
Air quality models relating emissions to
meterology to visibility. (FY 83)
Reports on selected case studies.
(FY 80—FY 81)
22
-------
We will also provide the data base re-
quired to evaluate possible control
strategies. Development of this data base
will require field studies during periods-of
low visibility. We plan to measure the
composition, concentration, and size
distribution of the visibility-degrading
fine particulates and then determine the
polluting sources through meteorology,
atmospheric chemical mechanisms, and
aerosol dynamics.
Additionally our research will provide
methods to evaluate the human and
economic cost of visibility degradation.
Because substantial resources may be re-
quired to improve visibility, decisions on
alternative control strategies will have to
balance the costs against the benefits of
visibility improvement. Research is re-
quired to provide the methods and the
data appropriate for estimating the
benefits of improved visibility.
Diffuse Sources
Fugitive sources. The fugitive sources of
particular concern to our study are
fugitive emissions including fugitive dust.
These pollutants are the principal cause of
failure by 400 of the 3200 U.S. counties to
meet the primary ambient air quality stan-
dard for Total Suspended Particles. These
same fugitive sources may make it dif-
ficult to attain potential fine particulate
ambient air quality standards in many
regions.
Fugitive emissions
complicate the
problem of revising
present ambient
particulate standards
Fugitive emissions including fugitive
dust complicate the problem of revising
present ambient air quality total par-
ticulate standards. We do not have the
data to assess the relative contribution nor
the health risks associated with par-
ticulates from fugitive sources. We have
therefore established a research plan to
better address this problem. We will
develop instrumentation to provide size
spectrum and chemical composition data
for ambient air particulates. These
measurement methods are required to
discriminate among the various kinds of
particulates, their sources and their poten-
tial adverse health effects. Our source
sampling, modeling, and field studies will
relate the various chemical and size frac-
tions of particulate matter to specific
sources. The emphasis will be on the
design and evaluation of alternative con-
trol strategies.
The research will include fate and ef-
fects studies to determine risks associated
with fugitive materials. The nature of
these studies will be determined largely by
the results of the chemical composition
and particle size distribution research.
The purpose will be to fill fate and effects
data gaps created by study conditions
specific to fugitive emissions and dust.
Our plans also include the development
of industrial fugitive process particulate
(IFPP) controls to reduce emissions. The
sources of IFPP emissions are numerous,
vary among industries, and even differ
among sources within a particular plant.
The emissions are typically difficult to
collect and control and often require
tailor-made solutions; for example, hoods
used to collect fugitive emissions from
pushing coke are entirely different from
hoods used to collect offgases from a cop-
per converter.
Naturally occurring air pollutants. The
naturally occurring pollutants of primary
23
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
Research on Diffuse
OBJECTIVES
FIRST PRIORITY
Characterize fugitive particulates
by size and chemical composition
Relate ambient particulates to sources
Fate and effects studies
Role of natural sulfur compounds in
sulfate and aerosol problems
Industrial fugitive process particulate
controls
Role of natural hydrocarbons in 03 and
aerosol problems
SECOND PRIORITY
Natural versus anthropogenic
allergenic materials
Source Problems
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
Instrumentation to provide size spectra
and chemical composition. (FY 80)
Data from selected field characterization
studies. (FY81)
Data from laboratory studies. (FY 80)
Ambient data from field and simulated
Chamber studies. (FY 82)
Evaluated new and modified control
technologies. (FY 79— FY 81)
Evaluation data from laboratory and
fieW studies. (FY 80)
Dlte' from laboratory and field base-
line studies on ambient concentrations
and allergenic effects. (FY 83)
24
-------
concern are hydrocarbons. Some hydro-
carbon compounds are known to be
precursors of photochemical oxidants and
aerosols, and preliminary investigations
have shown measurable emissions of
vegetation-related hydrocarbons. In the
past, natural emissions of hydrocarbons
have not been part of the design of ozone
control strategies, but future control
strategies to meet primary ambient air
quality standards for ozone concentra-
tions may have to consider natural
hydrocarbon emissions.
We hope to provide emissions data to
assess contributions of natural sources of
hydrocarbons to ambient concentrations
of ozone/oxidants in metropolitan areas.
Laboratory and field studies will focus on
the determination of hydrocarbon emis-
sion factors from plant and tree growth
and from natural decomposition. In order
to relate these emissions to ozone/oxidant
concentrations, field studies of the
transport and transformation of natural
hydrocarbons will be necessary.
Finally, we hope to provide char-
acterization and effects data to determine
the relative importance of natural versus
anthropogenic air pollutants in causing
allergenic discomfort. This is a long-term
project. As the pollutants that are the
greatest concern to health come under
control, interest may shift to pollutants
that cause less severe health effects, for
example, allergenic materials. Baseline
laboratory and field studies relating
natural and anthropogenic materials to
allergenic response will precede any addi-
tional research or regulatory decisions in
this area.
Research Capabilities
EPA has assembled a highly qualified
team of researchers in the air pollution
area. These investigators have at their
disposal superb laboratory facilities for
carrying out animal and human exposure
studies, an excellent computer and data
management capability, and sophisticated
analytical chemistry support. The clinical
studies facility located in Chapel Hill,
N.C., is the only one of its kind in the
world for studying, under carefully con-
trolled conditions, the effects of gaseous
and particulate air pollutants, alone and
in combination, on human subjects under
a variety of temperature, humidity, and
stress conditions. Long-term population
studies are supported extramurally under
the guidance of EPA epidemiologists. To
complement EPA's health scientists, EPA
has formed a highly qualified team of
chemists, meteorologists, and engineers
who are responsible for the development
of standardized analytical methods for
monitoring air pollution, development of
cost effective control technologies, and
development of quality assurance pro-
tocols to be applied to a broad spectrum
of environmental data.
EPA has assembled a
highly qualified staff
for air pollution
research.
EPA's laboratories and those of EPA-
funded contractors and grantees comprise
the predominant expertise in long-range
interregional transport of air pollutants.
Practically all of the major advances
toward the understanding of interregional
transport have been wholly or partially
carried out by EPA-funded activities.
EPA is cooperating with the Electric
Power Research Institute in the design of
future studies for joint benefits. Simi-
larly, EPA is cooperating with the
Department of Energy (DOE) on a
research program emphasizing inter-
regional transport of power plant emis-
sions. Finally, EPA has been closely
involved with European scientists in ad-
dressing the transport problem. One
result of that interaction is the possible
application to the U.S. of EUROMAP, a
25
-------
model for predicting sulfate formation
and transport in Western Europe.
EPA's research in secondary organics is
also recognized. Our atmospheric
chemistry and physics program has car-
ried out or supported extramurally most
of the major advances in this area. The
fugitive emissions research at EPA is also
a leading effort supported within EPA or
extramurally through EPA support.
EPA and DOE have carried out or
sponsored the majority of research for
trace elements, and European interest in
this area of study is increasing. Our mer-
cury exposure assessment work is at the
frontier of the subject; we expect to con-
tinue to lead in this area with able
assistance from the university and com-
mercial research community. However,
our capabilities to study movement and
transformation of trace elements through
the atmosphere is relatively undeveloped
and will have to be substantially sup-
plemented by research carried out in other
federal agencies and academia.
EPA is a leader in research on visibility
degradation. We have carried out or have
supported major research studies for
visibility measurements, trends, causes,
and predictive methods. This research has
relied heavily on academic expertise and
will continue to in the future.
EPA has internal expertise for address-
ing the problem of hydrocarbons emitted
from natural sources. The major ques-
tions in this area have been raised pri-
marily as a result of EPA's activities.
However, EPA has practically no present
capability to investigate the role of
natural sources in the creation of
allergenic discomfort. Research has pur-
posely focused on anthropogenic sub-
stances with known potential for adverse
health effects. In order to carry out pro-
posed research on allergenic discomfort,
EPA would have to rely heavily on ex-
tramural expertise.
26
-------
INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER
A prime pathway for the release of
toxic substances into the environment
is through industrial wastewater* EPA
is researching treatment and recycle
techniques to reduce this pollution*
27
-------
According to 1975 estimates by the
Department of Commerce, major in-
dustrial water users daily discharged ap-
proximately 62 billion gallons of
wastewater into rivers and streams.
Depending on the industry, this
wastewater can contain any of a variety of
toxic and conventional pollutants such as
phenols, benzene, chlorinated hydrocar-
bons, metals, suspended solids, and
oxygen-demanding compounds. All of
these contribute to degraded water
quality.
The industries of prime concern to
EPA's industrial wastewater research pro-
gram are the organic chemical, pulp and
paper, iron and steel and petroleum refin-
ing industries. The organic chemical in-
dustry produces wastewater with the
highest concentration of toxic pollutants
and is the major source of toxics in in-
dustrial wastewater; the other industries
produce less polluted wastewater but at
higher discharge volumes. Another con-
cern of EPA is that many small industrial
plants discharge wastewaters to public
Congress made the
elimination of pollutant
discharges to U.S.
waters a national goal.
sewers that lead to publicly owned treat-
ment works (POTW's). These discharges
to POTW's create two problems: normal
treatment is interfered with or inhibited,
and toxics untreated by the POTW are
released to the sewage treatment sludge or
liquid effluent.
p
'ROJECTED USE OF WATER BY MAJOR INDUSTRIAL USERS
|!> ;
Petroleum
Chemical and Allied Products
Total Manufacturing
1985
Pulp and Paper
Petroleum
Chemical and Allied Products
Total Manufacturing
2000
Pulp and Paper .,*
Petroleum
Chemical and Allied Products
Total Manufacturing *
Gross
Use
m,m
153,000
43,000
29,000
82,000
227,000
,f^
*"
«; 69,000
41,000
159,000
Intake
10,000
^S!"
'< •%
2'oOQ
6,000
27.0W
;/
- 6,600
JK
6,000
-1*33,000
Con-
sumption
1,000
1,000
1,000
7,000
* 2,i>0
* 1,«00
a 2,000
if 10,000
, ^""'
4J*0
17,000
Total
Dis-
charge
9,000
4,000
20,000
62,000
6,000
1,000
4,000
17,000
IflOfl
500 s
e'.ooo
Product
Volume
in 1972
Dollars
(Billions)
18,552
28,756
61,401
758,751
32,428
38,241
107,119
1,166,057
»-,, 35,515
2,380,627
Data are Rounded to the Nearest 1,000 Million gal/d. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
28
-------
THE SIX CATEGORIES OF
CHEMICAL PRODUCING AND CONSUMING INDUSTRIES
INDUSTRY
ACTIVITIES
PRODUCTS
Industrial Organic Chemical
Principal Organic Products
Primary Non-Chemical
Compounded Chemical Pro-
ducts
Fabricated Products
Trade and Service
Production of "Building
Block" Organic Chemicals
Chemical Processing
dustrial Organic C
to Produce Synthetic
Chemical Materials
Mining, Smelting, Ag
Petroleum and Natu
Production, Petroleum
ing, Forestry (Primary
tion and Processing Indu
Olhcr than Organic
Chemicals)
Mixing of Chemical Materials
to Produce Formulated and ,._ »
Packaged Products
Molding, Shaping or
Manufacturing of Parts or
Products, Metal Working,
Painting
Drycleaning, Restaurants,
Hospitals, Transportation,
Auto Repair _ _ __,,_ ___. .
400 Basic Organic Chemicals
Used as Intermediates,
Solvents
Plastics, Synthetic Rubber,
Drugs, Organic Dyes,
Pesticides
Metals, Minerals, Petroleum
Products, Agricultural Pro-
ducts, Wood and Lumber
i and Detergents,
Dosmetics, Food and
leverage, Surface Coatings,
rmaceuticals, Adhesives
Auto Parts, Textiles, Molded
fetal Parts
Consumer Ser-
in 1977 there were two particularly
severe cases of industrial wastewater
pollution. In Ohio, release of carbon
tetrachloride into a tributary of the Ohio
River almost contaminated drinking
water supplies from Cincinnati to New
Orleans. In New York, industrial
discharges of PCBs into the Hudson River
have meant an indefinite suspension of
commercial fishing.
Recognizing the major threat industrial
wastewater poses to the maintenance of
water quality, Congress made the elimina-
tion of pollutant discharges to U.S.
waters a national goal by passing the 1972
amendments to the Federal Water Pollu-
tion Control Act (FWPCA). As a result,
industries must adopt successively more
stringent control measures aimed at the
removal of 65 toxic substances from their
effluent.
Because it is either not feasible or pro-
hibitively expensive to treat their
wastewater, many industries have
responded to these strict effluent limita-
tions by trying to recycle as much
wastewater as possible. Recycle and reuse
programs have also been stimulated by
the increasing cost of water resulting from
decreasing supplies. An important side
benefit of wastewater recycle and reuse
has been that as products are recovered
from the effluent stream less solid waste is
produced.
A U.S. Department of Commerce
forecast for 1975-2000 indicates that by
29
-------
2000 industry will have reduced its daily
water intake from 62 billion gallons to 23
billion gallons while at the same time
doubling its gross water use. During this
same period, U.S. industrial capacities are
expected to expand by 60% and the struc-
ture of some specific industries, par-
ticularly the petrochemical and organic
chemical industries, are expected to
undergo significant shifts. Adoption of
recycle/reuse processes in the near term
will avoid costly retrofits to the new in-
dustries while concurrently reducing
future industrial wastewater discharges.
But to achieve these reductions in
discharge major control technology prob-
MAJOR MILESTONES
Technology to Treat Toxic Pollutants
OBJECTIVES
FIRST PRIORITY
Chemical analytical methods
Generic surrogate analytical methods for
chemical pollutants
Bioassay analytical methods for waste-
water streams
SECOND PRIORITY
Application of existing technologies not
widely practiced to industrial wastewaters
Investigations of fundamental science
and technology for the development
and application of exotic treatment tech-
nologies to industrial wastewaters
THIRD PRIORITY
Evaluations of existing, management,
operating and housekeeping practices to
reduce pollutant origination.
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
Program in progress: Analytical
procedures for 65 priority pollutants
identified in the 1977 Amendments to
the FWPCA. (FY 80)
Correlation studies and identification of
at least one surrogate parameter. (FY 81)
Correlation studies of pollutants and
bioassay results for textile, petroleum
refining and iron and steel industries.
(FY 80)
Bioassay screening of wastewater
streams for organic chemicals, timber,
pulp and paper, plastics, and pharma-
ceuticals industries. (FY 81)
Bench and pilot plant data for activated
carbon (or other technology) treatment
in the plastics, Pharmaceuticals, pesti-
cides and organic chemicals industries.
(FY82)
Findings on the applicability and
chemistry of advanced treatment (e.g.,
reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, ion
exchange, etc.) in the plastics, pharma-
ceuticals, pesticides, and organic
chemicals industries. (FY 84)
Manuals of practice for the inorganic
chemicals, electroplating and mining
industries. (FY 83)
30
-------
SELECTED INDUSTRIAL
SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION: 1975
(Thousand Tons)
Source/Pollutant *
Textiles
Pulp and Paper
Petroleum Refining
Electroplating
Other
Total
BOD
700.f
3,641.4
% Total
19,2
20.1-
_,;-,, °-6
60.1
100.0
COD
7,126,5
*°
2,476.1
9,702.8
% Total
. I 73.4 ;
100.0
TSS
--,. .f*2^ '
:->:Vi 9.8 '
SjWy.S
7,295.2
%To4l
/ 13*
" 71J '
100.0
TDS
16.3
0.0
i.**fjg j
20,848.8
21,003.2
% Total
.1
0.0
.7
99.2
100.0
COD Ch m" 1 O n d Source: U.S. Knvironmental Protection Agency. Technology Assessment
TSS— Total Suspended Solids ° " '"S r°JeC '
TI)S— Total Dissolved Solids
lems must be resolved. The diverse com-
position of industrial effluents demands
technology that sufficiently renovates
water for reuse in many sensitive in-
dustrial processes. Designs are needed for
centralized treatment plants that will be
fed by small industrial concerns unable to
afford their own water recycle plants.
And economic viability and operational
feasibility must be demonstrated to ensure
commercial acceptance.
Major industrial water
users daily discharge
approximately 62
billion gallons of
wastewater into rivers
and streams.
To provide the control technology base
for water treatment and recycle and reuse,
research will therefore have to proceed on
a number of fronts. Our research perspec-
tive can be defined as developing control
concepts and prototype technology,
demonstrating the commercial viability of
the technology and finally, making the
technology information available so that
industry can install the technology and
meet wastewater discharge laws. Research
must also have the continued participa-
tion of industry in order to pay part of the
enormous cost of developing effective
control technologies.
Industrial
Wastewater Research
EPA industrial wastewater research is
aimed at aiding the development of
technologies for advanced treatment and
recycle systems. Because the technology
required is highly industry specific and
very expensive, our research is oriented
toward the development of information
which, in turn, will help with the develop-
ment of technology. The program has
three prime goals:
• Technology for Treatment of Toxic
Pollutants
• Technology for Reuse and Recycl-
ing of Industrial Wastewater
• Information for Environmental
Assessments.
31
-------
Technology to Treat
Toxic Pollutants
EPA needs to rapidly refine its list of 65
toxic substances identified under the 1977
Amendments to the FWPCA. Many
potentially toxic compounds not on the
list are being identified in industrial
wastewater samples analyzed by EPA's
Effluent Guidelines Division (EGD) and,
conversely, several of the 65 substances
have yet to be found by the EGD survey.
By 1980, development will be completed
for analytical methods to identify and
measure contaminants in wastewater. The
first chemical analysis methods developed
will be appropriate for the 65 toxic
substances. Because the repeated applica-
tion of any analytical methods is expected
to involve major costs, we also intend to
develop sets of generic or surrogate
parameters representative of groups of in-
dividual pollutants. Already existing cost-
effective analytical methods such as non-
specific detector analysis will be com-
plemented by the surrogates. Develop-
ment of those sets of parameters must
await completion of the analytical
methods, but we still expect to complete
this cost saving portion of research in
1980.
Following the development of the
methods to analyze water contamination,
we will then be able to test the adequacy
of conventional (i.e., biological)
technologies for treating wastewater ef-
fluent. Testing will be done here on the
plastics, Pharmaceuticals, pesticide, and
organic chemical industries. If conven-
tional technology proves inadequate, we
MAJOR MILESTONES
Reuse and Recycle of
OBJECTIVES
FIRST PRIORITY
Fifty percent water use reduction
through reuse and recycle for industrial
wastewaters
SECOND PRIORITY
Closed loop operation for two major
production processes for toxic chemicals
THIRD PRIORITY
Low pollution production process
modifications including raw materials
Industrial Wastewater
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
Demonstration of the reduction of
water use for the electroplating, textile,
petroleum refining, pulp and paper
industries. (FY 83)
Demonstration of closed loop operation
for two process operations, e.g., pulp
and paper, and electroplating industries.
(FY 84)
Identification and documentation of
alternative processes and/or raw
materials to eliminate toxic contamin-
ation of wastewaters for the textile and
organic chemical industries. (FY 84)
32
-------
MAJOR
MILESTONES
Environmental Assessments in Decision Making
OBJECTIVES
FIRST PRIORITY
Centralize and insure integrity of data
for toxic pollutant discharges
SECOND PRIORITY
Environmental assessments
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
Data base available for use. (FY 84)
Priority listing of discharges from the
textile, iron and steel and other
industries. (FY 84)
will then investigate the chemistry and
technology necessary to apply more ad-
vanced treatment technologies such as
reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, and ion
exchange.
We also plan to document effective
practices currently in use for pollution
abatement associated with industrial
operation, maintenance, and housekeep-
ing functions. Such practices are viewed
as the "first line of defense" against
pollution.
Reuse and Recycling of
Industrial Wastewaters
Although it is used primarily as a
coolant, water also serves as a process
chemical and solvent and thereby
becomes a major contributor to industrial
water pollution. Therefore, our research
will be oriented toward the development
and demonstration of water use reduction
and closed loop operation for process and
solvent application. First, we will develop
recycle/reuse methods for water use
reduction in those industries that are high
water consumers. These recycle/reuse
methods will simultaneously prevent
pollution and conserve water. Our aim is
for a 50% reduction in water use as a first
step toward closed-loop operations in the
electroplating, textile, petroleum refining,
and pulp and paper industries. This
closed-loop concept will then be
demonstrated on an operational basis in
two of these industries. Demonstrations
are not planned for each type of industry
due to the high costs necessary to deal
with the many industry-specific concen-
trations and types of wastewater
pollutants. We have tentatively identified
the pulp and paper and electroplating in-
dustries for the demonstrations.
But it may be impossible to reduce
water use significantly or to achieve
closed-loop operation for some in-
dustries. So, we plan to examine alter-
native low pollution processes as well as
process modifications (such as changes in
raw input materials) in an effort to limit
sources of toxic contamination of waste-
water. This research will focus primarily
on continuation of our examination of the
textile industry and on the organic
chemical industries.
33
-------
Information for
Environmental
Assessment
Federal agencies, state governments,
universities, and industry are spending
considerable funds, not to mention time,
to collect data on toxic pollutants in in-
dustrial effluents. Information is slowly
becoming available from these sources
that, if properly integrated, could form
the basis for rational environmental
assessments. As the list of pollutants in
air, land, and water grows, and the health
and ecological effects data suggest more
stringent regulations, environmental and
economic trade-offs gain increasing im-
portance in EPA policy making. For this
reason, research will focus on developing
the capability to make accurate assess-
ments. Under this research program we
will develop and implement research to
estimate the quality of environmental
measurements important to regulation
and pollution control. We will also con-
solidate, or develop, linkages between the
important data sources on industrial
effluents. These linkages will permit
effluent characterizations, exposure
potential and geographic "hotspot"
evaluation. We will then develop a list of
the most severe discharges for the textile,
iron and steel, and other industries. This
list will be used to direct future industrial
wastewater research.
Research Capabilities
EPA is the primary source of federal in-
dustrial pollution control technology
research in this country. Our industrial
wastewater research component is cur-
rently funded at an annual level of $7.4
million. Renewed concern to accelerate
the development of water reuse and recy-
cle options has resulted in a projected
increase of $4.3 million in fiscal 1980.
Two EPA research laboratories are
dedicated to the solution of industrial
problems. Our research laboratory in Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, focuses primarily on in-
dustries such as chemical, pulp and paper.
and smelting. The Research Triangle Park
(North Carolina) laboratory deals mostly
with industries such as iron and steel,
petroleum refining and textile. Both deal
with all environmental aspects of their
specialty industries.
EPA is the primary
source of federal
industrial pollution
control technology
research in this country,
Most of our in-house research will be
devoted to the most pressing and im-
mediate short term projects. Longer term
research or programs requiring heavy
manpower commitments will be perform-
ed extramurally through grants and con-
tracts. We have existing contracts with
major consulting firms in the areas of
process technology, environmental con-
trols, and energy recovery systems. Exper-
tise available through these contractors
deals with special surveys, unique prob-
lems, environmental impact description,
and sampling and analysis activities.
One difficulty we expect in the near
future is the inability of our research to
keep pace with the production of organic
chemicals. For this reason, we expect
problems will arise from insufficient sam-
pling and analysis techniques and pro-
tocols. Another possible problem con-
cerns our projected work on environmen-
tal assessments. At this point, the research
hinges on the availability of the health ef-
fects information to permit the develop-
ment of trade-off factors. If such data are
not available, the assessments research
plan will be modified.
34
-------
WATERSHED MANAGEMENT
^t-<*-^Dt '- '"~tf:- "*^.
Water is vulnerable to pollution from
many sources* EPA's research of
watershed management is an effort to
develop preventive controls at the
lowest cost*
35
-------
Water can be polluted directly by point
source discharges of contaminants, par-
ticularly toxic chemicals, or indirectly by
diffuse, or nonpoint, sources of con-
taminating materials. This indirect pollu-
tion of water occurs as a result of rainfall
and snowmelt and consists primarily of
runoff from city streets, construction and
forestry activities, and agriculture and
animal production. Recently, it has been
found that acid precipitation, produced as
a result of chemical reactions between
raindrops and pollutants in the air, is also
a major source of water pollution.
Altogether, these "nonpoint sources"
contribute sediment, pesticide residues,
nutrients, toxics, metals, organic com-
pounds, and pathogens to U.S. waters in
quantities which are responsible for over
half of our water pollution problems.
Nonpoint source pollutants can cause
public health problems, adversely affect
aquatic life, and involve great expense in
cleanup. For instance, nonpoint sources
were clearly linked to the formation of
suspected carcinogens in the water supply
of Fairfax County, Virginia. This 1976
Watershed management
is the assurance that
desired water uses can
be achieved at the
minimum cost to
society.
study concluded that approximately 90%
of the nitrates, phosphates, and sus-
pended solids found could be attributed
to nonpoint sources. Improper logging
practices in Washington State were
responsible for a washout into the
Chehalis River during a severe rainstorm
which has heavily damaged salmon
spawning areas eight miles downstream.
The pesticides DDE, DDT, and dieldrin
from agricultural runoff have been found
in algae and fish from the Iowa River. As
a result, commercial fishing on the river
has been banned indefinitely. And, a
forty-five year study of fish populations
in the lakes of the Adirondack mountains
has shown a correlation between decreas-
ing fish population and decreasing pH
caused as a result of acid precipitation.
Furthermore, expected increases in
agriculture, construction, and forestry re-
quired to support a growing population
and the expanded development of domes-
tic energy resources indicate that pollu-
tion from nonpoint sources will be even
more of a problem in the future. For ex-
ample, projections for agricultural runoff
in eight major crop categories show that
by 1990 sediment will increase by 50%,
pesticide residues will increase by 93%,
and fertilizers will increase by 178% over
1975 levels.
