gress Report 1989 -1991
' " ''"'
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"The Grand Canyon is to
the United States what
the great cathedrals are tj
Europe. It is a symbol
worldwide of the splendc
of the American
landscape."
—William K. Reilt
(Photos courtesy of IMPROVE - Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments)
A DECADE-LONG EFFORT to improve air quality and visibility in Grand Canyon National Park
culminated in 1991 with an historic agreement to limit sulfur dioxide emissions from the Navajo
Generating Station, one of the nation's largest electric utilities. The utility agreed to phased-
in cuts in its emissions reaching 90 percent by 1997-1999. EPA worked closely with the
company, environmentalists, and government agencies to reach consensus on a regulation
that Is more environmentally protective and more cost-effective than the proposal originally
offered by EPA. Thanks to this first-ever use of the Clean Air Actto protect visibility in a national
park, visitors will enjoy greatly improved views of this unique natural wonder.
Coeer Photo: Jerry Derbyshire
) Printed on Recycled Paper
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Securing Our Legacy
An EPA Progress Report 1989-1991
&EPA
For more information on the activities
described in this Report, please write to:
Office of Communications, Education,
and Public Affairs
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, S.W. (A-107)
Washington, DC 20460
IContents
^Introduction 2
Mghlights 6
^Reducing Risks to
Mealth and the Environment .........10
f Preventing Pollution 20
.Enforcing
[Environmental Laws 26
^otectihg
Jatural Resources 29
^Strengthening Science 35
Exercising
Iternatlonal Leadership
.40
rengthenincf
.gency Resources
.46
^Photos: Steve Delaney, EPA
- - (Unless Otherwise Credited)
JSiaphics/Design: Tom Termini
^Statistics/Data Analysis: Brand Niemann, EPA
, ~ Bob Shipman
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Introduction
I he U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency has undergone a profound
transformation in the three years since
the Bush Administration took office. We
are going about the business of environ-
mental protection in new ways—ways
that are more cost-effective, more risk-
oriented. We have harnessed the power
of the marketplace on behalf of the
environment. We have enlisted new
partners, in and out of government, in
the environmental enterprise. We have
strengthened the scientific foundation
for our activities, and we have set records
in virtually all categories of enforcement
activity. EPA is breaking down artificial
walls among environmental programs in
air, water, waste, and so forth in order to
treat the environment as a whole. We've
accelerated the cleanup of hazardous
waste, developed new technologies for
dealing with oil spills and toxic waste, and
placed new emphasis on the needs of
minority communities for the sake of
environmental equity. We have moved
quickly, in cooperation with all affected
interests, to carry out the pioneering new
Clean Air Act. Indeed, when President
Bush instituted a regulatory moratorium
in his 1992 State of the Union address,
EPA was already working to reflect his
priority for cost-effective, risk-based
' regulation in the Clean Air Act rulemaking
process.
Internally, we've strengthened the
EPA workforce, in terms of both numbers
and cultural diversity, and secured
additional resources to accomplish our
mission. As public support for environ-
mental protection grows along with our
understanding of environmental prob-
lems, the opportunities before us now are
great to forge a new kind of environmen-
talism—more inclusive, more attuned to
economic consequences, more certain
and predictable in its outcome. The
challenge and the promise of environ-
mental protection have never been
greater than they are today.
This report, the third in a series of
annual progress reports published by
EPA, chronicles the results of the hard
work and initiative that have added up to
real progress at EPA during the last three
years. It shows that traditional command-
and-control, end-of-the-pipe regulations,
inspections, permitting—all have paid
and can continue to pay substantial
dividends. The report also documents the
extent to which new strategies that take
advantage of market forces, individual
stewardship, and voluntary, direct action
can produce tangible results.
In the 1990s, we at EPA are fashion-
ing a solid foundation for everything we
will do in the future. It is a foundation
built on two pillars: science and enforce-
ment.
Sound science increasingly informs
our decisions and points the way to new
solutions. It helps us target our resources
toward the most serious risks and reduce
those risks in more effective ways. It
helps ensure that the scientific commu-
nity and the public alike have confidence
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"Our administration has crafted a new commonsense approach
to environmental issues, one that honors our love of the
environment and our commitment to growth."
—President George Bush
in our decisions.
The Agency has been guided in our
endeavors by two important reports I
commissioned: Reducing Risk: Setting
Priorities and Strategies for Environmen-
tal Protection, by EPA's independent
Science Advisory Board; and Safeguard-
ing the Future: Credible Science, Credible
Decisions, by a special panel of experts
appointed last year to examine the role of
science at EPA. Reducing Risk, released .
in September 1990, represents a turning
point in,EPA's history. It is a call to
change: our science advisors urged us to
go about the task of identifying and
reducing the greatest risks to people and
the environment systematically and
scientifically. Safeguarding the Future,
unveiled in March 1992, advised us to
open up the Agency to draw on the best
science available, to develop the climate,
culture, and incentives to pursue superior
science throughout EPA. We are now
carrying out the recommendations of
both reports.
A central thrust for us is our encour-.
agement of new technology that can
contribute to environmental protection.
Biotechnology, for example, can offer real
environmental benefits in cleaning up oil
and hazardous waste pollution, providing
less harmful pesticides, and improving
the ability of crops to resist pests. It is
also representative of the emerging
industrial sector that holds promise of'
jobs and economic opportunity as U.S.
firms seek to capitalize on growing
markets for environmental technology
and services at home and abroad. In
short, it is one of the building blocks of a
new environmental industrial complex,
which can improve our lives.
Complementing our reliance on
science is a wholehearted commitment to
vigorous enforcement. At President
Bush's direction, we have redoubled our
efforts to implement and enforce the
nation's environmental laws. During the
SIGNING AN AGREEMENT to improve air quality in the Grand
Canyon, EPA Administrator William K. Reillyand President George
Bush are joined by (left to right): William G. Rosenberg, EPA
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation; Mark De Michele,
(Photo: Susan Biddle, the White House)
Arizona Public Service Co.; CM. Perkins and John Lassen, Salt
River Project; Jim Middaugh, Environmental Defense Fund; Edward
Norton, Grand Canyon Trust; Governor J.Fife Symington of Arizona;
and Manuel Lujan, U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
3
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three years of the Bush administration,
EPA has made more than half of the
criminal referrals to the Department of
Justice and assessed more than half of the civil and criminal
penalties in the Agenc/s entire 21-year history. And we have
secured almost three-fourths of ah1 Superfund private party
settlements in the last three years.
In part because our enforcement record is so strong, we
have been able to work with industry to craft informed, coopera-
tive new programs that emphasize pollution prevention and risk
reduction. More than a thousand companies, including about 10
percent of the Fortune 500, have signed on to voluntary, direct
action programs to curtail emissions of
toxic chemicals and to install energy-
efficient lighting, which will help curb
emissions from electric power plants.
EPA's "33/50" and "Green Lights" programs will remove
millions of pounds of pollutants from the environment within
the next few years. These voluntary programs are securing
commitments to reduce lawful emissions faster than any
regulatory program we could devise; at the same time, they are
demonstrating the possibilities for efficiency improvements
across the full spectrum of economic activity. It is the basis on
which a new industrial revolution might rest.
We have also worked to create new partnerships with
other government agencies, with public-interest groups, with
the philanthropic community. And we are reaching out to the
public with education and information programs designed to
increase environmental literacy; to encourage math, science,
and engineering studies that lead to careers in environmental
protection; and to empower citizens to make environmentally
responsible choices in their daily lives.
We have extended the range of our interests at home and
expanded our presence and influence abroad. EPA has elevated
the nation's concern over ecological values, developing cross-
cutting initiatives targeted to improving the overall health "of
productive natural resources—the Great Lakes, the Gulf of
Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, and many more. Our
ecological thrust includes pollution prevention projects, habitat
protection, control of urban and agricultural runoff, research,
education, and enforcement that attacks pollution sources in. a
given place in a coordinated way. By focusing on the well-being
of whole ecosystems, not just their separate components, we are
putting our laws and programs together in new ways to produce
tangible ecological benefits. In the same way, we are working to
ensure that regulations affecting a particular industry or
pollutant, such as lead, are coordinated and targeted toward the
highest risks. And we are paying much greater attention to the
special needs of particular sectors such as small communities,
which can easily be overwhelmed by having to comply with a
profusion of federal environmental rules and regulations.
Environmental issues also enjoy unprecedented attention
in U.S. foreign policy. They play a central role in the negotia-
tions toward a North American Free Trade Agreement and in
the deliberations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT). EPA has worked with Mexico to develop an
ambitious plan to improve the U.S.-Mexican border, and with
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"EPA has elevated the nation s concern over ecological values,
developing cross-cutting initiatives targeted to improving the
overall health of productive natural resources.,;"
—William K Reilly
Canada on an historic agreement to control acid rain. Innovative
"debt-for-nature" swaps are a key element of the President's
"Enterprise for the Americas" initiative. International conven- ~
tions on stratospheric ozone depletion, global climate change,
and forests, as well as technical assistance programs for the new
democracies of Eastern and Central Europe, Russia, the Baltic
states, and others—all are vital aspects of the Administration's
foreign policy agenda. And EPA is centrally involved in all of
them.
In sum, EPA has never had a larger field of action than it
does today. Indeed, in recognition of our growing role, Presi-
dent Bush has called on Congress to elevate EPA to Cabinet
status. Ours is the first generation to realize, and to act on the
realization, that everyday human activities can destabilize our.
planet's fundamental life support systems. We have made great
progress in securing the environmental legacy for our own and
future generations. But we must have the help and support of
every American, indeed of citizens of all nations, to ensure the
survival and integrity and productivity of our global habitat. This
vital mission of environmental stewardship grows every day
more compelling, more challenging, and more hopeful.
William K. Reilly
Administrator
April 1992
"Environmental solutions of
the 1990s are full of promise
and potential. . . we in the
Bush Administration aspire
to lead the world in
searching them out, both for
the better environment they
promise, and the protection
they offer to safeguard the
natural systems on which all
human activity, including
economic activity, depends."
—William K, Reilly
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Highlights
Reducing
Risks
• Improving air quality. Proposed and
secured passage of .the.rnpst far-reaching air
pollution legmapffi m'Se'gaObn's.lffslo^g^--.
the Clean AirV3*^Gndmehts"oFl990. ^^
This law, wlilcl^pion^sli^'ui^jf-ia^rlcei^-'.
based mechanisms mve%OTon\nlntaT~^!^:*~i:
programs, calls f% a lO-niillioi "**
reduction in acid r^in-rela|.ed,emissii
steady, tangible cufe in urbaijji sinoL
toxic pollutants. Implementation V)#ell *S
underway. ^p^**""
• Setting priorities. RefnuneU-^- .-™.=
over the future of environme^iaiwotecfign
at home and abroad in Reducing fusfe, a |i|\
t "" If *" \.
report commissioned by Administrator .
Reilly from EPA's independent Science
Advisory Board. The report is guiding EPA
in efforts to reduce risks to human health
and to natural resources. Key.themes:
; risk-based priorities, applying new
prevention and
_ [engaging all
i^i^p^ojfsTO^wSnJi^jj^^pfjenviron-
•-'-•.Rpd.ucing^fea.d risks. Issued new
i| drinkigg water rgstnjjifions on lead that will
'',-.',j3eduee die exposure of some 130 milh'on
jd in drinking water. The
|ires)ijj: iov^f blogd lead levels, for more than
-| halfa'inillicJn chijiren, and reduced
;|, nelirological'-^id.jnzymatic risks for more
"fjfcan 20 milliofi. ^
^Restricting chemical exposures.
market or seriously
;strict§d the'"Hs22f a. large number of
lercury in paint; the
4 ,.j-; ;: »•!--•"!', T'J— _ tM* S| mff
i,,:: _:=a.*^-£:rii-f ^W***?***** I. *W*
Sf3-M?J:«*?: ' P^ -•W-***«-:X\»^
.., A .i-,'S'^iiS4'ii, "i * If /'
I, i.,* f I :,,, f i
Siv r!"t/fcvJ
insecticide diazinon on golf courses:;
parathion, an acutely toxic pesticide; and
hexavalent chromium-based water treat-. , ..
ment chemicals in building cooliiig towers.
,]EP,A,alsQ, r.egulated exposure, to 38. contami-
nants in water as well as corrosion of lead ,^
and copper. Since 1989, the Agency has
reviewed and set appropriate controls on
more than 6,100 new chemicals., befpr.e tljey,
were marketed.
Accelerating Superfund cleanups.
Nearly tripled, to a record $1.4 billion in
1991, the dollar commitments for cleanups
obtained from those responsible for
hazardous waste .sites, EPA, conducted a 90-
day study of die Superfund hazardous-waste
program in 1989 Jthat_led to new strategies
for speeding Superfund cleanups. EPA is-
now on the way to meeting its target of
completing all cleanup construction work at
130 Superfund sites by the end of FY 1992,
and at 200 sites by die end of FY 1993.
Setting water quality standards.
Proposed water quality standards for as
many as lOS.toxic pollutants in 22 states
;,idia^havg/aijed to adopt adequate standards
"on their own. This was the largest, most . —
comprehensive1, standard-setting action ever
• takemjj&sr "ISrTWater Act.
Pollution
"
» *
Cutting toxic releases. Worked with
industry on a^YpfenJ/iiy, direct action
program to reduce by^opejhiid the total
releases and transfers of 17 troublesome
toxic chemicals such as beyene, lead, and
mercmy, by the e,nd,ijf J.992, and to cut
them in half by J99.5JJy,M:>ring 1992 more
than 700 companies had made explicit
commitments tottgJ^^SO^program. This •
should eliminate more than 300 noillion
pounds pf toxic pollutants by 1995.
Conserving energy. Developed "Green
Lights," another voluntary program, which
encouiages the use of tn,ejgv-effieient
hglituig Moie than 400 comnames, nine
" '
t
r
ili
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states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a
number of schools, hospitals, environmental
groups, and other institutions are installing
efficient lighting and other energy conserva-
tion measures. The reduced demand for
electricity will significantly curtail emissions
from power plants of sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxide, as well as carbon dioxide.
Promoting recycling. A federal executive
order signed by President Bush in 1991
requires federal agencies, which generate
20 percent of the nation's solid waste, to
recycle paper, plastic, metals, glass, used oil,
lead acid batteries, and tires. Also proposed
guidelines in 1991 for labeling products as
"recyclable" or "recycled content." By 1988,
the most recent date for which data are
available, recycling nationwide had grown
to 13 percent of the total solid waste stream.
Educating Citizens. Promoted environ-
mental education as part of AMERICA
2000, the President's agenda to foster
excellence in American education. Grades K-
12, as well as college and postgraduate
education and informal educational institu-
tions— museums, nature centers, and the
like—are targeted by programs funded under
the new Environmental Education Act.
Enforcing
Environmental Laws
• Making polluters pay. Assessed more in
civil and criminal penalties in the last three
years—55 percent of the total amount—
than in all of EPA's prior 21-year history.
Since 1989, EPA and the Justice Depart-
ment have set new records for
environmental felony indictments, convic-
tions, and prison sentences. EPA also filed
landmark lawsuits to protect the Ever-
glades, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Great
Lakes.
• Strengthening water enforcement.
Collected record monetary penalties for
water-pollution violations in 1991, tripling
the previous record for water-related
enforcement actions of all kinds. The
average civil penalty for violations of water
pollutant discharge permits increased 50
percent from 1990 to 1991. In 1991 alone,
Office of Water enforcement programs
assessed more than 25 percent of the total
penalties assessed by the office since its
inception.
Restoring resources. Worked to ensure
most of the $1.1 billion in penalties
collected under the 1991 Exxon Valdez
settlement— the largest environmental fine
in history—is available for restoration of
injured resources in Alaska's Prince William
Sound and other areas affected by the oil
spill. About $185 million will be used to
reimburse Alaska and the United States for
cleanup expenditures, damage assessment
and restoration.
