United States Washington DC 21K-2001
Environmental Protection 20460 December 1990
Agency
&EPA Meeting The Environmenta
Challenge D^
EPA's Review Of Profr6S£
And New Directions In
Environmental Protection
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CONTENTS
PREFACE m
ADMINISTRATOR'S OVERVIEW iv
WATER i
Drinking Water 2
Lakes, Rivers, And Streams 2
Ground Water 4
Oceans, Coastal Waters, And Wetlands 4
AIR
The Conventional Pollutants 7
Air Toxics 10
Radon 10
Indoor Air 11
Global Atmosphere 12
LAND AND MULTI-MEDIA PROGRAMS is
Waste Disposal 14
Cleaning Up Abandoned
Hazardous Waste Sites 15
Underground Storage Tanks 16
Radioactive Wastes 16
Emergency Planning And
Community Right-To-Know 17
Pesticides And Toxic Chemicals 18
ENFORCING THE ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS 21
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 22
LOOKING AHEAD 25
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 26
Photo credit
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Photographer
Berry Rdsnig
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PREFACE
This report is the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency's account of where we
stand, twenty years after EPA
was established, and where
we're headed in the protection
of our nation's environment. It
describes successes,
acknowledges where we
haven't succeeded and lays
out some new directions that
the Agency is charting to
improve the results of our
programs in the future.
In 1984 and again in 1988,
EPA released reports titled
Environmental Progress and
Challenges. These reports,
which are now out of print,
provided more detailed
information than this document
contains. EPA int«-nds to issue
another detailed progress
report in 1992.
During the past year, EPA's
management developed four-
year strategic plans for all
program areas. Some new
courses of action have grown
out of this exercise which are
summarized in this report.
One interesting aspect of EPA's
strategic planning is the
increased attention being paid
to collecting data which we can
use to determine the outcome
of our programs—the status and
trends in environmental
quality. These "environmental
indicators" should enable EPA
to do a better job reporting
progress in future years.
The Environmental Results
and Forecasting Branch of the
Office of Policy, Planning and
Evaluation prepared this report
with help from the Office of
Public Affairs and staffs in all
the program offices. We are
grateful for the valuable
contributions from all our
colleagues throughout EPA.
Photo by Steve Delaney
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ADMINISTRATOR'S
OVERVIEW
Dear Fellow Citizen,
Twenty years have passed
since the first Earth Day in
1970 heralded a new era in
environmental protection.
America has made impressive
strides in restoring the quality
of the nation's environment
over these past two decades.
Witness, for example, the
return of pollution-sensitive
fish to many of our rivers and
lakes. Or the cleaner air over
almost all our cities. Or the
rise from near extinction of the
bald eagle. These are results of
aggressive pollution control
programs, many of them
administered by the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency. Underlying this
progress is unwavering public
support for clean air, water and
land.
Yet America's environmental
record leaves ample room for
improvement. Smog, toxic
chemicals, wetlands
destruction, waters that still are
not fishable or swimmable, the
slow pace of hazardous waste
cleanup and many other
problems seem as
commonplace as our successes.
New concerns have arisen that
we were hardly aware of only
a few years ago—water
pollution from airborne
contaminants, stratospheric
ozone depletion, climate
change. We have put controls
PhOlo by Steve Delaney
IV
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on the largest, most obvious
pollution sources, only to
realize that further
improvements in
environmental quality won't
come without also stemming
pollutants from vast numbers
of small sources—farmers, dry
cleaners, automobiles,
individual households.
More Americans than ever
before must become part of the
environmental solution in the
1990s. In President Bush's
words, "Through millions of
individual decisions—simple,
everyday personal choices—we
are determining the fate of the
Earth. So the conclusion is also
simple: we are all responsible
and it's surprisingly easy to
move from being part of the
problem to being part of the
solution."
Since 1987, public concern
about the environment has
grown faster than concern
about virtually an}- other
national problem. A recent
Roper poll indicates that 78
percent of Americans support a
"major effort" by government
to solve our environmental
problems—up from 56 percent
just three years ago. Yet
people's daily environmental
behavior has lagged behind
these growing worries. Despite
this gap, there are now many
signs that Americans are
beginning to do more on a
personal level to protect the
environment.
In my efforts to accelerate
the nation's environmental
progress, I have trumpeted
several themes as my priorities
at EPA.
Pollution Prevention:
Treatment and disposal of
wastes is not enough;
pollutants must be prevented
from being generated in the
first place. We have learned
the inherent limitations of
treating and burying wastes. A
problem solved in one part of
the environment may become a
new problem in another part.
We must curtail pollution
closer to its point of origin so
that it is not transferred from
place to place. We must
consider the full range of
prevention options—from
greater energy efficiency to
stronger incentives for
producing less harmful
substances to expanded
recycling to natural resource
conservation. Pollution
prevention means a massive
change in America's habits of
waste generation and disposal,
as well as other changes in our
production and consumption
practices that must become
second nature to all of us.
International Leadership:
International leadership is
urgently needed to solve some
of the world's most pressing
environmental problems.
Climate change, acid rain and
stratospheric ozone depletion,
ocean pollution, the loss of
endangered wildlife and their
habitat—these transcend
national boundaries. So does
the need for sustainable,
environmentally sound
economic development. Few
Americans have ever
experienced the extreme
pollution we find today in
many underdeveloped
countries or in Eastern Europe.
No single country can solve
these problems alone, but the
United States can show the
way.
Ecology: EPA's commitment
to ecology and natural
resource conservation must be
renewed. Our mission goes
beyond protection of public
health. EPA is equally
responsible for protecting fish
and wildlife habitats and other
natural resources for their
ecological and recreational
values. America's economic
well-being also depends on
healthy natural resources. EPA
will work hard to achieve
President Bush's goal of no net
loss of wetlands. Marine and
coastal programs deserve more
emphasis, as does the
conservation of wildlife. We
will invest more in long-term
research to assess ecological
health and monitor trends.
Getting Results: More
environmental results can be
obtained through management
improvements, vigorous
enforcement, and greater
participation by the public.
There is never enough time,
people or money to do
everything. We must set
priorities, pursue risk-reducing
strategies, allocate resources
accordingly, and track progress
with good environmental
information. One key to better
results is understanding the
movement of pollutants among
the environmental media and
using all the government's
authorities in a coordinated,
comprehensive approach to
gain the greatest risk reduction.
Another key is strong
enforcement of the nation's
environmental laws. This past
year EPA set, or nearly
equalled, record levels in all
areas of enforcement. We need
to speed hazardous waste
cleanups, and do it cost-
effectively, as well as develop
new technologies to do the job.
And EPA should do a better
job sharing data on the
environment with the public.
We will continue to build
public trust by relying more on
citizens' groups, the private
sector, and states and localities
to help us determine priorities
and strategies.
These themes are being put
into practice across the broad
spectrum of EPA programs,
and our record over the past
two years is evidence of
accelerated progress in
environmental protection.
Some highlights:
• After a decade of gridlock,
EPA and other federal agencies
crafted a comprehensive
package of amendments to the
Clean Air Act that will reduce
urban smog, control toxic air
pollutants, and cut emissions of
pollutants that contribute to
acid rain.
• The clean air bill and other
Bush Administration initiatives
now underway will have a
beneficial impact on the global
atmosphere. The
Administration negotiated with
other countries a complete
phase-out by 2000 of most uses
of ozone-depleting substances.
An ambitious tree-planting
initiative has been launched.
And energy conservation and
other measures are in the
works.
• EPA's Pollution Prevention
Office was strengthened to
work with industry and private
groups. Grants totalling $12
million have been awarded to
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states to boost development of
pollution prevention projects.
In September, 1990, EPA
reached voluntary agreements
with corporate leaders to
reduce toxic air emissions from
40 chemical plants in 14 states
by a combined total of almost
83 percent over the next three
years. As a result, some nine
million fewer pounds will be
put into the environment when
fully implemented.
• Work is underway to achieve
the Administration goal of
reducing municipal solid waste
by 25 percent through a
combination of source
reduction and recycling
measures. And EPA is
engaged in promoting
environmentally sound federal
procurement practices,
including purchase of products
made of recycled materials.
• The Administration proposed
legislation to improve food
safety by streamlining
regulations to allow faster
removal of harmful pesticides
from the market, and EPA has
stepped up its efforts against a
wide range of suspect
pesticides. The Agency
proposed to cancel the
fungicide EBDC and did stop
the use of Alar.
• EPA issued proposals to
regulate 17 pesticides and 21
other contaminants in drinking
water, almost doubling the
number of pollutants subject to
federally enforceable standards.
• The Bush Administration and
the states brought actions
against 61 cities for failure to
control industrial discharges of
toxic and hazardous
wastewater into their sewage
treatment systems.
• EPA staff are working with
Poland, Mexico, China, and
other governments in Eastern
Europe, Latin America and
elsewhere to provide assistance
in environmental problem-
solving. EPA is a party to 26
currently operative bilateral
agreements with other
countries, and two more are
soon to be signed.
• EPA played a pivotal role in
opening, in 1990, the new
Eastern and Central European
Regional Environmental Center
in Budapest, Hungary. By
assisting private environmental
groups, mis independent
center, proposed by President
Bush in 1989, will help
strengthen emerging
democratic trends in the
region.
• Following the Exxon Valdez
oil spill, EPA field tested a
successful new cleanup
method, bioremediation~the
application of fertilizers to
speed the activity of naturally-
occurring, oil-degrading
microbes. EPA also helped
assess damages and is
coordinating an interagency
task force on long-range
restoration of Prince William
Sound.
• EPA announced a ban on
almost all new uses of asbestos
in the U.S. by 1997. And EPA
launched a management and
communications review to
assure that Agency guidance
on the most effective ways to
reduce asbestos risks—often by
managing asbestos in place—is
understood by schools,
building owners, community
officials, lenders, and others.
• After an intensive
management review, EPA
reoriented the Superfund
hazardous waste cleanup
program to get the worst sites
cleaned up first, to get
emergency action on imminent
hazards done immediately, and
to get more of the work done
by the responsible parties.
1989 was a banner year, with
over $1 billion dollars in
settlements reached with
responsible parties—more than
a five-fold increase in the
dollar value of cleanup work in
enforcement settlements in FY
1987, and nearly double the
value of settlements reached in
FY 1988.
• EPA and several coastal
states implemented a pilot
medical waste tracking system
to prevent medical wastes from
washing up on beaches. The
Agency is implementing an
action plan developed with
other federal and state agencies
to prevent medical wastes and
other debris from fouling
beaches and harbors in the
New York-New Jersey area.
• EPA took action to end
ocean dumping of sewage
sludge by 1992.
• Enforcement has been
stepped up, with record-high
penalties levied for violations
of federal environmental laws.
Environmental indictments and
convictions in fiscal year 1989
were 70 percent higher than in
fiscal 1988. In the last two
years, the Administration filed
as many Superfund cases as in
the first six years of the
program.
These themes and
accomplishments reveal the
scope of EPA's progress and
challenges. For a more
complete picture, I urge you to
read this report. It contains a
wealth of information about
EPA's activities. If you have
further questions, please
contact the EPA Regional
Office that serves your state,
listed on page 26 .
William K. Reilly
Administrator
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WATER
America's water quality record
is a mix of remarkable
improvements and hard-to-fix
problems that all levels of
government are struggling
with. Controls on point sources
of pollution such as wastewater
treatment and industrial plants
have been quite effective, but
widespread small sources are
mostly unchecked. Toxic
chemicals are a continuing
problem. Pollution-sensitive
fish have returned to some
lakes and rivers, but aquatic
habitats are degrading in many
coastal waters. Population
pressures are increasing the
sources of pollution and, at the
same time, leading to increased
demand for clean water.