The Concept of
Watershed Management
In order to minimize the detrimental ef-
fects of point and nonpoint sources on an
ecosystem, comprehensive management
of the watershed is required. This is not a
straight forward process, however. First,
we must develop a fundamental under-
standing regarding the dynamics of the
physical, chemical, and biological interac-
tions within the watershed. With such an
understanding, we can then devise the
predictive capability required to estimate
the extent of ecosystem modification in-
duced by point and nonpoint source
pollution discharges. (These modifica-
tions may occur within the watershed
ecosystem where the discharge originates
or within an adjacent ecosystem which
receives air or water transported material
from the "source" watershed). Next,
through monitoring and analysis, the
pollution discharged into a watershed and
the relationship between pollutant loading
and water quality can be established.
And, finally, using this information and
taking into consideration socioeconomic
and energy factors, the appropriate pollu-
tion control measures can be specified.
36
-------
Research Needs
The watershed management research
program will concentrate primarily on
nonpoint sources because point sources
have received so much attention in the
past. We project that as point source
pollution loads continue to decrease due
to adequate controls, nonpoint source
pollution loads will increasingly
predominate. EPA plans to meet this
pollution problem through voluntary con-
trols for agriculture and silviculture and
through regulatory programs for con-
struction and mining. To stimulate accep-
tance of voluntary controls (i.e., Best
Management Practices or BMPs) we feel
NATIONAL SUMMARY OF RELATIVE POLLUTANT
LOADS AFTER
THE 1977 REQUIREMENTS FOR
POINT SOURCES ARE ACHIEVED
100
•o
a
2
E
a
3
S, 50
c«
0
o
IT
0
POINT SOURCE
- a
,^*^;' ...,,, f
.,.®^* i
i'f t
:.-"••'" • '*""<
1 ' *
• :
i IL:
1
NON-POINT SOURCE
%
\ 1 V
\y %
^ 1" \Ji
>.»* ill
^P>-^s
. ^
*v-r-;v'las.i>* I i
1
*" ,
'
'
^
., .
,
%/
"v
r
.*« .- •
1 • N
i
i
i
i i
i i
i
Vs ^ J
1 1 I 1 1 ! I f
^•fcSr^ !/) £ 0 0
•2 2 o- ° TS 5 •§. «
•o c
S J
a, ^
CA
a
O3
g « fc 8 |
O B J= t
« *• * a. <2
!§ | i
" w U
Secondary Treatment including disinfection for a sewered poulalion of 150 million for the municipal sector
and uniform application for Best Practicable Treatment for six SIC industrial categories.
Source: Projections by the Na
tional Commission on Water Quality, Hydroscience, Inc
August 1975; "An Overview of Waste Loads and Urban Suburban Stream
Quality Response."
37
-------
it is essential to demonstrate that the
benefits of controlling or minimizing non-
point source pollution exceed the costs of
control.
The limited resources devoted to total
watershed ecosystem studies have resulted
in a scientific data base which is currently
inadequate for local decision-makers to
select and implement cost-effective con-
trol systems. New or improved methods
are needed to develop a sound capability
Particular emphasis will
be placed on the effects
of toxic pollutants.
to predict the ecological consequences of
environmental perturbations such as
those caused by pesticides, heavy metals,
and other toxicants. We need to know
how nutrient and pesticide loading from
nonpoint sources, toxic discharges and
spills, and industrial wastes interact with
chemical and physical ecosystem struc-
tures. We also need to know how the
populations of living organisms within the
watershed ecosystem are affected and
modified.
Since the effectiveness of current ap-
proaches remains open to question, better
methods should be devised for the control
of nonpoint source pollution. Additional-
ly, ways should be found to encourage the
proper use of these control methods. For
example, BMPs should be designed to
concurrently maximize water quality and
conserve soil and water. We also need to
develop and demonstrate monitoring.
techniques that can identify nonpoint
source problems as well as detect and
record indicators of BMP effectiveness.
Some techniques now under study include
aircraft and satellite imagery (i.e.,
photography, infrared and multispectral
scanning), helicopter-borne water probes
and samplers, and automated in situ
sensors.
Nonpoint Source Research
EPA's goals for nonpoint source
research encompass most of the research
needs identified above. Our first goal
will be to understand further the complex
relationship between nonpoint source
pollutant discharges and the quality of the
affected waterways. Here, particular em-
phasis will be placed on the effects of
toxic pollutants. Our second goal will in-
volve the development and evaluation of
cost-effective management methods to
limit pollution from nonpoint sources.
This goal will address structural as well as
nonstructural approaches to the control
of these pollution sources. An example of
a structural approach is land terracing to
control runoff; nonstructural approaches
include improved timing of pesticide or
fertilizer application, development of
easily degradable pesticides and in-
tegrating biological pest controls with
chemical pesticides. Finally, our third
goal for research will focus on the
development and demonstration of effec-
tive implementation strategies for non-
point source control methods. This
research goal is needed for the develop-
ment of improved voluntary acceptance
approaches to the use of control methods
for nonpoint sources.
Understanding How
Nonpoint Sources
Impact Water Quality
Our first task will be the development of
methods to evaluate the physical,
chemical, and biological water quality im-
pacts from the discharge of nonpoint
source pollutants from urban runoff and
agricultural production. Here techniques
will be developed which relate climate
conditions and urban and rural land use
activities to enable the prediction of the
total amount of pollutants discharged to a
receiving stream. (Other nonpoint sources
such as forestry activities will receive at-
tention in the future.) This information
will then be used to obtain criteria for the
level of nonpoint pollutant discharges
allowable for specified water uses.
38
-------
10,000
1,000
o
100
10
1975
1985
1990
PROJECTED GROWTH IN GROSS POLLUTANT
LOADS FROM URBAN RUNOFF
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Technology Assessment Modeling Project. 1978.
39
-------
1955-56
1972-73
THE WEIGHTED ANNUAL AVERAGE OF pH OF
PRECIPITATION IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES
IN 1955-56 AND 1972-73
Source: National Academy of Sciences, Nitrates: An Environmental Assessment, 1978.
40
-------
In addition, monitoring techniques will
be developed to measure the amount of
nonpoint source pollutant discharge. As
part of this work, special emphasis will be
placed on continuing our aircraft and
satellite remote sensing techniques to
assess the impact of nonpoint source
pollution, to devise appropriate control
strategies, and to determine the water
quality improvements resulting from non-
point source control.
Research will aid in
determining the most
cost-effective method of
meeting established
water quality standards,
Some of this research will improve our
capability to monitor and predict both the
quantity and quality of precipitation and
should therefore assist in the evaluation
of watershed impacts caused by acid rain.
Here, we plan to focus on impacts in the
following general areas: aquatic en-
vironments, soils, agriculture, forestry,
natural ecosystems, and long term trends.
In addition to assessing the impact of acid
precipitation on water quality, we will also
examine its impact on other natural
resources such as soil productivity.
Finally, we will address the relation-
ships between point and nonpoint source
pollutants on an individual watershed
basis. This research will aid in determin-
ing the most cost-effective method of
meeting established water quality stan-
dards. As part of this work, method-
ologies will be developed for determining
allowable discharges for both conven-
tional pollutants (such as organic matter,
suspended solids, and fecal coliform) and
toxic materials based on land use, climate,
soil types, and pollutants for an entire
watershed.
Methods of Controlling
Nonpoint Source Pollution
The first step here will be to evaluate
the effectiveness of existing methods to
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION
OF pH IN LAKES IN THE
ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS,
NEW YORK
40
30
o
^20
10
4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0
(1930-38)
320 Lakes
40
£
•« 30
2
S 20
10
4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0
(1969-75)
216 Lakes
Source: Schofield, C.L. Acid Precipitation: Effects on Fish,
AMBIO. 1976
control coventional as well as toxic non-
point source pollutant discharges in a
watershed. Since local conditions may be
such that more than one nonpoint source
control method is required, various com-
binations of methods will be evaluated.
Methodologies will be developed to match
the most appropriate control method or
combination of methods to a given set of
41
-------
local problems. In line with this ap-
proach, we will publish guidelines for
planning, conducting, and evaluating
field demonstrations of nonpoint source
control methods to assist state and local
water quality management agencies in
developing effective nonpoint source con-
trol programs.
Because nonpoint source control for
agriculture and silviculture is a voluntary
program, it will be crucial that users in the
field be aware of the latest developments.
To this end, we will evaluate information
transfer mechanisms currently available
for nonpoint sources to determine their
effectiveness in reaching the user com-
munity. In the years ahead, these
mechanisms will play a major role in the
transfer of nonpoint source assessment
and prediction capabilities, results from
demonstration studies, and improved or
new management concepts to the field.
As a final task, we will demonstrate and
evaluate new or improved control
methods which have been developed by
other federal and state agencies. Par-
ticular emphasis will be placed on those
methods which are appropriate for multi-
ple uses. Since accurate and timely infor-
mation will be needed by state and local
management agencies during the imple-
mentation phase of nonpoint source con-
trol programs, we will also develop an in-
formation system to retrieve water quality
monitoring data on the effectiveness of
nonpoint source controls.
Implementing Nonpoint
Source Controls
In order to improve our capability to
implement a voluntary nonpoint source
control program, EPA's research will
focus on the development of relevant
DISTRIBUTION OF pH AND FISH POPULATION STATUS IN
ADIRONDACK MOUNTAIN LAKES DURING THE SUMMER OF 1975
pH5
pH6
pH7
Source: Schofield, C.L. "Acid Precipitation: Effects on Fish," AMBIO. 1976.
42
-------
PROJECTED INCREASES BY 1990
IN AGRICULTURAL NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTANTS
400
Sediment Insecticides Nitrogen Potassium
Herbicides Fungicides Phosphorus
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Technology Assessment Modeling Project. 1978.
43
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
Understanding How Nonpoint Sources
Impact Water Quality
OBJECTIVES
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
FIRST PRIORITY
Methods to evaluate and assess the
physical, chemical, biological, and eco-
logical water quality impacts
"Wet weather" water quality criteria
appropriate for 1983 water quality goals
and uses
Monitoring techniques for identifying
water quality impacts
Manual on methods to assess water
quality degradation in fresh water
streams and impoundments. (FY 80)
Guidelines for allowable types and
amounts of nonpoint source pollution
as a function of water use and runoff
magnitude. (FY 81)
Report on remote sensing techniques
appropriate for monitoring nonpoint
source pollution. (FY 82)
Report of workshops on remote auto-
mated in situ water quality sensors. (FY 79)
SECOND PRIORITY
Methodology to assess the loading and
impact on water quality from acid rain
Methodology to determine the relative
impact on water quality of point sources
and nonpoint sources
Methodology for determining allowable
conventional pollutant discharges into
flowing streams and impoundments with
different water uses
Methodology for determining allowable
toxic discharges into flowing streams
and impoundments
Manual on methods for assessing acid
rain loading and impact on water quality
resulting from: 1) discharges directly into
the receiving waters and 2) discharges
from runoff, (FY 81)
Nationwide assessment of water quality
impacts from airborne pollutants. (FY 82)
Report on techniques to identify, measure,
and distinguish between the water quality
degradation caused by point and nonpoint
source discharges. (FY 80)
Methods for determining allowable stream
and impoundment loadings of conven-
tional nonpoint source pollutants. (FY 81)
Methods for determining allowable
loadings for toxic pollutants in nonpoint
source runoff. (FY 81)
Assessment of toxic material loadings
from animal waste. (FY 82)
THIRD PRIORITY
Identification of water quality impacts
and problems resulting from variations
in land use, climate, and soil types
Reports on available models to predict
water quality impacts as a function of
nonpoint source type. (FY 81)
44
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MAJOR MILESTONES
Better Methods to Control Nonpoint
Source
OBJECTIVES
FIRST PRIORITY
Individual structural and nonstructural
control methods and combinations of
methods to control nonpoint source
pollutants
Methodologies for selecting cost-
effective control methods that meet
watershed water quality standards
Guidelines for planning, conducting,
and evaluating field demonstrations of
nonpoint source controls
SECOND PRIORITY
Assessments of current and new tech-
nology information transfer mechanisms
Transfer of results from field evaluation
studies on water quality improvement
from utilization of nonpoint source
control methods
THIRD PRIORITY
Demonstrations and evaluations of new
or improved control methods developed
by other federal and state research groups
Pollution
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
Report on evaluation of irrigated agri-
cultural management systems in Rio
Grande River Basin (FY 81)
Demonstration results on combination
of integrated pest management tech-
niques with structural agricultural non-
point source controls (FY 82)
Report on field demonstrated cost-
effectiveness of agricultural nonpoint
source controls in Corn Belt (FY 81)
Manual for selection of agricultural
nonpoint source control methods in the
Corn Belt (FY 82)
Evaluation of the effectiveness of non-
point source control methods at Model
Implementation Program Sites on the
Delaware River and Indiana Heartlands
(FY 82)
Guidelines for evaluating the effective-
ness of agricultural nonpoint source
controls (FY 80)
Recommendations on how to use existing
organizations to educate potential users
of agricultural nonpoint source control
methods (FY 80)
Case study reports on successfully
implemented nonpoint source control
methods (FY 81)
Workshops on water quality improve-
ment from implementation of nonpoint
source controls in potential Rural Clean
Water Program watersheds
(FY 80 and FY 81)
Evaluation of available new agricul-
tural control methods for nonpoint
sources (FY 82, FY 84)
45
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MAJOR MILESTONES
(CONT.)
OBJECTIVES
Cost-effective urban systems incorpo-
rating runoff rate and volume controls,
storage and treatment, and innovative
methods of combining stormwater runoff
with wastewater treatment
Data management systems to provide
appropriate water quality and resource
data for use by state and local agencies
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
Guidelines for selecting optimum com-
binations of cost/ performance methods
for abating urban wet weather pollution
(FY 83)
Manual describing data management
system developed for agricultural non-
point sources (FY 80)
economic impact data, the analysis of ex-
isting institutional mechanisms, and op-
portunities to integrate nonpoint source
control programs with other pollution
control programs. Special attention will
be paid to economic impacts at the local,
regional, and national levels for agri-
cultural and silviculture nonpoint source
control methods. Here, various incentives
also will be investigated to determine
those that are the most feasible and ap-
propriate for local problems and condi-
tions. Coordination of existing cost shar-
ing programs, such as the Rural Clean
Water Program for agricultural nonpoint
sources and the Municipal Construction
Grants Program for urban runoff, will
also be included.
Second, we will evaluate the effec-
tiveness of existing institutional
mechanisms in encouraging the use of
nonpoint source control methods. Cur-
rent laws and regulations will be reviewed
to identify impediments to effective non-
point source control. Educational pro-
grams will be assessed and successful ex-
amples of voluntary implementation of
nonpoint source controls will be evaluated
and documented.
Finally, we will investigate oppor-
tunities to integrate nonpoint source con-
trol efforts with other pollution control
efforts. This area shows particular prom-
ise. For example, air pollution controls
to reduce the potential for acid rain as
well as the fallout of nutrients and toxic
substances could have a significant impact
on the need for nonpoint source controls
on the ground. Other programs, especial-
ly those involving water supply (including
protection of groundwater), land applica-
Special attention will
be paid to economic
impacts for agricultural
and silvicultural
nonpoint source control
methods.
tion of municipal effluents and sludges,
and industrial nonpoint source control
will be investigated to determine where
program integration would be desirable.
46
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MAJOR MILESTONES
Effective Implementation Strategies for
Nonpoint Source Control
OBJECTIVES
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
FIRST PRIORITY
Economic impact at the local, regional,
and national levels of implementing
methods to control nonpoint source
pollution
Impact of existing and proposed
incentive systems to encourage use of
nonpoint source control methods
SECOND PRIORITY
Effectiveness of institutional arrange-
ments and mechanisms for implementa-
tion of nonpoint source control measures
Documentation of successful voluntary
implementation programs
Review of current laws and regulations
and recommendations for appropriate
legislative changes (federal, state, local)
to encourage implementation of non-
point source control
Report on the economic impacts on
individual farmers who install nonpoint
source controls and on the entire water-
shed. (FY 81)
Report on the economic impacts on
individual communities who install
urban runoff controls. (FY 81)
Effectiveness evaluation of agriculture
cost-sharing grants under the Rural
Clean Water Program for encouraging
the implementation of nonpoint source
controls. (FY 82)
Evaluation of agricultural project sites
under the Rural Clean Water Program
and Model Implementation Program to
determine effectiveness of these institu-
tional arrangements in achieving water
quality improvements. (FY 81)
Report on effectiveness of voluntary
agricultural programs to implement
nonpoint source controls, including
social acceptance and impacts on
farmers. (FY 80)
Report on nonirrigated agricultural
legislation (federal, state, local) which
impedes the implementation of nonpoint
source controls. (FY 80)
THIRD PRIORITY
Integration strategies for implementation
of nonpoint source control programs
with other media pollution control
programs
Guidelines for multi-media pollution
control programs. (FY 81)
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RESEARCH CAPABILITIES
EPA's watershed management research program currently is funded at an annual level of $41.7
million. This multidisciplinary research program embodies necessary skills in the key areas of
hydrology, engineering, agronomy, biology, economics, and limnology. This program is con-
ducted through eleven EPA components:
Laboratory Research Areas
Athens—Environmental
Research Laboratory
Ada—Robert S. Kerr
Environmental Research
Laboratory
Cincinnati—Municipal
Environmental Research
Laboratory
Corvallis—Environmental
Research Laboratory
Duluth—Environmental
Research Laboratory
Gulf Breeze—Environmental
Research Laboratory
Cincinnati—Health Effects
Research Laboratory
Cincinnati—Environmental
Monitoring and Support
Laboratory
Las Vegas—Environmental
Monitoring and Support
Laboratory
Cincinnati—Environmental
Research Information Center
Headquarters
Agricultural Runoff—(dry land)
Transport and Fate
Forestry Runoff
Watershed Management
Agricultural Runoff—(Irrigation)
Animal Production
Urban Runoff
Land Application of Sludges
Ecosystem Modelling
Clean Lakes
Acid Precipitation
Freshwater Ecosystem Processes
Pesticides/Toxics Fate and Effects
Chesapeake Bay Marine and
Estuarine Processes
Municipal Effluents and Sludges
Pollutants in Shellfish and
Recreational Waters
Water Quality Monitoring and
Analytical Techniques Quality
Assurance
Quality Assurance
Remote Sensing
Monitoring Systems
Technology Transfer
Integrated Pest Management
During the next five years, priority will
be given to coordinating EPA's research
activities with other watershed related
projects being conducted elsewhere in
EPA and in other federal agencies. It is
our intention to integrate the research
aspects of several existing implementation
programs for nonpoint source control."
These include: (1) EPA-USDA Model
Implementation Projects; (2) Rural Clean
Water Projects (proposed); (3) EPA &
USDA Controlled Watershed Research
Projects; (4) USDA's PL-566 Small
Watersheds Program; (5) EPA-208 Urban
Runoff Demonstration Projects; (6)
Regional/State 208 studies; (7) Clean
Lakes Projects; 8) Great Lakes projects;
and (9) Chesapeake Bay Programs.
48
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DRINKING WATER
Often our drinking water comes to us
from a contaminated source* EPA is
researching the health effects of
specific contaminants and potential
control methods*
49
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In recent years, modern techniques and
equipment have become available to
detect and measure very small quantities
of contaminants in drinking water. The
applications of these sensitive methods
have identified potentially hazardous
organic contaminants in drinking water
already treated by filtration and chlorina-
tion. With the explosive growth in the use
of chemical compounds in industry,
homes, and farming, chemicals are also
finding their way into our drinking water
sources. Some of these chemical con-
taminants may cause cancer, genetic
mutations, or birth deformities. Protec-
tion of our drinking water from chemical
as well as microbiological contaminants
is, therefore, an important preventive
public health measure.
Conventional treatment
plants may not be
effective in removing
chemical contaminants
and trace metals.
Treatment plants originally built to
produce drinking water from less polluted
sources may not be effective in removing
the increasing amounts and varieties of
chemical contaminants and trace metals
existing today. For example, a 1972 study
on pollution in the lower Mississippi River
indicated a link between compounds pres-
ent in the wastes of industrial discharges
and those chemicals detected in the raw
and treated water supplies in that area. In
1974, a study of the water supplies of 80
cities revealed the presence of numerous
organic compounds. An EPA survey
covering 113 locations in 1976 and 1977
clearly indicated the presence of trace
organics in all the drinking water supplies,
chiefly the trihalomethanes (chloroform,
bromoform, dibromochloromethane,
bromodichloromethane). Asbestos has
also been of concern in several drinking
water supply systems. Even the chlorina-
tion process, our primary means of water
disinfection, has been found to produce
organic compounds which may threaten
human health.
The task then in preserving the quality
of our drinking water is to reduce the risk
of chemical contamination and, at the
same time, not increase the risk of water-
borne infection.
Drinking Water Research
Specifically, EPA drinking water
research goals are to:
(1) develop detection, measurement
and monitoring methods to iden-
tify and quantify drinking water
contaminants
(2) develop treatment technology to
reduce contaminant levels to ac-
ceptable concentrations
(3) assess the health effects of con-
taminants
(4) establish scientific and technical
bases for action to protect ground
water quality.
This last goal is especially important
because approximately 50% of the U.S.
population depends on underground
sources for their drinking water. This con-
stitutes a reliance on ground water by
80% of all public water supply systems
and over 95% of all rural domestic sup-
plies.
In the short term, our highest priority
will be technology development and
assurance of the quality of analytical
methods. In the long term, emphasis will
be placed on health effects, development
of analytical methods, and ground-water
research.
These research projects have been
designed to develop information from
which EPA can determine if there is a
need to regulate drinking water con-
taminants. Furthermore, if regulations
are deemed appropriate our research in-
formation can help establish the levels at
which regulations should be set. Our
drinking water research data will also be
used by EPA's Office of Drinking Water
to evaluate institutional solutions to some
drinking water problems. Some of the
50
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pertinent areas are regionalized water sup-
ply systems to serve the small scale user,
aid to states regarding economics of water
supply, and management of water supply
systems.
Better Methods to Identify
and Quantify Contaminants
In the absence of reliable contaminant
measurement and monitoring methods, it
will be impossible to provide scientifically
valid and legally defensible data to sup-
port and enforce the regulations of the
Safe Drinking Water Act. Consequently,
primary emphasis will be placed on con-
tinuing our quality assurance program in
EPA, state, local, and contract labora-
tories. Specifically, our research will sup-
port these laboratories by providing
validated measurement systems, reference
standards and samples, inter lab oratory
performance tests, procedures and criteria
for certification of laboratories, and other
quality control materials and services re-
MAJOR
MILESTONES
Better Methods to Identify and
Quantify Contaminants
OBJECTIVES
FIRST PRIORITY
Continuing quality assurance functions
Analytical methods for organics
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
Quality assurance program to support
monitoring requirements of Safe Drink-
ing Water Act — performance evaluation
samples, performance evaluations, etc.
(continuing)
Analytical methods for nonpurgable
organics. (FY 83)
Surrogate methods for measurement of Surrogate methods for measurement of
classes of organics volatile organic compounds. (FY 80)
SECOND PRIORITY
Microbiological determination methods
THIRD PRIORITY
Multielement analysis capabilities
Methods to determine presence of cysts
and viruses. (FY 82)
Radiometric method for detection of
sanitary indicator microorganisms in
treated water. (FY 80) Analysis of ATP
(adenosine triphosphate) method to
monitor bacterial levels. (FY 82)
Comparison of several methods of mutli-
element analysis, i.e., optical emission
spectrometry with an inductively coupled
plasma source and x-ray fluorescence.
(FY 82)
51
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quired to document the precision, ac-
curacy, and intercomparability of
monitoring data. A companion objective
will be to develop analytical methods for
organics. In almost all cases only those
organic compounds that are volatile
enough to pass through a gas
chromatograph can be identified and
measured in water. Because of this restric-
tion, only 10 to 20% of the total mass of
organics in most waters is analyzed.
However, since time and resources will
not permit determination of health effects
of the thousands of organic compounds
on an individual basis, research will be
concentrated on the development of sur-
rogate methods to measure classes of
organic compounds.
The task is to reduce
the risk of chemical
contamination and not
increase the risk of
waterborne infection.
In the area of contaminant quantifica-
tion, our research will be directed toward
development of methods for determining
the microbiological quality of drinking
water. Here, we will focus on methods to
detect cysts such as giardia and the virus
that causes hepatitis.
Methods are currently available for
measuring the inorganic constituents in
drinking water, but many of these
methods are costly and difficult to use.
We will therefore focus on ways to
facilitate their use and reduce their cost.
Here, Special attention will be given to
multi-element analysis techniques because
they allow laboratories to handle many
more samples simultaneously than would
be possible using element-by-element
analysis. We will also refine newer
measurement techniques including spark
source mass spectrometry, inductively
coupled plasma emission spectrometry,
and neutron activation analysis.
Better Treatment
Technology for Drinking
Water
The lack of unequivocal health effects
data related to organic contaminants in
drinking water does not relieve EPA's
responsibility to define treatment
methods when reasonable doubt about
health effects exists and monitoring is not
practical. The development of treatment
processes to control organic compounds
will be the first task in our treatment
technology research. Organic contam-
inants selected for study will be identified
in surveys that quantify the occurrence of
the compounds and identify any health ef-
fects data. Treatment processes will then
be developed through bench-and pilot-
scale studies and will be applied in field
evaluations. We will attempt to convert
some processes now in use in larger treat-
ment systems for use in the smaller
systems. One aspect of this conversion
will be to keep the technology simple
enough so that the training required for
operators is minimal.