Protecting
Natural Resources
• Protecting wetlands. Secured from
Congress funding increases of more than 100
percent since 1989 for protection, enhance-
ment and study of wetlands, to $600 million
in FY 1992. The President has requested
$812 million for FY 1993. In 1990, EPA
vetoed the proposed Two Forks Dam project
in Colorado, citing adverse environmental
effects to a free-flowing river system which
supports a world-class recreational fishery;
loss of wetlands; and the existence of
practical alternatives. The Agency also used
its veto authority to prevent environmentally
unsound development affecting important
wetlands and odier aquatic resources in
Virginia, Rhode Island and Alaska.
Preserving ecosystems. Targeted increased
resources and attention to environmentally and
economically productive natural systems, such
as the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of
. Mexico, and many other estuaries and water
bodies. EPA's investment in geographic
initiatives jumped sharply, from $44 million in
FY 1989 to $710 million proposed for FY
1993.1n addition, President Bush proposed $340
million for sewage treatment in six coastal cities.
Halting ocean dumping. Secured consent
agreements with local jurisdictions to phase
out ocean dumping of sewage sludge by June
of 1992.
Strengthening
Science
• Improving the knowledge base.
Commissioned a study by an expert panel of
prominent scientists on the role of science
at EPA. The panel's report, Safeguarding
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the Future, released in March 1992,
recommends that EPA build its own
strong science base and make more
rigorous use of science in developing
policies and regulations. EPA is moving
quickly to carry out the
recommendations.
• Reassessing chemical toxicity.
Launched a fresh look at the toxicity of
dioxin and related chemicals based on new
scientific information; developed new
guidelines on the use of evidence from
animal tests in human risk assessments; and
put together a new framework for ecologi-
cal risk assessment.
• Developing new cleanup technolo-
gies. Stepped up research and
development of new technologies to deal
with oil spills and reduce the volume or
toxicity of hazardous wastes. EPA field-
tested a bioremediation approach to
cleaning up the Exxon Valclez oil spill,
using oil-eating microbes to degrade spilled
oil twice as fast as on untreated beaches.
• Improving environmental monitoring.
Launched a long-range program using the
latest satellite and computer technology to
monitor environmental conditions and
trends and to assess the effectiveness of
pollution-control programs.
• Augmenting resources. Increased the
Agency's budget for research and develop-
ment. If the President's 1993 budget
request is approved by Congress, the
Agency's research budget will have
increased by 36 percent since 1989, from
$3S6 million to $526 million.
Exercising
International Leadership
• Protecting the ozone layer. Continuing
a record of U.S. leadership on this issue,
President Bush accelerated the U.S.
deadline for the phase-out of chlorofluoro-
carbons (CFCs) to the end of 1995, four
years ahead of the international deadline,
(ind an end to production of other chemicals
that deplete stratospheric ozone. The ozone
layer shields against radiation causing skin
8
"Strong economies allow nations to fulfill the obligations of
stewardship. And environmental stewardship is crucial to
sustaining strong economies."
—President George Bush
cancer, cataracts, and ecological damage.
Slowing global climate change. The
Bush Administration has invested about
$2.6 billion since 1989 to learn more about
die causes and effects of global climate
change. Through actions such as EPA's
"Green Lights" energy conservation
program and implementation of the Clean
Air Act, die United States will curb the
growth of greenhouse gas emissions while
pursuing an international agreement
requiring national climate action plans
appropriate to each country. Early in 1992,
the United States agreed to provide $50
million to help developing countries on
projects to curb greenhouse gasses and
protect the ozone layer, die oceans and
biodiversity. Another $25 million will help
diem develop climate baseline studies and
options for policy change.
Helping in the Persian Gulf cleanup.
Provided emergency response and odier
technical assistance to meet the environ-
mental and human health threats posed by
Iraq's environmental terrorism. EPA and
other federal agencies helped assess health
threats from the oil well fires in Kuwait and
worked to protect a key Saudi desalination
plant and odier vital facilities from the
massive Persian Gulf oil spill.
Assisting Eastern and Central Europe.
At President Bush's request, helped
establish an environmental center in
Budapest, Hungary, to address regional
pollution problems through education,
training, and technology transfer. The
center is helping build a nongovernmental
environmental community, strengdiening
the region's newly emerging democratic
traditions.
Preserving global forests. Concern for
the rapid loss of forests worldwide led
President Bush to propose a global forest
agreement at the G-7 Economic Summit .
in July 1990. The agreement would
address such issues as deforestation,
mapping and monitoring, research,
training, and technical assistance. Forest-
related issues are expected to be a major
topic at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development in June
1992.
Trading debt for environmental
protection. In President Bush's Enterprise
for die Americas initiative, helped forge
provisions for innovative "debt-for-nature"
swaps for Latin American countries. In this
program, countries that commit to trade,
investment, and economic reform programs
are eligible for concessionary reductions of
their debt to the U.S. government. A
portion of what would have been paid in
interest is put into a trust fund to support
local environmental and conservation
projects. The program could provide several
hundred million new dollars for conserva-
tion in diese countries.
Strengthening
Agency Resources
Increasing EPA funding and person-
nel. Achieved steady growth in bodi budget
and staff at a time of tight fiscal constraints.
EPA's budget went from about $4.8 billion
in 1989 to more than $6 billion in FY 1992,
and to $7 billion in the President's 1993
budget request. After years of relatively
slow growth with many new Congressional
mandates, staff has increased by nearly 20
percent during the Bush Administration.-
Focusing on minorities. Achieved
substantial gains in cultural diversity: 25
percent of EPA's new hires are now
minorities. Forty-two percent of the
employees chosen for management
positions in 1991 were non-minority women
or minorities. EPA has set up a task force to
strengthen Agency interaction widi minority
academic institutions and helped start and
fund a two-year master's degree program at
Tufts University for mid-career minority
professionals.
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Public Support for Environmental Protection
Americans' concern about the environment has grown and inten-
sified since the initial outpouring on Earth Day, 1970. Public
opinion polls show that the environment has become a core value
for virtually every sector of American society.
A recent Roper survey found that:
• 78 percent of American citizens think the government needs to
make "a major effort" to solve environmental problems.
• Even before the Exxon Valdez oil spill, 62 percent thought
pollution posed a 'Very serious" threat to American society—up
sharply from the 44 percent who thought so in 1984.
• In 1989—for the first time in 16 years of Roper surveys on this
issue—a majority said that environmental issues should take
precedence over some other critical issues such as energy.
The number of people calling pollution one of their pressing
personal concerns has tripled during the 1990s. A1991 study by
Environment Opinion Study, Inc., found that 71 percent of the
public agrees that "improving the quality of the environment can
create jobs and help the national economy." And the-Gallup Poll
reports that 78 percent of Americans now consider themselves
environmentalists.
Public Opinion and Environmental Risk
Scientists' Ranking of
Environmental Problems
Risks to Human Health
Relatively High-Risk Problems
• Ambient air pollutants
• Worker exposure to chemicals in industry
and agriculture
• Pollution indoors
• Pollutants in drinking water
Risks to Natural Ecology and Human Welfare
Relatively High-Risk Problems
• Habitat alteration and destruction
• Species extinction and loss of biological diversity
• Stratospheric ozone depletion
• Global climate change
Relatively Medium-Risk Problems
• Herbicides/pesticides
• Toxics, nutrients, biochemical oxygen demand,
and turbidity in surface waters
" • Acid deposition
• Airborne toxics
Relatively Low-Risk Problems
• Oil spills
• Ground water pollution
• Radionuclides ""•
• Acid runoff to surface waters
• Thermal pollution
—EPA Science Advisory Board
September, 1990
Public involvement in environmental activities is also on the rise.
The Gallup Poll found that 89 percent of U.S. households report
voluntarily recycling newspapers, glass, or aluminum. According to
Roper, people who say they regularly return beer or soda bottles or
canstoastore or recycling center increased from 41 percent in March
1989 to 48 percent in March 1991. The percentage who recycle
newspapers nearly doubled, while the percentage who sort trash to
separate garbage from recyclable material more than doubled.
Another example of increased involvement has been the growing
participation by volunteers in beach cleanups. Since 1987, with EPA
support tens of thousands of volunteers have spent time between
early September and mid-October on National Beach Cleanups
coordinated by the Center for Marine Conservation and
COASTWEEKS. In 1991, more than 125,000 volunteers collected
nearly three million pounds of trash along 4,000 miles of U.S.
coastline. Information submitted by the volunteers on the kinds of
trash they found was used to encourage U.S. ratification of an
international ban on dumping plastics at sea.
MOST U.S. CITIZENS polled by the Environment Opinion Survey
in June 1991 ranked 17 different environmental problems as
"extremely serious" or "very serious." The public's rankings,
however, did not always agree with those of EPA's Science
Advisory Board in its 1990 Reducing Risk report (see page 10).
Bridging the gap between public perceptions of environmental
risk and scientific risk assessments is a key challenge for EPA.
Electromagnetic fields, 19%
Indoor air pollution, 27%
Radon gas, 35%
Wetland development, 50%
Reliance on coal/oil, 53%
Global warming, 56%
Poor energy use, 56%
World population, 57%
Pesticide use, 60%
Threats to wildlife, 65%
Endangered species, 67%
Ocean pollution, 75%
Forest destruction, 76%
Contaminated water, 77%
Nuclear waste, 78%
Atmosphere damage, 79%
Solid waste disposal, 79%
Air pollution, 80%
Oil spills, 84%
Hazardous waste, 89%
Public's Ranking of
Environmental
Problems as
"Very or
Extremely
Serious"
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Reducing Risks to
Health and the Environment
nvironmental protection in the
United States greio incrementally
' during the 1970s and the 1980s.
Responding to urgent problems of many
kinds—belching smokestacks, filthy rivers
and streams, pollutingcars, abandoned
hazardous waste sites—America's legisla-
tors passed a series of specific, narrowly
focused laivs. Because each law was
conceived separately from aU the others,
little attention tvas given to their interrela-
tionships or their relative priorities.
Today's problems demand different
strategics. As EPA's independent Science
Advisory Board (SAB) suggested in its
seminal 1990 report, Reducing Risk, EPA
must target available resources— within
statutory limits—at the greatest risks to
human health and the environment. The
report's first and most basic recommenda-
tion is that EPA do a better job setting
priorities. Other recommendations call for
deooting more attention to risk reduction
andpoUution prevention, and for placing
stronger emphasis on the protection of
natural systems and the integration of
environmental and economic concerns.
The SAB report has helped set EPA's
course for years to come, and it has
fundamentally reframed the debate over
the nation's environmental policies.
The Clean Air Act
Carrying out the mandates of the historic
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 is a
complex effort made all the more urgent
because 74 million Americans still live in
counties with unhealthy air. This number is
down 10 million since 1989, chiefly because
carbon monoxide and particulate emissions
have been reduced.
The new law requires EPA to issue 55
major regulations and 30 guidance docu-
ments and take many other actions within
its first two years. This is a fivefold increase
in the pace of regulatory activity in EPA's
air program. By early 1992, EPA had
proposed or issued rules that, when they
take effect, will remove two-thirds of the 56
billion pounds a year of pollutants that the
Clean Air Act promises to scrub from the
air by the year 2005. This amounts to 224
Changes in Air Emissions
E
TSP S02 CO NOx VOC Lead
SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS has been made
over the last two decades in the battle
against most of the problem air pollutants
targeted by the 1970 Clean Air Act: total
suspended particulates (TSP); sulfur
dioxide (SO2); carbon monoxide (CO);
nitrogen oxides (NOx); and volatile organic
compounds (VOCs). Especially dramatic is
the rapid decline in lead emissions—and
their associated health risks—from the EPA-
mandated phaseout of leaded gasoline.
Recommendations to EPA
Reducing Risk:
Setting Priorities And
Strategies For
Environmental Protection
Target environmental protection efforts to opportunities for the
greatest risk reduction.
Give as much importance to reducing ecological risk as to reducing
human health risk.
Improve data and methodologies that support the assessment,
comparison, and reduction of different environmental risks.
Reflect risk-based priorities in strategic planning and budgeting.
Along with the nation as a whole, make greater use of all the tools
available to reduce risk.
Emphasize pollution prevention as the preferred option for reducing risk.
Integrate environmental considerations into the broader aspects of
public policy in the same way economic concerns are integrated.
Improve public understanding of environmental risks and train a
professional workforce to help reduce them.
Develop improved analytical methods to value natural resources
and to account for long-term environmental effects in economic
analyses.
iii i —EPA Science Advisory Board
September, 1990
_l
10
-------
Clearing
the Air
Implementation of the new Clean
Air Act has moved forward swiftly:
;_• Tailpipe emissions. Beginning
- with 1994carsandlightduty trucks,
; a two-year program will cut emis-
= sions of hydrocarbons by 31
: percent, nitrogen oxides by 60 per-
r~ centfrom 1991 levels. Seven other rules, including
new controls on diesel bus emissions, will alleviate
smog and toxic air pollutants even further.
Hydrocarbons
After 1994 Phase-in
Nitrogen oxides
After 1994 Phase-in
Municipal waste incinerators.
In January 1991, EPA set new
limits on emissions of particulates
(including toxic metals such as
lead and cadmium), sulfur diox-
ide, hydrogen chloride, nitrogen
oxides, carbon monoxide, dioxins,
and dibenzofurans from new and
Fuel volatility. Rules limiting fuel volatility—the tendency
of gasoline to evaporate and pollute the air—will prevent
emissions of more than 2.6 billion pounds of ozone-
forming hydrocarbons (VOCs, or volatile organic
compounds) each year.
Reformulated gasoline. To realize clean air benefits
more quickly, EPA negotiated with the automotive and oil
industries, environmentalists, and others to propose rules
governing a new, less-polluting generation of automotive
fuels (seepage 12). VOC emissions will be cut almost 300
million pounds a year in the nine dirtiest cities by 1995.
The proposed rule also sets a 2.7 percent average oxygen
content in gasoline in 39 cities with carbon monoxide
problems, cutting emissions by 20 percent in 1993.
existing municipal waste incinerators. These
rules will cut incinerator air emissions by 90 percent,
eliminating more than 200,000 tons of pollutants a year
by 1994.
State operating permits. A groundbreaking rule ex-
pected in the spring of 1992 specifies that states require
operating permits from industries polluting the air. The
permits will consolidate all Clean Air Act requirements
affecting a major emission source into a single, federally
enforceable document, improving implementation while
clarifying requirements for the affected industries and
ensuring workable public participation.
State grants. EPA proposed increases in grants to the
states, which are responsible for much of Clean Air Act
implementation, from $99 million in 1990 to $174 million
proposed in 1993.
pounds for every man, woman, and
child in the United States.
Economic Incentives
Environmental protection strategies that
work with rather than against market
forces must be linked with efforts to
promote economic growth. The flexible,
market-based incentives in the Clean Air
Act Amendments reinforce progress
toward both goals by saving industry more
than $1 billion a year in compliance costs
while securing the law's environmental
benefits.
The centerpiece of EPA's acid rain-
control program, for example, is a
market-based allowance trading system. In
this system the affected utilities, rather
than government, decide on the most
cost-effective ways to comply with the
law's requirement of a 10-million-ton
reduction in acid rain-causing sulfur
dioxide emissions from power plants. The
system also provides incentives for energy
conservation and technology innovation
that can lower the cost of compliance
while promoting pollution prevention.
An allowance is a marketable com-
modity. Each allowance authorizes the
emission of one ton of sulfur dioxide. Once
allocated, allowances can be bought, sold,
traded, or banked for later use. EPA's
primary role is to ensure compliance by
tracking the allowances. Private banks and
exchanges will create a market for trades as
well as for allowance "futures." A proposal
by the Chicago Board of Trade to establish a
futures market for allowances is now
pending before the Commodities Futures
Trading Commission.