EPA's program for the 1990s:
maintain and enforce existing
controls, put extra work into
protecting special high-value
waters that are threatened,
control toxic pollutants, assist
state and local governments in
reducing pollutants in runoff
("nonpoint sources"), focus
more heavily on preventing
further degradation as well as
restoring currently polluted
waters, and improve the ways
we assess the quality of the
nation's waters.
j*
Photo by Steve Delaney
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WATER
Drinking
Water
Lakes, Rivers,
And Streams
More Americans are drinking
safe water than ever before.
Diseases from contaminated
water such as cholera and
typhoid have been eliminated
in the United States.
Nevertheless, toxic chemicals
and microbiological
contaminants are a continuing
threat to both surface and
ground-water sources of
drinking water.
In 1974, the Safe Drinking
Water Act (SDWA) authorized
EPA to establish regulations to
limit the amount of various
substances in water used for
drinking. In 1986, amendments
to the SDWA accelerated EPA's
regulation of toxic
contaminants, banned all future
use of lead pipe and lead
solder in public drinking-water
systems, mandated greater
protection of ground-water
sources of drinking water, and
streamlined procedures to
ensure that public water
suppliers comply with the Act.
The SDWA also established
provisions to protect ground-
water supplies from
underground injection of
wastes. These controls regulate
the permitting, construction,
operation, monitoring, and
closure of five classes of
injection wells.
EPA's Wellhead Protection
Program (WHP) was created
under the authority of the
SDWA to protect public water
supply wells. The WHP
program is a comprehensive
approach for protecting these
ground-water supplies from all
sources of contamination.
The extent and significance
of drinking water
contamination is still being
Community water systems are
performing better with more
supervision
80000
Community water systems
60.000
40.000
[ [ No major deficiera
I Under supervision
1970
1974
1980
1990
The number of regulated drinking
water contaminants is growing
dramatically
200
Standards
150
-100
SDWA enacted
50
1970
1980
1990
2000
assessed. EPA, through the
states, monitors the operation
of all public water systems,
and also works on evaluating
new treatment technologies.
EPA now is striving to bring
further improvements in the
nation's drinking water. By
1995, we will set new
standards for 108 contaminants
and work with the states to
vigorously enforce them. We
will complete initial monitoring
and regulations for lead and
for radionuclides (including
radon). We will work to
improve filtration of microbial
contaminants.
These new requirements,
while ensuring good quality
drinking water, can be
tremendously expensive,
particularly for small
communities. To alleviate the
financial burden, EPA is
exploring new and more
affordable technologies and
helping states certify and train
small plant operators. EPA
also is encouraging
management efficiencies that
save money. For instance,
communities can reduce
drinking water monitoring and
treatment costs by preventing
contamination through
aggressive wellhead protection
programs.
The costs for making all the
necessary water system
improvements will be $1 to $2
billion per year. States will
need an additional $200 million
in one-time expenditures to
develop and install new
programs and $131 million
annually to maintain those new
programs. EPA will try to
lessen these costs where
possible.
For the past twenty years, EPA
has been working with all
levels of government, industry
and environmentally-
committed citizens to make
America's waters fishable and
swimmable. Most water
pollution controls in the 1970s
were aimed at limiting
discharges of the most common
pollutants from industries and
sewage treatment plants.
These efforts have brought
some impressive results. For
example, in 1972, 36 percent of
the nation's rivers that were
assessed by the states met their
water quality standards and
supported beneficial uses such
as fishing and swimming; by
1988 that figure had increased
to 70 percent. Between 1977
and 1988, the number of people
served by adequate sewage
treatment plants ("secondary"
treatment or better) increased
84 percent-from 75 million to
138 million.
However, poorly treated
sewage continues to cause
pollution problems. Many
cities and towns are still on
construction schedules to reach
secondary treatment levels (85
percent removal of
conventional pollutants such as
oxygen-demanding materials
and suspended solids). And
"new" pollutants are coming to
our attention—minute amounts
of toxic chemicals that are
much harder to identify and
control. The 1987 Clean Water
Act amendments require
certain industries to "pretreat"
their wastewater so that toxic
chemicals and other harmful
substances do not enter
sewerage systems that were not
designed to treat them. These
pretreatment requirements
have been the subject of
concentrated EPA enforcement
activity in recent years.
Nonpoint source pollution is
another problem that needs
much more attention. Toxics
and other pollutants often
come from many small, widely
dispersed sources that are very
difficult to regulate, such as
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Trends in Water Quality
Is our Nation's water quality getting better or worse?
Most rivers and lakes assessed by the states
support fishing and swimming
River miles Lake acres
Not suDportmg 53,449 Not supporting 1,591,391
Partially supporting 104,632 | Partially supporting 2,701,577
urban runoff and drainage of
pesticides, fertilizers and
animal wastes from farmland.
EPA recently awarded $40
million in grants to states to
stem the flow of pollutants
from nonpoint sources, which
appear responsible for most of
the remaining damage to the
nation's rivers, streams and
lakes.
Today the emphasis in
EPA's surface water programs
is on maintaining the gains we
have achieved nationwide
while expanding controls on
nonpoint and toxic sources and
targeting valuable, threatened
waters for additional concerted
action. EPA is relying even
more strongly on state and
local governments to achieve
the nation's water quality
goals. Some key directions
include elimination of risks
from selected highly toxic
pollutants from point sources,
significant reduction of risks
from all other toxic pollutants,
control of stormwater
discharges including combined
sewer overflows, and strong
federal leadership and
assistance to states in
controlling nonpoint sources—
particularly agriculture. In
Sewage treatment has improved... but agriculture and other nonpoint
Population in millions served by
secondary waste water
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This is a question that water quality analysts are often
asked, and one that is not easily answered.
We know that we have made progress since the
1970's in cleaning up the most obvious pollution
problems. There are many examples of rivers that have
been returned to health after the construction or
upgrading of sewage and industrial wastewater
treatment facilities. We know that there has been a
significant rise in the number of people served by
improved levels of sewage treatment. We are making
strides in better enforcement of clean water laws. We are
learning increasingly sophisticated and effective
techniques to monitor pollution.
However, we also know that our data are limited.
Because States have traditionally designed their
monitoring and assessment programs, a great deal of
variation exists between Sates in the data they collect
and the analyses they use. Data that vary so widely
cannot be effectively aggregated and analyzed to yield
trends on a national basis.
Even within a State, it is difficult to measure trends
over time because of the inherent variability in the
constituents that are typically monitored. Long term
monitoring records generally focus on a discrete set of
traditional chemical constituents.
However, we know now that factors other than these
traditional constituents also affect water quality. Habitat
degradation and toxic substances are two such problems
and data on them are limited. Furthermore, as our
monitoring techniques grow more sophisticated, we are
discovering the magnitude of previously under-
estimated problems.
Because of these factors, the question of whether the
Nation's water quality is getting better or worse is one
we can only answer rather subjectively at this time. We
can point to many examples of improvements, and say
that significant progress has been made-but we also
know that previously undetected problems are becoming
evident, and that some persistent problems remain.
addition, EPA is seeking
solutions to other high-priority
concerns related especially to
the nation's lakes, including
eutrophication, contaminated
sediments, shoreline
modifications, and pollution
reaching lakes from the air and
ground water. Pollution
prevention is a new focus for
all water programs—the
elimination of pollutants at
their sources so that we have
to rely less on costly waste
treatment and cleanup of
pollution after it has occurred.
Funding responsibilities for
wastewater treatment facilities
have already begun to shift to
the states. In 1988, EPA
estimated that an additional
$88 billion is needed for these
facilities. Since federal funding
at that level is not realistic,
Congress authorized seed
money for states to establish
revolving loan programs to
replace federally-financed
construction grants. Nearly all
states now have established
these new funding programs,
and EPA is helping states find
other alternative funding
mechanisms, such as fees-for-
service, to pay for needed
expansion of state and local
water programs.
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WATER
Ground
Water
Oceans,
Coastal Waters,
And Wetlands
Ground-water protection is an
exceptionally complex issue,
cutting across economic sectors,
all levels of government, and
most environmental statutes.
The nation's ground water is a
vitally important natural
resource—as a source of
drinking water for over half of
our population, as a support
system for sensitive
ecosystems, and as a water
supply source for industry and
agriculture. Once
contaminated, it can be
technically difficult and
enormously expensive to clean
up.
Since issuing a Ground-
Water Protection Strategy in
1984, EPA has made significant
strides in the protection of
ground-water resources, both
in implementing ground water-
related statutory authorities
and in developing new EPA
initiatives and activities. In
addition to protecting ground
water that is a source of
drinking water, as described
above, EPA also protects and
cleans up ground water by
implementing pollution
prevention efforts; controlling
the availability and use of
pesticides; controlling
hazardous waste facilities,
municipal landfills, surface
impoundments, and
underground storage tanks;
and cleaning up past and
current releases of hazardous
substances.
States also are making great
progress in developing their
own ground-water protection
strategies and wellhead
protection programs. By mid-
1990, EPA had approved six
state wellhead protection
programs and is working with
24 other states in the approval
process. To help the states,
EPA has provided financial
assistance of over $40 million
since 1985 for developing and
implementing ground-water
protection strategies, as well as
significant technical assistance.
Over the next few years EPA
will strive for an appropriate
mix of ground-water protection
and restoration efforts, but the
emphasis will be on preventing
further pollution from a wide
range of threats that have not
been adequately addressed.
Wellhead protection continues
to be a key component of
ground-water programs, but
other initiatives also are
underway. For example, EPA
is working with other federal
agencies to develop
technologies that minimize
contamination from
agricultural sources. EPA also
is preparing a Pesticides in
Ground Water Strategy, which
will focus on improving
agricultural practices to protect
ground water.
By 1988, normal agricultural usage of pesticides had contaminated
ground water in most states
Oceans, near-coastal waters,
estuaries, and wetlands have
been underprotected in the
past. Their deterioration was
highlighted in the summers of
1988 and 1989 when swimmers
fled beaches littered with
medical waste and
contaminated with fecal
coliform bacteria. One-third of
the nation's shellfish beds are
closed due to pollution or lack
of monitoring, resulting in
millions of dollars of lost
revenues. Twenty-five percent
of monitored estuarine waters
have elevated levels of toxic
substances, and eutrophication
(excessive plant growth) is
increasing the number of "dead
zones" where fish cannot
survive. Coastal fisheries,
wildlife and waterfowl
populations have declined
while population and industrial
growth along the coasts have
increased dramatically—more
than 120 million Americans
now live within 50 miles of the
shore.
Recognizing these growing
problems, EPA established an
Office of Marine and Estuarine
Protection in 1984 to
administer all of the Agency's
ocean and coastal programs.
So far, EPA's key achievements
have been continuation of the
Great Lakes restoration
program and start-up of
programs in the Chesapeake
Bay and 17 estuaries that are
part of the National Estuary
Program, progress toward a
ban on ocean dumping of
sewage sludge and industrial
waste, and the creation of a
Coastal and Marine Policy to
promote coordination of coastal
programs conducted by
different federal and state
agencies. Since 1985, the Office
of Marine and Estuarine
Protection has also been
implementing a "near coastal
waters" plan for managing
environmental problems in
waters that are not being
addressed by the ongoing bay
and estuary programs.