The two immediate needs in the in-
organics area are: to develop treatment
processes that will enable small systems to
meet regulations economically, and to
evaluate treatment processes for removal
of asbestiforms. The development of
treatment processes to control other in-
organic compounds in these small systems
will be the second task. Primary emphasis
will be placed on the more troublesome
inorganics such as nitrates, arsenic,
fluorides, and selenium.
The major thrust in treatment to reduce
microbiological contaminants will be the
evaluation of alternate disinfection
methods with emphasis on small systems
and prevention of deterioration of water
quality in distribution systems.
Health Effects Data on
Contaminants
As of April 1978, 698 organic com-
pounds had been identified in U.S. drink-
ing water. While important information
52
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MAJOR MILESTONES
Better Treatment Technology
OBJECTIVES
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
FIRST PRIORITY
Processes for organics control
SECOND PRIORITY
Processes for inorganics control
THIRD PRIORITY
Microbiological control
Field studies involving carbon absorption
for organics control methods. (FY 82)
Bench scale studies for fluoride, arsenic,
nitrates, and selenium control. (FY 80)
Field studies to evaluate full scale
operations of promising inorganics con-
trol methods successful at bench scale.
(FY 81)
Field studies to evaluate processes to
remove asbestiforms. (FY 80)
Special studies to provide treatment
methods for small systems, e.g., reverse
osmosis, ion exchange, activated
alumina. (FY 82)
Viral and parasite removal. (FY 82)
Determine factors affecting growth
of microorganisms in distribution
systems. (FY 82)
Develop and evaluate alternate indi-
cators of disinfection efficiency. (FY 83)
on concentrations, occurrences, and
health effects need to be developed, a
number of these compounds are suspected
to be detrimental to health. Therefore we
will first attempt to assess the health ef-
fects of certain of these organic com-
pounds. The focus of this health effects
research will be on carcinogenicity poten-
tial. Because there is such a large number
of compounds, our research will pursue
two avenues. First, we will examine those
compounds which have already been iden-
tified as potential human health hazards.
And second, our investigations will focus
on various groupings of compounds
selected on the basis of observed concen-
trations, frequency of occurrence and
preliminary hazard evaluations from
either available data or short-term
bioassays.
Considerable attention has been given
to the relationship between the presence
of inorganic compounds in drinking water
and cardiovascular disease. The National
Academy of Sciences predicted a possible
15% reduction in heart disease mortality
53
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by manipulation of the nation's water
supplies but stressed that the specific
alterations have yet to be determined. The
Council on Environmental Quality has
also published information that suggests a
correlation between water softness and
heart disease. As with organics, we will
Many available
methods for measuring
the inorganic
constituents in drinking
water are costly and
difficult to use*
therefore develop health effects informa-
tion on inorganic compounds. Here, we
will perform a comprehensive review of a
number of inorganic Maximum Contami-
nant Levels including those for fluorides,
nitrates, selenium, lead, cadmium, and
arsenic. We will also specifically assess the
health effects of asbestiforms. Addi-
tionally, we will attempt to determine if
the water softness/heart disease correla-
tion is caused by benefits from "hard"
water or detriments from "soft" water.
The fact that spme chemical com-
pounds, suspected to be carcinogenic, are
formed during chlorination of drinking
water creates a dilemma. It is important
to limit human contact with suspected
cancer-causing agents, but it is also essen-
tial to keep waterborne infections at their
current low levels. Consequently, we will
continue to monitor outbreaks of water-
borne disease and to characterize the
causative agents to develop data necessary
to maintain desired levels of contaminant-
free drinking water.
Scientific Basis for
Protecting Ground
Water Quality
A primary objective of the program is
to identify major problems in protection
of ground water and to provide the ap-
propriate assessment methods to states
and local communities. A corollary objec-
tive is to develop scientific and engineer-
ing guidelines on which source control
criteria can be based, (see the Solid Waste
chapter of this report.) Work on assess-
ment methods will include development
of biological and chemical indicators of
ground-water pollution, methods to
detect pressure increases resulting from
well injections, and protocol for deter-
mining pollution potential of activities in
a specific area.
Research to produce the scientific in-
formation upon which to base guidelines
for source control criteria will focus on
petroleum exploration and development,
application of waste to the land, artificial
recharge of ground-water aquifers, and
agricultural practices. In addition, we in-
tend to complete our assessment of the
severity of ground-water pollution nation-
wide, by adding 16 states to the 34 already
studied.
Research Capabilities
EPA research on drinking water in-
volves over 100 people and a current
budget of approximately $18 million.
Most of the growth over the past few
years has come from extramural funds for
grants and contracts rather than increases
in EPA staff. During this time, our
laboratory research has been maintained
to produce timely results for the
regulatory programs, to chart the course
of future research, and, at the same time,
to manage the extramural program. As a
result, the primary strength of our drink-
ing water research program lies in a highly
skilled staff able to deal with changing
conditions.
The National Institutes of Health, par-
ticularly the National Cancer Institute
and the National Institute of Environ-
mental Health Sciences, make major con-
tributions of interest to the drinking water
research program. The Food and Drug
Administration produces information of
value on contaminants in food and water.
The Occupational Safety and Health Ad-
ministration and the National Institute of
Occupational Health deal with con-
54
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taminants in the workplace. In some in-
stances, this information can be
translated into exposures through drink-
ing water. Finally, the U.S. Geological
Survey has a long history of collecting
basic ground-water data and continues to
contribute to the information base on
ground-water quality and quantity.
Water treatment practices in other
countries are similar to those used in the
United States with the important excep-
tion that greater use is made of granulated
activated carbon and disinfectants other
than chlorine in these countries. New
developments in the drinking water area
are transmitted through contacts among
MAJOR MILESTONES
Health Effects Data on Contaminants
OBJECTIVES
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
FIRST PRIORITY
Health effects of organic compounds
SECOND PRIORITY
Health effects of inorganic compounds
THIRD PRIORITY
Protect microbiological quality of
drinking water
Concentration and chemical charac-
terization of organic compounds from
5 cities' tap water. (FY 80)
Selection and evaluation of indices of
health significant organics. (FY 81)
Association between cancer and ex-
posure to drinking water contami-
nants. (FY 82)
Selection of organic parameters which
can be used for standards setting. (FY 83)
Toxicological and epidemiological
studies to validate health significance
of organic parameters. (FY 84)
Health effects of arsenic. (FY 80)
Neurochemical effects of lead. (FY 81)
Carcinogenic potential of nitrate. (FY 81)
Health effects of asbestiforms. (FY 81)
Inorganics and cardiovascular
disease. (FY 82)
Toxicity of inorganics in advanced waste
treatment effluents. (FY 82)
Annual review of waterborne disease
outbreaks continuing
Characterization of the etiologic agents
of viral gastroenteritis and giardiasis.
(continuing)
55
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individual scientists, the NATO Commit-
tee on Challenges to Modern Society, the
World Health Organization, and profes-
sional organizations.
MAJOR MILESTONES
Scientific Basis for Protecting
Ground Water Quality
OBJECTIVES
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
FIRST PRIORITY
Assessment methods for ground-water
compounds
SECOND PRIORITY
Guidelines for controlling pollutant
source categories
THIRD PRIORITY
Identification of major ground-water
pollution problems
Biological and chemical indicators of
ground-water pollution. (FY 80)
Pressure increases resulting from well
injections. (FY 80)
Transport and transformation of haz-
ardous materials. (FY 81)
Protocol for determining pollution
potential of activities in a specific
area. (FY 84)
Petroleum exploration and develop-
ment. (FY 82)
Land application of waste. (FY 80)
Artificial recharge. (FY 80)
Agricultural practices. (FY 83)
Extension of studies from 34 states
to 50 states. (FY 84)
56
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ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Energy supply and development can
be compatible with environmental
protection* EPA is researching controls
to minimize the health and
environmental impact of expanding
energy development*
57
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The profile of U.S. energy development
and use will undergo major changes in the
years ahead. Although only slowly evolv-
ing, it appears that our national energy
policy will call for a widespread conver-
sion of utility and industrial power
facilities from scarce oil and gas to plen-
tiful coal, decreased fuel consumption,
particularly for the transportation sector,
and, in the longer term, the use of
technologies that are only now beginning
to emerge for the production of liquid and
gaseous fuels from coal and oil shale.
Shifts in energy
development and use
pose potential threats to
human health.
Projections indicate that total U.S. coal
mining activities will increase from
today's annual production of 700 million
tons to nearly 1 billion tons by 1985 and
will more than double by the year 2000. In
2000, conversion of existing utility and in-
dustrial facilities from oil and gas to coal
coupled with construction of new conven-
tional and advanced coal utilization
facilities will consume approximately 1.4
billion tons of coal annually. Although
conventional combustion of coal will
predominate, by the year 2000 emerging
coal-based technologies are projected to
consume 300 million tons of coal per year.
Furthermore, the National Highway Traf-
fic Safety Administration predicts that
diesel powered cars, which offer 20 to
30% gains in fuel efficiency, will account
for 25% of all new car sales in 1985.
These shifts in energy development and
use pose potential significant threats to
human health in the next two decades.
Massive increases in coal and oil shale
mining, off-shore oil and gas production,
and uranium extraction are all projected
by the year 2000. Intensified mining ac-
tivity will create erosion problems and
generate runoff which can contaminate
surface waters. Aquifers may also be
polluted as a result of leachate or drainage
from the mines themselves, or from the
improper disposal of mining wastes. In-
creased use of coal by utilities, industries,
and new technologies will produce more
air pollution and solid waste residue than
are currently produced. The pollutants ex-
pected to increase are nitrogen and sulfur
oxides, ashes, and sludges. Because of the
way they are formed, pollutants emitted
from new technologies can be varied and
complex and may prove to be even more
harmful to human health than those emit-
ted from current technologies. And the
use of diesel engines as an alternative to
gasoline spark-ignition engines will
generate large quantities of particulate
matter, which may be carcinogenic to
humans and which EPA research has
already shown to be mutagenic in test
animals.
Research Needs
A multitude of information is needed to
avert massive future environmental im-
pacts.
For mining activities, particularly those
associated with coal, oil shale, and
uranium production, the impact of runoff
on receiving streams and of mine drainage
of toxic pollutants on groundwater needs
to be quantified and the appropriate con-
trol methods developed. Techniques to
combat water and wind erosion of re-
claimed land are sorely needed. Improved
methods are also required to mitigate
radiation problems resulting from mining
and milling uranium ores. Expanded use
of existing coal burning technologies
demands that technologies for sulfur ox-
ide and particulate control be improved.
Since they are in such an early stage of
development, control technologies for
nitrogen oxides must undergo vast im-
provement in the years ahead. Addi-
tionally, research must strive to address
major information gaps regarding the
magnitude of the health and environmen-
tal problems associated with trace
elements, radioactive material, and
polycyclic organic emissions produced
during conventional combustion of coal.
58
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U.S. ENERGY RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agenc>, Technology Assessment Modeling Project, 1978
n
o
3
3
Q
10
SOURCES OF DOMESTIC ENERGY SUPPLY
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Technology Assessment Modeling Project, 1978
Note: 1 Quadrillion It 1 Us --- Approx. 45 Million Tons of Coal
59
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Emerging energy technologies must
also undergo careful scrutiny for en-
vironmental impacts. Particularly, the
level of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, par-
ticulates, heavy metals, and toxic and car-
cinogenic organic compounds, produced
by the coal-based technologies of gasifica-
tion, liquefaction, and fluidized bed com-
bustion need to be assessed. Geothermal
energy production methods should be ex-
amined from the perspective of hydrogen
sulfide gases released, waste heat and
steam plumes produced, and land-use im-
plications. Solar energy systems should
also be evaluated in terms of land and
water use, sludge and residual produc-
tion, and the possible leakage of toxic
working fluids.
Finally, research needs to determine the
cancer-causing potential of diesel soot
and, if positive results are found, to
establish the link between ambient con-
centrations and the incidence of cancers in
humans.
COMPONENTS OF COAL UTILIZATION
Note: 1 Quadrillion BTUs * Approx. 45 Million Tons of Cost
Source: IJ.S. Knvironmental Protection Agents, Technolog) Assessment Modeling Project, 1978.
60
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
Minimizing Impacts of Increased
Conventional Combustion
OBJECTIVES
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
FIRST PRIORITY
Environmental assessments of conven-
tional utility, industrial, commercial,
and residential combustion sources with
emphasis on currently unregulated
pollutants.
Low NOx burner capable of controlling
emissions for new and existing utility
and industrial coal-fired facilities.
Resolution of remaining operational
problems associated with current gener-
ation of flue gas desulfurization (FGD)
processes.
SECOND PRIORITY
Effects of combustion pollutant emission
on terrestrial organisms and ecosystems.
Improved efficiency, applicability, and
cost effectiveness of current generation
particulate control technology.
Economical control technology for the
disposal of flue gas desulfurization
(FGD) sludges and fly ash.
Environmental assessment report on
conventional combustion. (FY 80)
Evaluation results on low NOx coal
burner design on two industrial boilers.
(FY 82)*
Evaluation results on low NOx coal
burner design on a 100-300 MW utility
boiler. (FY 82)
Completion of testing at the Shawnee
prototype facility to improve reliability
and operability of lime and limestone
processes. (FY 80)
Pilot scale tests of MgO process for coal
fired utility boiler applications. (FY 81)
Determination of ecological effects of
coal power plant emissions (SOx, NOx)
on terrestrial ecosystems. (FY 81)
Documentation of environmental impact
of pollutants from coal-fired power
plants located in the mid-west. (FY 80)
Evaluation of deposition and accumula-
tion of pollutants from mechanical draft
cooling tower drift on plants and
soils. (FY 79)
Evaluation of the applicability of fly ash
conditioning agents to various coals and
to precipitation problems. (FY 84)
Full scale evaluation of a bag house on
a low sulfur coal application to quantify
its costs and reliability. (FY 80)
Demonstration of forced oxidation on a
full scale FGD module at TVA's
Widows Creek Power Plant. (FY 81)
Long term study of the environmental
impacts of FGD sludge disposal methods
at the Shawnee prototype test facility
and Louisville gas and Electric Co.'s
Cane Run Steam Station.
61
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
(CONT.)
OBJECTIVES
THIRD PRIORITY
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
Effective physical coal cleaning processes
for sulfur control.
Flue gas denitrification technology capable
of high levels of NOx control for utility
and large industrial applications.
*Note- One boiler probably complete in FY 81 +
tation at end of FY 82
Assessment of advanced coal cleaning
processes at demonstration scale for
high removal level of pyritic sulfur.
(FY 82)
Evaluation of dry NOx control tech-
nology for large stationary sources.
(FY 83)
preliminary data on one boiler in FY 80
Both will be completed with documen-
Energy and Environment
Research
Our energy and environment research,
development and demonstration program
has the concurrent goals of assessing the
magnitude of health and environmental
problems to establish a data base for the
formulation and refinement of mean-
ingful standards and developing effective,
commercially acceptable control tech-
nology. The major energy-related en-
vironmental areas requiring intensive
research are, in their order of priority:
• Minimize impacts of increased con-
ventional combustion
• Minimize impacts of increased
energy extraction
• Quantify the cancer-causing poten-
tial of diesel soot
• Minimize impacts of emerging
energy technologies
Minimizing Impacts of
Increased Conventional
Combustion
The Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use
Act of 1978 mandates the conversion of
many existing utility and industrial power
facilities from oil and gas to coal, pro-
hibits practically all new oil or gas in-
dustrial and utility boilers, and for the
most part limits new utility applications to
coal and nuclear systems. Accordingly,
conventional combustion of coal is a top
priority EPA research area.
Research will focus
primarily on control
technology to reduce
the impact of increased
coal combustion.
Our research in conventional combus-
tion will focus primarily on the develop-
ment of control technology to reduce the
environmental impact from expanded
coal combustion. Here, we will concen-
trate on developing and demonstrating a
low NOx burner capable of controlling
emissions from new and existing utility
and industrial coal-fired facilities. We will
also attempt to resolve the remaining
operational problems associated with cur-
62
-------
rent flue gas desulfurization processes.
Since relatively few air pollutants are con-
trolled by the current regulations, it is im-
portant to know which other pollutants
produced as a result of conventional com-
bustion may pose a threat to human
health and the environment. Therefore,
we will perform environmental assess-
ments of conventional utility, industrial,
commercial, and residential combustion
sources with emphasis on currently
unregulated pollutants such as heavy
metals and organic compounds.
Since operational and cost considera-
tions are crucial to the success of en-
vironmental control technology, a second
research objective will be to improve the
efficiency and cost effectiveness of cur-
rent particulate control technology. As
part of this work, we will evaluate the ap-
plicability of fly ash conditioning agents
to various types of coals. We also will
develop and demonstrate economical con-
trol technology for disposal of large
amounts of fly ash and sludge and will
evaluate the impacts of these combustion
products on terrestrial organisms and
ecosystems.
Finally, our research in this area will
aim toward the development of more ad-
vanced control technology for coal com-
bustion. Specifically, we will develop ef-
fective physical and chemical coal clean-
ing processes for sulfur control and flue
gas denitrification technology capable of
high levels of NOx control for utility and
large industrial applications.
Minimizing Impacts of
Increased Energy
Extraction
Since mining activities must be stepped
up considerably in response to the in-
creased demand for coal and other energy
resources, priority research also will deal
with the environmental problems asso-
ciated with energy resource extraction.
One particular area of concentrated
research will be the identification of
specific health damages resulting from
coal mining in general and the quantifica-
tion of the effects of western coal and oil
shale extraction on surface and ground
waters. Research on environmental
damage caused by coal extraction will
focus on methods of limiting pollution
through improved sediment and mine
drainage control techniques and on a bet-
ter definition of Best Management Prac-
tices (BMPs) for use by the regulatory
programs of EPA and the Office of Sur-
face Mining in the Department of the In-
terior. Water quality effects in the west
will be treated by quantifying the relation-
ships between pollution from strip mining
and oil shale mining and the damage to
aquatic organisms and their habitat. As
part of this research, existing water
monitoring networks in western energy
extraction areas will be augmented to col-
lect data on annual water quality trends.
EPA is currently
conducting one of the
largest energy-related
environmental research
programs in the
country,
Another research avenue we will pursue
is the assessment of the potential en-
vironmental damages from oil and gas ex-
traction and handling. Much of this
research will be devoted to developing
methods of preventing, controlling, and
cleaning up oil spills on land and water.
Furthermore, for the purpose of recover-
ing damage costs, we will develop a
method of quantifying ecological damage
resulting from oil spills. In addition, we
will assess the impact of uranium extrac-
tion on surface and groundwaters and will
develop appropriate control technology.
We will also demonstrate revegetation
and reclamation techniques for western
surface mined areas. This work will in-
clude assessment of the impact of mining
and reclamation practices on western sur-
face water hydrology, forests, and range
lands. Methods will be developed for the
ecological recovery of toxic spoils
63
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
Minimizing Impacts of Increased
Energy
OBJECTIVES
FIRST PRIORITY
Effects of Western coal and oil shale
extraction on surface and ground-water
quality.
Water quality monitoring network in
western energy development areas.
Development of Best Management
Practices for Eastern coal mines.
SECOND PRIORITY
Environment damage assessments for oil
and gas extraction and handling.
Extraction
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
Evaluation of the acute and chronic
effects of pollutants from oil-shale
mining and processing on freshwater
organisms. (FY 80)
Assessment of environmental impact of
coal extraction and definition of Best
Management Practice and treatability
of effluents. (FY 81)
Pollution Control Guidance Document
for Oil Shale Development. (FY 80)
Mathematical model relating quality of
water and state of streams biota to
mining, reclamation, and watershed
characteristics. (FY 81)
Water quality assessment in Northern
Great Plains strip mined areas focusing
on habitat impacts for aquatic organisms
and wildlife species.
Augmented regional water monitoring
network in key energy areas for energy
related water pollutants. (FY 79)
Regional water pollution baseline data
for coal development. (FY 81)
Development of regional ground-water
monitoring methodology. (FY 79)
Assessment and determination of
Best Management Practices for Surface
Mine Sediment Control. (FY 79)
Manual of Practice for Eastern Coal
Mines. (FY 79)
Assessments for on-shore oil and gas
production facilities. (FY 83)
Assessments for off-shore oil and gas
production facilities. (FY 81)
Methods to prevent, control and clean
up oil spills on land and water. (FY 80)
64
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
(CONT.)
OBJECTIVES
Revegetation/ reclamation techniques
for western surface mined areas.
Environmental damage assessments for
uranium extraction and development
of control technology.
THIRD PRIORITY
Energy related water quality baseline
data in major eastern coal areas projected
for major development in late 1980*s.
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
Report on ecological recovery after
reclamation of toxic spoils left by coal
surface mining. (FY 81)
Impact assessment of mining and recla-
mation practices on surface hydrology,
forest, and rangelands in the West.
(FY 80)
First generation assessment of in situ
leaching. (FY 79)
Best Management Practices for uranium
solid waste disposal. (FY 81)
Impact assessment of uranium extrac-
tion. (FY 81)
Annual trend reports for coal areas in
Southwestern Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana.
(FY 81-89)
generated by surface coal mining.
Finally, we will establish energy-related
water quality baseline data in major
eastern coal areas that have been iden-
tified for new development in the late
1980s.
Quantifying the
CanceivCausing
Potential of Diesel Soot
Anticipated market penetration of
diesel cars will make the potential health
problems associated with the use of diesel
engines a major issue in the near future.
For this reason, diesel health effects
research will be a priority research area.
In order to obtain a health effects assess-
ment for diesel soot, we have initiated
whole animal exposure studies using in-
tratracheal instillation, inhalation and
skin painting. Simultaneously, we plan to
continue our research dealing with evalua-
tions of the carcinogenic potential of
diesel particulate emissions from different
fuels and engines. Here, we will attempt
to determine if these parameters can be
altered to lessen or eliminate the possible
cancer threat posed by diesel combustion.
We will also make ambient
measurements to estimate the background
levels of "soot" (i.e., prediesel levels) in
population centers throughout the United
States. Additional work in this area will
be aimed at predicting the exposure of
various population segments to diesel soot
as a function of market penetration. In-
formation generated from this work,
coupled with available health effects data
on diesel soot, will allow risk assessments
to be made.
65
-------
Research relating to the effectiveness of
various control devices will concentrate
on identifying ways to reduce substantial-
ly the quantity and potency of particulate
emissions while still retaining the superior
economy characteristics of diesel fuel.
Here, we will evaluate current catalytic
converter technology as well as advanced
control techniques with the aim of identi-
fying cost-effective control methods.
Minimizing Impacts of
Emerging Energy
Technologies
The multi-billion dollar energy
technology development program now
underway in the Department of Energy
and in the private sector will present en-
vironmental problems as these tech-
30 r.
86
88
90
Years
MAXIMUM PROJECTED DIESEL AUTO SALES
Source: National Highway Traffic
Safely Administration
66
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
Quantifying the Cancer Causing Potential
of Diesel Soot
OBJECTIVES
FIRST PRIORITY
Compare carcinogenic potency of diesel
soot with cigarette condensate, roofing
tar and coke oven soot through whole
animal testing.
SECOND PRIORITY
Assessment of carcinogenic potential of
diesel soot through whole animal
inhalation tests.
Assessment of mutagenic and carcino-
genic potential of diesel soot using
in-vitro techniques.
Exposure assessment of diesel soot on
general population.
THIRD PRIORITY
Technology for diesel soot control.
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
Results from mouse painting tests.
(FY 81)
Findings for intratracheal instillation
testing on hamsters. (FY 82)
Inhalation testing on cancer susceptible
mice. (FY 80)
Inhalation testing on cancer susceptible
hamsters. (FY 80)
Upgrading Ames mutagenicity test as an
analytical tool for control evaluation.
(FY 80)
Results on comparative testing of diesel
soot, cigarette condensate, roofing tar
and coke oven soot via in-vitro bioassay
testing. (FY 80)
Complete exposure assessment study.
(FY 80)
Evaluation of state-of-the-art catalytic
converters. (FY 79)
Development of second generation con-
trol technology. (FY 82)
nologies become commercialized. EPA
will continue to apply research to the
broad spectrum of evolving energy-
related processes, but will change the
research direction and emphasis as
necessary when specific new technologies
approach commercialization. Currently,
for example, it appears that innovations
in oil shale extraction methods pose a
significant potential threat to the environ-
ment. So we see as our first task the en-
vironmental assessment of the major first
generation in-situ and surface oil shale
processes such as the promising Paraho
process. Our assessments will characterize
input materials, products and waste
streams, identify potential environmental
impacts, describe performance and costs
67
-------
of control alternatives, and suggest ap-
propriate discharge limits and control
technology.
Similar assessments will be performed
for major coal gasification, coal liquefac-
tion, and fluidized bed combustion pro-
cesses. Some of the processes we will ex-
amine include the Wellman Galusha,
a
>•
at
a
o.
t«
z
O
Q
z
o
E
H
150
100
50
80
82
84 86
YEARS
88
DIESEL PARTICULATE EMISSIONS
Source: Office of Research and Development U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1978
90
68
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
Minimizing Impacts of Emerging Energy Technology
OBJECTIVES
FIRST PRIORITY
Environmental assessments of important
first generation oil shale processes.
SECOND PRIORITY
Environmental assessments of low/high
Btu coal gasification, coal liquefaction
and fluidized bed combustion processes.
THIRD PRIORITY
Environmentally assess other emerging
energy technologies.
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
Pollution Control Guidance Document
for Oil Shale Development. (FY 80)
Oil Shale Environmental Assessment
Report (EAR)*. (FY 83)
EARs for low and medium Btu coal
gasification: Wellman Galusha (FY 79);
Willputte Chapman (FY 79); Lurgi or
Stoic (FY 80); and In situ process (FY 84)
EARs for high Btu coal gasification:
Lurgi (FY 79); Hygas (FY 80); and
Slagging Lurgi (FY 80)
EARs for fluidized bed combustion:
atmospheric (FY 79) and pressurized.