Other market incentives in the Clean
Air Act include provisions to:
• Encourage companies to cut toxic
poEutant emissions by 90 percent or more
now, rather than waiting for EPA to
develop mandatory emission standards.
11
-------
Reducing Risks
ACID RAIN can damage statues, monuments and
buildings as well as sensitive plants, trees, arid
wildlife. Acidity is highest in New England and the
industrial Midwest, as shown on this map of pH
readings of precipitation. The pH scale measures the
acidity of liquid; readings below 7.0 are acidic, above
7.0 are alkaline. Rain with a pH below 5.6 is
considered "acid rain." The new Clean Air Act places
cap on sulfur dioxide emissions
from power plants, a primary
cause of acid rain, cutting them
by more than half by the year
2000.
Phase out the manufacture
and use of chlorofluorocar-
bons, which deplete
stratospheric ozone.
Encourage the use of cleaner-
burning reformulated gasoline and
oxygenated fuels.
Provide incentives to reduce VOC
emissions. EPA has also stepped up its
exploration of market incentives in its
water and solid waste programs. For
example, EPA's Office of Water is
developing a "trading" system to reduce
nutrients cost-effectively in North
Carolina's Tar-Pamlico estuary, one of
17 designated national estuaries
encompassing a 5400-square-mile
watershed. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and
Building a
Consensus
Often in the past, EPA's efforts to pro-
tect the environment have been
hampered by seemingly endless litiga-
tion. Sometimes both sides of a
regulatory dispute end up contesting an
EPA regulation in court—one side say-
Ing the rule is too strict, the other arguing
it is too lenient.
The need for better ways to resolve
environmental issues has led EPA to
use negotiated rulemakings to develop
new regulations and policies. The goal
is to invitecomment and develop agree-
ment among all affected parties on a
new regulation before it is formally proposed. (In the
traditional approach, the Agency develops a proposal
first, takes public comment, then reconciles diverse points
of view.) Regulatory negotiations build consensus, avoid
litigation, and demonstrate EPA's commitment to achiev-
ing the greatest environmental benefits in the most
cost-effective ways.
On August 16,1991, under EPA supervision, an historic
other nutrients from nonpoint sources—
especially agriculture and
forestry—cause eutrophication prob-
lems, algal blooms, fish lolls, and fish
diseases, all of which have been en-
demic in the estuary for
decades. Sixteen major point
sources (mainly sewage treatment
plants) and several smaller facilities
discharge into the sound and its
tributaries. Both point-and nonpoint-
source control measures have been
adopted, but they fall well short of
what is necessary to maintain good
water quality.
EPA, private interests, and the State of
North Carolina are working together on a
market approach to pollution control: wastewa-
ter agencies can either meet stringent and
expensive discharge limits or contribute to a
fund to help farmers reduce agricultural runoff,
for an equivalent reduction in pollution at a
considerably lower cost.
negotiated agreement was reached on
cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline
and oxygenated fuels. Participating were
representatives of the oiland auto indus^
tries, gasoline marketers, producers of
oxygenated fuels, and members of envi-
ronmental, state, and other groups.
Supplemental proposals for both refor-
mulated gasoline and oxygenated fuels
are now in the final stages of administra-
tive review. If issued as proposed, the
agreed-upon regulations would curb emis-
sions of volatile organic compounds by
roughly 95 million pounds a year in the
nine cities with the worst smog problems,
and would cut carbon monoxide emis-
sions by 20 percent in the 41 cities with
carbon monoxide problems.
Along with formal regulatory negotiations, EPA pro-
grams are also increasing their use of advisory committees
and informal roundtables to help the Agency track public
opinion and the demands of the marketplace. Such
inclusionary policy-making can improve the Agency's de-
cisions and products by drawing on the talent, ingenuity,
and expertise of people outside the Agency.
12
-------
"We must return to EPA's original
mission—to see the whole world as
diverse, productive, and interconnected."
—William K. Reilly
Regulatory
Clusters
In the past, EPA program offices (air, water,
solid waste, pesticides and toxic substances)
usually worked independently on regula-
tions, policies, and programs that might
affect the same pollution source, the same
pollutant, or the same natural system. This
often had the effect of simply moving
pollutants from one environmental medium
to another, with little or no actual reduction
in quantity.
To integrate the Agency's work better,
EPA is now forming "clusters"—teams of
analysts and managers from different parts
of the Agency—to mount coordinated
approaches to common problems. Each
cluster focuses on a specific source (petro-
leum refining), pollutant (lead),
environmental resource (ground water), or
other logical grouping of Agency activiti.es
(the special needs of small communities).
Each team tries to ensure that within its
area, regulations and non-regulatory
activities fit together to provide cost-
effective, risk-oriented environmental
protection.
Lead Pollution
One of the Agency's first clusters is target-
ing lead. Since Congress created EPA, there
has been significant progress in removing
lead from the air. Thanks to the nationwide
switch to unleaded gasoline and the use of
catalytic converters, air emissions of lead
have been cut by 97 percent in 20 years, and
blood lead levels in children dropped
dramatically between 1980 and 1990.
In early 1991, using the cluster approach,
EPA launched a comprehensive cross-program
(air, water, and waste) strategy to reduce
further the health risks from lead exposure.
EPA is also working with other federal agencies
to ensure a coordinated approach to reducing
risks from lead.
EPA's lead strategy includes:
• A national training program for lead
control and
abatement,
including
course
materials,
grants to
worker
organizations,
and a model
plan for state
accreditation of control professionals.
• A poisoning prevention guide to help
communities establish lead poisoning
programs.
• An education campaign in conjunc-
tion with the President's Commission on
Environmetal Quality to advise the
public how to reduce lead exposure in
the home, school, and workplace.
• New techniques for lead detection and
control.
• Actions to restrict lead in solder and
plumbing fixtures, to regulate corrosion
in drinking water systems, and to
require the replacement of corroding
lead water service lines.
• A July 1991 lead enforcement
initiative that for the first time
coordinated the filing of enforcement
actions to reduce a specific environ-
Levels of Lead in Children's Blood
SHARP DECLINES in the number of
American children with elevated levels
of lead in their blood have been recorded,
but millions of children—especially poor,
urban African-American children—are
still at risk. Chart shows EPA's estimates
of the percentage of children with blood
lead above 10 micrograms per deciliter
of blood, the "level of concern"
established by the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control. The government's goal
is to virtually eliminate the lead problem
by the year 2000.
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
.91%
1976-80
13
-------
Reducing Risks
mental pollutant, lead,
through simultaneous use
of six environmental
statutes (see page 27).
Environmental
Equity
Responding to growing
concerns that low-income,
racial, and ethnic minority
groups may be disproportion-
ately at risk from
environmental problems,
Administrator Reilly estab-
lished an Environmental
Equity Workgroup in July
1990 to examine lie issue.
The Workgroup's report,
Environmental Equity:
Reducing Risk for All Communities, was
released in March 1992. The report:
• Assesses the available information on
environmental health effects among
economic, racial, and ethnic groups
and concludes that except for blood
lead levels, there is inadequate data
on the subject.
• Recommends new emphasis on risk
assessment and risk communication,
including building a better data base,
to describe and explain risks that
affect particular populations and
communities such as inner cities.
• Recommends a range of Agency
responses, including a review of
EPA's outreach efforts and consulta-
tion with minority and low-income
organizations, to ensure that EPA is
fulfilling its mission.
• Suggests ways the Agency can
incorporate environmental equity into
long-range planning, management,
(Photo: Sam Kittner)
URBAN CHILDREN play in the shadows of an oil refinery in heavily industrialized Texas
City, Texas, site of several major industrial facilities that emit pollution.
and other activities, as well as the
activities of state environmental
agencies.
Even as the workgroup was prepar-
ing its report, EPA was moving ahead
with a number of specific initiatives to
address the equity issue. Several of EPA's
regional offices have been looking into
whether and where certain populations
may face higher-than-average risks. One
region, for example, is analyzing where
certain environmentally hazardous
industries are located in relationship to
the poor and minorities. Another is using
new census data and computer systems to
determine the exposure of certain inner-
city residents to lead. EPA is also working
with some Indian tribes on local solid
waste problems, and the Agency is
pressing for improved drinking water for
migrant farmworkers.
Low-income and minority popula-
tions also benefit substantially from
EPA's overall environmental programs.
The new Clean Air Act will improve air
quality for more than 15 million African-
Americans and more than eight million
Hispanics living in areas with relatively
poor air quality. The U.S.-Mexico Border
Plan, announced in February 1992,
attacks water contamination and air
pollution on both sides of the border. And
the Bush Administration has created a
multi-agency task force to further lower
the lead blood levels among children
most often exposed to this danger—
primarily African-American children.
14
-------
"We must manage the Earth s natural resources in ways that assure the
sustainability of humanity on this planet, in ways that maximize the
potential for growth and opportunity for all." —President George Bush
Indoor Air
Pollution and Radon
Reducing Risk, the groundbreaking 1990
study by EPA's Science Advisory Board,
identified indoor air pollution as one of four
primary risks to human health. In Decem-
ber 1991, EPA and the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) released a guide to help building
owners and managers prevent "sick building
syndrome" and other indoor air quality
problems. One of the most dangerous
indoor air pollutants is colorless and
odorless—radon gas, a decay product of
naturally-occurring uranium in soil deposits.
EPA estimates that radon causes from 7,000
to 30,000 lung cancer deaths a year, making
it second only to smoking as a cause of lung
cancer deaths among Americans. Smoking,
in fact, greatly increases the risk of lung
cancer from radon exposure. EPA's
National Residential Radon Survey found
that one in five American homes tested had
elevated radon levels in the 40 states
surveyed to date. That means about six
million U.S. homes have levels of radon
exceeding the Agency's "action level" of four
picocuries of radiation per liter of air.
In 1991, along with the Advertising
Council, the American Public Health
Association, and several other groups, EPA
launched a new national media campaign
urging homeowners to test for and fix radon
problems. The Agency also joined forces
with the Surgeon General, the American
Lung Association, the American Medical
Association, and others to promote radon
awareness.
Indoor Radon Survey Results
WARNING:RADON IS DEADLY
IN THIS AREA.
.
to get your test Infbtmaiicn.
RISKS FROM EXPOSURE to radon gas are described in
a public service ad, part of a national radon awareness
campaign co-sponsored by EPA. Map shows results of
EPA's National Residential Radon Survey of 57,406 homes
in 40 states between 1986 and 1992 (the results represent
two-to seven-day screening measurements, not annual
averages or health risks). In many homes that exceed
EPA's "action level" of four picocuries of radon per liter
of air, relatively simple and inexpensive techniques can
lower radon to safe levels.
Estimated Percent of Homes with Screening Levels Greater than 4pCI/L
0%
5%
10%
15%
20% >
15
-------
Actual
Reducing Risks
1,400
Projected
Hazardous
Waste
Early in 1989, Administrator Reilly
ordered a thorough review of the
Superfund program, which was created in
19SO to clean up the nation's worst
uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. This
"90-day review" redirected the program
based on several new principles:
"Enforcement First": those respon-
sible for the problem must be made to
pay for cleanups.
Take care of immediate risks first:
EPA regularly checks all 1,200-plus
Superfund priority sites for imminent
threats, and acts quickly to protect
Active
NPL Sites
Completed
Sites
HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES on
EPA's Superfund National
Priorities List (NPL) are among
FY
2000 the most severely contaminated
in the nation. More than 1,200
"active" sites are now on the list or have
been proposed for addition. EPA expects to
add about 70 sites to the list each year for
the rest of the decade. A site is considered
"completed" when all permanent cleanup
construction work has been completed.
EPA's goal is to complete work at 650 sites
by the end of FY 2000.
|S^^S!h^i|%y^s
m^^sM-^^^-^&fk^^f^A
pgya-w. in' i •iiiiiinn I |UM_^.^. ^ (||>[| ..- _ .,.- * , ^ / •_ ;,- ' „ - f-^ rs, , ••"•Jj?" „ »fv; .JMi»1£"-_ ' "•**». JSK\HM
'^^^^^S%Sf&S^^J
16
(Pftoto: Michael G. Stoner, EPA)
-------
Paying for Past Neglect
1980
. human health and the environment.
• Deal with the worst problems at the worst sites first.
• Use treatment technologies to reduce the volume and
toxicity of wastes instead of simply containing contaminated
materials (see page 38). .
The "Enforcement First" policy has paid handsome dividends:
excluding federal facilities, six out of ten designs for permanent
Superfund cleanups and projects to implement them are now done
by responsible parties, up from 42 percent in 1989. In FY1991,
EPA secured a record $1.4 billion in commitments to conduct site
work from those responsible for hazardous waste pollution—an
amount equal to the entire tax-financed FY 1991 Superfund budget.
This brings the total obtained since Superfund began in 1980 to
$5.1 billion—almost three-fourths of which has been recovered
since FY 1988. Because the Superfund trust fund is limited and the
average cleanup cost is more than $25 million per site, cleanups
financed by responsible parties make it possible to conduct more
cleanups in the same time.
Superfund cleanup actions to date have greatly reduced me
potential risks of exposure to hazardous waste for the 23.5 million
people—10 percent of the U.S. population—who live within four miles
of a Superfund site. By the end of 1991, EPA had surveyed more than
30,000 potential Superfund sites and completed more tihan 2,700
emergency removal actions. Of the 1,200-plus sites on the Superfund
National Priorities List (NPL), 1,161, or 93 percent, now have remedial
investigations or site work underway. By the end of 1991, surface cleanup
had been completed at 196 sites, and by March 15,1992, all cleanup
construction was complete at 71 sites. As attention shifted to the pace of
cleanups, in 1991 the Administrator ordered a search for ways to
expedite work at Superfund sites. That study yielded initiatives that could
shorten the time for typical cleanups by two years (the current average is
seven to ten years). EPA is now on its way to meeting its new cleanup
targets: all cleanup construction work complete at 130 NPL sites by the
end of FY 1992, at 200 sites by the end of FY 1993, and at 650 sites by
"the end of FY 2000.
PARTIES
RESPONSIBLE
for pollution at
Superfund sites are
increasingly bearing the cost of
cleanup. EPA's "Enforcement First" policy, introduced in 1989,
has produced dramatic increases in the estimated value of
responsible party cleanup commitments: of the $5.1 billion in total
commitments through the end of FY 1991, $2.5 billion has occurred
under "Enforcement First."
Up Hazardous Wastes
jergency and permanent Superfund cleanup
jjbjdate has treated, isolated, neutralized, or
Mmpved huge quantities of contaminants:
= ?*•
ost 13 million cubic yards of soil and solid
_jt|" (enough to cover a football field more
^^Bjle'high).
a billion gallons of liquid waste
is for every person in the United
tates|7"
pore than six billion gallons of ground water
ipenough to provide the population of New York
City^with drinking water for nearly five years).
than 30(TTniillion gallons of surface
3/ater (more than a gallon for every person in
United States).
17
-------
Reducing Risks
Pesticides
EPA took action against a number of
problem pesticides in recent years. Negotia-
tions resulted in die voluntary cancellation
of most uses of paradiion, daminozide
(Alar), and aldicarb.
EPA also stopped use of granular
carbofuran because of the significant risks to
birds posed by its continued use; R-ll, an
active ingredient in insect repellents; and all
uses of Compound 1080 except in livestock
protection collars. The Agency reaffirmed
an earlier decision to end the use of
diazinon on golf courses and sod farms, and
destroyed more than two million gallons of
dinoseb as well as the last remaining stocks
of ethylene dibromide (EDB). In 1990,
EPA completed the first national survey of
127 pesticides and nitrates in drinking water
wells. The information is being used to
evaluate regulatory and state-specific
techniques for protecting drinking water
from pesticide pollution. In June of 1991,
EPA registered for the first time two
pesticides derived from biological organisms
that were genetically engineered using
recombinant DNA techniques. These new
pesticides, used to control pests on field
crops, may be the first of many biological
insecticides that could become viable
alternatives to traditional chemical
pesticides.