In 1986 EPA established an
Office of Wetlands Protection
charged with leading a broad-
based national effort for
protecting the nation's wetland
resources. Wetlands include
coastal marshes as well as
inland swamps, marshes,
tundra, bogs and similar areas.
Among their many values,
wetlands provide habitat for a
wide variety of wildlife and
serve vital flood and erosion
control functions. More than
half of the wetlands originally
in the contiguous United States
have been lost since the time of
European settlement. In the
two decades between 1955 and
1975, over 11 million acres
were lost and others have been
degraded by pollution and
hydrological changes so that
they no longer perform many
of their natural functions.
In 1989, EPA issued a
Wetlands Action Plan with a
goal of no net loss of wetlands
in the short term, and a gain in
the quantity and quality of
wetlands in the longer term.
EPA and the Army Corps of
Engineers are working to
improve the effectiveness of
their jointly administered
Top ten pollutants in estuaries
50- % impaired sq miles affected
by each pollutarv
40-
30-
20-
I
o
«B
Number of pesticides detected
No data 1 -7 8
21 +
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Over half of the wetlands acreage
has been lost in the lower 48
states
Remained in tre Mid 1970's
46% or 99 rr illion acres
Section 404 (Clean Water Act)
program, the principal federal
program regulating the
physical modification of
wetlands and other waters.
EPA also is providing guidance
and support to state and local
governments for wetlands
protection, workmg with other
federal agencies whose
activities impact wetlands,
increasing public awareness of
wetland functions and values,
and conducting research to fill
gaps in science to support
wetland decisions.
EPA has an ambitious
agenda for stepping up
protection of wetlands, coastal
waters and the oceans in the
1990s. To achieve the no net
Sources of pollution in estuaries
50-H % impaired sq miles affected
by each pollution source
40-1
30-
20
loss of wetlands goal, we are
increasing enforcement of
federal restrictions on activities
which destroy or degrade
them. EPA is becoming a
center of wetlands expertise,
providing more research,
training and communication on
wetlands management. We are
helping states build
comprehensive wetlands
programs, including water
quality standards for wetlands
and conservation plans which
incorporate both regulatory
and non-regulatory approaches.
EPA and other federal agencies
are developing better ways to
monitor the health and extent
of the nation's wetland
resources.
In the 1990s, EPA intends to
work with state and local
governments to substantially
increase the acres of shellfish
beds open to harvest, reduce
fishery bans and advisories due
to contamination, decrease
beach closures, and eliminate
ocean dumping of sewage
sludge and industrial wastes.
We want to encourage state
and local governments to
manage coastal development so
that it proceeds in an
environmentally sound
direction. We want to
strengthen nonpoint source
management programs in all
coastal counties and tighten
controls on point source
discharges of toxics, nutrients
and other pollutants to restore
coastal water quality. Raw
sewage flows from combined
sanitary-storm sewers—a
problem that is especially
severe in many older seaboard
cities—needs to be curtailed.
Stormwater discharge permits
will be required for large cities
in all coastal counties, as will
help to smaller municipalities
with stormwater problems. All
types of offshore activities,
such as oil and gas operations,
will be asked to help protect
marine waters and surrounding
ecosystems from degradation.
The federal government is
taking enforcement actions to
EPA coastal initiatives
Puget Sound
San Francisco Bay,
Salinas Ri
isco Bay
isachuse'ts Bay
:arrjs Bay
agansell Bay
me Bay
sland Sound
NJ Harbor
'ork Bight
ire Bav
ire Inland Bays
eake Bay
•le Pamlico Sounds
Wetlands distribution nationwide
Acres
0 or no data
| 11 500 000
500K 1 000,000
l OOOK 5000000
over 5 000 000
eliminate any illegal ocean
disposal. EPA is supporting
citizen beach patrols to help
monitor and control sources of
marine debris. We are
working with other federal
agencies and states to improve
coastal water monitoring and
to increase the number of
estuarine/marine sanctuaries,
protected refuges, reserves and
parks. We also are working in
partnership with states and
municipalities to implement
plans for protecting estuaries
and other coastal waters
around the country. EPA is
promoting grass-
roots/governmental alliances to
improve public education
about coastal problems. We
are helping develop the
knowledge, technology and
controls to protect coastal
waters from pollutants
transported through the air.
EPA and other federal agencies
are working with the
international community to
assess the health of the oceans
and develop an integrated
approach to preventing further
ocean degradation.
-------
AIR"
Photo by Steve Detaney
Air quality is the United States
continues to improve, but the
battle is far from won. Many
areas of the country continue
to experience episodes when
pollution levels create human
health risks. Finishing the
cleanup in these areas may
prove more difficult and more
expensive than in areas where
we have already achieved
attainment with air quality
standards. New air pollution
problems are being discovered
that are not addressed by
current control efforts. Little
has been done in past years to
control hazardous and other
non-conventional air pollutants.
Existing controls appear
inadequate to protect lakes and
forests from acid rain. We are
searching for explanations and
solutions to possible global
climate changes. There has
been little effort to control air
pollution indoors, where most
of us spend the majority of our
time.
People in counties with 1988 air
quality that did not meet primary
National Ambient Air Quality
Standards
-------
EPA regulation during the past
two decades has brought major
improvements in U.S. air
quality. Atmospheric levels of
sulfur dioxide, carbon
monoxide, total suspended
particulates and £ad have all
been reduced, in some cases
sharply. Between 1970 and
sulfur dioxide dropped 27
percent, particulate matter
emissions were down 63
percent, and lead emissions
dropped a dramatic 96 percent.
Emissions of nitrogen oxides
increased slightl} (7 percent)
since 1970, but all areas of the
U.S. except Los Angeles have
met the nitrogen dioxide air
quality standard during the
past ten years.
These successes
notwithstanding, the challenges
ahead remain formidable. The
problem of ground-level ozone
or "smog" has proven
particularly difficult.
Atmospheric levels of ozone
have gone up 2 percent in the
last ten years, but this is due in
part to extremely warm
temperatures during the
summer of 1988. EPA ozone
standards are still not being
met in 96 major urban areas.
Carbon monoxide standards
are also being violated in 41
metropolitan areas. Even in
rural hilly regions, emissions
from woodstoves may create
carbon monoxide problems.
Although controls on carbon
monoxide and ozone-
producing chemicals have
reduced emissions from
individual cars, gas stations,
industries and most other
sources, these reductions are
being offset by rapid growth in
the number of sources. In
particular, the increase in cars
and miles travelled each year
points to worsening air
pollution problems unless the
nation undertakes additional
measures to prevent them.
Amendments to the Clean Air
Act will strengthen federal and
state ozone/carbon monoxide
programs in the 1990s. EPA
expects to design and
implement these programs in
cooperation with the states.
We are preparing to do a better
job of collecting and evaluating
data on emissions and
atmospheric concentrations of
these pollutants. We will set
realistic timetables for areas to
attain the standards, spell out
the consequences for failure to
attain them, and impose
appropriate sanctions to bring
nonattainment areas into
compliance. We will need to
broaden the scope of ozone
and carbon monoxide
regulation to cover all emissior
sources, including commercial
and consumer products and
motor fuels. One important
feature of the new program
will assist in bringing clean-
burning alternative fuels and
clean-fueled vehicles into the
marketplace, thus facilitating a
long-term reconciliation
between the automobile and
the environment. With these
measures, EPA expects that an
overwhelming majority of
American cities will be in
attainment with the national
standards by the year 2000.
Ozone Air Quality
Comparison of 1970 and 1988 emissions of conventional air
pollutants
Thousand
metric tons/yr
CO Air Quality
Average concentration PPM
20
10
,05
NAAQS
79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87
VOC Emissions
30
20
10
Lead
Transportation
Industrial processes
,,f,ue|cornbustion
79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 79
Average concentration PPM
•10
-NAAQS-
79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87
CO Emissions
Millions metric tons year
•60
40
Transportation
Industrial proi—.
82 83 84 85 86 87
-------
AIR
Particulate
Matter
Lead
Sulfur Dioxide,
Nitrogen Oxides,
And Acid Deposition
There has been considerable
progress in controlling
particulate matter (dust, smoke,
diesel exhaust, etc.), but
smaller particles still require
more rigorous controls. In July
1987, EPA revised its
particulate standards to include
the monitoring of only those
particles (called "PM-10") that
pose a risk to health because
they are small enough to
penetrate the most sensitive
regions of the respiratory tract.
Approximately 30 million
people live in areas where PM-
10 concentrations exceed the
standards. Besides controlling
industrial sources, EPA's
program requires development
of new controls that focus more
attention on unconventional
particulate sources such as
woodstoves, urban dust, and
open burning for forest
management and agricultural
purposes.
The Clean Air Act
amendments require most
areas of the country to be in
attainment with the PM-10
standards by 1994. To achieve
this goal, EPA intends to raise
public awareness of the
problem and ways to control it,
develop more accurate data on
emissions and atmospheric
concentrations, oversee the
development of new state
plans for implementing the
PM-10 requirements, and take
steps to ensure compliance
with the control requirements.
The dramatic drop in
atmospheric lead levels over
the past decade is mainly the
result of EPA-mandated use of
unleaded gasoline, required to
maintain the effectiveness of
catalytic converters, and
reductions in the amount of
lead permitted in leaded
gasoline to the current limit of
0.10 grams per gallon. In the
early 1970s over 200 billion
grams of lead were used in
gasoline each year, but in 1989
less than one billion grams
were used—a reduction of over
99 percent.
Lead emissions from
stationary sources also have
been substantially reduced
TSP Air Quality
Average concentration
-NAAQS-
60
40
20
79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87
TSP Emissions
with the implementation of
state plans designed to attain
the particulate matter and lead
air quality standards. Current
lead standards are being
attained in all areas except in
the vicinity of a few "point
sources." In the 1990s, EPA's
objective will be to bring these
sources-principally smelters-
into attainment through a
combination of accelerated
enforcement, additional
monitoring, and revisions to
state air quality plans. EPA
will also complete a review of
the current lead air quality
standards and revise them if
necessary.
Lead Air Quality
Average concentration |ig/m
-NAAQS—
79 80 81 82 83 84 85
Lead Emissions
Thousands metric tons year
•100
75
50
25
Transportation
79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87
Although SO2 and NOX controls
have brought most areas of the
country in attainment with the
health standards for these
pollutants, they have not been
adequate to control acid
deposition (or "acid rain").
Acid deposition is a regional
problem with effects on the
health of animals, plants and
people, on visibility, and on
buildings (see box). Levels of
sulfur dioxide and NOX that do
not pose health or welfare
problems near the emission
sources can nevertheless travel
long distances in the
atmosphere and ultimately
return as acid deposition.
Two-thirds of SO2 emissions in
the U.S. are from burning of
fossil fuels by electric power
plants; about 20 percent from
other industrial sources. The
primary sources of NOX
emissions are highway vehicles
(31 percent) and electric power
plants (36 percent).
The new Clean Air Act
contain provisions for large
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88
-------
reductions in emissions of
sulfur dioxide arid nitrogen
oxides to combat acid rain.
The new national goal for year
2000 is to reduce SO2 emissions
nationwide by ID million tons
below 1980 level s-a 40 percent
decrease. NOX emissions will
be reduced by 2 million tons
below levels that would occur
in year 2000 without new
controls—approximately a 10
percent decrease from 1980
levels. We will achieve these
targets by instituting a variety
of reforms aimed at limiting
emissions after 1995,
principally from electric power
plants. Sources will be
permitted to "trade and bank"
their allowed emissions, which
will enable us to achieve
regional and national emission
targets in the most cost-
effective way—a market-based
approach to air pollution
regulation.