(FY 84)
EARs for coal liquefaction: Solvent
Refined Coal (SRC I/II) (FY 79); H-coal
(FY 80); and Fisher Tropsch. (FY 81)
EARs for solar energy (FY 83); geo-
thermal (FY 82); advanced power cycles
(FY 85); waste-as-fuel (FY 83); and
selected processes for biomass conversion
or energy conservation (by FY 82).
*Environmental Assessment Reports include a characterization of input materials, products and
waste streams, performance and cost of control alternatives, analysis of regulatory requirements
and environmental impacts, summary of additional data needs, and suggested discharge limits and
associated control technology.
Willputte Chapman, Lurgi, and in-situ
processes for coal gasification; the Sol-
vent Refined Coal, H-coal, and Fischer
Tropsch processes for coal liquefaction;
and the atmospheric and pressurized
methods of fluidized bed combustion.
In addition, we will produce en-
vironmental assessments of other impor-
tant new energy technologies including
geothermal, waste-as-fuel, solar, ad-
vanced power cycle, biomass conversion
and energy conservation techniques.
69
-------
Research Capabilities
Energy-related environmental research
programs are conducted throughout the
federal sector with a total annual budget
of nearly one-half of a billion dollars.
EPA with $115.9 million and 185 posi-
tions devoted to energy-related en-
vironmental research is currently conduct-
ing one of the largest energy-related en-
vironmental research programs in the
country. The program, which involves
seventeen other federal departments and
agencies under EPA coordination, is
planned so that all ongoing or future pro-
jects can be quickly analyzed in terms of
the energy source involved (coal, nuclear,
etc.), the energy cycle component (extrac-
tion, processing, use, etc.) and the func-
tional area (health effects, control
technology, etc.). Formal interagency
agreements with all participating agencies
permit annual reevaluation of R&D goals
and objectives and afford a mechanism
for transfer of funding. Of the more than
600 projects funded, one-fourth are im-
plemented by agencies other than the
GROWTH OF NET AIR EMISSION
OVER TIME FROM STATIONARY SOURCES
Base Year (1975) Estimate (10' Tons)
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Technolog> Assessment Modeling Project, 1978
a. 50
70
-------
SUMMARY OF R&D CONTROL TECHNOLOGY
NEEDS FOR CONVENTIONAL COMBUSTION
Source
Description of
Pollutant
Sulfur
Dioxide
(SO )
A
Nitrogen
Oxides
(N0x)
Particulate
Matter
Potentially
Hazardous
Materials
* Ambient Air Quali
Prmciotta, F T-, 1977, Utility and Industrial
U S Environmental Protection Agency EPA
Standard Type of
Presently Control
Established Technology
Yes Coal Cleaning
NSPS&
AAQS*
Flue Gas
Desulf. (FGD)
Yes Combustion
NSPS & Modification
AAQS* (CM)
Flue Gas
Treatment
Yes Electrostatic ,-„
NSPS & Precipitators '!
AAQS*
Bag Houses
Wet Scrubbers
Novel Devices
No Undefined
y Standard (Health-Related)
Power, Energy/Environment II
600/9-77-012 (Updated for Research Outlook
Present Status Secondary
Residuals
1st Generation High S-Refuse
Demo Planned
i
i
1 1
i
1
1st Gjieration Sludge,
in Fill* Scale Purge Streams
Demo
2nd Generation1
in Bench '<"
and/or Pilot,;*
Scale v
Commercial Purge Streams
for Some New for Certain
Units Processes
Pilot, Scale an!
Demo in Jap&n
onj0il; Pilot
ScaTe on*Coal
in U.S. "
"i ":
t? ' \
1
jQpBmeriffol- Fly Ash
1st Generation
Demo
1st Gen.fCom-
mercial |
2nd Gerif Fttl^cale
Demo *
Bench or Pilot
Scale . , :
Undefined jt Undefined
,jsf
Aug 1978)
Needed Control
Technology R&D
— Eliminate Secon-
dary Pollution
— Demonstrate
Practicability in
Conjunction with
FGD
— Develop Chemical
Processes Capable
of High Efficien-
cies
— Improve Removal
Efficiency
— Eliminate Secon-
dary Pollution
— Improve Reliabili-
ty
— Improve Energy
Efficiency
— Lower Costs
— Demonstrate Low
NO Burner
Capable of 80%
Control
— Broaden Ap-
plicability of
Combustion
Modification
Technology
— Evaluate Flue Gas
Cleaning Process
at Pilot Scale
— Improve Conven-
tional Fine Par-
ticulate Control
Technology
— Broaden Ap-
plicability
— Develop Novel
Devices with Im-
proved Capability
and Cost Effec-
tiveness
— Assess the
Magnitude of
Problems
Associated with
Unregulated
Pollutants Via
Chemical and
Biological
Characterization
71
-------
SUMMARY OF EMERGING ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES
imerging
Energy
Technologies
Status
Major
Environmental
Concerns
OSSIL FUEL
Coal
asification
oal
Liquefaction
Coal Fluidized
Bed
Oil Shale
OTHER
Geothermal
Solar
Lurgi low BTU gasification is commercial in Europe for
certain non-coking coals. Various low BTU processes are
and will be demonstrated in the United States under
Department of Energy funding. Low BTU gasification
for on-site heating wilLbe'€vail$bte in mid-1980's.
Methanated Lwgfanl second generatio«"high BTU pro-
cess will be available in 1990's, ,." •, """•%,
f.- %
Major processes near commercialization are SolvenIS
Refined Coal (SRC) and H-coal processes. Currentljf!
pilot scale; demonstration of two processes planned
by the Department of.Energy.
30MW pilot FBC (atmolpheiieBbeing studied at*
Rivesville, West Virginia by the Department of Ba
Availability expected in |990. Small pressurized fij^
has been operated for several years (0.63MW); t,,
DOE plans a 14MW pilot unit in the early
Availability expected in 1990"S. ,
• : : ,5
Both above ground and underground
torting processes under development^
efforts include the Navy's Pr0grattt«,
above ground process, nearing
produce 100,000 barrels of shallot
situ process which has pioduced*in
barrels to date. « >
i) re-
on-going
the Paraho
of its goal to
Occidental in
50,000
Three principal typsssr ConvectiveTIJfdrothermal; geo-
pressurized hydrothermal anid~|n^w^,,rock. Present
generating capacity<:ofi46nvective, Jpjjlf^thermal is
500MV. Hot dry rdckj$ tttl laffe^S^>urce but
because of the difficuftyjin fracft^Si^he rock, it has
generated no comrnerailMWtteslSiiereased geothermal
application is expected in the
Three major areas: Heating and cooling of buildings,
production of electricity (photovoltaic) and production of
clean fuels from biomass. Clean fuels at commercial scale
from biomass (gasohol) are currently being produced;
and space heating currently state of the art.
Sulfur and Nitrogen
compounds
Particulate emissions
Water contamination
Heavy metals and
organic compounds
Acidic gases
Subsidence (in-situ
gasification)
Aquifer disruption
(in-situ gasification)
Sulfur and nitrogen
compounds
Particulate emissions
Water contamination
Heavy metals and
organic compounds
Acidic gases
Sulfur and nitrogen
oxides and par-
ticulates
Toxic heavy metals
and organic com-
pounds
Thermal pollution
Spent sorbent
disposal problems
Sulfur and nitrogen
compound
emissions
Particulate emissions
Water contamination
and availability
Overburden and
spent shale
Toxic and com-
bustible gases
Subsidence and
aquifer disruption
(in situ)
Hydrogen sulfide
release
Waste heat and
steam plumes
Seismic effects
Subsidence
Minerals precipitation
Noise and blowout
Land use
Toxic working fluid
leakage (photo-
voltaic)
Sludge and residuals
from silicon distilla-
tion (photovoltaic)
72
-------
EPA; most of the remainder are con-
ducted by EPA-monitored extramural
grants and contracts. Since these in-
teragency programs supplement existing
capabilities in other agencies, it tends to
improve communication and coordina-
tion of the entire spectrum of these agen-
cies' energy-related activities.
EPA will continue
researching the broad
spectrum of evolving
energy-related
processes.
Projects under this interagency agree-
ment cover a vast range of topics. For
example, we are working with DOE to
monitor and assess pollutants from pro-
totype and demonstration synthetic fuel
plants. EPA is involved in several TVA
research projects aimed at improving the
economics and applicability of various
techniques for disposal of flue gas
desulfurization sludges and in tests of
alternative flue gas desulfurization
systems under different operating condi-
tions. We are participating in a coal clean-
ing development program with the Bureau
of Mines and other organizations. This
particular effort involves major studies
of the potential economic benefits of
combining coal cleaning with partial
scrubbing of flue gas to achieve levels of
pollution control comparable to total
scrubbing systems. Also, a joint study by
EPA, DOE, TVA, the National Bureau of
Standards, and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration is being con-
ducted to determine the fate of energy-
related pollutants in the atmosphere.
As the Interagency Program continues
to successfully link efforts to various
agencies involved in energy-related en-
vironmental research, it continues to ex-
pand its list of participants. For example,
a formal memorandum of understanding
has been signed with the Electric Power
Research Institute, a utility-funded energy
research organization. In addition, both
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and
the U.S. Coast Guard have indicated an
interest in becoming formal participants.
With fourteen environmental research
laboratories actively involved in energy-
related research, EPA's own multidis-
ciplinary capabilities include: pollutant
identification, measurement and monitor-
ing; pollutant transport, transformation
and fate; pollutant effects on human
health; pollutant effects on organisms and
ecosystems; control technology develop-
ment; and integrated technology assess-
ment. In addition to our own capabilities,
the interagency program structure allows
us to focus the unique expertise and
capabilities of virtually any federal
department or agency involved in energy-
related research on specific environmental
problems and specific environmental
goals.
73
-------
SOLID WASTE
Improper handling and disposal of
solid wastes can have dramatically
adverse effects* EPA is researching
better methods with emphasis on
waste reduction, recovery and reuse*
74
-------
Solid waste is produced in this country
at a rate of 487 million tons per year. This
amount includes 344 million tons of in-
dustrial waste, 130 million tons of
municipal refuse, 5 million tons (dry
weight) of municipal wastewater treat-
ment sludges, and 8 million tons (dry
weight) of scrubber sludges from air
pollution control devices. Moreover, this
yearly total does not reflect the annual
production of 2.5 billion tons of mining
waste and 2.2 billion tons of agricultural
refuse. Projections indicate large in-
creases in the amount of solid waste from
each of these sources in the years ahead.
In fact, even if industrial production were
to remain constant in future years,
amounts of industrial wastes would con-
tinue to increase because raw material
quality is declining.
'Cradle to Grave'
control and disposal is
planned for
hazardous waste
mater ials,
This enormous amount of solid waste
creates a number of environmental prob-
lems. The primary problem is protection
of public health. For example, EPA's Of-
fice of Solid Waste estimates that 10-15%
(35-50 million tons) of all industrial waste
is particularly hazardous due to toxicity,
flammability, corrosiveness or risk of ex-
plosion, and must therefore receive spe-
cial handling and disposal to protect
public health and safety. EPA is planning
a "cradle to grave" system of controls
and disposal for these very dangerous
materials.
EPA sees a solution to the overall
health problem through development of
safe disposal methods. But past disposal
practices such as open air incineration or
water dumping have been sharply cur-
tailed due to environmental control
measures taken to prevent air and water
pollution. Landfill therefore has become
the primary means of disposing of solid
waste. Improper disposal of solid waste
on the land, however, can also pose major
environmental threats of ground-water
contamination from leaching, surface
water contamination from runoff, and air
pollution from open burning, evapora-
tion, sublimation and wind erosion.
A recent EPA news release identified
32,254 waste disposal sites that may con-
tain hazardous materials. Of those sites,
638 may contain significant quantities of
hazardous wastes and 103, for which in-
formation is available, show high poten-
tial for adverse public health effects.
An example of the dangers posed by
improperly managed hazardous waste
materials comes from the Love Canal in-
cident in New York State. A General Ac-
counting Office report states:
Chemical odors from the site are evi-
dent at all times, but are particularly ob-
noxious on hot humid days. Children use
the site as a short cut and as an unofficial
playground. The part of the site near the
grammar school has been graded and is
used as an official playground by school
children. Highly contaminated leachate is
seeping into basements of the homes sur-
rounding the site from where it is pumped
into storm sewers. Chemical fumes are
present in the basements.
Evidence exists that Mirex and other
pollutants have been discharged to the
Niagara River.
Leachate containing halogenated and
unhalogenated organic compounds is
definitely migrating in the top soil
horizon. Though not identified or quan-
tified, organic chemicals are definitely
vaporizing directly from the site.
This situation has received wide news
media coverage in which it was reported
that the State's Health Department noted
a high incidence of miscarriage and birth
defects in the area abutting the canal and
that EPA reported at least 82 industrial
chemicals were found of which 11 are
suspected carcinogens. Arrangements
have reportedly been made to relocate 122
families and the area has been declared a
National emergency.
75
-------
Another less-publicized example of the
hazards of improper waste management
comes from a 1977 EPA study of 50
hazardous waste land disposal sites. Of
the 50 sites, 43 had contaminated nearby
ground-water sources with heavy metals
43 of 50 disposal sites
had contaminated
nearby groundwater
sources*
or inorganic compounds. Since half of the
nation's population depends on ground
water for drinking water, proper control
of waste disposal is essential.
Economics, convenience, or politics at
the expense of environmental considera-
tions have typically governed the manner
in which solid waste is disposed. For in-
stance, EPA estimates that less than 10°7o
of municipal refuse sites meet acceptable
environmental standards, while the stan-
dards used in industrial waste disposal can
only be surmised since 70% to 80% of the
disposal takes place on private property.
In a study of the annual practices of 14
key industries during 1973-1975, it was
estimated that only 9.6% of the hazar-
dous waste was disposed in an en-
vironmentally adequate manner.
The EPA research response to the solid
waste problem has grown out of the
recognition of the enormity of the prob-
lem, the severity of public health risks,
and a congressional mandate provided by
the 1976 Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA). In addition to
charging EPA with protecting public
health, the Act also calls for EPA to
develop means to conserve natural
MUNICIPAL
INDUSTRIAL
*HAZARDOUS
FLUE GAS DESULFURIZAT1ON ,
MINING •* .,
METALS \
NON METALS - %
COAL ; '• \
AGRICULTURE *
ANIMAL ENURES ' . .,
f D f%iftl°''iyE*CJl¥YI Tl?C
v^IxiLrJt; - f* y.*^ f 1 y \J y
-------
Industry
Hazardous Substances
As
Cd
Chlorinated
hydrocarbons*
Cr
Cu
Cyanides
Pb
Hg
Miscellaneous
organicst
Se
Zn
Mining and metallurgy
Paint and dye
Pesticide
Electrical and electronic
Printing and duplicating
Electroplating and
metal finishing
Chemical manufacturing
x*-
Explosives
Rubber and plastics
Battery
Pharmaceutical
Textile
Petroleum and coal
Pulp and paper
Leather
* Including polychiorinafed fiphenals.
f For example acrolem, chloropicerin, dimethyl sulfate, dmitrobenzene, dinilrophenol, nitroaniline, and pentachlorophenol.
REPRESENTATIVE HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES WITHIN
INDUSTRIAL WASTE STREAM
Source: Solid Wa^te Facts, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1978
resources through waste reduction,
recovery, and reuse of materials now
discarded. Thus, the EPA solid waste
research program is characterized by two
parallel directions of investigation:
• development of safe disposal
management practices
• development of resource recovery
methods.
Among the technical questions to be
answered are finding out what mecha-
nisms are at work to produce leachates
and gases and how these substances
migrate through soil, the characteristics
of such leachates and gases, and the resul-
tant impact on ground-water quality for
hazardous and other solid waste.
Research information is also required to
support RCRA in the areas of thermal
decomposition, detoxification, chemical
stablization, encapsulation, concentra-
tion, and fixation of hazardous wastes.
These technical issues also pose
socioeconomic questions such as how to
minimize land use impacts by developing
better methods to monitor and increase
the efficiency of waste disposal on land.
Ways need to be found to accelerate the
decomposition of organic materials in
landfills so that the area can quickly be
returned to constructive use. Remedies to
limit pollution from active and inactive
landfills also need to be developed and
demonstrated. Resource recovery systems
must be shown to be commercially viable
including dependability of markets for
recycled products, methods to upgrade
the quality of marketable products, and
the development of new markets that ade-
quately recognize the inherent value of
materials that can be recovered from solid
waste.
77
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
Better Methods for Solid and Hazardous
Waste Management
OBJECTIVES
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
FIRST PRIORITY
Methods for landfill site selection, design,
operation, and maintenance
Perform risk, environmental and
economic assessments of methods cur-
rently available for large scale processing
and treatment of hazardous wastes.
Develop new processing and treatment
methods.
Development of management practices
to handle large volumes of solid waste
produced by utility industry and mining.
Development and implementation of a
total quality assurance program.
Prediction models for gas and leachate
generation and movement at municipal
and hazardous waste sites (FY 83)
Criteria and design manuals for landfill
siting, design, and contaminant control
(FY 83)
Performance data on improved concen-
tration, immobilization, treatment, and
destruction methods (FY 82)
Design and operating criteria for ther-
mal destruction, pesticide decomposition
and disposal, encapsulation, and micro-
wave detoxification (FY 82)
Practices for utility industries
and mining industries (phosphate,
metallic and uranium) (FY 83)
Sampling and analytical methods (FY 81)
SECOND PRIORITY
Remedial actions for minimizing impact
of environmentally unacceptable land
disposal sites
Alternatives to landfilling
Determination of quantity and quality of
industrial wastes and development of
industrial process modifications to change
waste characteristics to enhance disposal
Manual of practice for remedial actions
for municipal landfills (FY 81), hazard-
ous waste disposal sites and surface
impoundments (FY 83)
Field evaluation of engineering, economic,
and environmental quality characteristics
of land cultivation with solid wastes.
(FY 83)
Assessment of key industrial solid waste
generators (FY 83)
Develop industrial process modifications
(FY84)
THIRD PRIORITY
Better methods for collection and trans-
portation of municipal waste
Develop base on collection storage, and
transportation alternatives which reflect
recent advancements in private solid waste
processing. (FY 85)
78
-------
The Research Plan
for Solid Waste
Better management of solid and haz-
ardous wastes is our top priority because
of the increasing magnitude of the current
problem, its attendant costs in dollars and
in land use, and its environmental conse-
quences when improperly managed.
Research necessary to develop methods of
waste reduction through recovery and
reuse, while ultimately the preferred
method for handling the solid waste prob-
lem, will be a longer term activity. Here,
recommendations of the Resource Con-
servation Committee established under
RCRA will have a strong influence on the
research and development activities over
the next several years.
The Strategy
EPA's research strategy for hazardous
wastes will in the near term focus on
minimizing adverse impacts to health and
the environment particularly with respect
to ground-water contamination. Much of
this near-term research is a continuation
of experiments conducted on a laboratory
scale under simulated field conditions.
Specific research projects will therefore be
directed toward validating, under actual
field conditions, the information obtained
by this small scale research. Nearly all of
this research will be conducted by grant or
contract since we have a limited in-house
research capability in this area.
Our intermediate term research attempts
to accelerate the ability to respond to
hazardous material spills and to develop
technologies to reduce waste volumes.
Research efforts to reduce waste volume
will be aimed primarily at resource
recovery, more efficient handling and
packing of solid waste and optimizing
waste processing systems.
In the long range, we will develop ad-
vanced waste treatment and destruction
techniques. We also plan to attack the
SITES CONTAINING HAZARDOUS WASTES
ON WHICH EPA HAS INFORMATION
Source: Office of Solid Waste, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1978
79
-------
cause of the waste problem: that waste is
created at all. Research projects will look
into ways of reducing the amounts of
wastes generated, will pursue promising
by-product recovery and reuse options
and will, ultimately, develop low waste
technology.
Thus our research strategy is to first
treat the immediate and dangerous symp-
toms of the solid waste problem and then,
as public health risks are adequately
lowered, to develop the means to treat
and eventually eradicate the causes of the
problem.
Research on Better
Methods for Solid
and Hazardous
Waste Management
There are four high priority objectives
as steps toward better methods for waste
management:
(1) The development of new or im-
proved methods for landfill site selection,
design, operation and maintenance. We
plan to develop methods to control and
accelerate the decomposition of landfill
wastes, to estimate potential impacts of
gas and leachate migration, and to control
such migration. The influence of mixed
wastes (industrial and municipal) on the
decomposition processes and on gas and
leachate production at co-disposal land-
fills will also be determined. Further, our
research will determine changes in
municipal solid waste management prac-
tices required to deal with anticipated in-
creases of industrial waste and sewage
sludge that are to be disposed of in
municipal landfills.
(2) Evaluation of the technical, en-
vironmental, and economic strengths and
weaknesses of methods currently
available for large-scale processing and
treatment of hazardous and municipal
wastes. Where deficiencies are found, we
will develop new processing and treatment
methods. Emphasis will be placed on
developing methods which involve cost-
effective biological, chemical, and
physical treatment processes applicable to
ESTIMATED ENVIRONMEN-
TAL ADEQUACY OF DIS-
POSAL PRACTICES FOR
POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS
WASTES*
Source: Office of Solid Waste, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agaicy, 1975 \
DisposaMffcactice j-rPejfcent of Total Wet
"' ^ jF Weight of Potentially
•„ "* f>€. Hazardous Wastes
"'-K: ,^-'-:^, f;J'-.
ENVI
Unlined Stirfao
Non-Sectoe Landfills
Uncontroaed Incineration
Deep-Well Injection
Use - - ''
SeweUd'
TotaF »
Controlled I«
Secure ymirtlls
Recovery/f',| "-*-•>--..,^4
Lined Suffice Impoundments
Autocfaving
Total
48.3
30.3
9.7
1.7
.3
< .1
< .1
90.4
EQUATE
5.6
2.3
1.7
< .1
9.6
rkey industries during
nTperiod 1973-1975.
both homogenous and heterogenous
hazardous waste streams.
(3) Development of management prac-
tices to handle the large volumes of solid
waste produced by the utility industry and
the mining industry. Utility solid wastes
include ash residues from combustion of
fossil fuels and flue-gas desulfurization
sludges as by-products of sulfur control.
Mine wastes include tailings, waste rock,
low-grade ore and overburden.
(4) Development and implementation
of a total quality assurance program for
all aspects of waste reduction, recovery,
reuse and disposal.
80
-------
A second priority will be to develop
remedies for adverse land disposal im-
pacts at existing landfills. The results of
this research will provide local com-
munities, industry, and private landfill
operators with the data necessary to select
the most appropriate methods of upgrad-
ing disposal sites. These results will also
permit compliance with RCRA, which re-
quires all unacceptable landfills to be
upgraded or closed.
Beginning in fiscal 1980, our research
will also determine the quantity and
quality of industrial wastes and will subse-
quently seek to develop industrial process
modifications to change the waste charac-
teristics sufficiently to permit en-
vironmentally acceptable disposal.
We also plan to examine alternatives to
landfill for solid and hazardous waste.
Methods to be investigated include deep
well injection of wastes, placement of
waste in underground mine cavities, and
land spreading of hazardous or municipal
waste. The engineering feasibility,
economic attractiveness, and environmen-
tal stress of these techniques have yet to
be determined adequately.
EPA estimates that less
than 10% of municipal
refuse sites meet
acceptable
environmental
standards.
The lowest priority research for better
waste management will focus on two
problems: improved methods of collec-
tion and transportation of municipal
waste and determination of detrimental
effects of materials released into the en-
vironment because of poor mining dis-
posal practices. Approximately 80% of
the $5 billion annual expenditures for
municipal waste is associated with collec-
tion and transportation, so even minor
improvements could have major
economic impacts.
Research on Better
Methods for Waste
Reduction, Recovery*
and Reuse
In recent years, the combined need for
new energy resources and waste disposal
techniques that would conserve land and
reduce costs in metropolitan areas has
stimulated interest in systems that can
recover resources from municipal solid
waste. Use of waste as fuel has been suc-
cessful on a small scale. However, much
of the equipment presently available has
not been specifically designed for use on
municipal solid waste and, thus far,
operating experience has been insufficient
to provide for the design and selection of
optimum equipment configurations. Our
research program will attempt to supply
the needed data. We will evaluate existing
techniques of recovery to see where
technology is lacking and we will develop
technology to fill the needs. Our research
projects will examine municipal refuse
resource recovery operations including
shredding, magnetic separation, air
classification, screening, drying and den-
sification. We will also evaluate the effi-
ciency and economic viability of materials
handling systems such as conveyors, dust
collectors, cyclone separators, electrical
controls, storage, and fuel retrieval bins
as well as systems with provisions for
energy recovery.
In conjunction with the equipment and
process evaluations we will study the
potential for development of new and
marketable products and chemicals that
could be produced economically from
municipal and industrial solid wastes. The
focus will be on development of methods
for the biological and chemical conver-
sion of wastes to such things as chemical
feed stocks, protein, alcohols, and
ammonia.
A second priority emphasis will be
research into product and industrial pro-
cess modifications that can reduce waste
generation or enhance recovery and reuse.
Basically, we intend to determine if prod-
81
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
Better Methods for Waste Reduction,
Recovery, and Reuse
OBJECTIVES
FIRST PRIORITY
Evaluation of existing resource recovery
techniques for municipal solid waste
Methods for conversion of wastes to
products which can be economically
produced and marketed.