AGRICULTURAL USES account for the
bulkof pesticide applications in the United
States. While both agricultural and total
usage per capita have declined from peak
levels in the early 1980s, pesticides used
on farms, in homes, and on lawns continue
(see page 24).
Millions of Pounds Active Ingredient
Pesticide Usage
T1.400
:i,qpo
.600
1964
1969
1974
1979
1984
1989
Asbestos in
Buildings
Asbestos has been controversial almost since
EPA was formed. EPA submitted a report
to Congress in 1988 which crystallized the
issues, and since then the Agency has
actively participated in the debate on
asbestos dangers and what to do about
them. EPA has provided schools with
updated guidance on how to manage
asbestos in their buildings without undertak-
ing unnecessary and costly removals that
might themselves cause the release of
cancer-causing asbestos fibers. EPA's
asbestos program has two primary goals: to
replace lingering public misperceptions
about asbestos with clear, responsible -
guidance; and to determine additional steps
that should be taken to address the problem
of asbestos in public and commercial
buildings.
EPA's message, outlined in an advisory
from the Administrator titled, "Five Facts
About Asbestos," emphasizes management-
in-place as the preferred method for
handling asbestos in buildings. This guid-
ance received support from the American
Medical Association's Council on Scientific
Affairs. In addition, die Health Effects
Institute's Asbestos Research Literature
Beview, released in September 1991,
supports key components of the Agency's
asbestos message.
Along with training professional
asbestos inspectors and removal experts,
EPA has issued a number of guidance
documents to raise the level of technical
knowledge of asbestos. The most important
was Managing Asbestos in Place, a 1990
guide for building owners on how to carry
out a successful asbestos operations and
maintenance program.
A 1991 study of the asbestos-in-schools
program (AHERA), which began in 1988,
showed widespread compliance and
concluded that, in general, inspections and
remediation planning are being done
responsibly. The study also indicated that
overall exposure to building occupants is
18
-------
low; but it identified a need for
improved inspections and
abatement actions in some
schools. Two 1992 guidance
documents—one on
reinspections, and the other on
the responsibilities of a school
district's designated AHERA
official—should help schools further improve their asbestos
control efforts. '
ASBESTOS
UST
AVOD BREATHING OtIST
WE»R ASSIGNED
PROTKTIVi EQUIPMENT
DO NOT REMAIN IN ASIA
UNLESS YOUR WORK
REQUIRES IT
BREATHING ASBESTOS
DUST MAY BE
HAZARDOUS
TOYOUR HEALTH
Water Quality
One of the nation's most persistent and troublesome environmental
problems is the discharge of toxic substances into water from a wide
variety of sources. EPA has taken many steps to protect the nation's
water supply:
• Storm water. Pollution from stormwater runoff from farms,
city streets and other sources is responsible for as much as 30
percent of the national water quality problem. EPA issued a
storm water rule in 1990 under the Clean Water Act describing
how 100,000 industrial facilities, 173 cities and 47 counties can
obtain permits for discharging storm water into municipal
sewage systems. Stormwater management permits developed
under this program will specify the use of best management
practices to prevent pollution.
• Water quality standards. EPA proposed water quality
standards in 1991 for as many as 105 toxic pollutants in 22 states
that have failed to adopt adequate standards on their own. This
was the largest, most comprehensive standard-setting action
ever taken under the Clean Water Act.
• Toxic waste. EPA's effluent guideline regulations annually
prevent the direct release of more than 500 million pounds of
toxic chemicals to water from 51 types of industries, including
iron and steel, organic chemical, and metal finishing plants.
• Drinking water. EPA issued standards in 1991 for 38 inorganic and
synthetic organic chemicals commonly found in drinking water, and
reproposed standards for six others. Final standards for lead and
copper in drinking water were also published in 1991. Since 1989,
the number of drinking water contaminants regulated by EPA rose
from 35 to 62, and will reach 85 by the end of 1992.
• Municipal landfills. EPA issued new requirements for more than
6,000 municipal solid-waste landfills in 1991 to protect ground water
and the health and safety of communities. The rules cover design
and operating requirements, procedures for preventing, detecting,
and cleaning up ground-water
contamination, and site maintenance
after a landfill is closed. Special
provisions were made to ease the
regulatory burden for some small
communities (see page 47).
• Hazardous wastes. EPA
issued final regulations in 1990,
effective in May 1992, that restrict land disposal of hundreds of
untreated wastes. New treatment standards are designed to
reduce toxicity of wastes, prevent future ground-water contami-
nation, and ensure safer management of hazardous wastes.
Underground storage tanks. EPA worked with states and
private parties to clean up contamination from leaking under-.
ground storage tanks. More than 1.7 million regulated
underground tanks across the nation store petroleum and other
hazardous chemicals that can cause fires and explosions,
contaminate drinking water, and damage lakes and streams.
From 1987 through 1991, cleanups began at more than 86,000
sites and were completed at more than 29,000. Six state
programs had been approved by early 1992.
19
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Preventing Pollution
"n the 1990s, pollution prevention
has become a cornerstone ofEPA's
work. Tills toas not always the case:
20 years ago it was relatively straightfor-
ward to identify the belching smokestacks
and the sewage outfalls that dumped
toaste into the environment. The most
direct strategy for dealing with these
conspicuous pollution sources was to
control pollution at the "end of the pipe"—
that is, cleaning it up just before it was
released into the environment.
Today, the sources of pollution are
scattered, diffiise, and often hard to
identify—pesticides applied to croplands
or the lawns of suburbia, used motor oil
dumped down household drains, debris
tvashing off city streets, automobiles
inching along congested roadways. The
key to attacking such "nonpoint" pollution
is prevention. Regulation and controls
provide a base, but government and
industry increasingly recognize the value
ofpreventing pollution at its point of
origin, before it reaches the smokestack,
outfall, or storm drain.
Greater energy efficiency, incentives
for producing less harmful substances,
expanded recycling, natural resource
conservation—these and more have a. role
inpreventingpollution. Many of these
strategies are voluntary or market-
based—or both. EPA is exploring other
creative efforts to deal with such nonpoint
pollution sources as runoff from farms,
forests, mines, and city streets.
Community
Right-to-Know
Congress affirmed the public's "right to
know" about local environmental conditions
when it passed the Emergency Planning
and Community Right-to-Know Act of
1986. The law requires major industries to
report on the hazardous and toxic chemicals
they store, release into the environment, or
transfer to disposal facilities. The release
and transfer data are made available by EPA
to the public in a nationwide computer
database, the Toxics Release Inventory
(TRI), and in published reports.
The TRI has given plant managers and
corporate executives a powerful incentive to
Educating the Public
President Bush recognized the importance of an environ-
mentally aware public in 1990 when he signed the National
Environmental Education Act. Congress appropriated $6.5
million in FY 1992 for EPA's new Office of Environmental
Education, which is
responsible for coord-
inating educational
activities at the
Agency. Among its
goals:
• Promote environ-
mental literacythrough-
out the country.
•Support develop-
ment and distribution
of educational materi-
als, publications,
audiovisual products, and training programs for elemen-
tary and high schools.
• Develop and support seminars, training programs, and
workshops for environmental education professionals,
and programs to attract students to environmental
careers.
• Make grants of up to $250,000 for environmental educa-
tion and training projects, and national awards for
outstanding contributions to environmental education.
• Provide internships for college-level students and fel-
lowships for in-service teachers in environment-related
positions to work at federal agencies.
Work began on all of these activities in 1991 .In addition, the
office began exploring cooperative ventures with other fed-
eral, state, and local government agencies and laid the
foundation for a national Environmental Education Informa-
tion Clearinghouse.
Environmental education will be boosted by AMERICA
2000, the President's agenda to foster excellence in Ameri-
can education. EPA is reaching outto educational institutions
to promote math, science, and engineering studies that can
lead to careers in environmental protection. A special focus
of this effort is on Historically Black Colleges and Universi-
ties and Hispanic Associated Colleges and Universities.
EPA is funding environmental research and training
centers and new multi-year $20,000 environmental fellow-
ships for students from these institutions. The Agency is
also sponsoring a new two-year masters degree program at
Tufts University for mid-career minority professionals.
20
-------
Green lights
F1 Ji
jl- /•
F^..
^ , .
&'
p-
7
V, ~
Government
J7Y0) Endorsers
EPA's Green Lights Program encourages the use of
energy-efficient lighting by both companies and gov-
ernments-—curbing the demand for energy and
electricity and curtailing emissions from power plants.
Guided by trie principle that energy-efficient lighting
is "a bright investment in the environment," Green
Lights promotes energy efficiency, pollution prevention, and economic competi-
tiveness. EPA estimates that if Green Lights were fully implemented, in combination
with other lighting efficiency programs, companies and governments would save
more than $18 billion in anriual electric bills.
By early this year, more than 400 corporations and nine states, the government
,V i'.' :;-\''.'• .of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a number of cities
and counties, hospitals, schools, environmental
groups, and other institutions had signed up for
Green Lights. These commitments cover two billion square feet of office
space—more than the total office space in New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Detroit. EPA estimates that the commit-
ments to date, when fully implemented, will save about $700 million a year
in electric bills and reduce air emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide
and nitrogen oxide by more than seven million metric tons a year. The
carbon dioxide reduction is the equivalent of taking 1.6 million cars off the
road. .•.'-•••
f If all eligible facilities were to join the program, Green Lights could
' reduce electricity used for lighting by about half, and total national
electricity demand by about 10 percent. This would cut carbon dioxide
. emissions by 210 million metric tons— the equivalent of 42 million cars, or
about one-third of the entire U.S. automobile fleet.
Electric
Utilities
(22%)
Manufacturing
Allies
, (32%)
Management
(47%)
reduce emissions of toxic chemicals from their industrial
facilities. Member companies of the Chemical Manufac-
turers Association, for example, have cut their toxic
emissions by 40 percent since the program began in 1986,
even as production was increasing by 10 percent. The
reductions were made voluntarily, because industry
leaders realized they could save money and improve
profits by finding cheaper, more effective ways to curb
wastes.
The TRI also helps EPA to target inspection and
enforcement actions in areas of greatest risk to public
health and natural systems, and it encourages partner-
ships with environmental organizations and community
groups by fostering an informed citizenry. Because right-
to-know can help promote democratic ideals around die
world, EPA is advocating a proposal on the agenda of the
United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development to expand the principle internationally. The
"Earth Summit" conference will be held in Rio de Janeiro
in June 1992.
Toxics .Release Inventory
^ ,-- -~- fn- ,
,--
Jyi|g^
,- HI
f
^-.i—:-r~j^i
Surface water
discharges (3.3%)
Land disposal
(7.8%)
Underground
injection (20.7%)
Transfer to public
sewerage (9.7%)
21
-------
Preventing Pollution
33/50
Project
One of EPA's boldest experiments in pollution prevention is the
voluntary, direct action 33/50 Program, which creates a partnership
among government, industry, and communities. Its goal is to
reduce releases and transfers of 17 highly toxic, high-priority
chemicals—cadmium, mercury, lead,
benzene, and others— 33 percent by
tine end of 1992 and 50 percent by
1995. The reductions will be
measured against a baseline of
releases and transfers reported
to EPA's Toxics Release
Inventory in 1988.
In asking almost 6,000
companies to join the program,
EPA is stressing the substantial
benefits of pollution prevention:
community health protection; competi-
tive advantage from reducing product loss and waste disposal
expenses; potential avoidance of future liabilities and regulatory
requirements by eliminating waste; and improved community
relations and employee pride. Through this program, launched in
January 1991, EPA has opened new channels of communication
and prompted action in industry. As of early 1992, more than 700
companies had made explicit commitments to the 33/50 Program,
resulting in a projected reduction of more than 300 million pounds
of toxic pollutants by 1995. A number of companies have gone
beyond the basic program, extending their commitments to cover
overseas facilities and additional chemicals or developing compre-
hensive pollution prevention management plans. Several EPA
regional offices are also working to reduce emissions of chemicals
not on the original 33/50 list but of special concern in their
communities.
COMPANIES JOINING the 33/50 project—a voluntary, direct action
program toreduceem!ssionsof17 high-priority toxic chemicals—
grew to more than 700 by early 1992. The firms are responding to
a challenge Issued by EPA Administrator William K. Reilly in
January 1991. Their commitments will cut 300 million pounds of
toxic emissions much faster than would be possible under a
regulatory program.
a i.
Answering
, the
Challenge
fm\\ iifitii'ifHinifi iiihifitf id
Toxic Ju'y^
Chemical Emissions
Nickel and compounds
Chloroform
Benzene
Tetrachloroethylene
Methyl tsobutyl ketone
Trichloroethylene
Lead and compounds
Chromium and compounds
Methylene chloride
Methyl ethyl ketone
Trichloroethane
Xylenes
Toluene
I
1
1
• 1988 Releases/Transfers
of 33/50 Chemicals
• 1992 Goal
D 1995 Goal
50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000
Thousands of Pounds
22
-------
Recycling
Recycling is an easy, effective way for every
citizen to do something for the environ-
ment. It helps achieve two important goals:
preventing pollution and conserving natural
resources. The portion of municipal solid
waste handled through recycling and
composting grew to 13 percent in 1988, the
latest year for which information is available.
The Bush Administration's goal is 25
percent of the nation's total solid waste
handled by source reduction or recycling.
On October 31,1991, President Bush
signed Executive Order 12780, requiring all
federal departments and agencies to
procure products made with recycled
materials wherever possible. The order also
requires federal agencies to name recycling
coordinators, whose job will be to boost
recycling of items discarded by the three
million federal employees. For its part, EPA
is recycling 15 times as much waste material
as it was in 1986. In FY1991, EPA head-
quarters collected more than 625 tons of
paper, 117 tons of glass, and more than two
tons of aluminum. EPA is also:
Helping consumers understand
claims made in product labeling and
advertising. The Agency is working with
the Federal Trade Commission and the
Office of Consumer Affairs to develop
national guidelines for use of such terms
as "recyclable" and "recycled content" in
product labeling and advertising.
Highlighting the importance of
recycling, which was the competition
category for the first annual EPA
Administrator's
Awards in 1991
Co-sponsoring
a recycling
advertising
campaign with
the Environ-
mental Defense
Fund and the
Advertising
Council. The
1990 campaign
responded to
90,000 requests
for recycling
information.
COMPREHENSIVE RECYCLING programs
are now in effect in 23 states, with more
expected to follow soon. The Admin-
istration's national goal is 25 percent of
solid waste handled through recycling and
waste reduction. Latest data available, for
1988, put the rate at 13 percent.
What's In
Our Trash?
Where Does
Our Trash Go?
41% Paper
18% Yard
Trimmings
8%
Glass
9%
Metals
7%
Plastics
8%
Food Waste
9% Other
(As of 1988)
Total weight: 180 million tons, or the
equivalent of 4 pounds per person per day
SETTING TH
t?t. i i iiivi i nis, cyv«iviri-& ivi. uiuwi yuvcimittsiH ciyeuuteof ^
EPA nearly doubled its owfn recycling ratefrojri"[ 989 to 1990 JV
(paper recycljjg agpjlrs to Decline in 199£j>ecause thj|>^
islbiii
ndj
toj-Tec
ycling
foneof S
ng), PeesidemBush signed an Execgti;
e? requiringTH federal departments and,:
23
-------
Preventing Pollution
Nonpoint Source Pollution and Agriculture
Nonpoint source pollution is runoff from
widespread, scattered, diffuse sources—city
streets; farms; mining, forestry, and con-
struction sites; and more. In many locations,
it is the chief remaining water pollution
problem, and the biggest obstacle to
achieving water quality standards in many of
the nation's lakes, streams, coastal areas, and.
aquifers. The economic activity that causes
most nonpoint pollution in the United
States is agriculture.