SO2 Air Quality
Average concentration PPM
030
-NAAQS—
020
010
79 80 81 82 83
SOx Emissions
Acid Rain
"Acid rain" is the term loosely used to refer
to all forms of acid deposition which can
occur in the forms of rain, snow, fog, dust
or gas. Man-made emissions of sulfur
dioxide (SOJ and nitrogen oxides (NOX) are
the principal causes. These pollutants are
transormed into acids in the atmosphere
where they may travel hundreds of miles
before falling in some form of acid rain.
Acid rain has been measured with a pH of
less than 2.0 - more acidic than lemon juice.
The political implications of acid rain are
an important issue, as the pollutants
causing acid rain may- originate within the
political boundary, yet the effects of these
pollutants realized within another.
EPA research in the 1980's has increased
scientific understanding of the effects of
acid rain, including the sterlization of lakes
and streams, detrimental reproductive
effects on fish and amphibians, possible
forest dieback and deterioration of man-
made structures such as buildings and
sculptures. These effects have been most
obvious in the eastern U.S. and Canada,
and in much of both western and eastern
Europe. The Clean Air Act of 1970 helped
to curb the growth of SO2 and NOX
emissions in the U.S., and the 1990 Clean
Air Act Amendments will bring significant
additional reductions.
N02 Air Quality
06
Average concentration PPM
. NAAQS -J
04
02
79 80 81 82 83
NOx Emissions
84 8') 86 87
Areas where precipitation in the East is below pH5
Shaded areas indicate states
having emissions of 1000
kilotonnes of S02 and greater
Contours connect points of equal
precipitation pH
How
Lemon juice Vinegar
acid" is acid rain?
"Pure"
rain (5 6)
Distilled
water Baking soda
Neutral
i i
Basic
10
12 13 14
The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 A value of 7 0 is neutral Readings below 7 0 are acidic,
readings above 7 0 are alkaline The more pH decreases below 7 0, the more acidity increases
Because the pH scale is logarithmic, there is a tenfold difference between one number and the
next one to it Therefore, a drop in pH from 6 0 to 5 0 represents a tenfold increase in acidity,
while a drop from 6 0 to 4 0 represents a hundredfold increase
All ram is slightly acidic Only rain with a pH below 5 6 is considered "acid ram"
79 80 81 82 83 84 86 86 87
-------
AIR
Air
Toxics
Radon
The problem of toxic chemicals
in the air requires more
attention by everyone. "Air
toxics" is the term generally
used to describe cancer-causing
chemicals, radioactive
materials, and other toxic
chemicals not covered by the
National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for conventional
pollutants. Air toxics result
from many activities of modern
society, from driving a car to
burning fossil fuel to
producing and using industrial
chemicals or radioactive
materials. They are one of the
highest health-risk problems
EPA is wrestling with. Motor
vehicles are by far the largest
contributor to air toxics-caused
cancer incidences in the United
States.
The Clean Air Act requires
special controls called
NESHAPS (National Emissions
Standards for Hazardous Air
Pollutants) for pollutants that
cause serious or irreversible
health effects. To date, EPA
has established standards for
only seven substances: arsenic,
asbestos, benzene, beryllium,
mercury, vinyl chloride and
radionuclides. A new
approach in the Clean Air Act
amendments means many
more will be regulated. Over
the past six years, the Agency
has also developed and
implemented a national
program to help the states
develop their own air toxics
programs, monitor and control
high-risk local "point" sources,
and address multi-pollutant,
multi-source urban toxics
problems. In addition, the
Agency's federal motor vehicle
emission standards continue to
reduce air toxics through the
standard for exhaust and
evaporative emissions.
EPA's Toxics Release
Inventory, a listing of annual
toxic chemical releases to the
air and other environmental
Health Effects of the Regulated Air Pollutants
Criteria
Pollutants
Ozone
Paniculate
Matter
Carbon
Monoxide
Sulfur
Lead
Nitrogen
Dioxide
Health Concerns
Respiratory tract problems such as difficult breathing and
reduced lung function. Asthma, eye irritation, nasal congestion,
reduced resistance to infection, and possibly premature aging
of lung tissue.
Eye and throat irritation, bronchitis,
lung damage, and impaired visibility.
Ability of blood to carry oxygen
impaired, Cardiovascular nervous and
pulmonary systems affected.
Respiratory tract problems, permanent Dioxide
harm to lung tissue.
Retardation and brain damage, especially in children.
Respiratory illness and lung damage.
Hazardous Air Pollutants
Asbestos
Beryllium
Mercury
Vinyl
Chloride
Arsenic
Radionuclides
Benzene
Coke Oven
Emissions
A variety of lung diseases, particularly lung cancer.
Primary lung disease, although also affects liver, spleen,
kidneys, and lymph glands.
Several areas of the brain as well as the kidneys and bowels
affected.
Lung and liver cancer.
Causes cancer.
Causes cancer.
Lukemia
Respiratory cancer
media from large
manufacturing facilities, has
helped prompt actions by
industries and communities to
address the problem. In 1990,
nine major U.S. companies
reached an agreement with
EPA to voluntarily reduce toxic
air emissions at 40 chemical
plants in 14 states. When fully
implemented in 1993, the
agreement will result in overall
annual reductions from these
plants of almost 83 percent, or
9,460,000 pounds.
In the 1990s, EPA will
attempt to reduce by 50
percent the nationwide
emissions of 191 toxic
pollutants listed in the Clean
Air Act amendments. The new
Act will remove legal
roadblocks that have hampered
EPA efforts in the past,
particularly with respect to
industrial plants. Sources of
the regulated pollutants will be
required to achieve emission
reductions comparable to
similar facilities that have the
best controls. If the control
technologies prove inadequate,
EPA will take further
regulatory action. States will
be given more responsibility to
regulate air toxics, and their
capability to do it will be
strengthened. With respect to
motor vehicles, EPA will
launch a program to accelerate
the introduction of clean fuels
(such as natural gas or
methanol) and clean vehicles
into the marketplace.
Exposure to indoor radon is
one of the most serious
environmental health problems
facing the American public-
second only to smoking as a
cause of lung cancer. Radon is
a radioactive, colorless,
odorless, naturally-occurring
gas that seeps through the soil
and collects in homes. Radon
problems have been identified
in every state, and millions of
homes throughout the country
have elevated radon levels.
In 1988, EPA and the
Surgeon General recommended
that all Americans (other than
those living in apartment
buildings above the second
floor) test their home for radon.
Testing for radon is simple and
inexpensive. Homes with high
radon levels can be fixed.
EPA's Radon Action
Program is designed to help
states, local governments, the
private sector and the public
identify radon problems and
take the appropriate correction
and prevention measures. EPA
also has a number of activities
underway in cooperation with
national organizations such as
the American Medical
Association and the American
Lung Association to motivate
the public to reduce radon
levels in their homes and
schools. In the 1990s, EPA will
continue to improve the
tecluiiques for radon testing,
mitigation and prevention,
with special emphasis on
schools and workplaces. We
will ensure the reliability of the
radon assistance industry. We
will help provide technical
training and promote measures
such as building codes and
radon inspections at the time
houses are financed. We will
identify target populations in
need of special assistance and
attempt to motivate them to
take corrective steps.
10
-------
A growing body of scientific
evidence indicates that the air
within homes and other
buildings can be more
seriously polluted than outdoor
air even in the largest and most
industrialized cities. There are
many indoor air pollutants and
pollutant sources thought to
have an adverse effect on
human health. These
Radon Risk Evaluation Chart
Estimated lung Comparable
cancer deaths due
DCi/1 Wi 'o radon exposure exposure
(out of 1000) levels
200 1 4«)_770 1000 times
average outdoor
level
100 05 270—630 100 times
average indoor
level
40 0.2 120—380
Comparable risk
More than
60 times
non-smoker risk
4 pack-a-day
smoker
2,000 chest
x-rays per year
2 pack-a-day
smoker
20 0 1 60—210 100 times
average outdoor
'-el
10 0.05 30—120 10 times
average indoor &Xx>xW:X;
level ::x:x:x:::x:x
I pack-a-day
smoker
D tiroes
non-smoker risk
0.02 13—50
200 chest
: x-rays per year
001 7—30 10 times
average outdoor
level
0.005 3—13
Average
indoor level
0.2 0.001 1—3 Average
outdoor level
Note Measuremer t results are reported in one of two ways
1) pCi/l|Plcocuries per liter) - measurement of radon gas
2} WLtWorkmg levels! - measurement of radon decay products
Source Office of ^ir and Radiation Programs, USEPA
Non-smoker
' risk of dying
from lung cancer
20 chest x-rays
per year
pollutants include radon (see
above), asbestos, environmental
tobacco smoke, formaldehyde
(associated with many
consumer products including
certain wood products and
aerosols), airborne pesticide
residues, chloroform,
perchloroethylene (associated
particularly with dry cleaning),
paradichlorbenzene (from
mothballs and air fresheners)
and a broad array of airborne
pathogens. EPA is taking a
lead role in coordinating
government activities to reduce
the public's exposure to indoor
air pollution. The Agency has
developed general information
and specific guidance
documents designed to raise
public awareness of indoor air
pollution and strategies to
reduce and prevent it. These
include documents offering
specific guidance on
construction of new homes and
Air pollution in the home
rehabilitation of existing
housing.
EPA is also conducting
research to identify and rank
the human health risks that
result from exposure to
individual indoor pollutants, or
mixtures of multiple indoor
pollutants. This research will
continue in the 1990s. Still
more research is needed to find
better methods for diagnosing
building-related illnesses and
correcting their causes. EPA is
exploring strategies to address
the high-risk indoor air
problems, which may include
regulations as well as non-
regulatory approaches such as
public education, technical
assistance, and training
programs.
Moth Crystals
Kerosene Heater Fresh Dry Cleaning
Carpeting
— Pesticides
Cleaners
Solvents
Aerosols
Glues
-------
AIR
Global
Atmosphere
In addition to acid rain (see
above), two other international
air pollution problems have
risen to prominence in the
1980s: stratospheric ozone
depletion and global warming
(the so-called "Greenhouse
Effect"). Since the early 1970s,
scientists have predicted that
emissions of
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and
other chemicals, such as
halons, would ultimately begin
to deplete the stratospheric
ozone that shields Earth's
inhabitants from the sun's
harmful ultraviolet rays. Some
studies indicate that these
predictions may be coming
true.
In 1978 EPA banned the use
in this country of CFCs in non-
essential aerosol propellants.
On signing the Montreal
Protocol in 1987, the United
States committed to reducing
other uses of CFCs 20 percent
by mid-1994 and 50 percent by
mid-1999. This year (June
1990) the Montreal Protocol
was revised in response to
evidence of accelerated rates of
damage to the ozone layer.
The amended Protocol calls for
a full phase-out of CFCs and
most other ozone-depleting
chemicals by 2000. The
Protocol also suggests a
schedule for phasing out CFC
substitutes that pose lesser
threats to the ozone layer. To
ensure full global participation
in the Protocol, a fund has
been established that provides
financial and technical
assistance to help developing
countries make the transition
away from ozone-depleting
chemicals.