Improved methods for conversion of
municipal solid waste and related
industrial wastes to energy.
SECOND PRIORITY
Product and process modifications to
reduce waste or enhance recovery and
reuse
THIRD PRIORITY
Recovery methods for mining wastes
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATES
Performance data on air classifiers, dry
recovered materials handling systems,
trammels, shredders, and emerging
resource recovery processing equipment
(FY 82)
Assessment of marketability of solid
waste products. Those tentatively
identified include solid waste as a
chemical feedstock, protein, and
ammonia (FY 82)
Advanced technology for producing
energy from solid wastes via pyrolysis,
and gasification (FY 84).
Report on feedstock changes and
process modifications for waste reduc-
tion in the dye and pigment, petro-
chemical, pesticide, plastics and syn-
thetic chemicals and metal finishing
industries (FY 83)
Technology demonstration for recovery
and reuse of heavy metals in waste
streams in the metal finishing industry
(FY 83)
Assessments data on recovery tech-
niques for benefication concentrates in
copper and lead/ zinc mining and ore
processing (FY 85)
uct designs can include provisions for
waste reduction by making it easy to
separate potentially valuable materials
such as certain metals, glass, and paper
from other solid wastes. At present, the
difficulty of separating the reusable com-
modities is a major shortcoming of
resource recovery.
The study of mining wastes is our third
priority resource recovery research. We
will evaluate available methods for
extracting resources from mine waste
disposal sites. Our work will focus
primarily on mining wastes generated in
the early 1900s that are still relatively rich
in minerals.
82
-------
EPA and Other Federal
Research Capabilities
in Solid Waste
EPA is the only federal agency dealing
with the entire solid waste management
problem. The combined staffs of EPA's
research laboratories involved in solid and
hazardous waste management provide ex-
pertise in the technology areas of resource
recovery, composting, sanitary landfill
design and operation, pollutant transport
and ground-water management, industrial
and hazardous waste processing and
disposal, mining waste control, and
sludge management. This expertise re-
quires talents of chemical engineers,
economists, chemists, soil scientists,
sanitary engineers, mining engineers, and
geologists. However, even though many
of the research programs are staffed with
individuals with the required back-
grounds, staff reductions coupled with in-
creased budgets have dictated that solid
and hazardous waste research be con-
ducted entirely by contracts and grants. In
fiscal 1979, EPA will provide $8.1 million
and 20 positions for solid waste research.
Two other federal agencies make major
contributions to solutions of solid waste
problems. The Department of Energy is
currently examining the potential for
energy recovery from landfills and from
combustible municipal and industrial
wastes. These activities are coordinated
by EPA and DOE staffs in Washington
D.C. and at the field laboratories. The
EPA Office of Solid Waste serves as the
primary interagency contact and with the
participation of the EPA Office of
Research and Development, formulates
Refuse §• Landfill
[ Inert Fraction |
I Organic Fraction |
Incineration lw#
| Separation |
Metals Glass
Energy Recovery
Heat
Steam
Gasifier
Electricity
Storable Fuel
MODULAR APPROACHES TO RESOURCE RECOVERY
Source: Water Pollution Caused b> Inactive Ore and Mineral Mines, EPA-600/2-76-298, 1976
83
-------
coordinated interagency activities. EPA
and DOE exchange information on a for-
mal workshop basis, jointly fund projects
of mutual interest, and provide staff sup-
port as needed. Similar working ar-
rangements and exchange of information
exists with the Department of Defense
EPA is the only
federal agency
dealing with the
entire solid waste
problem.
which is developing processing and
technology to deal with its unique hazard-
ous waste disposal problems. Other
federal agencies with research in areas
pertinent to solid waste management are:
• Department of Interior, Bureau of
Mines—reuse of mining wastes, and
metals recovery from municipal
waste streams
• Department of Agriculture—utiliza-
tion of crop residuals and wastes
from food processing industries,
beneficial utilization of animal
wastes, composting of municipal
sludges
• Department of Transporta-
tion— containerization and
transportation of hazardous
materials
• National Science Founda-
tion—basic research studies (e.g.,
use of soil invertebrates in decom-
position and conversion of land
spreaded sludges)
• Department of Commerce, National
Bureau of Standards—specifica-
tions for recovered materials,
development of markets for secon-
dary materials
• Department of Interior, U.S.
Geologic Survey—hydrologic infor-
mation fundamental to disposal site
selection.
84
-------
NONIONIZING RADIATION
We are faced with increasing low and
moderate exposures to radio and
microwave frequencies, and EPA is
researching the possible effects on
human health*
85
-------
Proliferating communication and
radio-navigation systems and electronic
devices for home and industry have
steadily increased the intensity of public
exposure to nonionizing radiation at
microwave frequencies. Futhermore,
forecasts indicate that this upward trend
will continue. Projected increases in
satellite communications, an expanding
U.S. weather and news network, and the
potential use of microwaves for transmit-
ting power to earth from satellite-based
solar collectors are only a few examples of
major new sources of public exposure to
nonionizing radiation.
Little is known about
the possible non-
thermal human health
risks posed by lower
levels of exposure,
While it is well known that intense
levels of exposure to nonionizing radia-
tion can produce thermal effects in the
form of severe heating within body
tissues, little is known about the possible
nonthermal human health risks posed by
lower levels of exposure. The Soviet
Union, Poland, and Czechoslovakia
report cases of reactions in the central
nervous systems of humans as a result of
low level exposures. Data from ongoing
EPA and other U.S. research are begin-
ning to indicate that chronic, low level ex-
posures of laboratory animals can pro-
duce adverse biological effects. Some of
the observed effects are: increased mitotic
activity of chemically stimulated lym-
phocytes, increased release of calcium
from the brain and altered behavior and
blood chemistry. As yet, however, there is
disagreement among scientific authorities
about what effects actually take place at
low exposure levels or which biological
mechanisms may be affected. This lack of
agreement has resulted in the establish-
ment of widely different exposure stan-
dards. East European countries have stan-
dards set at a level which recognizes their
findings that they attribute to the non-
thermal effects of nonionizing radiation.
The United States, on the other hand,
bases its occupational exposure standard
solely on the thermal effects of nonioniz-
ing radiation. As a result, allowable ex-
posures in the U.S. are 1000 times greater
than those in the Soviet Union. To place
this difference in standards in perspective,
the present Soviet standard makes the
operation of microwave ovens virtually
impossible in that country. But an equally
important perspective is that currently
99% of the American populace is exposed
to levels lower than the Soviet standard.
Research is needed to develop scien-
tifically sound information that can be
used to resolve the differences in exposure
standards. Further, information is re-
quired to assess potential health effects of
continuous low level exposures as well as
moderate level exposures at frequencies
used extensively in our society.
Nonionizing Radiation
Research
The nonionizing radiation research
strategy has both a near term and a long
term plan. In the near term, our research
will contribute to making decisions on the
need to establish environmental guidelines
applicable to the general population.
Research projects will be devoted to ex-
pansion of the current health effects data
base to determine whether a standard
developed solely from thermal effects
data provides adequate protection of
public health.
In the long term, the research plan is to
develop a better understanding of human
vulnerabilities to nonionizing radiation.
Our projects will investigate how low and
moderate level exposures interact with
biological systems. While the mechanism
through which intense levels of exposure
to nonionizing radiation induce heating in
biological systems is known, the mecha-
nisms of action for lower levels of ex-
posure is not. Knowledge of these interac-
tion mechanisms will allow prediction of
potentially hazardous exposure condi-
86
-------
tions as well as guide us in periodic re-
evaluations of existing exposure situations.
Near-Term Research--
Expanding the
Data Base
Expansion of the health effects data
base will come from two sources: projects
that determine the impact of low level ex-
posures on selected biological processes in
animals, and studies of retrospective and
prospective epidemiologic data. Activities
here will focus on determining health
parameters associated with types of non-
ionizing radiation exposures known or
suspected to cause adverse effects. We
will continue to conduct experiments on
animals using both continuous low and
moderate level exposures at FM (100 meg-
ahertz), near UHF-TV (425 megahertz),
and microwave (2450 megahertz) frequen-
cies as well as other prevalent frequencies.
These experiments will focus on teratol-
ogic, hematologic, immunologic, and
behavioral effects. To supplement the
data from animal experiments, we will at-
tempt to correlate exposure data to
adverse human health effects by examin-
ing historical epidemiological data on
persons who have been occupationally
exposed.
We also plan to expand our research
work into the areas of reproduction,
genetics, and epidemiology. As part of
this overall effort, we will conduct pros-
pective clinical and epidemiologic studies
of people who have just entered a non-
ionizing radiation exposure situation and,
within limits, will attempt to identify the
specific frequencies that have a high
potential for causing biological problems.
Other research activities will include
studies of the more complex and subtle
aspects of potential problems from non-
ionizing radiation. For example, ex-
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Industrial
Marine
Aviation
Public
Safety
Land
Transporta-
tion
1972
1974
1976
1978 1980
YEAR
1982
1984
1986
PROJECTED INCREASES IN SAFETY AND
SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES
(Primarily Medium Power Base Stations But Includes Ships and Aircraft:
Low Power Mobile Transmitters Generally Not Included)
Source: Electronic Industries Association, Electronic Market Data Book, 1977
87
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
Expanding the Health Effects Data Base on
Nonionizing Radiation
OBJECTIVES
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
FIRST PRIORITY
Teratologic hematologic, immunologic,
and behavioral effects of continuous, low
level exposure in animals.
Health effects in animals of moderate
level exposure to commonly used fre-
quencies (e.g., FM and UHF).
Retrospective epidemiologic studies of
occupationally exposed personnel and
selected urban populations.
SECOND PRIORITY
Frequencies with the potential for inter-
action with biological structures.
Reproductive and genetic effects on
animals of continuous, low level
exposures.
Prospective epidemiologic studies of
people exposed in their work.
THIRD PRIORITY
Effects on lifespan and cancer causing
potential of continuous, moderate level
exposures in rodents.
Interactive effects of ambient environ-
mental factors and exposures on selected
health parameters (e.g. behavioral).
Potential for synergistic effects resulting
from simultaneous exposure to multiple
frequencies.
Health effects findings on rats chronically
exposed to a microwave (915 MHz) fre-
quency. (FY 80)
Health effects findings on rats chronically
exposed to FM (100 MHz) and UHF-TV
(425 MHz) frequencies (FY 80)
Findings on the frequency with which
tumors occurred for high and low ratio
emission densities in the Portland,
Oregon area. (FY 81)
Determination of the biological absorption
potential of frequencies in the 25 to 8000
MHz range. (FY 81)
Identification of the dominant lethal/
mutagenic effects in rats of continuous
prolonged exposure to a microwave
frequency (915 MHz). (FY 81).
Clinical investigations of persons prior to
and during occupational exposure. (FY 83)
Pathology results from lifetime exposures
of mice to 2450 MHz. (FY 84)
Findings on the influence of temperature
and humidity of operant and spontaneous
behavior of rodents and primates. (FY 81)
Results from simultaneous FM and UHF-
TV frequency exposures of rodents.
(FY84)
periments on rodents will be used to deter- bient environmental factors such as
mine the effect that continuous, temperature and humidity. Finally, we
moderate level exposures have on lifespan plan to investigate the potential for
and on potential carcinogenicity. We will synergistic effects resulting from
also attempt to identify the interactions simultaneous exposure to multiple fre-
between nonionizing radiation and am- quencies.
-------
Long-Term Research-
Identifying
Interaction Mechanisms
EPA's long-term research will be to
develop an understanding of the functions
of biological trigger mechanisms that
result from low and moderate level ex-
posures to nonionizing radiation. The
work in this area is still in an evolutionary
stage, thus our first priority will be to con-
duct research aimed at refining existing
theories on the interaction of nonionizing
radiation and biological systems. Here,
we -will be examining theories which
describe how damage occurs to cell mem-
branes and to cell biopolymers (e.g.,
enzymes and protein) as a result of
exposure.
We will also examine newly observed
phenomena that have the potential to con-
tribute to the development of new
theories. Work in this area will be aimed
at explaining what "types" of nonioniz-
ing radiation can cause cellular damage.
The research plan is to
develop a better
understanding of the
human vulnerabilities
to nonionizing
radiation.
Specifically, we will perform studies to
determine if frequency and power density
combinations known to possess a high in-
teraction potential with one biological
system might also have similar high in-
teraction potentials with other biological
systems. Additionally, we will examine
the interaction of extremely low AM fre-
quency exposures with the central nervous
system and will identify those frequency
bands having a high biological resonant
absorption.
Finally, our research will attempt to
identify exposure effects phenomena in
laboratory animals. These research ac-
tivities will deal primarily with identifica-
tion of "hot spots" within tissues and
organs that are particularly sensitive to
nonionizing radiation exposures. We will
then develop indices for evaluating the
degree of stress induced by such ex-
posures.
EPA Program Capabilities
and Other
Federal Research
EPA's health effects research program
for nonionizing radiation, funded at a
level of $1.9 million in fiscal 1979, is the
largest program of its type in the federal
government. Our Health Effects Research
Laboratory in Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina, embodies skills in the key
areas of biology, microwave engineering,
and physics necessary to achieve most of
the outlined research objectives. With our
1972
1974 1976
YEAR
1978
1980
INCREASES IN
LAND MOBILE SERVICE
(LOW POWER MOBILE TRANS-
MITTERS USED ON LAND)
Source: Electronic Industries Association, Electronic Market
Data Book, 1977.
89
-------
MAJOR MILESTONES
Identifying Interaction Mechanisms Between
Nonionizing Radiation and Biological Systems
OBJECTIVES
MAJOR MILESTONES/EXPECTED
DELIVERY DATE
FIRST PRIORITY
Interactions of nonionizing radiation
with cell membranes.
Interactions of nonionizing radiation
with cell biopolymers.
SECOND PRIORITY
Universality of the power density
"window" for various biological
systems.
Interactions of extremely low frequency
AM exposures with the central nervous
system.
Frequency bands with high resonant
absorption in biological structures.
THIRD PRIORITY
Internal energy distribution (i.e., "hot
spots") in biological systems exposed
to nonionizing radiation.
Indices for evaluating the degree of
stress induced by nonionizing radiation.
Determination of the effects of radio/
radar frequencies on membranes using
the fluorometric technique. (FY 81)
Determination of the effects of radio/
radar frequencies on biopolymers using
the spectrophotometric technique.
(FY 80)
Identification of the range of power
levels at which biological effects occur.
(FY 82)
Determination of the range of AM
frequencies at which biological effects
occur. (FY 82)
Determination of absorption spectra of
molecular, subcellular, cellular and
tissue samples exposed to frequencies
ranging from 250 to 8000 MHz. (FY 81)
Internal temperature profile in exposed
animals. (FY 80)
Evaluation of the Selye Syndrome
aspects of exposure (FY 81)
current staff, however, tradeoffs between
timeliness of results and depth of analysis
will have to be made. At present, we do
not have adequate in-house expertise to
support fully our planned epidemiological
research. Furthermore, because work on
the determination of potentially hazar-
dous frequency ranges requires highly ac-
curate instruments not currently available
to us, additional extramural funding will
be necessary. We also expect to fund out-
side sources for our proposed long-term,
low level exposure studies and most of the
research requiring physiological expertise.
Three agencies have primary respon-
sibilities related to the health effects of
nonionizing radiation: the Department of
Defense (Air Force, Army and Navy), the
90
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Department of Health, Education and
Welfare (Bureau of Radiological Health,
National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences, and the National In-
stitute of Occupational Safety and
Health), and EPA. The military services
emphasize research related to specific fre-
quency ranges, emission devices, and
operational environments applicable to
their personnel, e.g., field, airport, and
shipboard radars. Under Public Law
90-602, "The Radiation Control for
Health and Safety Act of 1968," DHEW
is responsible for establishing and con-
ducting a radiation control program
designed to protect the public health and
safety from electronic product radiation
including radio frequency and microwave
radiation—microwave ovens and medical
diathermy units, for example. Under
authority transferred by the Reorganiza-
tion Plan No. 3 of 1970, EPA is responsi-
ble for determining the health effects of
continuous low and moderate level radia-
tion from sources such as radio and TV
broadcast generators, civilian radars, and
other radio communication systems and, if
indicated, promulgating environmental ex-
posure standards. DOD, DHEW, and EPA
account for 90% of the U.S. nonionizing
PROJECTED INCREASES IN BROADCAST SERVICES
5000
ANSMITTERS
BOOSTERS
1960
1965
1970 1975
YEAR
1980
1985
Source: Electronic Industries Association, Electronic Market Data Book, 1977.
91
-------
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
GUIDELINES FOR
NONIONIZING
RADIATION
Source: Baranski, S., el al. Biological Effects of Microwaves. 1976.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA 25/iw/cm2
USSR 10^w/cm2
GERMAN DEMO REP lOO/uw/cinj
POLAND 200/xw/cm2
UNITED STATES 10,OOOMW/«n2
radiation research program (based on
FY 76 funding) with funds disbributed as
follows: DOD (55%), DHEW (20%), and
EPA (15%).
Other agencies peripherally involved in
nonionizing radiation research include the
National Bureau of Standards, the
Veterans Administration, the National
Cancer Institute and the National Science
Foundation. The Department of Energy
may eventually become a major factor in
the field of nonionizing radiation research
if it decides to implement its proposed
Satellite Power System.
The recently formed (May 1978) Na-
tional Telecommunications and Informa-
tion Administration (NTIA), Department
of Commerce, is responsible for coor-
dinating the entire federal program for
nonionizing radiation research. In this
role, NTIA functions as did its pred-
ecessor, the Office of Telecommunica-
tions Policy (OTP), within the Executive
Office of the President, to ensure that the
research programs for each participating
agency are complementary and avoid un-
necessary duplication.
92
-------
GLOBAL POLLUTION
The earth is a closed system with
a finite tolerance for pollution.
Research must address global
implications and solutions, as well
as local ones*
93
-------
The increasing awareness of the
transport of pollutants across political
and geographical boundaries and obser-
vable harmful effects from the deposition
of pollutants in distant regions has led to
the recognition of pollution as a global
problem.
Close cooperation between many na-
tions will continue to be necessary to
resolve the specific problems associated
with the spread of pollutants throughout
the air and waters of our planet. Some ef-
forts aimed at understanding the prob-
lems, seeking viable solutions, and en-
couraging worldwide mitigating actions
have already been initiated by the United
Nations Environment Program (UNEP),
the Organization for Economic Coopera-
tion and Development (OECD), the
World Meteorological Organization
(WMO), the World Health Organization,
the International Committee of Scientific
Unions, the Economic Commission for
Europe (ECE), and the Committee on
Challenges to Modern Society (CCMS).
For example, the U.S., Canada and
Sweden have begun regulating the
manufacture and use of chlorofluorocar-
bons; thirteen other nations agreed to
take similar actions at an international
conference held in West Germany in
December, 1978.
Effects of long range
transport of air
pollution is our highest
global pollution
research priority.
EPA recognizes the implications of our
nation's activities on the environment of
our neighbors and realizes the value of
research and development in understand-
ing and controlling the effects of global
pollution. Although EPA has not for-
malized an R&D program in global pollu-
tion per se, many of its ongoing and plan-
ned research efforts will assist in resolving
international pollution problems.
Presently recognized worldwide en-
vironmental problems which are truly
global in nature include: acid precipita-
tion and other effects of intercontinental
transport of power plant emissions; ozone
depletion in the stratosphere; carbon
dioxide and other aerosol increases in the
atmosphere, and related climatic changes;
and marine pollution.
Research on Long-range
Transport of Power Plant
Emissions
The ongoing conversion throughout the
world to greater capacity power plants,
increased fossil fuel use, taller stacks and
other strategies which result in less pollu-
tion in the vicinity of sources has in-
creased pollution thousands of miles
downwind. The "tall stack" strategy
which was implemented to improve air
quality in the vicinity of the source has
succeeded. However, it was believed that
pollutants injected at greater heights into
the atmosphere would be widely dispersed
and diluted before they could do harm.
This, in fact, has not occurred as
predicted. Often the integrity of plumes
carrying pollutants is maintained over
thousands of miles resulting in pollution
problems far removed from the source.
Frequently, geographical and political
regions unassociated with the locations of
the emitting sources suffer severe pollu-
tion effects. For example, Sweden
believes that acid precipitation from
United Kingdom fossil fuel power plant
emissions is responsible for fish kills in
Swedish lakes. Canada and the U.S. are
jointly concerned about transboundary
atmospheric contamination affecting each
other's air and water quality. Within our
own country, it is plausible that if New
York were to shut down all its fossil fuel
power plants, its air pollution concentra-
tions would still remain above permissible
levels under certain meteorological condi-
tions because of incoming high concentra-
tions of pollutants from the west.
94
-------
Contaminants in
the Atmosphere
The steadily increasing concentrations
and persistence of atmospheric con-
taminants such as carbon dioxide,
chlorofluoromethanes (CFM's) and other
aerosols are expected to be responsible for
climate changes and ozone depletion in
the stratosphere in the near future.
Natural cleansing processes, especially in
the stratosphere, are slow in removing
significant amounts of contaminants.
Mankind has no alternative to the natural
cleansing processes for removing at-
mospheric pollutants.
EFFECTS OF STRATOSPHERIC
OZONE DEPLETION
+ 100
+ 100
+ 50
% DECREASE IN STRATOSPHERIC OZONE
(All figures based on laboratory, field and environmental studies)
1 SKIN CANCER ANNUAL RATE (4 X OZONE DECREASE RATE)
2 UV-B FLUX TO EARTH (2 X OZONE DECREASE RATE)
3 NOMINAL CROP YIELD DECREASE (1/5 X OZONE DECREASE RATE)
Source; NCI "First Bi-annual Report to Congress on Research Activities of Reference to the Clean Air Act". December, 1978: USDA, "Ef-
fects of Changes in the O/one in the Stratosphere Upon Animals, Crops, and Other Plant Life." December. 1977: Machta, el al. "UB-V
Measurements.'1 1977.
95
-------
Unfortunately, some widely used
halocarbons, particularly CFM's and
methyl chloroform, have long at-
mospheric lifetimes and when transported
to the stratosphere are transformed to
compounds capable of reacting with and
destroying ozone molecules.
The integrity of
pollutant-carrying
plumes is often
maintained over
thousands of
kilometers,
The continuing emission of chloro-
fluorocarbons into the atmosphere at cur-
rent (1977) rates has recently been
predicted by WMO to lead to about an
18% decrease in stratospheric ozone in a
few decades. The 1-2% ozone reduction
expected to date by predictive models is
not yet measurable by existing techniques.
We do know that stratospheric ozone
depletion is expected to result in an in-
creased flux of harmful solar UV-B radia-
tion to the earth's surface, an increase in
UV-B radiation flux of about 2% for each
1% decrease in stratospheric ozone.
Scientific field data and laboratory
studies forecast undesirable and possibly
intolerable effects as a result of the in-
creased flux of UV-B radiation. WHO has
estimated from epidemiological studies
that for each 1 % decrease in stratospheric
ozone, skin cancer incidence will increase
about 4%.
The deleterious effects of UV-B radia-
tion on the growth rates and yields of
plants and agricultural crops have already
been observed. Though water is a good
absorber of UV-B radiation, studies in-
dicate that embryonic fish residing close
to the surface of marine or estuarine
waters can also be seriously affected by
increased UV-B radiation. Lesions and
other serious physiological changes have
been observed in important food fish such
as mackerel, anchovy and shrimp.
A National Academy of Sciences study
in 1978 concluded that the ever-increasing
worldwide use of nitrogen based fer-
tilizers, including that used by third world
nations struggling to produce more food
for their increasing and underfed popula-
tions, can be projected in the future to
result in sufficient quantities of nitrous
oxide, which after diffusion to the
stratosphere, will also contribute to
stratospheric ozone depletion.
Carbon dioxide emissions to the at-
mosphere caused by increasing fossil fuel
combustion will, scientists believe, result
in future global temperature increases and
rising sea levels from melting polar
icecaps, thereby significantly changing
global and regional climate patterns. Thus
climate changes can be expected to have
major impacts on food production,
energy requirements, water supply and
quality, and other human needs. Other
aerosols in the atmosphere will similarly
impact the global and environmental
climate.
Marine Pollution
The oceans provide a substantial and
essential amount of food for the world's
population. This vital food source must
be kept free from toxic contaminants.
Although direct dumping of wastes into
the ocean is common and has been con-
sidered a regional and even national prob-
lem in the past, the slow and sustained
Increased UV-B
radiation can be
expected to be
responsible for
increased skin cancer
cases*
dispersion of pollutants including toxic
substances into and through the waters of
the world has increased the magnitude of
the problem. We do not adequately know
the pathways nor time constants for the
disperson of long-lived contaminants in
96
-------
the marine environment. But we know, by
the existence of DDT and PCB's in the
polar regions for example, that long-lived
contaminants probably will eventually
pervade waterways throughout the world.
Kepone, which has contaminated the
James River in Virginia and is en-
croaching on the Chesapeake Bay, can be
expected to reach the Atlantic Ocean in a
few years.
Research Needs
A research program to provide
creditable scientific and technological in-
formation for use in the regulatory policy
and decision-making process is essential.
Research on
Long-range Transport
of Air Emissions
Additional research is needed to pro-
vide new knowledge and higher quality
data on the exact cause and effect rela-
tionships which will enable us to relate
and assess an effect back to the source(s)
that caused the damage. Every aspect of
the problem from emission transport,
transformation, and deposition charac-
teristics to effects on human health, water
quality, soil quality, and plant growth
needs to be studied more thoroughly.
Control technologies and strategies which
will lead to decreased damage to life and
property are also needed. (Specific
research programs associated with long-
range air pollution research needs are
detailed in the "Air Pollution" and
"Energy and Environment" chapters of
this report.)