To combat nonpoint source pollution,
from 1990 to 1992 EPA awarded $140
million in grants under the Clean Water Act
to all 57 states and territories. The funds
help the states focus on key nonpoint source
problems within their watersheds. About
half of the money addresses agricultural
concerns. Other steps EPA is taking to curb
agriculture-related pollution:
• EPA has joined with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration to identify and publicize the
best, most cost-effective measures to
control nonpoint source pollution along
the nation's coastlines. Through these
measures coastal states can significantly
reduce agricultural and other nonpoint
pollution.
• EPA has worked with the Depart-
ment of Agriculture to help select
locations for demonstration projects to
abate agricultural nonpoint source
pollution.
• In October 1991, EPA released its
Pesticides and Ground Water
. Strategy, the policies and regulatory
approach that will be used to protect
ground-water resources from pesticide
contamination from nonpoint sources,
into runoff.
RUNOFF FROM SOIL stripped bare for a
housing development can carry many kinds of
pollutants to surface and ground water.
(Photo: Tim McCabe, Soil Conservation Service)
24
-------
"For too long, we've focused on cleanup and penalties after the
damage is done. It's time to reorient ourselves using
technologies and processes that reduce or prevent pollution—
to stop it before it starts." —President George Bush
Additional
Accomplishments
Education center. EPA issued a grant
to the University of Michigan to create a
national PoEution Prevention Center
that will develop pollution prevention
curricula for graduate engineering,
business, and natural resources schools.
By increasing pollution prevention
training in schools, EPA will help ensure
pollution prevention attitudes and
know-how in tomorrow's corporate and
government leaders.
Information clearinghouse. EPA
created a Pollution Prevention Informa-
tion Clearinghouse to make pollution
prevention projects and technology
readily available to businesses that want
to become more environmentally
efficient. In 1991, the clearinghouse had
more than 600 case studies to share and
more than 2,000 users.
State grants. EPA's Pollution Preven-
tion Office gave grants to the states and
to set up a pollution prevention program
across the entire dye industry.
Wellhead protection. Preventing
pollution before it fouls ground water
and community water wells is the goal of
EPA's Wellhead Protection Program.
The program encourages community
involvement in identifying primary risks
to local water supplies and developing
local programs for preventing pollution.
Between 1989 and 1991,17 states had
developed federally approved wellhead
protection programs; the number is
expected to grow to 32 in 1992.
Denver Airport. EPA's Region 8 in
Denver is working with Colorado and
the city and county of Denver on a
multimedia poEution prevention project
for the new Denver International
Airport. The design and operation of the
airport, scheduled for completion by 1993,
will incorporate the latest pollution-
prevention techniques for refueling,
protecting air quality, conserving water,
handling runoff from deicing, and dealing
with solid and hazardous waste. Among
other benefits, the program will reduce
volatile organic vapor emissions by 90
percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by 70
percent.
Water use efficiency. EPA took
several steps to promote water use
efficiency: setting new efficiency standards
in federal and state programs, supporting
municipal and industrial water use
efficiency, and developing public education
projects to promote water-free lawns and
other water-saving practices.
25
-------
Enforcing
Environmental Laws
ffectwe, predictable, vigorous
, enforcement is a prerequisite for
environmental progress. Enforce-
ment plays a vital role not only in
maintaining compliance with the nation's
environmental laics, but also in achieving
tangible environmental results and
providing a foundation for regulatory and
voluntary activities.
Accordingly, enforcement has been a
priority for EPA during the past three years,
each oftuliicli set new enforcement records.
More titan any other statistic, perhaps the
most significant is that more than half of the
total doil, criminal, and administrative fines
assessed in the Agency's 21-year history were
levied during the past three years. Since 1989,
EPA's enforcementprogram also has:
• Referred 44 percent of all criminal
referrals to the Justice Department since
the program was established in 1982.
• Obtained, workingwith the Justice
Department, just under half of the
successful prosecutions during that
period, and 43 percent of the total
convictions, resulting in sentences
adding up to two-thirds of the total
amount of jail time served.
• Assessed more than two-thirds of the
total criminal dollar penalties.
Multimedia Enforcement
Multimedia enforcement coordinates,
investigation and prosecution under
separate environmental laws affecting
different environmental media (air, water,
and land). Instead of pursuing violators
piecemeal, one law at a time, EPA can
realize greater environmental benefits by
attacking all sources of pollution from a
particular facility or in a particular geo-
graphic region. Multimedia inspections of
industrial and other facilities also constitute
a more efficient, more effective way of working
with plant managers to curb pollution.
^Ji I
Total Criminal Fines and
Civil Penalties Assessed
DRAMATIC INCREASES in
environmental enforcement
have occurred during the
Bush Administration. In the
past three years EPA has
assessed 55 percent of all
civil penalties and criminal
fines in EPA's history—a total
of more than $200 million.
Federal judicial and
administrative penalties more
than doubled in the last three
years.
Federal Judicial and Administrative Penalties Assessed
$80.000,000
1977
78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85
87 88 89 90
1991
-------
OIL-EATING MICROBES are proving effective in
treating oil spills. Here a bioremediation team
readies a shoreline in Alaska's Prince William
Sound for sampling. Treated oil in the Sound
degraded twice as fast as on untreated beaches.
(Photo: Alaska Bioremediation Project)
*£?r
On July 31,1991, for example, EPA and tike Justice Depart-
ment, using six separate laws, filed civil judicial and administrative
actions against major sources of lead emissions in each of EPA's ten
regions. The Justice Department filed 24 civil cases in federal courts
across the United States', and EPA took direct administrative "
enforcement action against 12 facilities, assessing more than $10
million in penalties.
EPA has also.focused multimedia enforcement efforts on
specific resources, such as Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes.
The Agency filed cases against Inland Steel, LTV Steel, and
Bethlehem Steel in northwestern Indiana as part of its Great Lakes
Initiative. These cases included violations of die clean water, safe
drinking water, clean air, and waste disposal laws. To support EPA's
broader enforcement perspective, the Agency has developed a
comprehensive new enforcement data base called IDEA—
Integrated Data for Enforcement Analysis. IDEA compiles
compliance records by firm, region, industrial category, and many
other parameters. The data help EPA target sources and actions
when particular environmental problems are identified.
Federal
Facility Cleanup
EPA increased funds in FY1991 for enforcing environmental laws
at federal facilities. The key to this program has been EPA's success
in negotiating enforceable agreements with other agencies. The
agreements include specific hazardous waste and radioactive waste
cleanup schedules for federal facilities on the Superfund National
Priorities List.
In 1991 EPA oversaw a record 85 interagency agreements and
70 federal facility compliance agreements. Since 1989, the Agency
has negotiated 97 of thes,e agreements requiring cleanup at federal
facilities. President Bush proposed $5.55 billion in his FY 1993
budget to beef up funding for cleanup of Department of Energy,
facilities. ' .. .
Innovative
Settlements
The environmental benefits of EPA's compliance and enforcement
activities can be improved by combining traditional monetary
penalties with innovative settlement provisions, including many that
incorporate pollution-prevention projects. In these settlements,
called environmentally beneficial expenditures or supplemental
The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
r Just after midnight on March 24,1989, the Exxon Valdez
struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spiil-
_ ing 11 million gallons of crude oil into one of the nation's
."most pristine marine environments. The oil slick spread
flover 3,000 square miles and onto 900 miles of shoreline
Hn the Sound, the Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island, the
-Lower Cook Inlet, and the Gulf of Alaska.
_ Within a few days, President Bush had appointed
then-Secretary of Transportation Samuel Skinnerto serve
as federal on-scenecoordinatorfor cleanup of the spill. At
^a press conference on April 7, President Bush asked EPA
Administrator Reilly "to coordinate the long-range plan-
ning to restore the environment ;of the Sound." This
involved advising the federal trustees and coordinating
federal restoration planning for the Sound and the Gulf of
^Alaska. EPA invested about $4 million of its own re-
_sources to support this effort, helping develop an
^ecosystem approach to the Prince William Sound cleanup.
-— EPA also field-tested a bioremediation approach to
„ cleaning up the oil spill, using oil-eating microbes to
degrade spilled oil twice as fast as on untreated shore-
" line. EPA_contributed about $1.6 million to this effort. The
Agency wasalso instrumental in settling the Exxon Valdez
, case for $1.125 billion—the largest natural resource
"settlement in U.S; history and one of the largest criminal
penalties of its kind ever obtained. The establishment of
_ a restoration fund with the $900 million obtained under
; Jhe civil settlement will provide funds for restoration within
the ecosystem affected by this tragedy.
environmental projects, companies may agree to alter their manu-
facturing processes to reduce waste, use safer products, replace
equipment that poses potential environmental hazards, and conduct
compliance audits. In 1991,168 settlements negotiated by EPA's
Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances included
these provisions.
27
-------
Environmental Laws
".. .(E)xisting environmental laws will be vigorously and firmly
enforced. Our message about environmental law is simple:
polluters will pay." —President George Bush
polluters Will Pay
Major Civil Cases
EPA referred a. total of 393 civil cases to the
Justice Department in 1991. The Agency
consistently has obtained higher penalties
since adopting a settlement policy empha-
sizing the recover)' of more than the
amount a polluter saved by violating the
law. Some examples:
• 1990 and 1991 brought the first, second,
and fourth largest civil penalties for
violations of the Clean Water Act. The
largest penalty, $6.2 million, was paid by
Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Corp. Other
major Clean Water Act cases included a $3
million settlement with Pfizer, and $2.9
million settlements each with Louisiana
Paper and Simpson Paper companies.
• The USX Corp. was assessed a civil
penalty of $1.6 million and ordered to
spend $7.5 million to remove sediments
contaminated by USX discharges from
the Grand Calumet River in Indiana
and $25 million to upgrade wastewater
treatment equipment.
• EPA cited ten major oil companies in 1991
for discharging contaminants into shallow
disposal wells at company owned or
operated service stations in violation of the
Safe Drinking Water Act. Tlie Agency
ordered the closure of more than 1,700
wells at oil company facilities in 41 states
by December 1993. Alongwith paying
combined penalties totaling $838,761, the
companies mustpay cleanup costs
estimated at $40 to $90 million.
• EPA and the Justice Department in 1991
announced a nationwide crackdown to
enforce controls on hazardous waste land
disposal. The government filed eight
judicial enforcement actions in U.S. district
courts, and EPA took direct enforcement
actions against 20 companies, assessing a
total of more than $35 million in penalties.
• In 1989 and again in 1991, EPA took
action against dozens of cities and
Crirnihaienforcement is EPA's most powerful compliance tool. A recorc 104
individual ancj corporate defendants!were charged in EPA criminal cises
during !FY 1fl91. Forty-eight of thope cases resulted in conviction and
sentencing, apother record. ; •
These sik 1991 cases reflect the Agency's,new criminal enforcement
priorities—increased emphasis on criminal convictions and jail time for
responsible company executives, and stiff fines for polluters:
•; The chief executive officer of a Dallas waste disposal firm, Control
Disposal and Pipe Cleaning, Inc., was convicted of-violating laws
; against dumping hazardous chemicals' into a municipal sev/age
system without treating them first. In this first criminal prosecutic n for
.- violations of "pretreatment" re!quirements,ihe CEO was sentencsd to
; ! threeiyears in prison and his:company fined $1 million. :
• The production manager of a Tennessee metal coating facility,
Genejral Metal Fabricators, Inc., was sentenced to a 40-month pison
term ifter a jury found him guilty of hazardous waste violations under
the Resouj^Conservation a|nd Recovery Act—the nation's primary
waste^eo^toji,, lawTs. ! " ; " |
A fofm^reSfemana^ier for the Lower R«gd.y WgSgwa-t^r Treat nent
^fnitf
of'lhe-OeatfW-
Ons\qf the
j-est
syJrrgBSLfiarp: P
Shor$ pled guTr
He w^s fined $1 rnilli
restore the affected!
estate.
Eastern
.iis estate.
i restitution,
acres of his
industries for violating the Clean Water
Act's requirements for pretreatment of
industrial wastewater. A total of 316
enforcement actions were taken, 130
against municipal treatment plants and
the rest against industries. Thirty-seven
of the actions against municipalities ;
resulted in lawsuits, 23 of which have
now been settled with significant
penalties and improved compliance.
One city subject to action under the
initiatives, San Antonio, has been
nominated for a Pretreatment Excellece
Award for 1992. ,
28
-------
Protecting
Natural Resources
s development spreads across the
landscape, productive natural
• resources—wetlands and estuaries,
forests, soils, waterbodies, andwiMife—are
particularly hard hit. Population and
development pressures are especially
strong along the coasts, where almost half
the population lives. Beaches have been
littered withmedical waste and polluted
by fecal coliform bacteria from sewage.
For example, in ten states in 1989-1990,
2,400 beach closures and pollution
advisories were issued. One-third of the
nation's shellfish beds are now closed
because of pollution, and one-fourth of our
estuaries are polluted by toxic substances.
More than half the wetlands present when
settlers first arrived from Europe have
been lost—2.6 million acres just from the
mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. These
problems translate into economic losses—
fewer jobs, fewer fisheries, fewer
recreational opportunities.
As recommended in the Science
Advisory Board's 1990 Reducing Risk
report, EPA is devoting increased atten-
tion Agencywide and a growing share of
the budget to protecting natural re-
sources—not just along the
coasts but throughout the
nation for wetlands and
estuaries, forests, and water
bodies. Threatened ecosys-
tems targeted for special
attention include the Great
Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, the
Gulf of Mexico, South
Florida, coastal Louisiana,
Puget Sound, the San
Francisco Bay-Delta, Long
Island Sound, and many
others. More and more,
EPA's investments are
targeted geographically and
are increasing dramati-
cally—from $44 million in FY1989 to
$710 million proposed for FY1993. More
than 40 cents of every dollar increase in
EPA's 1993 operating budget is devoted to
ecological protection for high priority
natural systems. EPA.is teaming up with
local government officials, businesses, and
concerned citizens using risk-based, cross-
cutting strategies to leverage resources ,
and achieve measurable, lasting results.
Coastal and
Estuary Programs
Where rivers meet the sea, estuaries are
formed. The National Estuary Program,
created in 1987 by amendments to the
Clean Water Act, takes a geographic, basin-
wide approach to managing the natural
resources of these areas. Among the
environmental problems addressed are loss
of aquatic habitat, toxic contamination of
sediments, increased nutrient levels, which
damage aquatic life, marine debris, and
bacterial contamination.
On Earth Day 1990, President Bush
announced the addition of five estuaries in
Florida, Louisiana, Maine, and Massachu-
setts to this popular program, bringing the
total to 17. The nation's first comprehensive
conservation and management plan under
the estuary program, developed by the
Puget Sound Water Quality Authority in
cooperation with EPA's Region 10 in
Seattle, was approved in May 1991. By the
end of 1992, plans will probably have been
completed for Buzzards Bay in Massachu-
setts, Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island,
San Francisco Bay in California, and
Albemarle-Pamlico Sounds in North
Carolina. The plans identify estuary
problems and their causes and outline
management actions at the federal, state,
and local levels to restore and protect these
productive resources. Up to four more
estuaries will be added to the program by
1993.
Since 1989, EPA's Region 2 in New
York City has worked with the U.S. Coast
Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, the
states of New York and New Jersey, and
local environmental organizations to deal
with the problem of floatable debris in the
CALLING A HALT to the dumping of sewage sludge and other wastes in the ocean off U.S.
coastlines, EPA negotiated consent agreements with local jurisdictions that will phase out
ocean dumping of sewage sludge by June of 1992.
9.9
inn Ocean Waste Dumninn
1973
-------
America Moves to the Coasts
Natural Resources
1Growth in population
y region.