Because of the scientific
complexity and uncertainty
surrounding global warming, a
great deal of the federal
government's effort is going
into research. In the fiscal year
1991 budget, the President
proposes $1.034 billion for the
U.S. Global Change Research
Program, a 57 percent increase
over 1990. In this program,
EPA is evaluating the sources
of all Greenhouse gases, as
well as working to predict the
potential consequences of
climate change on all the
earth's ecosystems, from
natural systems such as the
oceans and wetlands, to
systems created by man, such
as agriculture and urban
environments. As President
Bush noted in a 1990 article on
climate change: "One cannot
fail to see that deforestation,
ozone depletion, ocean
pollution and the threat of
global warming interconnect to
challenge our future." EPA is
placing a high priority on
working with other nations so
that governments can agree on
a set of appropriate responses
to these problems.
In conjunction with other
federal agencies, EPA is
participating in the work of the
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC), an
international body organized in
1988 by the United Nations
Environment Programme and
the World Meteorological
Organization. This year, the
IPCC is preparing three
international assessments of the
scientific understanding,
environmental and social
impacts, and possible policy
responses to climate change.
Based on the IPCC findings,
negotiations will begin on a
framework climate convention
dealing with the problem.
Finally, EPA is evaluating
public and private sector
technologies and policies to
alleviate global atmospheric
problems without causing new
problems in turn.
Greenhouse gas contributions to
global warming - 1980's
Regional contributions to global
warming
:hma 7%
United States 21 % ^ Rest of World 36%
razil 4%
India 4%
12
-------
LAND
AND MULTI-MEDIA PROGRAMS
Photo by Steve Detaney
Air and water pollution are
easier for most people to
conceptualize than land
pollution. Nevertheless, some
portions of U.S. lands are also
threatened by toxic,
radioactive, and other types of
hazardous substances.
Pollutants on the surface of the
land or in the soil frequently
migrate to surrounding air and
water, particularly ground
water. Sometimes this
contamination results from
direct applications of
chemicals, as with pesticides;
however, it can also occur as a
result of improper storage or
disposal of toxic wastes and
other substances.
Major challenges that face
those trying to protect our land
include preventing
contamination from improper
waste disposal, cleaning up
releases of hazardous
substances, tackling pollution
from underground storage
tanks, planning for emergencies
and informing the public, and
regulating pesticides and other
toxic chemicals.
-------
LAND
Waste
Disposal
EPA and the states have
undertaken a sweeping
program to revolutionize waste
management in this country—
especially hazardous wastes.
Before 1980, there was virtually
no regulation of hazardous
waste by the federal
government and little by the
states. People in the hazardous
waste management business
often disposed of waste in
municipal landfills and unlined
lagoons, or simply dumped it
on the ground. Increased
understanding of the
environmental impact of such
practices led to the enactment
of the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA) in
1976, and development of an
increasingly complex and
comprehensive regulatory
program during the 1980s.
This "cradle to grave" program
regulates hazardous wastes
from over 200,000 generators,
through transportation, storage
and treatment to final disposal.
Improperly managed
"Cradle to Grave": The Hazardous Waste Manifest Trail
Storage Facility
UNIFORM
HAZARDOUS WASTE
MANIFEST
Disposal Facility
Generator
EPA or State Agency
A one-page manifest must accompany every waste shipment. The
resulting paper trail documents the wastes progress through
treatment, storage and disposal. A missing form alerts the generator
to investigate, which may mean calling in the state agency or EPA.
Note: a manifest is unnecessary for waste treated and disposed of at the point
of generation.
Paper and yard wastes
are more than half of our trash
hazardous and municipal
waste may contaminate
drinking water supplies,
release toxic vapors into the
air, or cause explosions. To
ensure that hazardous wastes
being generated today do not
become expensive and complex
cleanup problems in the future,
EPA enforces the land
disposal restrictions program.
Many wastes that have not
been treated to specified
standards are now banned
from land disposal, and many
more will be banned over the
next several years. The
treatment standards are
designed to reduce the toxicity
of the waste and stabilize it
before land disposal.
EPA has also developed
other environmentally
protective requirements for
land disposal facilities, such as
double liners to prevent
contaminants from leaking into
ground water, leachate
detection and collection
systems, and ground-water
monitoring. Facilities are
regulated throughout their
operating life and 30 years
after they are closed.
Hazardous waste handlers
must now clean up
contamination resulting from
past waste management
practices as well as from
current activities. Over the
next decade, EPA will evaluate
which facilities need cleanup
and make sure that the worst
sites get cleaned up first. The
Agency is exploring ways to
create economic incentives that
will encourage ingenuity in
applying waste minimization
practices and recycling. EPA
describes its future plans for
these areas in a 1990 blueprint
for revitalizing the program,
entitled The Nation's Hazardous
Waste Management Program at a
Crossroads: The RCRA
Implementation Study.
Municipal solid waste is
another growing national
problem. Americans produce
more than 180 million tons of
trash each year. EPA has set a
The Products W<
Use
Plastics
Pesticides
Medicines
Paints
Oil, gasoline, and
other petroleum
products
Metals
Leather
Textiles
14
-------
goal of reducing the amount of
municipal solid waste by 25
percent by 1992 through source
reduction and recycling.
Specific actions for EPA, states,
industry, and the public to take
in addressing solid waste
issues are outlined in EPA's
1989 report, The Municipal Solid
Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for
Action. EPA is working with
the states to develop sound
solid waste management
programs that reflect new
federal standards for landfill
design, cleanup of
contamination, and location of
new facilities.
Pollution prevention is
increasingly seer as the
centerpiece of a progressive
national waste rranagement
strategy. In 1989, EPA formed
an Office of Pollution
Prevention to spearhead new
initiatives both in recycling and
source reduction EPA is
committed to a waste reduction
program that will encourage
industry, the general public,
and all levels of government to
reduce both the quantity and
the toxicity of waste that they
generate.
'he Potentially hazardous
waste they generate
3rganic chlorine compounds,
wganic solvents
Drganic chlorine compounds,
srganic phosphate compounds
Drganic solvents and residues,
leavy metals (mercury and zinc,
or example)
-ieavy metals, pigments,
>olvents, organic residues
Dil, phenols, and other organic
:ompounds, heavy metals,
immonia, salt acids, caustics
ieavy metals, flourides,
yanides, acid and alkaline
•leaners, solvents pigments,
ibrasives, plating salts, oils,
)henols
ieavy metals, organic solvents
ieavy metals, dyes, organic
hlorine compounds, solvents
The Challenges of
Preventing Pollution
Common sense tells us that
an "ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure."
Never has that been more
true than in environmental
protection.
The simple truth is that we
cannot regulate fast enough
to keep up with the .rising
tide of pollution and waste.
Our chief hope for
protecting the environment
and the quality of life on this
planet lies in a systematic
effort to prevent pollution at
its source, before it becomes
a problem.
Significant opportunities for
pollution prevention remain.
for all sectors of society, and
should be pursued according
to the following hierarchy of
environmental protection.
• Source and use
reduction—avoid, eliminate
or reduce the initial
generation of pollutants at
the source;
• Recycle or reuse pollutants
that cannot be reduced or
eliminated in an
environmentally sound
manner;
• Apply appropriate
treatment and destruction
technologies to minimize
human and environmental
exposure to such pollutants;
and
• Handle and dispose of
residual pollutants properly.
One of EPA's most important
responsibilities is managing
cleanup of the worst of the
abandoned hazardous waste
sites in the United States. The
Superfund program was
founded under the authority of
the Comprehensive
Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability
Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and
amended in 1986 by the
Superfund Amendments and
Reauthorization Act (SARA).
These laws authorize EPA to
respond to hazardous spills
and clean up abandoned sites
by either filing suit against the
responsible parties, issuing
these parties an EPA order, or
using a trust fund known as
Superfund. If EPA must
conduct the cleanup because
the responsible parties did not
do it voluntarily, the
government can take court
action to recover the costs.
To date, 32,506 potentially
hazardous waste sites have
been identified across the
nation. Over 90 percent of
these sites have undergone a
preliminary review to
determine the need for further
action. After initial
investigation, over 17,800 sites
were determined to require no
further federal action, but
many of these sites will be
cleaned up by the states. 1,207
sites have been listed or
proposed for listing on the
National Priorities List (NPL),
which identifies the nation's
most serious hazardous waste
sites.
Cleanup has now been
completed at 52 NPL sites, and
cleanup work has begun at
more than 500 of them. Short-
term emergency actions have
been taken at over 400 NPL
sites in order to remove or
control the immediate threats
to human health and the
environment while long-term
cleanup is underway. In
addition, emergency actions
have been taken at another
1,300 sites which were not
serious enough to be included
Initial assessment of dangers has
been completed at most potentia
Superfund sites
Awaiting initial assessment - 2/
National Priority List sites -1,246
Work has begun
at most priority sites
Cleanup work completed 52
Cleanup underway
251
Immediate
threat evaluated
ion not begun 203
Remedy
selected or under
design 20
Detailed studies of contamination
and remedies underway 539
on the NPL, but which posed
threats that needed to be
addressed quickly.
As part of SARA, Congress
directed EPA to focus more on
permanent remedies for
Superfund sites and less on
simply containing untreated
wastes on site. Treatment of
wastes is now a major
component of the remedies
being selected at many sites.
Tremendous efforts are
underway to develop the
technologies that will ensure
permanent cleanup remedies.
Under the Superfund
Innovative Technology
Evaluation Program, EPA is
evaluating new technologies to
destroy, immobilize, or reduce
the volume of hazardous
waste. EPA is committed to
increasing the numbers of
innovative technologies applied
to contaminated soils and
ground water.
The number of abandoned
hazardous waste sites has
turned out to be much larger
-------
LAND
Underground
Storage Tanks
Radioactive
Wastes
than originally realized when
Superfund was created.
Furthermore, cleanup is
extremely complex; it takes
more time and resources than
expected to get the job done.
After a recent review of the
Superfund program, EPA is
implementing a strategy for
better managing cleanups in
the 1990s.
The strategy calls for first,
eliminating acute health
threats. This has been
accomplished at all current
NPL sites and will continue to
be the first step for new sites
added to the list. Long-term,
more permanent cleanups are
then being conducted on a
priority basis—the worst
problems at the worst sites
first. EPA is also speeding up
the cleanup process and
expanding the development
and use of new technologies at
sites. So that more cleanups
can be conducted, EPA is
placing greater emphasis on
encouraging or enforcing
cleanup by those responsible
for the waste. Finally, EPA is
expanding the role of
communities near the sites in
cleanup decisions.
EPA is involving more responsible
parties in cleanup actions
There are over two million
underground tanks across the
country which store petroleum
and other chemicals beneath
gas stations or other
operations. EPA is working
with the states to develop
programs for cleaning up
contamination from leaking
tanks and preventing future
leaks. Chemicals which escape
from these tanks can
contaminate drinking water
supplies, and fumes can cause
health and safety hazards.
Since 1984, EPA has been
developing regulations for
improving the safety of
underground storage systems.
These regulations, now in
effect, include requirements for
tank registration, leak
detection, and leak prevention.
Owners and operators must
meet a range of requirements
for the design, construction and
installation of their systems,
including the repair or closure
of systems that do not meet the
new requirements.
EPA estimates that 20
percent of the regulated tanks
are leaking or have the
potential to leak. As of 1990,
63,000 releases had been
confirmed, with one-third of
these releases brought under
control.
If a leak occurs, the
regulations require that it be
cleaned up through
appropriate corrective actions.