Research on Effects
of Contaminants
in the Atmosphere
Our knowledge of the effects of
stratospheric ozone depletion on the earth
is relatively meager except for under-
standing that increased UV-B radiation in
the range anticipated from expected
stratospheric ozone depletion levels can
be expected to be responsible for in-
creased skin cancer cases and may be
detrimental to fish, phytoplankton, plants
and other biological organisms and
ecosystems. Much more UV-B radiation
research at the organism and ecosystem
level needs to be undertaken since UV-B
radiation effects on living species are
quantitatively unknown. The role of UV-
B in photosynthesis, including the effect
of UV-B radiation on phytoplankton, the
keystone in aquatic food chains, must be
studied to insure continued production of
world food supplies.
Natural cleansing is
slow in removing
significant amounts of
contaminants.
Though CFM's have been detected in
the stratosphere and their reactions
studied extensively, EPA-supported
studies have found CFM's and other
halocarbons (man-made and naturally oc-
curring) to be distributed in the
troposphere in quantities and with
lifetimes that corroborate diffusions to
the stratosphere from gound level emis-
sions. These studies will continue,
especially to better identify and under-
stand the dynamics of man-induced at-
mospheric contaminants capable of
reaching and significantly reacting with
stratospheric ozone.
Our studies will also identify acceptable
substitute materials for those halocarbons
whose use must be restricted because of
potential stratospheric modification.
EPA's Environmental Sciences Research
Laboratory will hold a workshop early in
1979 on this subject.
Climate changes due to increasing
amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere
caused primarily by fossil fuel combus-
tion are being studied by a multitude of
national and international scientific and
socioeconomic organizations. The domi-
nant thrust of the U.S. climate research
program as now planned is to improve
our understanding of climatic processes. A
better knowledge of expected changes in
climate and the resultant impacts should
97
-------
improve our capability to adapt to those
changes. However, future research must
also be directed at identifying and
characterizing the causes, so that we can
learn to control and abate them.
Therefore, control strategies, including
the development of control technologies
for reducing emissions of CO2 and other
harmful substances, should be a high
priority study area. In order to determine
the optimum degree of control necessary,
via either technology or regulation, we
must substantially increase our quan-
titative understanding of the effects of
this pollution on health and other living
things.
Research on
Marine Pollution
Because the transport and fate of
pollutants in the oceans are not
understood as well as they are in the at-
mosphere, monitoring is needed to
establish historic baselines for en-
vironmental contaminants and to detect
deviations from these baselines. However,
the deployment of pollutant monitoring
instruments throughout the seas appears
to be economically prohibitive and the
sampling of marine waters by ocean-
ographic research vessels provides discon-
The scientific
community is seeking
biological indicators
in the ocean,
tinuous information. So the scientific
community is seeking and evaluating
biological indicators in the ocean. EPA is
studying mussels as a means of measuring
marine pollution because mussels ingest
and concentrate ocean pollutants. The
U.S. is also supporting the implementa-
tion of a worldwide "mussel watch" to
systematically and uniformly monitor
marine pollution throughout the world.
More knowledge must also be gained
on oceanic transport processes, the fate of
toxic substances, the biological accumula-
tion processes for pollutants, and the
chain of effects through the entire food
web from the smallest organism to man.
Specific research projects applicable to
the global aspects of marine pollution are
incorporated in EPA's marine research
program. EPA is cooperating with
NOAA which has the responsibility for
developing a marine research plan under
the Ocean Pollution Research, Develop-
ment and Monitoring Planning Act of
1978.
Research Program Goals
The goals of the global pollution
research efforts are to understand pro-
cesses by which pollutant emissions give
rise to global impacts, to develop the
capability to predict the movement and
concentrations of pollutants in the global
biosphere and to identify and assess
resulting effects on human health and on
other living organisms and ecosystems,
and the effects of climate change on
human health and welfare.
The effects of long range transport of
air pollution is our highest priority global
pollution research area because of the na-
tional policy of increased coal consump-
tion, coupled with the development of
large power plants and the trend to utilize
tall stacks. Energy and environment rela-
tionships make this a subject of increasing
importance. Understanding how to pro-
tect ozone levels in the stratosphere is a
secondary research area because, to
evaluate the need for and impact of
regulatory options concerning essential
uses of fluorocarbons much more
definitive knowledge is needed on the
tropospheric and stratospheric behavior
of other halocarbons intended as
substitutes for the fluorocarbons, and on
the effects of increased UV-B radiation.
The effects of climate changes and
variability will be given less emphasis
because such changes are so little
understood that meaningful socio-
economic assessments cannot yet be
undertaken. Climatologists need to pro-
vide quantitative information on the
characteristics of expected regional and
98
-------
global climate changes (wind pattern,
temperature, precipitation, seasonal and
annual weather patterns, etc.)
Marine pollution will also be researched
at a relatively moderate level because
severe marine pollution episodes are local
in character and the time for localized
pollution to affect the global marine en-
vironment is relatively long compared
with atmospheric transport times. Fur-
thermore, marine pollution problems are
not as readily identified nor given as
serious an urgency as air pollution.
Capabilities
EPA scientists have particular expertise
concerning the chemical and physical pro-
cesses of pollution transport, transforma-
tion and fate. Our scientists are also ex-
perts in air pollution photochemistry. For
example, the fact that under certain
meteorological conditions aerosol plumes
retain their integrity over several hundred
miles was first observed in airborne sens-
ing studies conducted as part of EPA's
Regional Air Pollution Studies in St.
Louis.
EPA recognizes the
value of research and
development in
understanding and
controlling the effects
of global pollution,
In the area of stratospheric ozone pro-
tection research, EPA scientists will assist
expertise outside EPA to produce most of
the scientific information needed as a
basis for regulatory decision-making.
EPA's major function will be to integrate
and evaluate research findings and assess
the impact of continued and controlled
emissions. We will perform this function
with the assistance of the Interagency
Committee on Stratospheric Ozone Pro-
tection (ICSOP) and its several subcom-
mittees which also participate in the
development and review of the overall
federal research program.
At present, EPA produces climate data
for the U.S. climate program (specifi-
cally, meteorological and microscale data
obtained in the conduct of field studies on
air pollution). EPA has the expertise to
conduct pollution climatology research
and to continue its research on improving
technological processes for controlling
emissions from power plants and other in-
dustrial enterprises. EPA also has the
capability to assess the impacts of climate
change on air quality, water quality and
supply, and on health and other en-
vironmental matters.
Finally, EPA has several marine
laboratories staffed with experts who are
studying transport, fate and effects of a
variety of pollutants on marine quality
and marine life, including the quality of
recreational waters as affected by
pathogens.
99
-------
ANTICIPATING ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH NEEDS
We must learn to identify
environmental problems before they
become critical* EPA is applying
anticipatory research toward this end*
100
-------
The previous chapters in this report
have dealt with specific programs to in-
vestigate reasonably well-defined en-
vironmental problems and concerns. This
chapter steps away from that perspective
and looks instead at a set of problems
which are just now evolving. Some of
these problems can only begin to be iden-
tified, some will not become evident until
the emergence of the technologies,
politics, economics or social patterns that
spawn them. Our research to anticipate
future problems has shown progress in the
last few years, but it is still just a tentative
step.
We want our approach to be strategic,
that is, to decide what should be studied,
not necessarily how to carry out the
studies. Then, by understanding the
nature of future environmental concerns,
EPA can develop data and plan actions
before a problem situation becomes
critical. In short, we will be able to an-
ticipate rather than merely react to en-
vironmental concerns. EPA believes that
results of exploratory research conducted
in this vein will enable others, particularly
other government agencies, to be sensitive
to significant future environmental
dangers. Through interagency agree-
ments, informal working arrangements
and other coordination, we hope to pro-
foundly influence the consideration given
to the long range environmental conse-
quences of government mandated actions.
By understanding
future environmental
concerns, EPA can
develop data and plan
action before a problem
becomes critical.
The prime factors that will dictate
future problems are population, affluence
and new technology. Many of the dif-
ficulties we experience today, particularly
energy, have their roots in these causative
factors; however, we do not yet under-
stand the very complex cause and effect
relationships. We identify below examples
of research goals that may be needed for
understanding these factors. However,
because solutions to future problems
often are intimately linked to improved
technological or management ap-
proaches, EPA will not have the sole
responsibility for implementing specific
research. Rather, continuing national
commitment by government and industry
will be needed; thus, the goals we present
should be viewed as representative, not
absolute.
Population
and Affluence
Population changes affect demands for
products of all types. Population size in-
fluences the size of the labor force,
material usage and disposable income. In
the four decades between 1930 and 1970,
the population of the United States in-
creased by about 80 million people, rising
at an annual average rate of 1.3 percent.
The most recent projections of the Bureau
of the Census indicate that the U.S.
population will be between 245-282
million by the year 2000 and population
growth rates will not level off until 2020
or 2030. Expected trends from this in-
crease in population include increased
numbers of immigrants, particularly from
Mexico, large numbers of women entering
the labor force, and shifts in population
from the industrialized north to the sun
belt and western coal states. Each of these
forces will have important regional effects
on resource development and the demand
for goods and services.
World population, however, is pro-
jected to increase until the end of the next
century. United Nations' projections
show world levels ranging from 6.0 to 7.1
billion. With these increases will come the
serious burden of many new workers in
the job market. The International Labour
Organization (ILO) estimates that in 1975,
in some less developed countries, close to
40 percent of the labor force was either
out of work or underemployed. Projec-
tions for the end of the century indicate
101
-------
that the work force in the developing
world will expand by 86 percent, the
equivalent of 880 million jobs.
The need to employ more people will
require significant amounts of capital,
natural resources and energy (see the
"Energy and Environment" chapter of
this report for just the projected U.S.
energy needs). These population in-
creases, coupled with rising expectations
for affluence, will result in important
challenges to the world's economic and
social systems, particularly with respect to
food supplies, housing, and mineral pro-
duction.
Research goals to anticipate problems
caused by population and affluence are to
ESTIMATES AND
PROJECTIONS OF
TOTAL POPULATION:
1980 TO 2025
(IN THOUSANDS, AS OF JULY 1.
INCLUDES ARMED FORCES
OVERSEAS)
YEA*''
SERIES I
^SERIES Ilf-
SERIES III
ESTIMATES
1930'
1935'
1940'
1945
1950 ,
1955 i .
1960. ......
1965 *; . . f
1970. . . i . . .
1975. . .* . . ,
1976. .;....
PROJECTIONS
$3,188
• 427,362,
• - • 132,59ff
140,468
MBW»71
204,878
2J3.640
215,118
1985.
1990.
1995.
2000.
2005.
2010.
_
224,066 222459 220.732
238,878 232,800 226,879
254,715 243,513 236,264
269,384 252,750 241,973
282,837 260,378 245,876
297,600 267,603 248,631
315,248 275,335 250,892
'Excludes Alaska and Hawaii.
'The figure excluding Alaska and Hawaii is 132,122.
Source: Current Population Reports, Series P-25,
No. 632, Tables 5 and 6
STATE POPULATION
PROJECTIONS
Sunbelt/Western Coal States
Percent
Increase
75-2000
State 1975 1985 2«lQ
Arizona 2224 2908 3989 42
Florida . Jjfa 9899 14461 72
Georgia. " ' '""''~ "«28 5536'' 6748 • 37
Louisiana 3791 4050 4562 22
Texas 12237 14233 174*5 43
Wyoming ,, „ J74 ,45* 483 29
Utah ;, 1206 1365 1639 33
,'$•-. • t '
NortheaSt/NbtWCWitrill §f*e
Maine
Massachusetts
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Illinois
New York
1059 1112 1190
5818 6131 6612
11829 11999 12300
10759 11216 11956
11145 11646 12245
18122 18256 18692
13
14
4
11
10
3
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Technolog}
Assessment Modeling Project. 1978.
develop an improved understanding of (I)
the dynamic forces that influence the U.S.
and world population and (2) the expecta-
tions of the U.S. population and its drive
for affluence.
The forces that influence the size,
movement and composition of the U.S.
and world population are topics beyond
the research capabilities of EPA.
However, it is expected that EPA will
focus on understanding the impacts of its
regulatory decisions on the U.S. popula-
tion. Thus, an important task is for EPA
to monitor population trends within the
U.S. as they are affected by government
actions and population trends of other
countries with possible indirect effects on
the U.S. Special attention may have to be
given to approaches that predict overloads
of environmental carrying capacities of
selected U.S. regions. Ultimately, many
national and international government
102
-------
policies may have to be analyzed to ascer-
tain effects on the U.S. population and
environmental quality.
Consumer expectations for affluence
will influence environmental quality.
EPA needs to understand how these ex-
pectations and subsequent increases in af-
fluence affect the environment and also
needs to develop an appreciation of the
impacts of greater affluence on the U.S.
Many public policy groups will eventually
realize the necessity for this information,
thus EPA's role should be aimed at devel-
oping an understanding of the problems
sufficient to support federal regulatory
decisions.
FERTILIZER USED AND CROP YIELDS. 1910-1969.
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
20 40 60 80 100 120
PLANT NUTRIENTS (N + P2(>5 + KiO) LB/ACRE
Source: National Academy of Sciences. Agricultural Production Efficiency. 1975.
103
-------
300
MILLION ACRES PLANTED
FERTILIZERS CONSUMED. MILLION TONS (nutrient basis)
10
INDEX OF GROSS PRODUCTION OF CROPS. (1967 = 100)
70
YEARS
HISTORIES OF CROP PRODUCTION, ACRES PLANTED
AND FERTILIZER CONSUMED
Source: National Academy of Sciences. Agricultural Production Efficiency. 1978.
104
-------
Food Supplies
Much of America's food surplus is an-
nually exported to a hungry world.
However, in recent years, we have begun
to recognize a leveling of the long-term
rise in grain yields per acre. Chemical fer-
tilizer applications are no longer produc-
ing increased yields in those areas where
fertilizers have been used extensively in
the past. Doubling of world grain output
over the last thirty years has been due to
the expanded use of commercial fertilizer
more than any other factor, thus, this
fiillion metric tons)
ogrims)
10
YEAR
WORLD FISH CATCH TOTAL AND PER CAPITA
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce. 1978.
105
-------
PERUVIAN ANCHOVY CATCH: 1956-1977
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce.
14
12
10
I
2 6
-J
-
55
60
65 70
YEARS
75
80
productivity change is to be closely
watched. Good cropland lost to erosion,
urbanization and transportation networks
further contracts production. Present
U.S. Department of Agriculture projec-
tions indicate that wheat production in-
creases from approximately two billion
bushels in 1974-76 to approximately three
billion bushels in the year 2000, will re-
quire genetic improvements, advances in
pest control, adequate energy, fertilizer
and capital.
Stress to marine biological resources
will also increase over the next decade.
The total world fish catch, which in-
creased during the 1920-70 period from 20
to 70 million tons per year, leveled off
during the seventies. The Pacific mackerel
and Peruvian anchovy are examples of
species which have had rapid declines.
However, in 1976, a relatively affluent
U.S. population established a record of
13.0 pounds per capita fish consumption.
The decreased supply/increasing con-
106
-------
sumption trend will require careful
monitoring as the world population and
the demand for protein increase.
Research will be needed to assure that
environmentally sound approaches are
developed and used to produce food. At-
tempts to increase food supplies are likely
to utilize a combined approach of tradi-
tional methods as well as new approaches.
One potential environmental problem
stemming from future food production
using conventional approaches will be the
increase in nonpoint source pollution
from agricultural runoff. If inadequately
managed, such runoffs are likely to in-
clude increased loads of pesticides, her-
bicides, and fertilizers. Research will con-
tinue to be aimed at developing and
evaluating methods to assure that these
impacts on the food production process
are minimized. New approaches to food
production will create new environmental
challenges. For example, single cell pro-
tein rich organics derived from agri-
cultural waste may be used as a major
source of protein in the future, especially
for livestock. The potential for pesticides,
heavy metals and toxicants in the wastes
to accumulate in the human food chain
will have to be carefully evaluated.
Another new problem is the vulnerability
to pollution and disease of new species or
cultivated specialized crops introduced
for economic reasons. Environmental
controls will be needed to assure that the
benefits from such crops are fully re-
alized. In these cases, EPA's role is to
assure that information, methods and ap-
AREA OF COMMERCIAL TIMBERLAND, BY
1952, 1962 AND 1970
(THOUSAND ACRES)
REGION
New England
Middle Atlantic
Lake States
Central
Total North
South Atlantic
East Gulf
Central Gulf
West Gulf
Total South
Pacific Northwest
Pacific Southwest
Northern Rocky Mountain
Southern Rocky Mountain
Total West
Source: U.S. Department o
«lWy, 30,935
^fiU 42-098
^|Sf*> 52,604
. X^™^ 170,198
^JlJfcft^ 46-962
'vfyfmft''*. 42>104
-aJwOP^ 49'497
.^JjfcV 192>082
^m^^~ 5°>589
/rfjWi 18>216
'jaim^ 38'337
a\ w* j£3«354
[1 132,696
..J\ V_ 494,978
1962
31,878
46,737
51,530
44,942
175,089
47,911
43,128
53,361
55,504
199,905
50,407
18,132
38,792
25,810
133,141
508,137
Agriculture. The Outlook for Timber in the U.S.
REGION,
1970
32,367
49,685
50,841
45,008
177,901
48,463
41,334
51,454
51,291
192,542
49,713
17,909
36,669
24,963
129,254
499,697
1973.
Change
1962-1970
+ 488
+ 2,947
- 690
+ 65
+ 2,812
+ 551
1,794
- 1,907
-4,214
- 7,364
- 694
- 223
-2,124
- 848
-3,888
- 8,440
107
-------
PROJECTED GROWTH
RATES FOR FOREST
PRODUCT INDUSTRIES
New Construction *'
Maintenance Construction
Lumber and Wood Products
Veneer and
Pap*fMills
Overall GNP
3.6%
* 4.7
3.9 '
5.3
4.9
4.5
3.8
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Technology
Assessment Modeling Project. 1978.
Fiber
For the last fifty years the U.S. has
relied on imports of timber products to
fill approximately 10% of its needs. Many
factors point to the likelihood of in-
creased imports. There has been a con-
tinual shift of about one million acres of
timberland to cropland, pastureland, ur-
ban areas and other uses, yet the en-
vironmental impacts in terms of air
quality (increased CO2), water quality
(erosion), and wildlife habitat destruction
associated with this shift remain to be
quantified. (See, for example, the
"Watershed Management" chapter.)
proaches are developed to assess the im-
pact of new production technologies and
to be certain that they can be introduced
into the environment under circumstances
that will favor their success.
EPA will focus on
understanding the
impacts of its regulatory
decisions on the U.S.
population.
Elimination of losses in the chain of
food storage, packaging and distribution
could represent an important step toward
an adequate world food supply. For
research in this area, private enterprise
and other agencies clearly have a major
role; EPA will encourage development of
techniques to reduce losses, since
eliminating losses will effectively increase
supplies, thereby reducing the amounts of
fertilizers and pesticides released into the
environment.
AVERAGE ANNUAL DEMAND
FOR HOUSING IN THE
UNITED ST/fTES, BY
SOURCE OF, .DEMAND,
1920-1970,,lrVITH%pp-
(THOlpAND UNITS)"*1"
•> ^£ ^
Period
1920-29
1930-39 ,,
1940-49 <
1950-39
1960-69
1970-79
1980-89
1990-99
2000-09
2010-19
1 **$
Total
8W.4 ,,
1 SOW
" ^,522.4
-*,37o!o
2,070.0
2,160.0
2,120.0
Household
Formations
556.6
496.2
800.5
1,005.2
1,039.3
,1,490.0
1,240.0
850.0
810.0
670.0
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Nation's Renew-
able Resources — An Assessment 1975. 1977.
108
-------
U.S. AND
Source: U.S. Department of Interior, Miner
COMMODITY
ANTIMONY
BERYLLIUM , ?
CHROMIUM .*
COBALT - />' -«v
.if" '
COPPER /
•2-f"
IRON f1'
MANGANESE
MOLYBDENUM
NICKEL
TIN ^-
/''
No Reserves
WORLD MINERAL
al Facts and Problems. 1977.
UNITS
THOUSAND ST
V
THOUSAND ST
MILLION ST
MILLION LB.
IBLJLION ST - ^ J '
BILLIOKsf^^^
*-'* ' "%&
TV
BILLION LB. •
MILLION ST
THOUSAND LT
RESERVES
U.S. WORLD TOTAL
100 4,565
28 419
^ jrf 57?
ff^~ ' 5'404
90 450
4 100
— 2,013
"St.6 13
^^*w.
" ^ 6°
42 * 10,120
There is a generally low productivity of
forest resources despite opportunities for
higher productivity due to differences in
climate, soils, and elevation (e.g., only 10
percent of commerical timber areas ^are
classed as high-productivity—capable of
producing at least 120 cubic feet of timber
per acre). Finally, based on population
and economic growth, the projected de-
mand for timber products is expected to
remain strong. Softwood timber products
of prime importance for lumber and ply-
wood used in housing are projected at
current prices to suffer a 15 billion board
foot gap between supply and demand by
the year 2000, which must be filled by
imports.
EPA's research role in the near term
must be to continue to focus on develop-
ment and evaluation of management and
technical approaches which minimize en-
vironmental degradation during har-
vesting and processing of forest products.
Close cooperation with the Department of
Agriculture is required to develop ap-
proaches which increase productivity and,
at the same time, protect the environ-
ment. Practices that must be encouraged
by both agencies include better manage-
ment of timberland, more complete
utilization of logging residues, and greater
use of recycled fibers. In addition, EPA
must assure development of information
on impacts of air and water pollution on
forests and other ecosystems. As large
areas of land are harvested, vegetation
emissions sources will change and natural
sinks for many elements will no longer be
109
-------
available. The long term implications of
these intermedia transport phenomena
will become increasingly important as
EPA attempts to control man-made emis-
sion sources and as it assesses the inter-
regional long term effectiveness of its pro-
grams.
Minerals
The natural distribution of minerals
throughout the world results in a substan-
tial interdependence among nations and
places the industries in the developed
countries, including the U.S., in poten-
tially vulnerable positions. One strategy
for decreasing vulnerability is to increase
available supplies either through stock-
piling or through development of lower
grade ores. However, enhancement of
reserves through the development of
lower grade ores requires excavating large
land areas and results in high residual tail-
ings levels that could pose substantial new
environmental problems in the future.
Substitution of alternative materials for
critical minerals will only put new stresses
on other material reserves. Hence, min-
erals problems are likely to be charac-
terized by occasional spot shortages of
certain key minerals, a continuing decline
of a broad spectrum of higher grade ores
and slow development of lower grade
ores.
EPA research to examine the minerals
problem must shift from a focus on ex-
isting mineral processing industries to
evaluations of new technologies and the
corresponding development of environ-
COMPARISON OF PREVAILING U.S. PRIMARY MINERAL
SUPPLY-DEMAND WITH PROJECTED HISTORICAL TRENDS
Commodity
Antimony
Beryllium
Chromium
Cobalt
Copper
Iron
Manganese
Molybdenum
Nickel
Tin
Units
ST
ST
Thousand ST
Thousand Ib
Thousand ST *'
Million ST
Thousand ST
Thousand Ib
Thousand ST
LT
1974
U.S. Primary
Production from
Domestic Sources
1,319
,, N-A-
1,597
58
35
112,011 •*
14
N.A.
1974
U.S.
Primary
Demand
""" 20,333
209
560
28,183
1,953
91
1,492
76,400
219
45,900
1985
U.S.
Primary
Demand
30,600
430
;"•-, 700
aiioo
,' 21700
107
1,680
102,000
260
58,000
2000
U.S.
Primary
Demand
49,500
1,150
1,100
43,000
4,200
129
2,130
193,000
385
64,000
No Reserves
N.A. — Not A>ailable Source: U.S. Department of In erior, Mineral Facts and Problems. 1977.
110
-------
mentally sound control approaches. In
the long term, environmental criteria
must become an inherent part of the
design of new methods and technology
for minerals production.
New Technologies
New energy technologies represent
perhaps the greatest area of very real
potential environmental problems. EPA
devotes a good share of its research
budget to new energy technologies (see the
"Energy and Environment" chapter of
this report). Other new technologies are
now emerging which also may have
significant future impacts. The impacts of
technologies such as weather control,
deep ocean mining, satellite power
systems, or advanced energy systems push
our predictive capabilities to their limits.
For example, two rapidly advancing
technologies are genetic engineering and
consumer electronics. In the genetic
engineering area, agricultural researchers
have been successfully modifying and im-
proving different crops for years. This
type of research will undoubtedly con-
tinue to make major contributions toward
easing the world's food problems. Re-
search on recombinant DNA and basic
life processes may eventually lead to
dramatic advances in man's health and to
fundamental industrial changes. For ex-
ample, manufacturing techniques for syn-
thetic insulin are only a few years away;
other new industries for the biological
processing and production of food, fiber,
and materials may emerge by the end of
this century. The far-reaching environ-
mental implications associated with
genetic engineering could range from the
accidental release of exotic new geno-
types, to the need for effluent controls for
production facilities employing genet-
ically engineered pollution control
technologies.
Expanded applications of electronics
have resulted in products such as
microwave ovens, hand calculators, CB
radios, digital watches, large computers
for data handling and storage and
satellites for telephone and television
transmissions. In the near future, we ex-
pect the introduction of home computers
and robotics. This latter development
may have significant impacts on the labor
force at a time when increasing numbers
of women and young workers are entering
the job market and others are extending
retirement dates. Increased communica-
tions will tend to raise aspirations and
homogenize goals of all the world's peo-
ple. In the near future, effects from elec-
tronic products may be less significant in
changing the quality of the environment
than the long term forces generated by
these technologies.