«•» "'jjEL~-~^
New York/New Jersey Harbor area. Significant amounts of
debris washed up and closed area beaches in 1987,and 1988.
Region 2's Floatables Action Plan locates and removes
floatable materials within the harbor before they can reach
the beaches. The plan includes surveillance, regular cleanups
(after high tides and heavy rains), emergency cleanups, and a
communications network. So far, more than 2,000 tons of
waste and debris have been collected under the program.
This success prompted similar effort to be developed for the
Gulf Coast, launched in November 1991.
POPULATION GROWTH between 1940 and 1990 was heaviest
along the nation's coastlines, especially the Atlantic and
Pacific coasts. In 1990 almost half of all Americans lived
within 50 miles of the coast. Development associated with
population increases threatens wildlife habitats and
ecological balance.
- Great Lakes
Atlantic Coast
I i t •*
{ II1, h
Gulf Coast
-------
"Americas coasts are among our most precious natural resources. Over 94,000
miles of bright sandy beaches, rocky coasts, and marshes provide us with food,
recreational opportunities, and a host of other benefits. Such a valuable
resource warrants wise and careful management." —President George Bush
Protecting
Valuable Wetlands
Wetlands—marshes, swamps, bogs, and
other areas where the presence of water
drives the ecological system—are a vital part
of nature. Water is purified as it niters
through wetlands into streams, lakes, and
bays. Wetlands also help control floods and
erosion; provide habitat for migrating birds
and other wildlife; contribute to food
production and commercial fishing; and
offer popular spots for sport fishing and
other recreation.
Post-World War II farming, develop-
ment, and surging populations in coastal
areas have eliminated wetlands at a rapid
rate. Recent losses are estimated at about
290,000 acres a year. President
Bush, who made a commitment to
the goal of "no net loss of wet-
lands," has increased the overall
Federal budget for wetlands
programs by over 100 percent, to
$600 million in FT 1992. The
President has requested $812
million for FY1993.
Consistent with the height-
ened attention to the productivity
of natural systems, EPA in 1990
vetoed the proposed Two Forks
Dam project in Colorado, citing
adverse environmental effects to a
valuable free-flowing river system
and the existence of practical
alternatives. The Agency also used
its authority to prevent environ-
mentally unsound development
affecting important wetlands and
other aquatic ecosystems in
Virginia, Rhode Island, and Alaska
(see page 34).
In a new assistance program
started in 1990, EPA is providing
grants to help states and tribes improve
their ability to protect wetlands. Funding
has grown from $1 million in 1990 to $5
million in 1991, and to $8.5 million in 1992.
In 1991 EPA issued 60 grants to 40 states,
seven Indian tribes, and one territory.
President Bush has requested $10 million
for state and tribal wetlands programs in FY
1993. These grants are enabling states and
tribes to improve protection for their
wetlands through state conservation
programs and other approaches tailored to
local needs. A key challenge in advancing
the "no net loss" policy has been to find a
practical, ecologically sound definition of a
; wetland for purposes of regulation. On
August 14,1991, the Bush Administration
proposed a series of steps to increase
protection of certain wetland areas, stream-
line existing permit processes, and
strengthen state wetland programs.
The Administration also proposed to
amend the Federal Manual for Delineat-
ing Jurisdiction of Wetlands. During the
public comment period on this proposal,
EPA received more than 70,000 com-
ments. The proposed revisions were also
field tested by EPA, the Army Corps of
Engineers, the Soil Conservation Service,
and the Fish and Wildlife Service-—as
well as by many states and private
consultants—to measure their impact on
wetlands protection and ascertain how
readily the definitions could be applied.
Based on these comments and field tests,
the proposed manual will be reworked.
of the
dinth
n the
ers
ost. Man
n verted
urban
31
-------
Natural Resources
Geographic Initiatives:
Protecting What We Love
In targeting particular geographic areas, EPA's goal is to
harness public affection for these treasured resources, chan-
nelling it to fuel environmental progress in all media—air,
water, and land. The Agency's geographic programs empha-
size pollution prevention, multimedia enforcement, research
into the causes and cures of environmental stress, stopping
habitat loss, education, and con-
stituency building—all to achieve
measurable environmental results
throughout the entire ecosystem.
• Chesapeake Bay. Water quality
in this popular estuary, the larg-
est in North America, has been
deteriorating for more than two
decades. Poorly treated sew-
age, acid rain, and runoff from
farms and city streets contain-
ing nutrients, sediment, and
toxicchemicals—as well as loss
of wetlands in the Bay water-
shed—have caused a steady,
alarming decline in the Bay's
once-legendary productivity. Oyster production has plunged
by 99 percent in the last 20 years. Dramatic downturns
have also occurred in populations of striped bass, shad,
yellow perch, alewife and blueback herring, white perch,
and other species.
In 1991, EPA's Region 3 in Philadelphia strength-
ened its partnership with states in the Bay region by
securing agreement on a Baywide compliance moni-
toring and enforcement strategy—the latest in aseries
of such agreements that began in 1983. Three gover-
nors and the mayor of the District of Columbia signed
the Chesapeake Bay Strategic Directions Agree-
ment, an effort to speed the Bay's restoration and set
USING ADVANCED Geographic Information Systems
° (GIS) technology, EPA can assess risks to human health
and natural systems in specific geographic areas (see
i page 39). Map Is from a pilot project in the Chesapeake
Bay watershed, where GIS has helped EPA estimate
, population densities and other factors near Super-fund
hazardous waste sites.
32
goals to ensure continued progress.
In addition, Region 3 has been providing financial and
technical assistance to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a
showcase project to help clean up the Anacostia River in the
District of Columbia, one of nearly 50 rivers that feed into the
Bay. And in March 1992, EPA awarded a $500,000 grant to the
State of Maryland to restore the Bay's oyster population by
paying watermen to transplant seed
oysters in the Bay's tributaries. The
Bay has also benefitted from the
continuing support of the Chesa-
peake Bay Foundation, other
environmental groups, and elected
officials like Maryland Governor
William Donald Schaefer—the cur-
rent chairman of the Chesapeake
Bay Executive Council—Maryland
Senator Barbara Mikulski, and many
others. A model strategy for control-
ling nonpoint source pollution of the
Bay is Pennsylvania's—nutrient
management program, which uses
innovative controls such as stream
fencing to keep livestock away from stream banks and out of
streams. Thanks to this and other efforts of the federal-state
Chesapeake Bay Program, the Bay is beginning to show some
signs of renewed health.
Phosphorus levels have dropped by 19 percent and nitro-
-------
"If we want to save anything, we have to
remember that people protect what they
love." —Jacques Cousteau
LOOKING FOR POLLUTION in the Great Lakes, chemist Wanda Dudek
analyzes water samples gathered by the Lake Guardian, EPA's newest
and largest surveillance and monitoring vessel. The Lake Guardian
gathers information about chemical and biological conditions and
monitors pollutant concentrations
throughout the Great Lakes.
(Photos: Mac LaFaire)
gen by 8 percent since 1985. Underwater grasses, vital to
many wildlife species, are starting to return to the Bay's
shorelines. Striped bass populatibns:are on the rise. By the
end of 1991, only about 3 percent of the 319 facilities
discharging effluents into the Bay watershed were signifi-
cantly out of compliance with waterquality effluent standards.
Yet much remains to be done. The President's budget
request for FY 1993 includes $40 million to improve sewage
treatment in Baltimore and more than $25 million for in-
creased monitoring and cleanup in and around the Bay.
• The Great Lakes. Substantial progress is evident in
cleaning up the Great Lakes. The United States has.,
spent $6.6 billion in grants since 1972 on wastewater
treatment, which now serves 90 percent of the region's
population. As a result, such traditional problems as
excess nutrients, oxygen depletion, and oily wastes are
being brought under control. toxic chemical releases in
the Great Lakes Basin have declined. .
Yet even more insidious problems continue, caused by
chronic, low levels of persistent toxic substances that re-
main in the Lakes. Forty-three "toxic hot spots"—mainly
harbors and sites of industrial activity—are getting special
attention from the United States and Canada.
The Lakes also face growing stresses from the loss of
aquatic and terrestrial habitat, runoff from agricultural and
urban land, and the invasion of exotic, fast-breeding spe-
cies like the zebra mussel.
To help restore this massive resource, EPA's Great
Lakes National Program Office and three EPA regions have
joined with 18 state and federal agencies to develop a five-
year strategy for the Great Lakes region. EPA has also put
together a Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Action Plan in
cooperation with the governors of the Great Lakes Basin,
and it has organized a joint program with Canada to protect
and restore Lake Superior. The focus is on achieving
tangible results measured in terms of human and ecological
health throughout the ecosystem. Using modeling and
advanced monitoring techniques, the Agency is developing
strategies to deal with three persistent problems: air depo-
sition of pollutants, agricultural and urban runoff, and habitat
loss. EPA and the states: have also brought a number of
major enforcement actions against cities and industries in
the region that have violated laws against releasing toxic
substances into the Lakes. In 1991, EPA's Region 5 as-
sessed more penalties under the Clean Water Act than the
entire Agency had collected in 1990 under this law.
To help pay for these activities, President Bush's FY
1993; budget requests an $8.2-million increase in funds for
the Great Lakes, to more than $60 million.
* The Gulf of Mexico. To help restore and protect this
remarkable natural resource, EPA's Gulf of Mexico Pro-
gram, Region 4 in Atlanta, Region 6 in Dallas, and other
EPA offices are beefing up their efforts. The goal is to
create a "framework for action" through which citizens,
business leaders, government agencies, and community
groups can share ideas and work together in a common
venture to clean up and protect the Gulf.
The program will also allow the many federal, state and
local agencies with technical and management responsibili-
ties in coastal areas to cooperate more effectively. It will help
them avoid duplication, obtain crucial technical information,
and pool their resources.
An example is the cooperative effort to control pollution
in the Houston Ship Channel, once considered one of the
most toxic water bodies in the nation. Recent studies of the
channel showed lower levels of pollution than expected and
a resurgence of marine life—although heavy metals were
still found in some tributaries and near industrialized areas.
Overall, the joint efforts by EPA's Region 6, the Texas Water
Commission and the City of Houston to control wastewater
discharges and stormwater runoff have brought a once-
dead waterway back to life.
Last year the Gulf of Mexico program completed scien-
tific studies characterizing the area's habitat, nutrient sources,
and freshwater inflow, and mapping coastal erosion. Dem-
onstration projects, including a coastal debris action plan,
were announced. The President's budget calls fora substan-
tial increase in funds for the Gulf of Mexico, from $6.3 million
in 1992 to nearly $21 million for 1993.
33
-------
"In a time of growing budget deficits and unmet needs in other sectors of society, we have
never been more pressed to spend our scarce funds wisely on those problems that present the
most serious risks to human health and natural systems." —William K. Reilly
Protecting Fisheries
In 1989, die American Fisheries Society conducted an EPA-
sponsored survey of state procedures for issuing fish consumption
advisories or bans when contaminants pose a health threat to
recreational and subsistence-level fishermen. All 50 states partici-
pated. In addition to providing information on how they sampled,
analyzed, and interpreted contaminants in fish, the states made
urgent requests for federal assistance on all aspects of their fish
advisory programs.
EPA held a state-federal forum in August 1990 to verify the
State survey data and to set priorities for state federal assistance
needs. EPA used this information to develop a detailed Federal
Assistance Plan for State Fish Advisory Programs. The Agency
made die plan available to relevant federal agencies and organized a
Fish Contamination Section within EPA to implement the states'
highest priority projects.
Two major projects had been completed by the end of 1991:
technical guidance on surveying fish and shellfish consumption rates
of recreational and subsistence-level fishermen; and creation of the
first national database on all fish advisories in the United States.
Saving a Treasured
Alaska Wetland
An especially productive wetland and wildlife habitat on
Alaska's North Slope was protected from oil drilling last
year—thanks to successful negotiations between ARCO
and EPA's Region 10 in Seattle. ARCO had proposed
construction of a drill pad and access road in a drained
lake basin in the Kuparuk oil and gas field. A combination
of shallow ponds and wet and moist tundra, the wetland
supports some of the highest densities of nesting water-
fowl on the North Slope.
When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to
issue a permit for the project in April 1991, Region 10
initiated action under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act
that could have blocked it. Careful documentation of the
project's potential impact, including nesting surveys con-
ducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, convinced
ARCO that the project area is more valuable as a wetland
than other sites on the North Slope. At EPA's suggestion,
the company agreed to move the project to another
location just outside the drained lake basin.
ish Betfcios|ngs%
j
j-i||M/?|rp/lPACt on coas||Jjrefburc|s is reflected li\a rapid
, decline in many marine species, npw at their lowest levels in
"Bory. Shellfish,beas approved as" safe for cor£symption
e decreasj|d steadily since 1986; 17 of 22 coastaljtates
lost shellfish acreage to pollution during this pef iod.
&* .7% 4 . * . \ ai.x
*nave
BULL CARIBOU
grazes on tundra in
Alaska's Aleutian
Islands National
Wildlife Refuge.
Tundra is an
especially sensitive
wetland ecology.
34
(Photo: Robert D. Jones, Jr., U.S. Fish it Wildlife Service)
Strengthening Science
cience has always been a vital
I element of EPA's work. Yet its
_ importance has grown with the
size and complexity of today's environ-
mental problems. Many of these
problems—global climate change, loss of
biological diversity, the long-term health
effects of environmental contaminants—
are not yet well defined or understood.
EPA must ground its decisions and actions
on the best information available to ensure
that the strategies we pursue effectively
address the risks we find. Sound, credible
science is essential to maintaining the
confidence of both the scientific commu-
nity and the public in the Agency's
decisions. EPA uses science critically to
perform three vitaljunctions:
• Conducting and fostering research to
define and anticipate environmental
problems and find appropriate and
effective solutions.
• Expressing clearly the scientific and
technical underpinnings of our regula-
tions, standards, and enforcement
actions—what we know, and do not
know, about the problems being
addressed.
• Carrying out many of the far-reaching
recommendations in Reducing Risk,
the penetrating 1990 report by the
Agency's independent Science Advisory
Board (see page 10).
The Agency has strongly endorsed and
is implementing virtually all of the
recommendations made by an expert
panel of respected scientists from outside
the Agency convened by Administrator
Reilly in 1991. The panel's report on tiie
role of science at EPA, Safeguarding the
Future: Credible Science, Credible
Decisions, was released in March 1992.
Following are some of the actions EPA. has
already taken or is now taking to imple-
ment the Agency's new science agenda.
Improving the
Knowledge Base
Understanding the nature and effects of
environmental risk, both on human health
and on natural systems, is a major thrust of
the Agency's research program:
• Ecology. The Environmental Monitor-
ing and Assessment Program looks at
trends in the health of major ecosystems
(see page 39), while ecological risk
assessment programs try to determine
what makes an ecosystem "sick" and
how effective proposed cures will be.
• Toxicity. A fuller understanding of
how and why a substance is toxic can
help EPA better evaluate threats to
human health and improve the
validity of risk assessments based on
animal studies. The four main areas
now under study are cancer, neurotox-
icity, pulmonary toxicity, and repro-
ductive toxicity.
Bioreniediation. EPA has pioneered
research on the use of microorganisms,
both natural and engineered, to clean up
hard-to-rreat pollution at Superfond sites
and elsewhere. This work has sparked
interest by other agencies, private industry
and the scientific community.
Ozone formation. EPA is developing
atmospheric chemistry models to show
how ground-level ozone, a major air
pollutant, is formed. This research will
help achieve the national oxone stan-
dards in the Clean Air Act.
Exposure. A new multi-year project will
try to pin down levels and trends in human
exposure to environmental contaminants.
Exposure data can improve EPA's risk
assessments, contribute to epidemiological
studies of pollution effects, and determine
the effectiveness of corrective actions.