In addition, owners and
operators must demonstrate
that they are financially
capable of paying for the costs
of cleanup actions or damages
resulting from leaks. A $500
million Leaking Underground
Storage Tank Trust Fund,
established by Congress in
1986, can also be used by states
for cleanup actions under
certain circumstances.
State and local governments
are best able to directly address
the human health problems
and ecological impacts of
underground storage tanks.
This is because of the high
variability of local conditions
(soil, ground water, etc.) in
which the tanks are buried,
and because there are so many
tank owners and operators
(750,000 nationwide). In the
future, states will become
completely responsible for
operating this program,
although EPA will continue to
identify and promote cleanup
technologies that are effective
and less costly. EPA will also
continue to assist states in
creating innovative funding
mechanisms to pay for
cleanups.
Two million underground storage
tanks are state regulated under
EPA authority: 400,000 (20%)
leaking or potentially leaking
400,000 leaking or potentially leaking
requiring further investigation
24,000 (38%) under control
Radioactive waste is generally
classified in the following
categories: low-level waste from
activities such as research,
diagnostic and therapy
medicine manufacturing,
electric power generation and
defense programs; spent fuel
and high-level radioactive waste
from nuclear reactors;
transuranic waste (man-made
radioactive atoms that are
heavier than uranium) from
defense programs; and waste
from mining and milling of
uranium and thorium ores.
In 1985 EPA issued
standards for the management
and disposal of spent nuclear
fuel, and high-level and
transuranic wastes. However,
litigation forced EPA to
reconsider the standards that
applied to release limits for
permanent disposal systems for
these wastes. EPA plans to
repropose the standards in
1991 and promulgate them by
1992.
EPA also expects to
promulgate standards for
management and land disposal
of low-level radioactive waste
in 1991. The standards for
commercial sites will
eventually be implemented and
enforced by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. The
U.S. Department of Energy will
implement the EPA standards
for federal facilities.
In the 1990s, EPA will
support regulatory efforts with
better public information and
education to help provide a
balanced perception of the
risks associated with
radioactive wastes. We will
also emphasize technology
transfer, making EPA expertise
available for risk assessment
and other skills needed by
states and the private sector.
EPA's radiation program will
promote pollution prevention
by focusing on industrial
processes and waste
segregation efforts that could
significantly reduce the volume
of contaminated waste.
-------
The Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act
of 1986, commonly known as
Title III, profoundly altered the
communication between
industry, EPA and the general
public about toxic substances
in the environment. Title III
provides communities with
unprecedented access to
information about toxic
chemicals in their communities,
and creates mechanisms for
minimizing the threats posed
by these chemicals. The law
calls for extensive data
collection, and for the creation
of State Emergency Response
Commissions to guide state-by-
state planning for chemical
emergencies. The
Commissions, in turn, have
created Local Emergency
Planning Committees to ensure
community participation and
planning. The result has been
enormous public pressure on
industries to reduce toxic
Toxics Release Inventory
Reported chemical releases and
transfers from major manufacturing
facilities
Note The decreases between 1987 and 1988
are due to reduction in waste generation, better
estimating techniques and remterpretation of
reporting requirements
Ten states with the largest TRI-reported releases and
transfers of toxic substances
releases, and better planning to
prevent and respond to
chemical emergencies.
One of the most visible
features of Title III has been
the Toxics Release Inventory
(TRI), an annual inventory of
toxic releases and transfers
from over 20,000
manufacturing facilities
nationwide. The TRI contains
extensive data on more than
300 toxic chemicals, waste
management practices, and
quantities of releases to the air,
water and land. TRI is based
on the premise that the public
has a right to know about
toxics that may be affecting
their health or their
environment. TRI data are
available in many forms--
printed reports, computer
access, at libraries, or through
EPA's TRI reporting center.
The TRI National Report
summarizes the data annually
and provides detailed analyses
of the types of releases and
their sources. The information
is a lever for action in many
communities, as citizens exact
pledges from local
manufacturing facilities to
reduce toxic discharges.
EPA expects the Toxics
Release Inventory to be an
important national tool for
promoting pollution prevenlior
and for documenting the
success of pollution prevention
efforts in the 1990s. TRI will
continue to evolve to meet the
broad needs of the
environmental community.
The list of chemicals required
to be reported is continually
reviewed; chemicals of little or
no toxic concern are removed
from the list, while other toxic
chemicals are added. EPA is
exploring several ways to
enhance the data base. These
improvements might include
collecting information on "peal
releases" of toxics, expanding
the types of industries required
to report, and collecting data
on pollution prevention at the
reporting facilities. EPA will
be working with all interested
parties during the 1990s to
build a national safety culture
with respect to toxic chemicals,
which will include nationally
accepted approaches,
techniques and incentives for
preventing chemical accidents.
15
-------
LAND
Pesticides And
Toxic Chemicals
The Toxic Substances Control
Act (TSCA) and the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) have
a unique place in
environmental legislation.
Most environmental laws
regulate wastes, emissions,
contaminants, or by-products,
but TSCA and FIFRA regulate
how commercial chemicals can
be used. EPA has three main
goals in dealing with
commercial chemicals:
preventing chemicals which
pose an unacceptable risk from
entering the market in the first
place, managing the use of
chemicals that are inherently
risky so that society can
continue to reap their benefits,
and removing chemicals from
the market when we determine
that they pose an unacceptable
risk.
Toxic Chemicals
One of the main ways EPA
controls toxic chemicals risks is
by preventing dangerous
chemicals from being used at
all. Since TSCA was enacted in
1976, EPA has reviewed more
than 15,300 new chemicals
proposed for commercial use.
Most of these chemicals were
determined to pose no
unacceptable risk. However,
several hundred of these cases
have been targeted for
additional regulatory action
and hundreds more were
withdrawn by their
manufacturers in the face of
anticipated EPA regulatory
action.
In 1984 EPA determined that
TSCA authority could be
extended to the oversight of
products developed through
biotechnology. EPA is now
preparing regulations to
implement the review of
genetically modified
microorganisms.
TSCA also authorizes the
Agency to regulate chemicals
already in use that have been
proven to pose an unacceptable
risk to human health or the
environment. EPA created one
of the first comprehensive
inventories of existing
chemicals in the world. To aid
in the huge task of assessing
which of the 68,000 chemicals
in the inventory pose an
unacceptable risk, EPA can
require manufacturers or
processors to conduct tests on
the health and environmental
effects of chemicals if the
Agency determines these
chemicals may pose
unacceptable risks and there
are insufficient data presently
available to perform a risk
assessment.
Congress and EPA have
determined that several
chemicals pose an unacceptable
risk, and have regulated them
under TSCA. In 1978, EPA
instituted regulatory controls
over the manufacture, use and
disposal of polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), banned the
aerosol uses of
chloroflourocarbons (CFCs),
and in 1989 banned the
manufacture of most asbestos
products. EPA has also
provided considerable grants
and guidance to protect
children from exposure to
asbestos in schools.
EPA also has the authority
under TSCA to gather
additional information on
chemical substances and to
require recordkeeping. EPA
can gather information on
potential exposures, as well as
health and environmental data
on designated chemicals. It
can require the submission of
unpublished health and safety
studies and notices of
substantial risk. The
information and test data
which are collected under
TSCA authority have been
used by many EPA programs
While nearly everyone has
"trace" levels of PCB's . . .
100%
.95 "Trace" PCB levels
90
75
50
25
72
. the percentage of
population with "high"
levels has gone down.
"High" PCB levels
83
and other federal agencies to
do a better job of assessing and
reducing the risks of chemicals.
EPA is currently exploring
new strategies to focus Agency
attention on the highest risk
toxic chemicals. More than ten
million chemical compounds
are known to exist worldwide.
Some 60,000 of these are in
commerce in the U.S., most of
them before we had laws
requiring that chemicals be
evaluated for their health and
environmental risks prior to
being manufactured. EPA has
recently undertaken a special
effort to revitalize our review
of the safety of these existing
chemicals. This program will
be a major priority in the
1990s. We are accelerating our
collection of information and
making more decisions (a "bias
for action") about regulatory
and non-regulatory approaches
to reduce unnecessary exposure
to chemicals and prevent toxic
pollution. We are encouraging
participation in this endeavor
by all groups concerned about
toxic chemicals. The strategy
includes chemical screening
that will be linked more
directly to risk management.
EPA will begin screening
clusters (or like groups) of
chemicals together. Screening
activities will build on growing
international efforts where EPA
is already a key player. To
maximize productivity, rules
for chemical testing will be
developed for groups of
chemicals wherever possible.
EPA will announce its chemical
testing priorities for public
review. Finally, risk
management opportunities will
be considered at all stages of
the risk assessment process to
allow earlier actions to be
taken when appropriate.
18
-------
Pesticides
The pesticide program is the
only EPA program which
licenses the use of chemicals,
many of which are potentially
hazardous to people or the
environment. Unlike most
commercial chemicals, most
pesticides are designed to kill
or otherwise control specific
target organisms. In doing so,
they offer a wide variety of
agricultural and cither benefits
for society.
Before a new pesticide may
be marketed or used in the U.S.
it must be "registered" by EPA.
In registering a new pesticide,
the Agency is responsible for
ensuring that the chemical,
when used according to label
instructions, will not present
unreasonable risks to human
health or the environment. The
nation's pesticide law (FIFRA)
requires EPA to tike into
account economic, social and
environmental costs and
benefits in making registration
decisions. If data indicate that
a pesticide may have
unreasonable adverse effects-
thai is, its risks outweigh its
benefits—EPA can simply
refuse to register the product;
can lessen the risks by limiting
the amount of pesticide
applied; can limit the frequency
or location of application; or
can restrict the use of the
pesticide to only specially
trained, certified applicators.
Before a pesticide is
registered for use on a food or
feed crop, a "tolerance" or
legally enforceable residue
limit must be set by EPA. Both
domestically produced and
imported foods are monitored
to be sure that they comply
with the established tolerances.
In addition to registering
new pesticides, EPA also is
undertaking the monumental
task of re-evaluating the safety
of older pesticides already on
the market.
EPA has a record of
accomplishment in the
pesticide area. Over the past
twenty years, the Agency
banned DDT (resulting in the
dramatic return of the bald
eagle), cancelled the
registrations of 34 other
potentially hazardous
pesticides, and eliminated the
use of 60 toxic inert ingredients
in pesticide products. EPA
disposed of all stocks of the
banned pesticide EDB, and is
currently disposing of dinoseb,
banned in 1986. We trained
and certified 250,000
commercial pesticide
applicators and over one
million private applicators
(farmers). We established the
National Pesticide
Telecommunications Network,
providing a toll-free number
for obtaining general
information on the use and
disposal of pesticides, and how
to recognize and manage
pesticide poisonings (800-858-
PEST). In 1990, EPA
completed a nationwide survey
to determine the extent of
pesticide contamination of
ground water, and we
developed a Pesticides in
Ground Water Strategy to
protect drinking water sources
from becoming contaminated.
More activities are underway
and planned to prevent
pesticide pollution in the 1990s.
We are encouraging the
development of safer
pesticides. Cancelled problem
pesticides have been replaced
by products that tend to be less
persistent in the environment,
are more precise in attacking
given target pests, and require
lower rates of application.
EPA's applicator certification
and training program will
increase the awareness of
pesticide hazards. We are
supporting the development of
new integrated pest
management practices which
reduce the reliance on
chemicals by using a variety of
pest control methods—chemical
and non-chemical. EPA is
implementing a program to
protect endangered species.