The goal of research for this new
technologies problem would be to identify
new technologies and emerging social
trends and assess the environmental im-
plications. The identification of new
technology problems can neither be done
haphazardly nor through the use of a
single mechanism or approach. The pro-
cess must rely on the ingenuity of in-
dividual scientists, the creativity of
research teams and the disciplined
analyses of many societal and tech-
nological trends. EPA will examine longer
term problems by supporting the unique
ideas of individual researchers and
establishing long term programs in in-
stitutional centers. EPA will also
systematically analyze the long term im-
pacts of regulation and other government
actions and policies that might ultimately
affect environmental quality in the U.S.
Our program will not prevent accidents or
predict emergencies in local areas, how-
ever, it will provide EPA with the first
substantial effort to identify long term
problems and predict environmental im-
plications in advance.
Ill
-------
EPILOGUE
Environmental research is a continuing
process. As immediate problems are
solved, less serious concerns can be
studied; as new materials are discovered
and produced, new pollution threats will
emerge for research and regulation. Our
research plans today are devoted to cur-
rent and foreseeable problems as defined
by our best technological judgments and
scientific insights, but we expect these
plans to be dynamic, to change as the
dangers of environmental pollution
become better known. Our methods for
planning research will also be dynamic;
we will learn from our successes as well as
from our failures how to better study the
exceedingly complex sets of environmen-
tal problems. Moreover, as we see how
our research results are used to support
regulations or to develop control
technologies, our planning processes can
better tailor research programs to fit
specific time requirements and data
needs. But optimal use of our research
can only come through continuing
dialogues with those individuals, agen-
cies, industries and institutions that use or
are affected by our results.
It is the establishment and improve-
ment of such dialogues that will be the key
to effective, economical applications of
our current and future research program
results. Similarly, continuing dialogues
will make our research process more cost-
effective. A full appreciation of the uses
of our results will translate into more
finely tuned, better focused programs.
This Research Outlook series of
publications is part of our attempt to
stimulate this dialogue. Other methods to
communicate our research will also be
used. We expect to publish more
documents keyed to our research projects,
we will hold workshops, meetings, and
seminars to delve into some of the details
of our programs, and our management
will give talks about our research pro-
grams. In all of these methods, however,
as with this report, we want and need to
hear and read your comments, concerns,
criticisms and discussions about our
research plans. If this occurs, EPA's
research will benefit immeasurably.
112
-------
APPENDIX A
Research Options
In the Research Outlook 1979, we have
described our plans for environmental
research and development which encom-
pass approximately 90 percent of the fun-
ding for the fiscal year 1979 program. In
the coming years, EPA's ability to ad-
dress the research objectives in each of the
program areas will depend upon the level
of funding that we receive. With this in
mind, this appendix presents an analysis
of our research plan for three budget
growth options.
We have not attempted to analyze our
plan from the "bottom up" by
associating a cost with each objective,
developing an overall priority ranking of
objectives, and allocating the funds
available under each growth option. This
type of analysis is performed on a year to
year basis during EPA's zero based
budgeting process. Instead, we have ap-
proached this analysis from a more "top-
down" strategic perspective. We have
coupled our best scientific judgments with
forecasts of environmental futures and
estimates of available funding in order to
identify where the research program
should go over the next five years.
The funding data for this analysis was
drawn from two sources, the fiscal 1979
research budget and the President's
budget proposal for fiscal 1980. This pro-
posal includes a significant Public Health
Initiative to expand health research on
toxic substances, air pollution, drinking
water, and nonionizing radiation. We
have defined the three research budget
growth options as follows: no growth
assumes that the total EPA research
budget remains at the fiscal 1980 level
throughout the four year period to fiscal
1983; moderate growth assumes a five
percent growth in the total budget com-
pounded annually through to fiscal 1983;
and high growth assumes a ten percent
growth rate compounded annually
through to fiscal 1983. All options are
analyzed under the assumption of cons-
tant dollars with fiscal 1979 as the base
year. Based upon these assumptions there
will be $354 million, $409 million, and
$471 million available for research under
the respective budget growth scenarios in
1983. The results of our analysis for each
of the topic areas in the Research Outlook
1979 are described below.
Toxic Substances
In fiscal 1979, $26.3 million (8.3 per-
cent of the research budget) was
specifically earmarked for toxics research.
The President's budget for fiscal 1980
which includes a large portion of the
Public Health Initiative, proposes fund-
ing toxics research at a level of $42.7
million (12.1 percent of the research
budget). The work contained in the Public
Health Initiative will focus primarily in
the areas of short-term tests, screening
tests, mammalian tests, human exposure
assessment, and epidemiology. These are
areas which were identified by the In-
teragency Regulatory Liaison Group
(consisting of EPA, the Consumer Prod-
uct Safety Commission, the Food and
Drug Administration and the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration) as
having major deficiencies in the informa-
tion base. Furthermore, these areas were
accorded highest priority by a seven-
agency zero base budget ranking commit-
tee convened this past summer to in-
tegrate the federal toxic substances
research program. That committee in-
cluded the National Institutes for Cancer,
Occupational Safety and Health, and En-
vironmental Health Sciences as well as the
four IRLG agencies listed above.
Because of the growing awareness of
the serious and complex problems toxic
substances pose, this area will continue to
experience higher growth rates than any
of EPA's other research programs in the
years ahead. By 1983, we estimate that
$49.8 million, $57.9 million, and $66.4
million will be channeled into toxics
research under the respective budget
growth options. The main thrust of the
program for the next three to five years
will be on the development of tools for
113
-------
FY 1979 BUDGET ($315.66 MILLION) OFFICE OF RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT (MILLIONS OF DOLLARS)
Toxics
$26.28 (8.3%)
Drinking Water
$18.02 (5.7%)
Anticipatory
$9.43 (3%)
Global
$4.98 (1.6%)
Industrial
Wastewater
$7.45 (2.4%)
Solid Waste
$8.15 (2.6%)
Nonionizing Radiation
$1.97 ( 1%)
•Other includes municipal point sources, technical information, and program management and support.
performing assessments emphasizing the
development and refinement of effects,
exposure, and epidemiological protocols
in conjunction with the integration of
predictive and evaluative approaches and
results and extrapolations of effects tests
to humans. While significant control
work will proceed in parallel with this ef-
fort, we see the development of methods
for toxics control coming to the forefront
toward the latter part of the five year
planning period.
Air Pollution
EPA currently spends a significant
percentage of it research resources on ai1
pollution. In fiscal 1979, $48.9 million is
being devoted to air pollution research
and $66.8 million is proposed for fiscal
1980. By 1983, we envision spending
$68.3 million, $79.0 million, and $91.3
million under each of the respective
budget growth options. Over the next
three to five years, several of our major
research efforts will be nearing comple-
tion. The bulk of our work on inhalable
particulates, sulfates, and the ozone-
oxidant problem will be completed
toward the latter part of the five year
planning period. As these areas are com-
pleted, air pollution research will focus
more on inter-regional pollutant trans-
port, the aerosol complexes, and second-
ary organics. In addition, the Clean Air
Act (as amended in 1977) requires a
review every five years of the data base
which supports EPA's ambient standards.
At present, there exists a major need to
refine the health data which support cur-
rent standards and develop more rapid
and conclusive techniques for evaluating
the health effects of those pollutants
114
-------
suspected of representing a threat to
human health. These areas are addressed
as part of the fiscal 1980 Public Health In-
itiative. Our proposal here calls for ac-
celerating the efforts to correlate exposure
and dose relationships with observed
health effects, to determine specific health
effects on populations in high risk areas,
and to improve ways of determining
health effects from pollutant measure-
ment data.
vironmental contaminants. As we con-
tinue to develop a better understanding of
conventional pollutants, toxics-related
problems will play an ever increasing role
especially for our modeling efforts in
watershed management research. Work
will also accelerate during the five year
period in understanding how pollutants
move through a watershed. These efforts
will focus on the "sinks" or endpoints for
toxic contaminants.
Industrial Wastewater
Although the resources currently
devoted to industrial wastewater research
are relatively small, $7.5 million for fiscal
1979, we anticipate that this area will
grow over the next five years in rough
proportion to the actual growth of the
total R&D budget. Two considerations
that played a role in reaching this conclu-
sion are: first, a significant proportion of
the growth in toxics research will be in
areas such as health effects that are ap-
plicable to industrial wastewater prob-
ems; and second, toward the end of the
five year planning period, emphasis of the
program will shift from effluent
characterization and treatability assess-
ment to development of technology re-
quired to meet higher removal re-
quirements (dictated by health effects
data) and permit the recycle and reuse of
wastewater. An increase of $4.3 million is
proposed.in fiscal 1980 for this purpose.
EPA will continue to act as an evaluator
and information clearinghouse for new
technology.
Watershed Management
Over the next five years, we expect to
fund research in watershed management
at $38.2 million, $44.2 million, and $50.8
million for no, moderate, and high
growth budget options respectively. The
emphasis of the program will shift from
quantification of nonpoint source cause-
effect relationships and development of
control methods to understanding a
watershed as a control volume for en-
Drinking Water
Drinking water research is also an area
which we expect to grow at least in rough
proportion to the overall R&D budget.
Our attention will concentrate on pro-
viding control technology for small water
supply systems (including technology for
either the removal of organics or preven-
tion of organics formation) and on
ground-water research. Development of
control technologies for small systems
could possibly require a major funding ef-
fort. However, our current plan calls for a
systematic evaluation and possible adap-
tation of existing technologies. If we are
successful, we will be able to provide con-
trol technology which is economical for
small systems. Our current knowledge
about ground-water contamination is so
limited that our research must initially be
confined to information gathering and
analysis. We can then move quickly to
establish the scientific basis for methods
to prevent ground-water contamination.
Both the control technology program
and the groundwater program must be
founded on a firm health effects informa-
tion base. In the long term, the health ef-
fects part of the program will, therefore,
constitute a top priority. The fiscal 1980
Public Health Initiative proposes to ex-
pand health research by $5 million. This
expansion will be directed mainly toward
research on organic compounds. The ulti-
mate objective of this effort will be to
identify those compounds or classes of
compounds posing potential health risks
and to assess the extent of those risks.
While the carcinogenicity of organics will
115
-------
be emphasized, other effects will be in-
vestigated as well. For example, epidemi-
ological studies will examine the relation-
ship between organic and inorganic water
quality and the occurrence of birth defects
or diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
These studies will complement controlled
laboratory studies.
Energy and Environment
Our work on energy and environment
has been so intense in the past that we
now envision a relatively stable growth in
this research area during the next five
years. We anticipate spending $98.8 mil-
lion, $110.0 million, and $122.8 million
under the no, moderate, and high growth
scenarios. Research related to energy and
the environment, however, will still con-
sume approximately 28 percent of the
total EPA R&D budget in fiscal 1983
(under the moderate growth option). The
current emphasis on health and ecological
R&D BUDGET GROWTH OPTIONS
Z
o
-J
Jt
O
c
300
79
80 81
FISCAL YEARS
r.:
No Growth
Moderate Growth
High Growth
116
-------
effects and control technology for energy
extraction and conventional combustion
will decrease considerably over the next
three to five years. The primary focus of
the research program will shift to evalua-
tion of potential health and environmen-
tal impacts of emerging energy
technologies.
Solid Waste
In the past, the solid waste research
program has focused on the development
of technologies and techniques for
disposal of hazardous and other forms of
solid waste. Since much of this work has
been at bench scale, our efforts over the
next five years will be directed toward
testing the disposal methods developed in
our laboratory work under actual field-
scale conditions. We will also place more
emphasis on recovery and reuse of wastes.
Toward the latter part of the period, we
hope to move more actively into research
on industrial process modifications aimed
at minimizing waste production than is
now possible. We anticipate spending
$11.7 million, $13.5 million, and $15.5
million respectively under the three
budget growth scenarios. These increases
over the fiscal 80 budget of $8.1 million
recognize the increasing attention hazard-
ous waste problems will be receiving in the
years ahead.
Nonionizing Radiation
EPA's health effects program for non-
ionizing radiation is the largest intramural
program of its type in the federal govern-
ment. Because of recent expanded interest
in this area, our nonionizing radiation
research program, funded at a level of
$0.9 million in fiscal 1978, has received
funding of nearly $2.0 million in fiscal
1979. Moreover, the Public Health Ini-
tiative calls for an increase of nearly $1
million in fiscal 1980.
The program currently concentrates on
providing information relevant to the in-
terim guidelines EPA is considering
establishing. In the future, the program
will focus on obtaining the information
which will be needed to revise the interim
guidelines and on likely exposures which
may have health implications. The Public
Health Initiative proposes to expand and
refine the information on the biological
effects of chronic, low level exposures.
This will be accomplished primarily
through studies of mutagenic, terato-
genic, immunological, and
neurobehavioral effects. Here, long-term
animal studies will be undertaken to help
identify the most sensitive biological
systems. Epidemiological investigations
having parallel objectives will also be con-
ducted. And, projects to reveal the
mechanisms by which nonionizing radia-
tion interacts with biological systems will
receive increasing attention and support
in the years ahead.
We do not anticipate that the rapid rate
of growth experienced in this program
over the past two years will persist
through 1983. Instead, we project a more
modest growth to levels of $2.9 million,
$3.4 million and $3.9 million in each of
the respective budget options.
Global Pollution
About 1.6 percent of EPA's fiscal 1979
research budget is dedicated to global
problems. This research addresses
primarily coastal and estuarine problems
which have possible implications for
oceans research and, to a much lesser ex-
tent, depletion of the ozone layer. Our in-
terests will be on global processes, the
consequences of anthropogenic con-
tamination of the atmosphere and
hydrosphere, and the resulting effect on
the biosphere. Given the current orienta-
tion of our global research, we foresee
small increases under the no growth and
moderate growth budget options. We
will, however, be looking to the efforts of
other federal agencies such as the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration and the Department of
Energy to provide much of the needed in-
formation on global problems. Under a
high growth scenario, global research is
projected to increase to a level of $8.0
million by 1983. These additional funds
would be used primarily to augment the
research efforts of other agencies.
117
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DOLLAR GROWTH PROJECTION
(FY 1983, OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT)
irmiFY 79
I IFY 80 (submitted)
EHSModerate Growth by '83
igh
45
30
15
Toxic Air Industrial Watershed Drinking
Substances Pollution Wastewater Management Water
Energy
and the
Environment
Solid Nonionizing Global Anticipatory
Waste Radiation Pollution Research
Anticipatory Research
Our research has been oriented largely
toward providing support for EPA's
regulatory mission. Recently, the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences pointed out
that EPA also needs an anticipatory pro-
gram to identify potential environmental
problems before they reach crisis propor-
tions and to further our understanding of
fundamental environmental processes.
We have consequently taken major steps
toward the establishment of an an-
ticipatory research program in EPA. This
program was initiated in fiscal 1978 at a
funding level of approximately $9 million.
In fiscal 1979, we are funding the pro-
gram at $9.4 million and anticipate that
the funding level will grow at a rate
roughly equivalent to the growth of the
overall research budget. The anticipatory
program is presently focusing on better
delineation of problems of current in-
terest such as acid rain, environmental
carcinogens, assessment of benefits de-
rived from environmental control, and
environmental forecasting techniques. In
the long term we expect this program to
be used primarily to identify areas for
possible regulation development.
118
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APPENDIX B
Interagency
Coordination
Approximately three-fourths of the en-
vironmental research funded by the
federal government is performed by agen-
cies other than EPA. At present, our
Office of Research and Development
maintains formal coordination with 39 of
these federal agencies. Because of shared
interests, we are also currently co-funding
more than 200 research projects. In each
chapter of this report we have attempted
to identify the major agencies with which
EPA deals in the conduct of its research.
However, some of our interagency work
cuts across the programmatic descriptions
given in this report and is therefore dif-
ficult to discuss under a separate program
chapter. Thus, we have included this ap-
pendix on interagency coordination to
highlight some of our other important
working relationships.
Health Effects
EPA has major involvement with a
number of agencies involved in en-
vironmental health effects research. The
Assistant Administrator for Research and
Development is a member of the National
Advisory Environmental Health Council
which provides guidance to the National
Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS) on extramural research
related to cancer and other
environmentally-caused health effects.
EPA also works with an interagency task
force to examine the long term needs,
goals, and resources for NIEHS research
programs and participates in various
working groups created to implement task
force recommendations. In response to
Section 402 of the Clean Air Act Amend-
ments, the Administrator of EPA chairs a
task force which is specifically charged
with recommending and coordinating a
comprehensive research effort to assess
the relationship between environmental
pollution and human cancer and heart
and lung disease. Task force members in-
clude the National Cancer Institute
(NCI), the National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National
Institute of Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH), and the NIEHS.
EPA maintains an interagency agree-
ment with the Center for Disease Control
(CDC) for support on epidemiological
studies and health emergencies. We are
also contributing to epidemiological
studies conducted by the Food and Drug
Administration and the National Cancer
Institute. These agencies are studying
water supply and tap water samples to
determine whether carcinogens that may
contribute to bladder cancer exist in
drinking water.
Finally, EPA participates in several
other health-related task forces and ad-
visory panels such as the Army Science
Advisory Panel and the Steering Commit-
tee on Primate Use.
Marine Pollution
EPA participates in several interagency
cooperative research efforts aimed at im-
proving our understanding of the impact
of human activities on the ocean. EPA
and the Bureau of Sports Fisheries and
Wildlife jointly conduct research into
ocean-borne pesticides. We coordinate
shellfish pollution studies with the Food
and Drug Administration and assist the
Department of Interior's Bureau of Out-
door Recreation in the selection of ap-
propriate study sites. Our work with the
National Science Foundation includes
evaluation of water quality indicators; we
are also engaged in modeling the
transport and fate of pollutants in the
marine environment with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion, U.S. Geological Survey, and the
Bureau of Land Management.
Other interagency research addresses
impacts and cleanup of oil spills. EPA,
the Department of the Interior, the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration, and the U.S. Coast Guard
are developing an oil spill damage assess-
ment program. Some EPA efforts under
this program include a cooperative study
with the National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration on the Argo
119
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INTERAGENCY COORDINATION
Source: Research Outlook 1978.
Department or Agency
Agriculture
Federal Research Science and Education
Administration
Food Safety Quality Service
Commerce
National Bureau of Standards
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Defense
Corps of Engineers
Energy
Health, Education and Welfare, Public Health Service
Food and Drug Administration
Bureau of Radiological Health
National Center for Toxicological Research
National Center for Health Statistics
Disease Control Center
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
National Cancer Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Housing and Urban Development
Interior
Fish and Wildlife Service
Bureau of Land Management
National Marine Fisheries Service
United States Geological Survey
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife
Bureau of Outdoor Recreation
Labor
State
Transportation
Federal Aviation Administration
United States Coast Guard
OTHER AGENCIES
Council on Environmental Quality
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Tennessee Valley Authority
National Science Foundation
National Academy of Sciences/National Academy
of Engineering
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Great Lakes Basin Commission
Air
Pollution
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o
X
o,x
o
o,x
o
o
o
o
o,x
o,x
o
o
o
o
o
Water
Pollution
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o
o,x
o,x
X
o
o,x
o
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o
o,x
o,x
o
o
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o
o,x
o
Energy
X
X
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
X
X
X
o,x
X
Pesticides
& Toxics
o,x
o,\
0
o
0
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
X
o,x
o
o
o,x
o
o,x
Radiation
0
o,x
o,x
o,x
o
o
o,x
(),X
o
Health
Effects
o,x
o,x
o
o,x
o
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o,x
o
o,x
o
X
Other3
o,x
0
o
0
Including noise, solid waste, and policy research.
o — Coordination through committees.
x — Coordination through joint research.
120
-------
Merchant oil spill; cooperation with the
Bureau of Land Management to review
outer continental shelf documents; and
co-sponsorship of an oil spill conference
with the U.S. Coast Guard, Bureau of
Land Management, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Depart-
ment of Energy, and the Office of Naval
Research. EPA also uses U.S. Navy
facilities to do research on the
characteristics and effects of drilling mud,
and through a joint EPA-Army Corps of
Engineers technical committee, we coor-
dinate research on the regulatory aspects
of dredging.
Monitoring
A fundamental environmental manage-
ment problem has been the fragmentation
of the many on-going environmental
monitoring efforts. For example, data are
collected by the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration on pollutant levels in food,
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on
pollutant levels in soil, and by the U.S.
Geological Survey on pollutant levels in
water. However, these related data sets
cannot be synthesized due to gaps in col-
lection, incompatibility of data storage
techniques, and differences in methods of
analysis. Monitoring coordination neces-
sary to resolve these problems is needed in
three primary areas: linkage of en-
vironmental monitoring data with health
effects data, ecological (or biological)
monitoring programs, and state monitor-
ing programs for air and water quality.
EPA has taken major steps to promote
monitoring coordination. With respect to
health and environmental data, EPA and
the National Center for Health Statistics
are working to correlate the Center's mor-
tality and morbidity data with EPA's en-
vironmental data. Our recent contribu-
tions to the Interagency Regulatory
Liaison Group also promise to improve
environmental and health data collection
analysis. In the biological monitoring area
EPA has developed a computerized sys-
tem that provides centralized storage and
retrieval for aquatic data. This system is
currently being operated on a pilot basis.
Another biological monitoring coordina-
tion program deals with the lack of stan-
dardization of sample collection, sample
preservation, and analysis techniques. In
this program EPA will help produce
guidelines for standardized biological
laboratory procedures. State monitoring
programs will be upgraded by guidance in
establishing and operating air and water
monitoring systems that can meet the re-
quirements of EPA regulations and stan-
dards. This guidance will be provided to
states through EPA's ten regional offices.
It will assure quality of data collection
through the use of approved measurement
methods, quality control techniques and
materials, and audits of data and system
performance. Furthermore, efforts are
underway to prevent duplication of state
monitoring activities and to provide
uniform guidance to state monitoring
programs for analysis of ambient air, sta-
tionary pollution sources, and drinking
water.
121
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APPENDIX C
International
Coordination
Many countries throughout the world
are actively involved in environmental
research of interest to the U.S. Govern-
ment in general and EPA in particular.
This appendix briefly describes some of
EPA's more important international rela-
tionships. For a more complete discussion
of our international activities, the reader
is referred to Research Outlook 1978.
EPA expands its
reach
by seeking
information
from many
nations
EPA's involvement with other nations
is oriented toward the solution of en-
vironmental problems of current U.S.
concern. The focus of research is pri-
marily in the areas of toxic substances,
atmospheric pollution, water pollution,
hazardous wastes, energy, and en-
vironmental monitoring. Our specialists
work on joint projects under bilateral
agreements with Canada, the Federal
Republic of Germany, Japan, Mexico, the
USSR, Egypt, Poland, Yugoslavia,
Pakistan, and India. We participate in
working groups within multilateral
organizations such as the Organization of
Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD), NATO's Committee on the
Challenges of Modern Society, United-
Nations Environmental Program, World
Health Organization, Pan American
Health Organization, Commission of
European Communities, and the
Economic Commission for Europe. EPA
also participates in factfinding missions,
attends international symposia, and pro-
vides advice to countries requesting our
assistance in solving their environmental
problems.
Toxic Substances
Through major international organiza-
tions such as the Chemicals Group of
OECD we are actively involved in a
chemical testing program to harmonize
test methods and develop the capability to
predict long-term human health effects of
a chemical before that chemical enters the
environment. We are discussing with the
Commission on European Communities
the standardization of premanufacturing
procedures and the evaluation of toxicity
testing methods. In cooperation with the
World Health Organization, EPA is de-
veloping an international plan of action to
improve the evaluation of chemical ex-
posure health risks.
EPA is also working with individual na-
tions on toxic substances issues. Par-
ticularly noteworthy is our involvement
with Japan and the Federal Republic of
Germany. Under a U.S.-Japan bilateral
agreement, we have exchanged informa-
tion on mercury removal from con-
taminated wastewater and sludges, DDT
and PCBs in accumulated sediments, the
fate and effects of toxic substances in
sediments, and dredging technology. EPA
is cooperating with the Federal Republic
of Germany in a study of methods for,
and the feasibility of, an environmental
specimen bank. The objective here will be
to develop a capability for long-term
storage of biological specimens for future
trends analyses of pollutant burdens.
Atmospheric Pollution
EPA's international program on at-
mospheric pollution has a primary focus
on transport and transformation and the
biological and health effects of air
pollutants. Because the United States and
Canada have an increasing number of
cross-boundary air pollution problems,
EPA has assisted the Department of State
and the International Joint Commission
to assess both countries' potential public
health impacts of air pollution sources.
Furthermore, EPA and Environment
122
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24
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
AND PROJECTS—UNITED STATES,
CANADA, AND MEXICO
25
CANADA
27
Legend:
1. Eastport
2. St. Croix River Basin
3. St. John River
4. Dickey-Lincoln Dam
5. Richelieu-Champlain
6. Reynolds Metals
7. Prescott-Brockville
8. Darlington
9. Nanticoke
10. Lake Erie
11. Detroit-Windsor
12. Great Lakes
13. Lake Michigan
14. Atikokan
15. Rainy River
16. Red River
17. Garrison Diversion
18. Boundary Dam
19. Poplar River Plant
20. Flathead River/Cabin Creek Mining
21. Okonagon River
22. Skagit River
23. Puget Sound
24. Yukon River Basin
25. Beaufort Sea
26. San Diego-Tijuana
27. San Diego-Tijuana
28. Calexico-Mexicali
29. Nogales-Nogales
30. El Paso-Ciudad Juarez
31. Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras
32. Laredo-Nuevo Laredo
> Water
I Nuclear Power Plants O Coal-Fired Plants D Air Pollution
Source: Washington University. Energy—Air Pollution: A Picture Book of Systems Behavior. 1978.