STUDYING THE PROPERTIES of a toxic chemical, EPA chemist Mark Law uses computer-
based equipment at the Agency's Analytical Chemistry Laboratory in Beltsville, MD. EPA
increasingly relies on science to identify and target risks to human health and natural systems.
35
-------
"Good science hastens our progress toward a
cleaner environment, and we ought to use it to
our best advantage." —President George Bush
Strengthening Science
Science-Based
Regulations
As EPA's emphasis on scientific research grows, so does the extent
to which science is informing the Agency's regulatory and policy
decisions. Some recent examples:
• Toxicity research led to a reassessment of the toxicity of dioxin
and related chemicals, bringing EPA scientists together with
Outside specialists to evaluate the latest data in this area; new
restrictions on the use of male rat kidney studies in human risk
assessments to reflect chemical effects more accurately; and
new cancer risk assessment guidelines emphasizing the use of
available data instead of assumption-laden "default models."
• New data on the extent of human exposure to EBDCs, a
leading family of fungicides used widely on many food crops,
prompted the Agency to allow use of the chemicals on more
crops than the Agency had originally proposed in 1989. The
decision came after die most extensive market-basket survey
ever undertaken for a pesticide revealed that most of the active
ingredients in EBDCs break down by the time food reaches
grocery shelves.
• Bio-remediation research helped in the aftermath of the
Exxon VflWez oil spill in 1989, pioneering more widespread use
of this approach on oil spill cleanups.
THE UNITED STATES has spent about S2.6 billion since 1989, m&re
than any other nation, to learn about the causes and effects of climate
change (the EPA share was S24 million in 1992). Much jjf the global
change budget went to NASA's "Mission to'PIanet Earth," which u^es
satellites and orbiting space shuttles to study global environmental
conditions. NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS|)iis
the first satellite devoted solely to measuring the chemistry 4hd
dynamics of the upper atmosphere. , j
Better understanding of subsurface conditions led to
changes in the use of ground water pump-and-treat technology
at hazardous waste sites.
Climate
Change Research
President Bush requested nearly $1.4 billion across the Administra-
tion for research related to global change in FY1993—more than
six times the government's 1989 expenditure. Since 1989, the
Administration has invested about $2.6 billion in climate research.
EPA's share was $9.6 million in 1989, $13 million in 1990, $22
million in 1991, $24 million in 1992, and $26 million requested in
1993. On the climate change research front in 1991, EPA:
• Conducted an experiment to determine the effect a
doubling of carbon dioxide, a major "greenhouse" gas, would
have on Minnesota's surface waters and fishery resources.
The study concluded that die increase in habitat and
productivity of warm- and cool-water fishes would exceed
the loss of habitat and productivity of cold-water fishes.
• Published an assessment of promising forest management
practices and technologies designed to enhance absorption of
atmospheric carbon, along with an evaluation of their costs.
• Helped fund development of a model that, with continued
refinement, will help scientists understand the processes diat
; •••" !", ;; :: : :'"'""; ;"; ,•'"-'; ; ,. :"":" a sniff1.: iTOaa!.,' tf 1
* •-"U.S. Global Change Research Program I
1,400
36
(NASA)
*Proposed
-------
influence atmospheric chemistry. This
should improve our knowledge of the
effects of human activities on die global
environment.
Completed atmospheric chemistry
screening studies for ten proposed
substitutes for ozone-depleting CFCs.
In addition, the Agency reviewed the
effects of ultraviolet-B radiation (the
type normally screened by stratospheric
ozone) on marine life.
Conducted, in cooperation with the
International Rice Research Institute,
the first major study of how global
climate change may affect rice, the
world's most important food crop.
Produced a catalogue of options for
reducing the greenhouse gas methane
and prepared studies of options for
enhancing the use of cost-saving,
energy-efficient technologies, which
could help curb carbon dioxide
emissions.
Improving
Economic
Analysis
The United States—in its
public and private sectors—
now spends about $115
billion a year on environ-
mental protection. This is
more than any other country and more than
triple the amount spent in 1972. That figure
will continue to grow in the next ten to 15
years as the new Clean Air Act takes effect
and the nationwide cleanup of hazardous
waste sites proceeds—reaching between 2.6
and 2.8 percent of Gross National Product
by the year 2000.
Given this level of expenditure—and
its implications for economic productivity
and international competitiveness—it is
clear that the nation must pay more
attention than it has in the past to meeting
its environmental commitments in the most
ifTEPA
j|SCIENTIST
jjijlpel Schwartz
HSecame the
P"""first Federal
employee to
j win a presti-
Hjgious Mac- ^ ^ _ .
£? Arthur Fellow- ** ~
1 • ship in 1991. Schwartz, an environmental epidemiolo-
fc=gistj received the unrestricted five-year grant of
I • $275,000 from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
SSlFoundation of Chicago for his work on the health and
| environmental effects of lead in gasoline. An EPA
employee since 1979, Schwartz is now studying how
exposure to small airborne particles may affect hu-
mortality.
1.67%
Pollution Control Spending, By Country
(1985)
1.52%
1.25%
1.10%
0.82%
cost-effective ways possible. EPA's increas-
ing emphasis on science is one way the
Agency has worked to integrate better the
nation's environmental and economic
priorities. EPA has taken several steps,
outlined elsewhere in this report, to attune
the Agency's work to economic demands:
greatly expanded use of market incentives to
improve the cost-effectiveness of regulatory
programs; increased reliance on regulatory
negotiations; efforts to tap the ingenuity of
the private sector in voluntary, direct action
programs to prevent pollution. In addition,
the Agency has established a Clean Air Act
Compliance Advisory Council to study the
effects of the new Clean Air Act on the
nation's economy.
EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB),
in its 1990 Reducing Bisk report, urged that
environmental concerns become as funda-
mental as economic concerns in
*lncludes household expenditures
POLLUTION CONTROL SPENDING in
the United States, as a proportion of
Gross Domestic Product (Gross National
Product minus net exports), was greater
than in most Western European
countries in 1985, the last year for which
comparable data are available. The
difference is due primarily to greater
U.S. expenditures for hazardous waste
cleanup and for control of pollution
related to energy use, which is higher in
the United States than in any other
developed country except Canada. The
gap appears to be narrowing, however,
as environmental standards are
tightened worldwide.
37
-------
Strengthening Science
government decision-making. The SAB has responded to its own
challenge by creating an Environmental Economics Advisory
Committee. Both the clean air council and the environmental
economics committee will work closely with other SAB committees
to strengthen the vital link between the economy and the environ-
ment.
Encouraging
New Technology
EPA is constantly looking for ways to find and apply new
technological solutions to hazardous waste and other environ-
mental problems. An example is the Superfund Innovative
Technology Evaluation (SITE) demonstration program. EPA
encourages the use of techniques to destroy or reduce the
volume or toxicity of hazardous waste contamination, rather than
simply disposing of contaminated material on land. This is
reflected in the growing number of decisions made at
Superfund sites to use treatment technologies for some or all of
the cleanup: up from 33 percent of the total cleanup remedies
used in FY 1985 to 71 percent in FY 1990.
EPA also established an Oil Spills Research Program in
1991, which focused in its first year on setting up protocols for
testing the effectiveness of commercial bioremediation and
dispersant products now being marketed for use on oil spills.
EPA is responsible for developing an objective process that will
help regulators and cleanup managers decide where, when, and
how to use these products for oil spill cleanups.
EPA scientists and engineers help industry and small
businesses develop pollution-control technologies that save
energy and money while meeting pollution-reduction and -
prevention goals. And they form partnerships with federal,
industrial, and academic laboratories to demonstrate new
technologies. The Agency has agreements with the private
sector to research and commercialize innovative environmental
technology in such areas as oil-spill remediation, water purifica-
tion, and controls on emissions.
ASSESSING THE EFFECTS of
acid rain, an EPA helicopter
collects water samples as part
of a National Surface Water
Survey examining seasonal
variability of lakes in the
Northeast.
38
-------
"Fundamentally, environmentalism is about
reconciling humanity more satisfactorily with the
natural systems upon which human life and
civilization depend." —William K. Reilly
Putting Data to Worh
EPA spends millions of dollars every year to collect, process,
store, and interpret environmental data. The Agency has
built up a vast reservoir of information on air and water
quality, on production levels and health effects of various
chemicals, on pollution discharges and wildlife habitats. Yet
in the past this information was hot fully used because it was
hard to work with and because it was stored in separate,
often incompatible, data bases.
Today, powerful new computer technology is revolution-
izing the way EPA analyzes data and puts it to work-to identify
and anticipate environmental problems and to make deci-
sions on how to prevent or solve them. Spotlighted here are
just three of the systems that are fundamentally changing the
way EPA processes and uses environmental data:
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS). These sys-
tems enable EPA, for the first time, to integrate and
analyze the Agency's rich storehouse of environmental,
geographic, cultural, political, and statistical data in a
common data base, so that it can be overlaid and dis-
played on a single map. With GIS, EPA scientists can also
combine and overlay data about the air, water, and soil in
any given geographic area to visualize and understand
better the natural interactions among these environmen-
tal media, and to highlight areas of special interest or
concern.
• Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program
(EMAP). This is a long-range EPA program to establish
baselines and monitor status and trends in the condition
of the nation's major ecological resources. EMAP uses
remote sensing imagery from satellites and aircraft, to-
gether with field data collected during regular nationwide
soundings of ecological conditions and trends. The data
are stored, combined with other existing geographic data
sets, and analyzed in a GIS database. GIS technology
allows EMAP to evaluate the health of ecosystems and to
assess existing and potential environmental problems.
• Scientific Visualization. EPA's Scientific Visualization
Laboratory, founded in 1990 and located in Research
Triangle Park, North Carolina, uses advanced computer
software to take large data sets, some with billions of "bits"
of information, and create animated graphics that let
researchers spot problems that might otherwise remain
undetected. For example, the lab used EPA's Regional
Acid Deposition Model, which estimates acid deposition
over the eastern United States, to conduct a detailed
study of hydrogen peroxide deposition and rainfall. An-
other model, showing how DNA, proteins, and other
molecules interact with toxic substances, is contributing
to the work of EPA's Health Effects Research Lab. Along
with supporting EPA scientists, the lab has collaborated
on joint visualization projects with researchers outside
the Agency, including using NASA satellite data to visu-
alize and animate changes in global ozone concentrations
(see page 41).
COMPUTER
GRAPHICS
developed by EPA's
Scientific
Visualization Lab
can help researchers
pinpoint
concentrations of
ground-level ozone
in the Midwest (top),
as well as sulfur
compounds using
EPA's Regional Acid
Deposition Model
(RADM).
Ill5
*• ' -RAJJM Isosurfaces & Cutting Planes
39
-------
Exercising
International Leadership
*PA and otherfederal agencies
today face a host of international
* environmental problems that
demand new leoels of cooperation among
the nations of the Earth. Stratospheric
ozone dejrtetion, ocean pollution, species
extinction, habitat loss, climate change,
rainforest destruction, and acid rain are
just some of the daunting problems that
cut across national boundaries. The
United States has a limited ability to solve
any of these problems alone.
Since 1989, the Bush Administra-
tion has signed a number of landmark
agreements that address the most
pressing of these concerns. The United
States has expanded cooperation with
Canada, Mexico, and several other
Latin American, Asian, and Middle
Eastern nations. EPA now has 18
bilateral agreements on environmental
issues with other countries, including an
agreement with Turkey negotiated last
year to provide environmental technical
cooperation.
U.S. environmental experience is in
great demand worldwide. EPA and other
agencies are making this record—our
successes and failures alike—widely
Major Oil
tail
Eft,;
1991
1979-80
1991
1983
1983
1978
1979
1989
Spills
Snill/ ' "
Location
Gulf War, Persian Gulf (Land)
Ixtoc I, Mexico
Gulf War, Persian Gulf (Water)
Nowruz Oil Field, Persian Gulf
Estimated Volume
(Millions of Gallons) '-
420-4,200
139-428
252-336
80-185
Castillo de Bevillier, South Africa 50-80
Amoco Cadiz, France
/Ecjean Captain, Tobaqo
Exxon Valdez
67-76
49
11
available, advancing the nation's foreign
policy interests while also furthering
international environmental goals. In
Kuwait, Latvia, and Morocco, U.S.
emergency response teams were pressed
into action to help those nations deal with
environmental emergencies.
Together with other nations and
international organizations, the United
States is working to phase out ozone-
destroying CFCsfully, to negotiate a
framework convention on climate change,
and to hammer out a global forest agree-
ment. These and other cooperative
projects extend U.S. enivronmental
leadership to every corner of the globe.
Emergency in the
Persian Gulf
In January 1991, in an act of environmental
terrorism following its invasion of Kuwait,
Iraq deliberately released an estimated six
to eight million gallons of crude oil into the
Persian Gulf. It was one of the worst oil
spills in history, up to 30 times the amount
spilled in the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident.
After its defeat, the retreating Iraqi army
systematically
dynamited oil wells,
storage tanks,
refineries, and other
facilities north and
south of Kuwait
City—igniting,
turning into oil
gushers, or other-
wise damaging 749
facilities.
The United
States moved quickly
to help Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia meet
the environmental
and human health
threats posed by Iraq's terrorism. With EPA
offering technical assistance during every phase
of the response and cleanup, a U.S. Coast
Guard-led team helped assess the 600-square-
mile oil slick's impact and worked to protect the
Saudi desalination plant at Jubayl from the
slick. Meanwhile, private firefighting teams
from the United States, Canada, Kuwait, and
later other nations worked steadily to douse the
fires and cap the gushing wells. By November
1991, all the burning wells had been extin-
guished.
In Kuwait, an American team led by
EPA joined other nations and the World
Health Organization in re-establishing vital
air monitoring networks to determine the
amount of oil-fire pollution to which the
population was exposed, and to help the
Kuwaitis assess immediate and long-range
health threats. At the request of President
Bush, EPA Administrator Reilly visited
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in June 1991, and
recommended to the President a number of
steps to aid in recovery. Until early 1992,
EPA stationed personnel in Kuwait to help
the government of that country in the
recovery stage. By October 1991, the U.S.
government had spent more than $10
million on health and environmental
protection activities in the Gulf, not
including the time of U.S. personnel.
Long-term damage to the region is
difficult to assess, for the full effects of the
contamination on the Gulfs ecosystems and
human health may not be known for years.
Fortunately, initial fears of catastropliic health
effects and disruption of global weather
patterns from the oil fires were not realized
Stratospheric Ozone
Since 1978, when this country banned
aerosol uses of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),
the United States has been a leader in the
international effort to protect the strato-
40
-------
The Aftermath of Environmental TeifOfl
MT. PINATUBOS' PLUM
Philippines
Number of Oil Wells on Fire
600
500
! I ii ibid;
Kuwait, 1991
400
300
200
100
I
.1
SMOKE PLUMES
from blazing oil
wells in Kuwait,
while contributing
to air pollution in
the Persian Gulf
region, did not
rise high enough to affect wider atmospheric conditions. By contrast, the
eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines on June 12,1991, sent smoke
and ash high into the stratosphere, disrupting global climate patterns.
The last Kuwaiti oil fire was extinguished in November 1991.
spheric ozone layer. Ozone functions as a shield against ultraviolet
radiation from the sun that can cause skin cancers, cataracts, and
ecological damage.
Early in his Administration, President Bush proposed that the
United States fully phase out, by the year 2000, production and use
of CFCs and other ozone-depleting chemicals. In June 1990, the
United States led the way in negotiating amendments to the
Montreal Protocol to phase out CFCs, carbon tetrachloride, and
nonessential uses of halons by the end of the century and to phase
out methyl chloroform by 2005. The United States ratified the new
agreement in November 1990. In January 1992, because of new
evidence of wider damage to the ozone shield than had been
projected, President Bush announced that the United States would
accelerate phaseout of CFCs from 2000 to the end of 1995.