We are developing regulations
for the storage and disposal of
pesticides and pesticide
containers. EPA is working
with the the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, the National
Institutes of Health, the Food
and Drug Administration and
others to control uses of certain
genetically-altered organisms
and their release into the
environment. EPA will
promulgate pesticide worker-
protection standards in late
1990 or early 1991, and we will
also be proposing new
applicator certification and
training regulations.
Levels of persistent pesticides have declined in fish and wildlife
Fish
•1 0 Total DDT parts per million
•6
•2
69
84
MaHards by flyway
Total DDT parts per million
Levels of persistent pesticides have declined in humans
10
Parts per million
DDT
[~~l Dieldnn, Chlordane and associated chemicals
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
81 82 83
19
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LAND
Although EPA is promoting
the use of fewer and safer
pesticides, we are bound to
discover additional pesticides
that pose undue risks and
require regulatory control. The
Agency learned from its
experience with the EDB and
Alar situations during the
1980's that we need to act more
quickly when new data on old
pesticides shows evidence of
unreasonable risks. The
pesticide industry has become
more responsive when serious
questions arise about the safety
of existing pesticides. In the
cases of the EBDC fungicides,
aldicarb and mercury in paint,
pesticide manufacturers took
voluntary action to temporarily
or permanently halt problem
uses of these pesticides while
EPA's risk/benefit assessments
continued. Under the
President's leadership, EPA
worked with other federal
agencies to propose sweeping
new food safety and pesticide
regulation reforms. The
proposed legislation includes
measures to reduce by half the
time it takes to cancel a bad
pesticide.
Pesticide usage in the United
States appears to have
stabilized in recent years, after
steadily increasing in the 1960s
and 1970s. The 1990 Farm Bill,
currently before Congress,
contains a number of
provisions that could further
reduce agricultural pesticide
use and enhance environmental
quality. These provisions
include promoting more
environmentally sound crop
rotation practices, increasing
funds for sustainable
agriculture, promoting research
and education, and providing
incentives for farmers to adopt
more environmentally
compatible farming methods.
Another amendment would
establish national standards for
organically grown foods.
EPA is also making
significant efforts to prevent
pesticide misuse and overuse
in other countries. The U.S. is
both an important exporter of
pesticides and a major importer
of food commodities. Thus, we
have a great interest in
ensuring that pesticides are
used responsibly throughout
the world. Besides EPA's
interest in protecting public
health and the environment
abroad, we want to facilitate
international trade in
agricultural commodities by
harmonizing U.S. and
international pesticide
standards. To achieve these
ends, EPA has developed goals
for international pesticide
activities, we have proposed A
policy that would restrict the
export of pesticides banned in
the U.S., and we are actively
involved in related legislative
efforts.
U.S. Pesticide Usage
million Ibs -1200
1000
300
64 65 66 67
I Total US
69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
| Agricultural
81 82 83 84 85
87 88
20
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ENFORCING
THE ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
Enforcement of the
environmental laws is one of
EPA's top priorities. The last
twenty years have' seen an
evolution in the scope,
emphasis, and organization of
EPA's enforcement program, as
well as in the tools and
authorities to implement it. In
the 1970's, enforcement focused
on compliance with the Clean
Air and Clean Water Acts, the
first two major media-based
environmental laws. Actions
taken against major pollution
sources brought some
significant improvements in air
and water quality.
In the 1980s, new problems
led to new enforcement
priorities and strategies.
Hazardous waste issues
became a paramount concern
and, after a slow start, EPA's
enforcement program heavily
emphasized compliance with
the nation's new waste
management and cleanup laws
-RCRA and Superfund. The
Agency successfully used its
administrative enforcement
authorities to correct violations
of the laws regulating toxic
chemicals and pesticides (TSCA
and FIFRA) and assure
compliance with requirements
for introducing new chemicals
into the marketplace. The
overall scope of EPA's
administrative enforcement
program increased dramatically
through the 1980s.
The 1980s also saw the
creation of EPA's criminal
enforcement program.
Criminal enforcement—with
both the threat and reality of
jail sentences and heavy fines-
is the major deterrent the
Agency now has to deal with
willful and serious
environmental violations.
Since its inception in 1982,
individuals have received 199
years in prison sentences for
committing environmental
crimes and over 544 years of
probation have b«;en imposed.
The states also expanded
their civil and criminal
enforcement programs. By the
end of the decade, both EPA
and the states were operating
at record or near-record
enforcement levels for numbers
of actions and levels of penalty
assessments.
Nevertheless, there are still
places where noncompliance
with environmental laws is at
least partially responsible for
unhealthy air and dirty water.
Many problems are caused by
numerous new categories of
polluters which are added to
the regulatory system each
year. And the challenges
posed by long-term exposures
to low levels of toxic pollutants
must be met. EPA's
Guilty Pleas and Convictions for
Environmental Crimes
100
60
40
20
enforcement program will have
to become more sophisticated
in the 1990s to successfully
address these new realities.
First, we have to ensure that
environmental regulations are
more understandable and
enforceable. Second, we need
to focus enforcement resources
where they will achieve the
most environmental results.
This means targeting long-
standing violators, taking
enforcement actions to assure
that particularly valuable
ecosystems are protected,
focusing on pollutants that
pose the highest ecological and
human health risks, and
concentrating attention on
industrial sectors with serious
pollution problems.
Criminal Fines Imposed for
Environmental Crimes
$ millions
•12
10
n
83 84 85 86 87
Third, we need to use
innovative enforcement
approaches to deter violations
and develop incentives for the
regulated community to
prevent pollution and minimize
waste. Environmental auditing
requirements will be included
in settlements to identify and
correct root causes of
noncompliance. Settlements
will also contain pollution
prevention conditions which
correct violations through
source reduction and recycling.
Violators will become ineligible
for federal government
contracts. Enforcement actions
will be publicized to maximize
their deterrent value.
Fourth, EPA will encourage
the states to adopt these same
approaches and techniques to
enhance their own enforcement
programs. We will also
improve our working
relationships with other federal
agencies, municipal
governments and citizen
groups to build stronger
support for our environmental
enforcement mission.
83 84 85 86 87
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RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT
Research
Accomplishments
Since its inception in 1970, EPA
has conducted scientific and
technical research and
development to understand the
processes and practices that
cause pollution, the means by
which pollutants are
transported, the kinds of risks
that these pollutants pose, and
the ways to reduce them. The
tools that EPA uses to protect
the environment—policy,
education, regulation, and
technology—are grounded in
the knowledge provided by
environmental research.
Throughout the past three
decades, EPA's research has
mostly been designed to fulfill
EPA's immediate regulatory
needs to protect air and water
quality, to control pesticides
and toxic substances, to ensure
the safe disposal of solid and
hazardous wastes, and to clean
up abandoned hazardous waste
sites. However, EPA's
independent Science Advisory
Board has pointed out that
EPA is more than just a
regulatory agency. EPA is also
a science agency responsible
along with other federal
agencies for defining the nature
of—and possible solutions for—
the nation's environmental
problems. In addition, EPA is
a technology transfer agency
responsible for sharing with
industry and state and local
governments all the
information, training, and
technology needed throughout
the country to protect the
environment. EPA is also an
education agency responsible
for teaching people how their
individual actions can
sometimes degrade—or
protect—the environment. All
of these functions depend on a
strong research and
development program.
As the 21st century
approaches, EPA's strategies
for reducing the consequences
of pollution are shifting to
meet new pollution risks and
challenges. Increasingly, these
strategies emphasize the
reduction of pollution before it
is generated. This shift from
control and cleanup to
anticipation and prevention is
essential to ensuring the future
physical, environmental, and
economic health of our nation
and the world. As the Science
Advisory Board stated its 1988
report, Future Risk: Research
Strategies for the 1990s, research
and development are of
fundamental importance to the
Agency.
In the 1970s, the technological
capabilities in the
environmental protection field
were rudimentary compared to
those of today. We had
relatively poor capabilities to
measure pollution in soil, water
and air, and there were
relatively few technologies for
reducing discharges of
pollutants or cleaning them up.
Over the past twenty years,
EPA's research and
development program has
brought important advances
that are responsible, in part, for
the successes detailed in
previous chapters.
Following are some of these
accomplishments.
Pollution Detection, Fate and
Transport. Substantial
improvements have been made
in the identification and
measurement of pollutants in
the environment. EPA's
research program has been at
the forefront of the develop-
ment of new detection methods
and modeling techniques,
including the use of gas
chromatography/ mass
spectrophotometry for
analyzing organic chemicals;
models to predict the fate and
effects of pollutants in air and
water; and cost-effective field
techniques for monitoring
hazardous chemicals.
Remedial Technologies. EPA
has been instrumental in the
development of technologies
for solving problems. Such
tools include EPA's mobile
incinerator for hazardous
wastes, techniques for reducing
the influx of radon gas into
homes, bioremediation of oil
spills and hazardous waste
sites, technologies for reducing
sulfur emissions from the
burning of fossil fuels and for
treating municipal and
industrial wastewater, and
technologies for cleaning up
abandoned hazardous waste
sites.
Innovative Technology
Research and Demonstration.
EPA has, in the past several
years, increased its support for
innovative technologies,
through efforts like the
Superfund Innovative
Technologies Evaluation (SITE)
program and the Municipal
Innovative Technology
Evaluation (MITE) program.
These two programs are
designed to promote the
development and
commercialization of new
technologies for the treatment
of hazardous and solid waste.
EPA is also developing
innovative, low-cost water and
wastewater treatment
technologies for small
communities. In coming years,
EPA will focus its research on
those technologies that offer
"order-of-magnitude"
improvements.
Pollution Prevention. EPA has
also begun a research program
on pollution prevention, a
concept that represents a major
shift in philosophy for EPA.
Many environmental problems,
such as municipal solid waste,
indoor air pollution, emissions
of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),
and runoff from farms and
construction sites cannot be
solved by traditional "end-of-
pipe" control strategies because
the pollution comes from
millions of small sources.
Therefore, EPA's pollution
prevention research program
includes research into a variety
of pollution prevention
approaches such as materials
substitution, redesign of
products and production
processes, and recycling and
reuse.
Ecological Research. Ecological
systems such as forests,
rangelands, and wetlands are
enormously valuable from both
an environmental and
economic perspective. Yet, we
understand relatively little
22
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about how these complex,
interrelated systems are being
affected over time by pollutant
loadings. Most past ecological
research has examined the
effects of particular pollutants
on particular species. The
larger questions related to total
pollutant loadings, multimedia
effects, and cumulative, long-
term effects on interwoven
biological communities remain
unanswered. EPA needs to
provide the federal leadership
for an enlarged, coordinated
program of national ecological
research.
EPA has begun to do this by
steadily increasing our support
for ecological research toward
the goal of becoming a
recognized leader in this area,
both in the U.S. and
worldwide. Current ecological
research includes:
Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment. The initial step to
achieving this goal is the
Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment Program, or
EMAP. EMAP is designed to
improve understanding of the
health of the nation's
ecosystems, and to look at
future trends. The program
will monitor indicators of the
health of different ecosystems
around the country.
Simultaneous monitoring of
pollutants and environmental
change will allow identification
of likely causes of adverse
change, and thus lead to
solutions.
Global Climate Change. EPA is
pioneering research into the
relationship between global
climate change and terrestrial
ecosystems. We are
investigating the impacts of
climate change on these
ecosystems, and the effects that
terrestrial ecosystems and
different natural resource
management practices have on
climate change.