123
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Canada are working closely on mobile
source air pollution problems.
The United States also has cross-
boundary air pollution problems with
Mexico. EPA and Mexico's Subsecre-
tariat for Environmental Improvement
are formulating a Memorandum of
Understanding to establish a formal ex-
change of information, training, and
surveillance methods. It is expected that
this joint U.S.-Mexico program will assist
the Mexican government in the design and
implementation of standardized air moni-
toring systems so that data collected in
Mexico are comparable to United States
data. We hope future activities will in-
clude joint studies that determine the
transport of air pollutants across the
border in both directions and that can
assist in developing mutually agreeable
control programs.
EPA is also involved in air pollution
research activities on problems not
directly affecting our borders. We cur-
rently assist the Economic Commission
for Europe's Steering Body on Long
Range Transport of Air Pollutants in the
study of sources, transport, and fate of
sulfur oxides. Researchers from Japan
and EPA exchange information on
meteorology and photochemical air pollu-
tion with particular emphasis on condi-
tions that create smog. EPA and the
USSR are jointly working on air pollution
modeling and measurement and station-
ary source control technology. Two
specific projects under this joint research
will be: a wind tunnel experiment to
simulate distribution of air pollutants
over a specified complex terrain, and a
field experiment in the USSR to study for-
mation and transformation of natural
aerosols. EPA has participated in ac-
tivities under the Tripartite Agreement on
Stratospheric Monitoring that has ac-
celerated coordinated research within the
member countries of France, the United
Kingdom, and the United States. Finally,
EPA represents the U.S. position on
stratospheric ozone to the United Nations
Coordinating Committee on the Ozone
Layer.
Water Pollution
Clean up and restoration of the Great
Lakes and development of improved in-
formation on wastewater treatment and
disposal methods are the two major areas
of EPA's water pollution research coop-
eration with other countries. Under the
1972 U.S.-Canadian Great Lakes Water
Quality Agreement, EPA research is pro-
ducing management models for control of
phytoplankton, pathway studies for haz-
ardous substances, sediment-water in-
teraction models, and studies of nonpoint
source and thermal discharge effects on
Great Lakes biota. Both countries are ex-
changing information on the method-
ology for setting water pollution stan-
dards and are comparing information on
toxicology methods including biochem-
ical, microbial, and analytical chemical
methods.
Participation by EPA in international
wastewater research includes source
characterization of pollution, advanced
wastewater treatment technology, process
modification, and analyses of sludges and
their environmental behavior. The study
of advanced wastewater treatment being
conducted under the auspices of NATO's
Committee on the Challenges of Modern
Society (CCMS) is one of the most impor-
tant of the research efforts. The United
States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy,
France, and Germany are studying such
topics as format standardization for inter-
national information exchange, use of
oxygen-enriched air to treat contaminated
effluent, land spreading of sludge, nu-
trient removal, reverse osmosis, elec-
trodialysis, and ion exchange. The
US-USSR Working Group on Prevention
of Water Pollution from Industrial and
Municipal Sources is focusing on various
phases of new Soviet technologies to pro-
cess wastewater including electrolytic
coagulation, high energy magnetic separa-
tion, freezing, ozonization, dissolved air
flotation, and air stripping.
124
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SUMMARY OF EPA'S ENVIRONMENTAL INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Organization/Activity
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Commission of European Communities (CEC)
Committee on Challenges to Modern
Society (CCMS)
International Organizaton for Legal
Metrology (OIML)
International Standards Organizations (ISO)
Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD)
United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative
Organization (IMCO)
International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA)
International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO)
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
United Nations Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations Environment Program
(UNEP)
BILATERAL COOPERATION
Brazil
Canada
Federal Republic of Germany
France
France and United Kingdom*"
Iran
Israel
Japan
Mexico
Saudi Arabia
Soviet Union
United Kingdom
SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITES OVERSEAS
PROGRAM
Egypt
India
Pakistan
Poland
Yugoslavia
Research, Development, and Demonstration Programs
Air
Pollution8
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Water
Pollution"
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Radiation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pesticides
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Noise
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
"Includes troposphere and stratosphere.
"Includes marine, estuarine, and freshwater environments
clncludes hazardous, solid, and radioactive wastes.
""Tripartite agreement. Source: Research Outlook 1978.
Waste
Management
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Toxic
Substances
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Energy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
125
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Hazardous Wastes
EPA is working with various countries
to assess risks and benefits of hazard-
ous waste disposal methods. Through
NATO's CCMS, we are participating in a
study on alternative disposal methods for
hazardous wastes from electroplating and
steel hardening processes. Areas of poten-
tial future cooperation between EPA and
Japan include pyrolysis of solid waste, en-
vironmental effects of vinyl and polyvinyl
chlorides, improved collection systems
management and technology, hazardous
waste treatment and disposal technology,
recovery of past consumer waste, and in-
dustrial waste management information
systems. Finally, as part of the revised
U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Agreement, a
supplementary hazardous substances
report is being developed.
Energy
Our international energy research ef-
forts deal primarily with coal. In 1977 the
United States and the Federal Republic of
West Germany initiated a cooperative
program to examine control of emissions
from coal-fired facilities. EPA and the
German Ministry of Research and Tech-
nology have agreed to exchange informa-
tion and, in certain cases, to work
together to assure efficient development
of technologies that permit coal to be
burned in an environmentally acceptable
manner. Included in this cooperative ef-
fort are the control technologies for sulfur
oxides, nitrogen oxides, and particulates.
EPA is also working on four projects
under a U.S.-USSR Environmental
Agreement. The projects concern gaseous
emissions, particulate abatement
technology, process improvement and
modification, ferrous metallurgy, and "a
new United States initiative"—protection
of the environment from coal preparation
plant operations. Both countries are ex-
amining a variety of energy issues in-
cluding abatement of sulfur dioxide emis-
sions through various control techniques
using lime/limestone, magnesia, and am-
monia scrubbing; dust collection tech-
nology; characterization of aerosols;
demetalization pretreatment for the
hydrodesulfurization of petroleum resid-
uals; preliminary coal cleaning; and fuel
utilization methods in power generating
systems to eliminate harmful emissions.
The Great Lakes
EPA serves as a resource base and focal
point for interagency research on the
unique problems of the Great Lakes. In
addition to our cooperative efforts with
the International Joint Commission on
the Great Lakes, we also share informa-
tion and closely coordinate research with
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the Great Lakes Basin
Commission, and the Great Lakes
Fisheries Commission. One current joint
research effort between EPA and the
Great Lakes Environmental Research
Laboratory of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration is the
modeling of nearshore processes and
hydrodynamic transport mechanisms.
Additionally, EPA's Large Lakes
Research station maintains the data base
for the Great Lakes Research community,
including federal and state agencies,
academic institutions, and the Canadian
government.
Monitoring
In addition to its activities in the
Stratospheric Ozone Monitoring Pro-
gram, EPA has the lead responsibility to
fulfill the international monitoring pro-
gram on the Great Lakes under the 1972
U.S.-Canadian Water Quality Agree-
ment. International coordination of
monitoring activities is achieved through
the surveillance subcommittee of the
Water Quality Board. This subcommittee
devises the most cost-effective plans and
assures collection of appropriate mea-
surements for use in nutrient management
models. The resulting data are shared by
the two countries. Currently, intensive
monitoring efforts on each lake occur on-
ly every 5 years. The Research Advisory
Board, however, feels that more intensive
biological monitoring will improve our
126
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understanding of trends in the Great
Lakes.
EPA is also active in the United Na-
tions Environmental Program's Global
Environmental Monitoring System. This
system will link existing national air
monitoring activities. United States
cooperation in the global water quality
monitoring network is expected to in-
crease as a result of EPA's role as a
World Health Organization Collab-
orating Center for Environmental Pollu-
tion Control. The data from joint
surveillance and monitoring of the Great
Lakes will be incorporated into the Global
Environmental Monitoring System.
127
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APPENDIX D
Office of Research
and Development
The Office of Research and
Development (ORD) is responsible for
planning, managing, and implementing
EPA's comprehensive environmental
research, development, and demonstra-
tion program. Under the direction of an
assistant administrator, ORD produces
scientific data and technical tools upon
which EPA can base national policy for
effective pollution control strategies and
reasonable environmental standards. The
Assistant Administrator for Research and
Development also serves as principal
science advisor to the EPA Administrator
and coordinator for EPA policies and
programs concerning carcinogenesis and
related problems.
ORD's current resource base is approx-
imately $316 million and 1800 staff
members. The scientific capabilities of
ORD are in the functional areas of health,
ecology, pollutant transport and fate,
control technology, and environmental
monitoring.
TREND OF ORD BUDGET
at
-
o
Q
U.
O
z
o
_1
s
300
250
200
150
100
50
effect on cost of
1971 R&D program
environment budget
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980*
*As submitted to the Congress FISCAL YEAR
128
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ORD LABORATORIES AND ORGANIZATION
ORD Laboratories
Office of Research and Development
Office of Research Program Management
Environmental Research Information Center,
Cincinnati, Ohio
Environmental Criteria
Assessment Office
(RTF, North Carolina)
Assistant Administrator
for
Research and Development
Office of the
Principal Science Advisor
Carcinogen Assessment
Group
Office of Monitoring and
Technical Support
Headquarters Technical Divisions:
Monitoring Technology
Technical Support
Laboratories
1 Environmental Monitoring and
Support, RTF
2 Environmental Monitoring and
Support, Cincinnati
3 Environmental Monitoring and
Suport, Las Vegas
Office of Energy, Minerals
and Industry
Headquarters Technical Divisions:
Energy Processes
Industrial Extractive
Processes
Laboratories
1 Industrial Environmental
Research, RTP
2 Industrial Environmental
Research, Cincinnati
Office of Air, Land
And Water Use
Straospheric Modification
Research Staff
Headquarters Technical Divisions:
Media Quality Management
Waste Management
Agriculture and Non-Point
Sources Management
Laboratories:
1 Environmental Sciences
Research, RTP
2 Municipal Environmental
Research, Cincinnati
4 Environmental Research,
Athens
5 Robert S. Kerr Environmental
Research, Ada
Office of Health
and Ecological Effects
Headquarters Technical Divisions:
Health Effects
Ecological Effects
Criteria Development and
Special Studies
Laboratories:
1 Health Effects Research, RTP
2 Health Effects Research
Cincinnati
6 Environmental Research,
Corvallis
7 Environmental Research,
Duluth
8 Environmental Research,
Narragansett
9 Environmental Research, Gulf
Breeze
129
-------
The EPA research, development, and
demonstration program is planned and
managed by EPA's Washington, D.C.
headquarters and is implemented through
four major ORD offices:
• The Office of Monitoring and
Technical Support (OMTS) is
responsible for the development and
demonstration of monitoring
systems, quality control of pollutant
measurement and monitoring
techniques, dissemination of
technical information, and technical
support services. Three laboratories
report to OMTS.
• The Office of Energy, Minerals, and
Industry (OEMI) is responsible for
assessment and development of
methods to control environmental
and socioeconomic impacts from
energy and mineral resource extrac-
tion, processing, conversion, and
utilization and from other industrial
operations. Three research
laboratories report to OEMI.
• The Office of Air, Land, and Water
Use (OALWU) is responsible for the
development and demonstration of
cost-effective methods to prevent or
manage pollutant discharges or
waste disposal (except the disposal
or discharges related to energy,
minerals, or industrial processes).
Four research laboratories report to
OALWU.
• The Office of Health and Ecological
Effects (OHEE) is responsible for
health and ecological data to sup-
port establishment of standards and
criteria or guidelines for those com-
ponents of the environment that
may need to be protected from
specific pollutants or activities. Six
research laboratories report to
OHEE.
130
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APPENDIX E
CHESS-The Community
Health and
Environmental Surveillance
System-
Congressional
Recommendations-
Status Report II
Background: A controversy about the
scientific credibility of results from the
CHESS study prompted a series of con-
gressional hearings in 1976. Subsequently,
17 major recommendations were made by
Congress to EPA regarding methods and
means to upgrade its environmental
research. These recommendations
covered a wide spectrum of subjects.
Public Law 95-155, the Environmental
Research, Development and Demonstra-
tion Authorization Act of 1978 specified
that EPA annually report on the im-
plementation status of each recommended
action. This report is the second status
report; the first was in Research Outlook
1978.
Because last year's report was the first
status report, it included descriptions of
all the recommendations and subsequent
EPA actions. The reader is referred to
that report and documents in the
bibliography for detailed information
about the recommendations. Given below
is a status update of only those EPA ac-
tions taken last year.
Recommendation
3-CHESS Monograph
This recommendation concerns the
public access to and understanding of the
limitations of the CHESS monograph. To
comply, we have sent an appropriate
cover letter and copies of the Research
Outlook 1978 (which contains the first
status report on the CHESS recommenda-
tions) to locatable holders of the CHESS
monograph. Any additional copies of the
CHESS monograph that are distributed
will be accompanied by copies of the
cover letter and the Research Outlook
1978. Finally, a notice is planned for the
Federal Register informing the public of
the availability of further information on
the CHESS monograph. These actions,
we believe, satisfy the intent of recom-
mendation 3.
Recommendations 10(a),
10(c) and 12(a)
These recommendations concern peer
review of EPA's scientific research. The
subject has received increased attention in
various quarters of EPA in the past year.
To improve the quality of research
throughout ORD, the EPA Assistant Ad-
ministrator for Research and Develop-
ment has directed establishment of peer
review mechanisms at the laboratory
level. He has also directed the head-
quarters line managers, to whom the
laboratories report, to structure a head-
quarters level peer review. Submission of
ORD research results to referred scientific
journals is also being stressed.
The EPA Science Advisory Board
(SAB) is a prime source for peer review
of research and research program plan-
ning advice. Its various components
regularly examine elements of ORD's
research program.
Recommendation 10(a) specifically
concerns establishment of an inter-
disciplinary task force to draw up a plan
for EPA to develop "a solid base of
knowledge and procedures in aerometric
instrumentation and measurements, mete-
orology, field data gathering, quality con-
trol, epidemiology project design, and
testing and panel planning." Last year's
status report indicated that this recom-
mendation would be discussed with the
EPA's Science Advisory Board. The
Board's Health Effects Research Com-
mittee was directed by Public Law 95-155,
the Research, Development and
Demonstration Act of 1978, to review
EPA's health effects research, including
the recommendations of the CHESS In-
vestigative Report. The Committee is in
the process of completing its report. We
await that report, and the recommenda-
131
-------
RESOLUTION OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
Number
3(a)
3(b)
3(c)
4
4(b>
4(c)
4(d)
5
6(a)
6(b)
6(c)
6(d)
7(a)
7(b)
7(c)
7(d)
7(e)
7(f)
8
9
10(a)
10(b)
10
-------
(CONT.)
Number Summary of Recommendations
13(d)
14
15
16
17
The Science Advisory Board should develop outreach programs
The Administrator should clarify the role of the Office of Research and Development
and its laboratories
EPA should resolve the separation of facilities at RTF
EPA should develop a professional career development program for each
professional employee
The Administration should determine if EPA should conduct research under its present
organizational configuration
Action
Under
consideration
Shall be
implemented
Under
consideration
Implemented
Implemented
Source: Research Outlook 1978
tions of the Committee's Subcommittee
on Epidemiologic Studies. We will take
appropriate action based on the recom-
mendations.
Recommendation 10(c) concerns peer
review and approval of epidemiological
questionnaires and panel selection
criteria. Appropriate review and approval
are part of the review of epidemiology
studies in EPA's research program, con-
ducted by the SAB's Health Effects
Research Review Committee. It should be
noted that the Interagency Regulatory
Liaison Group (IRLG), composed of
EPA, OSHA, CPSC, and FDA has a
working group on epidemiology. A
subgroup addresses standards which
would apply to epidemiological studies in
order to assure scientific validity for use
as court evidence.
Recommendation 12(a) refers to peer
review panels for increased coordination
of research. The review responsibilities of
the Committees mentioned in recommen-
dations 10(a) and 10(c) fulfill this recom-
mendation. In addition, improved peer
review of EPA research was incorporated
within a new research planning system
established within the past year to im-
prove the responsiveness of ORD to EPA
program offices. This subject is discussed
in two reports to Congress: "The Plan-
ning and Management of Research and
Development Activities Within EPA,"
June 1978, and a follow-up status report
in December 1978.
These reports describe research plan-
ning via specially formed research commit-
tees. Each committee will consist of
representatives from ORD and EPA Pro-
gram Offices, and will plan research
specific to those offices. The new research
planning system calls for incorporation of
peer review mechanisms throughout the
planning and management process in
order to improve research quality. Several
research committees have been operating
successfully on a pilot basis, and more are
planned. While systematic peer review has
not yet been implemented in the pilot
committees, EPA hopes to do so within
the coming months.
Recommendations 13 (a),
13(c) and 13(d)
These recommendations address a
perceived isolation of EPA research. They
concern technical information exchange
and interaction of EPA scientists with
peers outside EPA, particularly with the
university community.
Last year's status report described
EPA's ties with the university com-
munity, mentioning, most notably, EPA
extramural research which involves grants
133
-------
with universities. In FY 1977, EPA
awarded 618 grants to 355 academic in-
stitutions. Each grant is monitored by an
EPA project officer, an arrangement
enabling our people to work closely with
researchers outside EPA.
Additionally, the Intergovernmental
Personnel Act has allowed an exchange of
researchers between EPA and state and
local governments and universities.
A report to Congress, "Laboratories
Needed to Support Long-Term Research
in EPA," April 1978, further explores
possible ties between ORD and univer-
sities. The report recommends a selec-
tively expanded program of long-range
research with both intramural and ex-
tramural components. An important
means of assuring coordination of these
components is scientist-to-scientist con-
tact between EPA and the academic com-
munity. The extramural portion of the
program would initially be a series of
small centers for long-range research at
universities and other institutions
dedicated to specific research problems.
In FY 1979, ORD will propose three such
centers, one each for advanced control
technology, epidemiology, and ground-
water research. These centers would serve
as bridges to the academic community
and should provide ORD with a reservoir
of talented scientists.
ORD's Minority Institutions Research
Support (MIRS) program also serves the
spirit of recommendation 13. MIRS was
established in 1972 to help minority in-
stitutions develop the potential for con-
ducting environmental research and thus
become more competitive for federal
funds. The EPA's MIRS staff maintains
continual liaison between university
researchers and the ORD scientific staff
to develop relevant research proposals.
Some expansion of the program is being
considered.
Recommendation 13(c) refers
specifically to EPA programs to fund in-
dividual PhD theses. EPA's workforce
training program, recently placed under
ORD's aegis, includes both academic
training grants given to various institu-
tions and fellowships to individuals.
EPA's role in this type of program is
unique since many whose work is crucial
to achieve environmental goals are not
directly employed by EPA. This non-
federal workforce includes wastewater
treatment operators, state environmental
employees, and other professionals. EPA
currently is working with the Department
of Labor and the Office of Education to
address various options for further work-
force development.
Recommendation 13(d) concerns
Science Advisory Board assistance to
EPA to develop an outreach program. We
have actively sought SAB counsel for
many activities related to our connections
with the academic community. For exam-
ple, the SAB helped prepare the report
cited above, "Laboratories Needed to
Support Long-Term Research in EPA."
Additionally, the EPA Assistant Ad-
ministrator for Research and Develop-
ment made a formal presentation to SAB
concerning ORD's university relations.
As a result of this presentation and
previous discussion, the SAB will develop
outreach program suggestions for further
consideration.
Recommendations 14 and
17
These recommendations state that the
EPA Administrator should clarify the
role of the EPA Office of Research and
Development and determine if research
should be conducted in its present
organizational configuration.
The Environmental Research, Develop-
ment and Demonstration Act of 1978
(Public Law 95-155) directed the EPA
Administrator to report to the President
and Congress the most appropriate means
of assuring that EPA's research efforts
reflect the needs and priorities of the EPA
regulatory program offices. The EPA Ad-
ministrator fulfilled that mandate with
the distribution of the report "The Plan-
ning and Management of Research and
Development Activities within EPA"
(June 1978). The information in this
134
-------
report satisfies both recommendations.
Concerning Recommendation 14—the
clarification of the role of ORD and its
laboratories—the report provided a
mechanism for improved coordination
between ORD and program offices for
planning research. This mechanism,
described above in connection with peer
review, is a series of research committees,
established for each research planning
unit. Five pilot committees have already
been established for key research areas
and more are planned. Each research
committee is chaired by a research
manager (designated by ORD) and has
representatives from relevant program of-
fices and EPA Regions. At a hearing
before the House Science and Technology
Committee, Subcommittee on the En-
vironment and the Atmosphere, the EPA
Administrator and Assistant Administra-
tors attested to the success of this ap-
proach. A formal status report on the
pilot activities was provided to ORD's
authorizing committees in December, 1978.
Further exploration of ORD's role in
the Agency was provided by the report
mentioned under Recommendation 13.
This report, "Laboratories Needed to
Support Long-Term Research in EPA"
(April 1978) examines alternative ap-
proaches for conducting long-term en-
vironmental research and presents find-
ings and recommendations. The report
also reviews the history of ORD labora-
tories, describes representative research
areas that could benefit from enhanced
long-term support, describes mechanisms
used by other federal agencies for carry-
ing out this kind of research, and presents
options for long-term research within
EPA.
Concerning Recommendation 17—that
EPA determine whether it should conduct
research under its present organizational
configuration—a study group found that
"the Agency's R&D problems have not
resulted from the way the R&D program
is organized." To reach this conclusion,
the group reviewed a number of similar
organizational structures in various
federal agencies. Possible use of some of
those organizational structures was re-
jected and, instead, the study group pro-
posed for ORD the management system
changes described above.
Recommendation 15
This recommendation directs EPA to
resolve the separation of facilities at
Research Triangle Park (RTP), North
Carolina. EPA's Office of Research and
Development (ORD) is presently prepar-
ing a program of requirements for a new
research and development facility at
Research Triangle Park. Additionally, the
Agency has set up an EPA long-range
plan for special purpose facilities. This
long-range plan would be agency-wide
and would include the EPA regional of-
fices' facilities as well as the Office of
Research and Development laboratories.
135
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2450 MHz Electromagnetic Radiation in the
Squirrel Monkey, Presented at the 19th
General Assembly of the Union of Radio
Sciences International, Helsinki, Finland,
1978.
Lovely, R.H., Guy, A.W., Johnson, R.B.,
and Mathews, M., Alteration of Behavioral
and Biochemical Parameters During and
Consequent to 500 pW/cm2 chronic 2450
MHz Microwave Exposure. Presented at
In'ternational Symposium on Electro-
magnetic Fields in Biological Systems, Ot-
tawa, Canada, 1978.
Smialowicz, R.J., Kinn, J.B., Weil, C.M.,
and Ward, T.R., Chronic Exposure of Rats
to 425- or 2450 MHz Microwave Radiation.
Effects on Lymphocytes, Presented at In-
ternational Symposium on Biological Ef-
fects of Electromagnetic Waves, Airlie,
Virginia, 1977.
Solar Power Satellite, System Definition
Study, Boeing Aerospace Company, Part I
and Part II, Volume I, 1977.
U.S. News and World Report. Vol. LXX-
XV, p. 78, July 17, 1978.
Global Pollution
Climate Research Board Workshop, Na-
tional Academy of Sciences (NAS)—to be
published.
Effects of Changes in the Ozone in the
Stratosphere Upon Animals, Crops, and
Other Plant Life, United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA), December 1, 1977.
First Bi-Annual Report to the Congress on
Research Activities of Relevance to the
Clean Air Act, National Institute of Health
(NIH)-National Cancer Institute (NCI),
December, 1977.
Initial Report of Findings 1975-1977 of the
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Machta, L., Hass, W., UV-B Measure-
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National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
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139
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Nitrates: An Environmental Assessment,
National Academy of Sciences, Wash-
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NOAA Climate Program Research Plan,
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Results of Studies and Research to Protect
the Ozone, Environmental Protection
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WMO Symposium on the Stratosphere,
World Meteorological Organization
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Anticipating Environmental
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Brown, Lester R., The Global Economic
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Technology Assessment Modeling Project.
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140
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QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS
While there were many people within EPA who contributed to the development of this
Research Outlook, the senior ORD managers listed below had lead responsibility for writing the
individual chapters. You are invited to call them with your questions and comments.
CHAPTER
Toxic Substances
Air Pollution
Industrial Wastewater
Watershed Management
Drinking Water
CONTACT
Randall Shobe
Courtney Riordan
Carl Schafer
Darwin Wright
Lawrence Gray
ORGANIZATION TELEPHONE
Energy and Environment Frank Princiotta
Clinton Hall
Solid Waste William Rosenkranz
Nonionizing Radiation Daniel Cahill
Global Pollution Herbert Wiser
Anticipating Environmental Dennis Tirpak
Research Needs
ORD-HQ
OALWU-HQ
OEMI-HQ
OALWU-HQ
OALWU-HQ
OEMI-HQ
OEMI-HQ
OALWU-HQ
HERL-Cin.
ORD-HQ
ORD-HQ
(202) 755-0468
(202) 426-0803
(202) 755-9014
(202) 426-2407
(202) 426-0288
(202) 755-0205
(202) 426-4567
(202) 426-2260
(919) 629-2771
(202) 755-0477
(202) 755-0455
Credits for this report: Robert Lane (Coordinator), Richard Laska
U S. EnvltonmenW Prow*""
Chicago, IL 606044590
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