Ecological Risk Assessment. In
addition, the research program
performs ecological risk
assessment research for all of
EPA's programs. The research
develops improved methods
for assessing risks to
ecosystems, and constructs and
validates models for predicting
ecological responses to
chemicals, with an emphasis on
easy-to-use field procedures.
Health Research. All of EPA's
programs depend on an
understanding of human health
risks caused by pollution. EPA
is conducting long-term
research designed to improve
the overall risk assessment
process. The goal of this
research is to advance our
understanding of the
interrelationships among
pollutant emission sources,
concentrations of the pollutants
in the environment, human
exposures to them, their uptake
in human tissues, and their
ultimate health consequences.
One difficulty in assessing
risk is the uncertainty about
the level, duration, and pattern
of human exposures to
pollution. EPA has recently
begun a program to improve
techniques for assessing
individual exposures, validate
exposure models, and improve
the use of biomarkers as
indicators of exposure.
In coming years, EPA will
expand its health research in
reproductive effects, neurotoxic
effects, and in designing and
utilizing information from
human studies-both clinical
and epidemiological.
Biomediation: The Alaskan Oil Spill
In March of 1989, the supertanker Exxon
Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in
Prince William Sound, Alaska, flooding
one of the nation's most pristine and
sensitive environments with approximately
11 million gallons of crude oil. The spill,
the largest in U.S. history, spread over 700
to 800 miles of shoreline. The oil spill
damaged a large portion of the area's
diverse wildlife, and directly affected the
lives of many Alaskans.
In the aftermath of the accident, a massive
cleanup was organized. Many
conventional techniques (such as booms,
high-and low-pressure spraying,
skimmers, and manual scrubbers) were
employed in an effort to remove the oil
from the surface of the rocks and beaches.
However, these techniques removed only
a fraction of the oil on beaches, under
rocks, or in beach sediments.
To enhance the clean-up efforts, EPA
suggested that bioremediation might be
useful. Bioremediation involves the use of
microorganisms (such as bacteria) to
enhance the degradation of oil and other
types of chemicals. For several years,
EPA's Office of Research and
Development had been studying microbial
degradation of oil as part of its long-term
research program. Until the Exxon Valdez
accident, however, no microbial treatment
processes had been developed for use in
removing crude oil from contaminated
beaches.
In early June 1989, EPA entered into a
formal agreement with Exxon to test the
capability of bioremediation in treating
contaminated beaches in Prince William
Sound. EPA developed a research plan
involving the application of nutrient-rich
fertilizers to selected test beaches. The
nutrients allowed microorganisms to
utilize the hydrocarbons in oil as a food
source, and thus to degrade the oil.
Several sampling and field testing
methods were used to observe changes in
the composition of oil, to monitor the
movement of added nutrients in the test
beaches, to detect changes in the number
of bacteria present as the test proceeded,
and to assess the degradation of oil.
Initial findings from field and laboratory
tests from the summer of 1989 indicated
that using nutrients to enhance
biodegradation is effective and
environmentally safe. All the treated areas
appeared steadily cleaner through the end
of the summer season, and no adverse
ecological effects from the nutrient
application were detected. To strengthen
the success of the bioremediation
approach, EPA, along with Exxon, the
Alaskan Department of Environmental
Conservation, the Coast Guard, and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, developed a research plan
for the summer of 1990 and undertook
further studies in Alaska to help answer
additional questions concerning the
environmental benefits and the potential
adverse effects of bioremediation.
To date, results are very encouraging.
Results of toxicity testing have shown no
toxicity associated with fertilizer
application. A single application of fertilizer
has been shown to increase the rate of oil
biodegradation by two to three times over the
rate of an untreated shoreline. This
accelerated rate has been sustained for
several weeks, even after nutrient
concentrations return to background
levels.
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Other Recent
Accomplishments
In addition to these
accomplishments, EPA's
research program has achieved
numerous other successes in
recent years. EPA has tripled
its grants programs to the
university research community
in environmental science;
significantly strengthened its
support for EPA Regional
offices; begun working with
key EPA offices not
traditionally a part of the
research planning process;
increased research and
technology transfer activities
with states and municipal
governments; and expanded its
efforts with other countries,
particularly Eastern European
countries that are emerging
from years of environmental
neglect. EPA has greatly
increased its participation in
and leadership of federal
interagency research efforts,
and quadrupled its level of
cooperative research with the
private sector.
For the foreseeable future,
it is likely that the nation will
face more environmental
problems than there are
resources to effectively
address—especially as more
understanding is gained about
global environmental pollution.
EPA's research program can
help scientists, regulators,
policy makers and citizens
understand which
environmental problems
currently pose the greatest
threat to public health and the
environment, and what
problems are likely to arise in
the future. In this way,
resources can be allocated most
effectively. With a strong and
forward-looking research
program in place, effective
solutions to environmental
challenges can be developed.
Photo by Steve Defansy
Surprising Results From A New Way Of Measuring Pollutants
Most people assume that the air inside
their homes is better than the air outside.
But an EPA study found that, in fact, the
air inside many homes is likely to be
worse. Concentrations of many volatile
organic air pollutants indoors, where
people can spend about 90 percent of their
time, can be 3 to 10 times higher than
those found in the outside environment
based on the EPA study.
This 5-year EPA study, the Total Exposure
Assessment Methodology (TEAM) study,
used state-of-the-art monitoring equipment
to measure an individual's "total
exposure" to pollutants in the air (both
indoors and outdoors) and in drinking
water. Volunteers wore vests containing a
miniature personal monitor developed
specifically for the TEAM study, and
breathed periodically into a special
spirometer. For the first time, scientists
were able to realistically follow the
participants through the day, sampling the
air they breathed on and off the job, in
and out of the house. The monitors were
so sensitive that they measured chemicals
at less that one part per billion.
The TEAM results clearly suggest that
many of the major sources of potentially
harmful exposure to air pollution are in
Americans' own homes. For example, the
major source of benzene and styrene
exposures for about 50 million American
smokers is the smoke they inhale from
their cigarettes. This smoke also affects
nonsmokers, because the air in smokers'
homes average 30 to 50 percent higher
concentrations of benzene and styrene
than the air in non-smokers' homes. The
study also indentified a large number of
consumer products and building materials
as possible sources of household exposure,
including paints, adhesives, carpeting,
linoleum, wallpaper, air fresheners,
dry-cleaned clothing, pesticides, and even
domestic hot water.
The results of this study indicated a
significant indoor pollution problem can
exist in some homes with implications for
both short-term and long-term health
effects. The study also suggests that
people can do a great deal to lessen their
exposures to many harmful chemicals
without waiting for government regulation
or major technological advances. These
measures include properly disposing of
paints, pesticides, and solvents; hanging
dry-cleaned clothing until all solvent
vapors have dissipated; and restricting
smoking in the home environment.
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LOOKING
AHEAD
Photo by NASA
As EPA gears up for the 1990s
and beyond, we have to find a
better way to concentrate our
efforts on the problems that
seem to be most serious.
Environmental risk assessment
can lend much-needed
coherence, order arid integrity
to the often controversial and
costly decisions about what the
nation's environmental
priorities should be.
Three years ago, EPA
undertook a study of the
relative risks to human health,
welfare and ecology posed by
31 categories of problems for
which the Agency had some
responsibility. This study,
titled Unfinished Business: A
Comparative Assessment of
Environmental Problems, found
that some of the most serious
risks were posed by problems
which Congress and EPA had
not targeted for the most
aggressive action. In 1990,
EPA's Science Advisory Board
completed a review of
Unfinished Business. Their
report, Reducing Risk: Setting
Priorities and Strategies far
Environmental Protection,
concludes that some of
America's highest human
health risk problems are
outdoor air pollution, worker
exposure to chemicals in
industry and agriculture,
indoor air pollution (including
radon and other pollutants),
and drinking water
contamination. EPA is now
gathering and analyzing
additional data, which may
reveal that other areas also
pose high human health risk.
The Reducing Risk report
also identifies high-risk
ecological and human welfare
problems, based especially on
their geographic scope and the
amount of time it will take to
reverse them: habitat alteration
and destruction, species
extinction and loss of genetic
diversity, stratospheric ozone
depletion, and global climate
change. According to
Unfinished Business, and
confirmed by Reducing Risk,
some problems that consume
large amounts of EPA's budget,
such as hazardous wastes, do
not rank high in terms of
health or ecological risk.
While comparative risk
assessments should clarify
thinking about future
environmental priorities, other
considerations impede national
consensus-building. First, risks
are not uniformly distributed
nationwide, so priorities will
vary from one part of the
country to another. Second,
public understanding of
environmental risks is not
always the same as the
perception of EPA's experts.
Public understanding must be
informed by the best science
available to the Agency,
including information on the
uncertainties associated with
our assessments. The unequal
distribution of risks—
geographically and to different
population groups and
ecosystems—coupled with
varying perceptions of risk,
means that priorities must be
established not just by the
federal government but also by
state and local officials, and by
the public.
How EPA spends its
resources is as important as
what we spend them on. To
prepare for the array of
challenges ahead, we will have
to strengthen our research
program and the scientific
underpinnings of our work.
We must improve our
recruitment and training
programs to assure a top
quality, culturally diverse work
force. We must set goals
through strategic planning, and
meet those goals through the
teamwork and continuous
improvement offered by total
quality management. EPA
must develop and apply new
and emerging approaches to
environmental problems-
pollution prevention, market-
based incentives,
bioremediation and other
technologies, risk-based
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FOR ADDITIONAL"
INFORMATION
priority-setting, and cross-
media and geographically
targeted strategies, among
others. We must emphasize
better outreach to affected
constituencies and develop
new modes of working with
other federal agencies, states
and localities, governments
abroad, and our many other
partners. We need to foster
environmental education and
pursue initiatives that improve
the natural systems on which
our well-being depends.
A central theme of this
report is pollution prevention-
taking action today to prevent
future risks. Nevertheless,
EPA will surely be dealing
with still unforeseeable
problems that are lurking on
America's environmental
horizon. In the future, as in
, the past, environmental
problems will present
unprecedented challenges to
the vision and the
resourcefulness of America's
leaders. And their resolution
will require changes in
thinking and behavior on the
part of all U.S. citizens, whose
cooperation is imperative if
EPA's pollution prevention
efforts are to reduce waste and
achieve the other important
environmental goals that we
share as a nation.
More information about EPA's
programs and our work in
your community can be
obtained by contacting Public
Affairs in your EPA Regional
Office:
Region 1
JFK Federal Building
Boston, MA 02203
(617) 565-3424
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine,
New Hampshire, Rhode Island,
Vermont
Region 2
Jacob K. Javits Federal Bldg. 26
Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278
(212) 264-2515
New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico,
Virgin Islands
Region 3
841 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 597-9370
Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, West Virginia, District of
Columbia
Region 4
345 Courtland St., NE
Atlanta, GA 30365
(404) 347-3004
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Mississippi, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Tennessee
Region 5
230 S. Dearborn St.
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 353-2072
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota,
Ohio, Wisconsin
Region 6
1445 Ross Ave., Suite 1200
Dallas, TX 75202
(214) 655-2200
Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico,
Oklahoma, Texas
Region 7
726 Minnesota Ave.
Kansas City, KS 66101
(913) 551-7003
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska
Region 8
999 18th St., Suite 500
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 293-1692
Colorado, Montana, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming
Region 9
12.35 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 556-5145
Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada,
American Samoa, Guam, Northern
Mariana Islands
Region 10
1200 Sixth Ave.
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 442-1465
Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington
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Photo by Steve Delaney
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