Even before the President's announcement, U.S. industry was
running about 42 percent ahead of schedule to meet the original
CFC phase-out goal. The effort was spurred on by an excise fee on
CFCs and other ozone-depleting chemicals and by a joint EPA-
industry drive to develop acceptable substitutes. The United States
also agreed to contribute up to $50 million, twice as much as any
other country, to the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund to help
developing nations make the transition from ozone-depleting
chemicals. The U.S. contribution makes up 25 percent of the Fund.
3
£
O
£
"i tfm Jifhrrf-afc-tjiittu-i ijuijSZ
3FItu*^?plw¥aB5?^
ff:J'8««Si
'^asn&*''&at&"
Climate
Change Convention
Growing scientific evidence indicates that the buildup of gases such
as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere
will intensify the atmosphere's natural "greenhouse" effect and lead
to global climate change. Although the timing, magnitude and
regional variations of this change remain uncertain, President Bush
offered in August 1990 to host the opening session of negotiations
for an international convention requiring all nations to develop
national action plans to deal with this problem. The first negotiating
session was held in February 1991 in ChantiUy, VA.
THREE-
DIMENSIONAL
MODEL of the
ozone hole over
Antarctica was
created by EPA's
Scientific
Visualization Lab
in North Carolina
(see page 39).
The computer
model is based
on data gathered
by NASA's Total
Ozone Mapping
Spectrometer.
41
-------
e>
"Recent world events make it clear that free markets and economic
growth provide the firmest foundations for effective environmental
stewardship." —President George Bush
International Leadership
Early in 1992, the United States
agreed to provide $50 million to help
developing countries on projects to curb
greenhouse gasses and protect the ozone
layer, the oceans and biodiversity. Another
$25 million will help them develop climate
baseline studies and options for policy
change. Actions already taken by the United
States—the new Clean Air Act, EPA's
Green Lights program, the National Energy
Strategy, die President's "America the
Beautiful" tree-planting initiative, and many
more—are the building blocks for a strategy
to curb greenhouse gas emissions in this
country while providing many other
tangible benefits.
SYMBOL OF POLLUTION in the newly inde-
pendent nations of Eastern and Central
Europe, this East German power plant burns
high-sulfur brown coal, producing emis-
sions high in sulfur dioxide. Heavy
•industrialization, unchecked by environ-
mental concerns, has caused widespread
ecological damage in the former Commu-
nist-bloc nations.
Eastern and
Central Europe
EPA has a series of programs under way to
help the newly independent nations of
Eastern and Central Europe recover from
decades of environmental abuse under
Communist rule. In 1990, for example, at
President Bush's behest EPA helped
establish the Eastern and Central European
Environmental Center in Budapest,
Hungary. In concert with other U.S.
agencies and such multilateral institutions as
the World Bank, the United Nations
Development Fund, and others, EPA is
focusing its efforts on three main areas:
• Institution building. EPA is providing
environmental information and tools to
help strengthen public and nongovern-
mental institutions, and thus the region's
newly emerging democratic traditions.
• Direct technical assistance. Ex-
amples include a "constructed wetlands"
demonstration project in Hungary, and
installation of a state-of-the-art air
monitoring network and improved water
and wastewater treatment equipment in
Krakow, Poland. The Polish government
recently honored the team of EPA
scientists who set up the air monitoring
system with gold medals.
Regional projects. These projects
focus on transboundary pollution, such
as air quality in Upper Silesia in Poland
and Northern Bohemia in Czechoslova-
kia. The U.S. Agency for International
Development and EPA have also begun
a multi-nation water quality manage-
ment project for the Danube Basin.
Additional
Accomplishments
Commonwealth of Independent
States. EPA significantly expanded its
work under a bilateral agreement with
the Soviet Union and its successor
states. In Russia the focus was on
energy-related environmental problems,
including a new energy-efficiency center
in Moscow. In the Ukraine, EPA helped
set up an environmental education
center in Kiev and a program to control
pollution in the Dnipro River basin.
EPA is also working with Minchernobyl
(the Ministry of the Ukraine for
Protection of the Population from the
Consequences of Chernobyl) and the
Ukrainian Academy of Sciences to
monitor radiation levels in the Baltic
states and other former Soviet republics
in the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl
nuclear accident. EPA has already
conducted a radiological assessment in
the Black Sea and will soon begin
radiological monitoring in the Kiev
reservoir.
(Plwto: Wide World)
42
-------
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border has grown dramatically in the
last decade, promoted in part by the Mexican government's "maquiladora" program. Maquiladorasare
processing and assembly plants that use duty-free imported materials to produce products for export.
About 2,000 maquiladoras are now operating, three-fourths of them in the cities along the border.
(Many of the same kinds of industries are also found on the U.S. side.) Stepped-up economic activity
and population growth have led to significant environmental problems from congestion, uncontrolled
urban development, and inadequate public health and
sanitation facilities. The U.S.-Mexico Border Plan of
1992 commits both nations to increased cooperation
and expenditures to deal with these problems.
U.S.-Mexico
Border Plan
Demonstrating the link between environmental
and economic goals, and building on a bilateral
program begun in 1983, the United States and
Mexico have expanded their environmental co-
operation in support of President Bush's proposed
North American Free Trade; Agreement, The
President's FY 1993 budget proposes $241 million
to address environmental probjems along the U.S.-
Tijuana (656)
Tecate (110)
Mexicali (122)
Ensenada (44)
San Luis Rio
Colorado (23)
.Tijuana/San Diego
Wastewater Treatment
$65 million
Nogales^
Naco (4)
Agua Prieta (27)-
Hermosillo (22)
Quay mas (3)
'•"Palornas(5)'
Mexico border, including nearly $200 'million.-for' cTudad Juarez Wo
wastewater treatment and drinking water projects.
EPA, in collaboration with its Mexican counterpart, SEDUE; pre-
pared an Integrated Environmental Plan for the Mexican-U.S. Border
Area. About 2,000 miles long, home to nearly 10 million people, the
border area stretches roughly 60 miles into both countries. The border
plan, released by President Bush in February 1992, addresses
enforcement, wastewater, air pollution, hazardous waste, and
emergency planning and response in the border
region. Among the highlights:
• A $147 million commitment from the Mexican
government for environmental infrastructure and
road projects, and another $6 million to administer
the Border Plan. Forthe period 1992-1994, Mexico
has committed a total of $460 million to finance the
plan's objectives.
• Several joint U.S.-Mexican projects, including a joint
pollution prevention and waste reduction effort mod-
eled after EPA's "33/50" program (see page 22); a
comprehensive binational right-to-know program
based on the United Nations APEI.L emergency-
response program; and creation of environmental
advisory committees consisting of environmen-
tal, business, academic, and civic leaders from
the border area. :
• The addition by Mexico of 150 environmental-
inspectors to strengthen joint enforcement
initiatives in the border region.
• Stepped-up monitoring of air quality and the
movement of hazardous wastes across the
border.
Reyhqsa (82)
Matamoros (94)
UNTREATED SEWAGE is a major pollution
problem along the U.S.-Mexico border. In his 1993 budget,
President Bush proposed nearly $200 million for
wastewater treatment projects as well as for drinking
water improvements in the "colonias"—rural
communities with substandard housing and plumbing
that house Hispanic farmworkers on the U.S. side of the
Rio Grande.
San Diego
Wastewater Treatment
$40 million
Colonias
Wastewater
Treatment
$50 million
Colonias
Drinking Water
Systems (USDA)
: $25 million
Mexicali/Calexico
Wastewater
Treatment
$10 million
Nogales/Nogales
Wastewater
IBWC Treatment
$4.5 million $5
IBWC-lniernational Boundary
and Water Commission
iposed U.S. Expenditures, FY1993
i^Si-^i ifeiuiv.'t^ar;Vi?'t.:.. j^ ^^.-^-S^™*-^,.*?™?.-,*?,*.*^™,,.: -...^-m,-,^-*., ««•».... *..: sr>,™. - .-
43
-------
The World's Vanishing Rain Fore!
""
RAPID DEPLETION
of species-rich
tropical rain forests
is occurring
throughout the world
as trees and brush
are burned to make
way for pastures and
crops. At present
rates of destruction,
many of the world's
great forest systems
could vanish within
10 to 15 years.
| H^ ORIGINALJXIENrQFTRDPICAL RAIN FOREST
P^n CURRENT EXTENT OF TROPICAL RAIN FOREST
• Air quality agreement. On March 31,1991, President Bush
and Canadian Prime Minister Mulroney signed an historic air
quality agreement requiring both nations to reduce emissions of
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, the chief ingredients of acid
rain. The agreement calls for a total emissions limit or cap on
sulfur dioxide in each country; requires that these emissions be
accurately measured; and sets up an institutional framework to
address other transboundary air poEution issues.
• Forest protection. Concern for the rapid loss of forests
worldwide led President Bush to propose a global forest
agreement at the G-7 Economic Summit in July 1990. The
agreement would address such issues as deforestation, mapping
and monitoring, research, training, and technical assistance.
Forest-related issues are expected to be a major topic at the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
in June 1992.
• VOC Protocol. The United States signed an agreement with
Eastern and Western European countries and Canada in
44
-------
U.S. Bilateral
Environmental
Agreements
Countries with bilateral
environmental agreements
with the United States:
Brazil
Canada
China
Commonwealth of
Independent States
Germany
Hungary
India
Israel
Italy
Japan
Korea
Mexico
Netherlands
Nigeria
Poland
Turkey
United Kingdom
Yugoslavia
November 1991 to reduce total emissions of volatile organic
compounds (a key contributor to urban smog) by 30 percent by
the year 2000.
Caribbean Environment and Development Institute. EPA
worked with public and private organizations to encourage
formation of this institute. Formally launched at a conference in
Puerto Rico in March 1992, the institute will serve as a focal
point for EPA programs in the Caribbean, for addressing
environmental problems linked with development, and for
involving the private sector more actively in environmental
protection.
Basel Convention. EPA helped develop, and the United
States subsequently signed, the Basel Convention on the
Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
and their Disposal. This treaty, to which more than 50 nations
have given their preliminary approval, requires prior written
consent for proposed hazardous waste shipments and requires
that they be handled in an environmentally sound manner. The
Administration is seeking implementing legislation from
Congress.
Debt-for-nature. The President's Enterprise for the Americas
Initiative, proposed in 1990, broke new ground in international
environmental protection by offering debt-for-nature swaps
with Latin American countries. Countries that commit to trade,
investment and economic reform programs are eligible for
concessionary reductions of their debt to the U.S. government.
A portion of what would have been paid in interest is put into a
trust fund to support local environmental and conservation
projects. So far agreements have been signed with Jamaica,
Bolivia, and Chile that will generate about $12 million in those
countries alone for environmental projects during the next
decade.
45
-------
Strengthening
Agency Resources
'PA has received steady, consistent
budget support during the Bush
^Administration. The Agency's
overall budget has grown from about $4.8
billion in 1989 to more than $6 biUion in
1992. Operating programs have increased
by 24 percent in constant 1982 dollars in
the past three budgets. The Agency's staff
has increased by almost 20 percent,
catchingup for a relative "no-growth"
period throughout the 1980s when many
nciif responsibilities were added, If the
President's 1993 budget request is ap-
proved, the Agency's budget will have
grown by $2.1 billion and the workforce
by nearly 2,800 workyears during the
Bush Administration. Women and minorities
have particularly beneftttedfrom these
staffing increases (see chart on page 47).
EPA is striving to make the most of
its resources, drawing on such perfor-
mance-improving tools as strategic
planning and Total Quality Management
to boost productivity and efficiency.
EPA Workforce Growth
20,000
18,000
10,000
2,000
1970
,1980
1991
Working with States,
Tribes, and Localities
A key element of effective environmental
protection is a good working relationship
between the federal and state governments.
In 1991, EPA's top management met with
42 state environmental directors for a
candid discussion of environmental issues.
The Administrator established a State/Local
Capacity Task Force in 1991 to help states
meet their growing pollution control
responsibilities through program efficiencies
and other innovations. Finally, EPA is
bringing governors together in May 1992 for
a Governors' Forum on Environmental
Management, in an effort to develop better
ways to set priorities for implementing the
Safe Drinking Water Act.
EPA has found eager partners in the
states and in tribal and local governments
charged with carrying out and enforcing
many of the Agency's complex programs. In
FY1993, EPA will provide $3 billion in grants
to states and localities for wastewater treatment
plants and other environmental programs, an
increase of $767 million since 1989.
Indian tribes have been particular
EPA'S BUDGET consists of operating
programs, which include most of the
Agency's familiar regulatory activities (water,
air and radiation, pesticides and toxics,
hazardous waste, etc.); trust funds, including
Superfund and the Leaking Underground
Storage Tank Trust Fund; and construction
grants, which fund construction of
wastewater treatment systems. Operating
program funds have grown by almost 24
percent in constant 1982 dollars in the last
three budgets.
EPA'S WORKFORCE, which grew slowly
during the 1980s, is now starting to catch up
with the Agency's new responsibilities. Staff
has grown by nearly 20 percent during the
Bush Administration.
46
-------
MINORITY HIRING and promotions increased at
EPA between FY 1985 and FY 1991, but stronger
efforts are needed. Through avariety of educational
programs, EPA is taking aggressive steps to build
up the pool of minorities available for careers in
environmental protection.
1
targets in this decentralizing effort:
I grants totaling more than $2.1 million
I were awarded to tribal governments in
] 1991 to pay for multimedia enforce-
ment efforts in 110 projects across the
nation. These funds came on top of
$27 million in 1990 and 1991 .to
improve wastewater treatment in
native Alaskan villages and an addi-
tional $21 million from 1989-1991 for
wastewater and drinking water
programs for Indian tribes.
All 50 states and Puerto Rico have
set up "revolving fund" programs to
finance wastewater treatment and
nonpoint source management practices
and coastal protection activities. Through
1991, EPA provided a total of $4.7 billion
to states for these programs, with the
states contributing $1 billion in matching
funds and another $1 billion from the
sale of bonds.
Environmental assistance to
governments with delegated environ-
mental roles often takes new forms.
EPA's Public/Private Partnership
Demonstration Program promotes
creative approaches to financing
environmental protection. By building
bridges to the private sector, this
program helps make environmental
services more affordable for all commu-
nities, especially small ones. EPA has
identified an array of financing models
that local governments can use to plan
and implement their environmental
programs.
The Agency is also working with
local governments and small communi-
ties to help them deal with the
cumulative regulatory burdens of
environmental rules. A small communi-
ties cluster (see page 13) will design and
test ways to relieve these burdens, within
statutory limits, by ensuring that EPA's
rules are cost effective and realistic for
even the smallest jurisdictions.
Growth in EPA's Minority Workforce
66.3% .
\ Non-Minority Men
i Non-Minority Women
Minority Men
Minority Women
:JCultuna,l Diversity
ft For some time, EPA has worked to in-
crease the number of women, African
-Americans, Hispanics, disabled, and
Bother minorities in the
.Agency's workforce.
r Between 1985 and
I 1991, minorities and es-
pecially women have
^made progress, though
instill incomplete, moving
fcintp both top and middle
^management at EPA.
I^T To bolster the pool of
•^qualified applicants,
_JEPA has set up a Minor-
sity Academic Institutions
Task Force to increase
s the number of environ-
~ mental science courses
-Coffered at several His-
tojically Black and Hispanic
colleges and institutions. The
pffask Force sponsors fellow-
- shjps, internships, and faculty
5»lxchanges.
jfe^ In 1991, EPA provided
^$130,000 in planning funds to
£ help establish a mid-career En-
;£yironment.al Sciences/Natural
£ Resources Management Fel-
jplowship program at Tufts
^University in Medford, Massa-
H'chusetts, with a starting class of
- eightminorityprofessionals.The
Mwq-year program leads to a
ijrnasler's degree in environmental science
r management and includes on-the-job experi-
*£ence working at EPA.
*2:~ Morgan State University in Baltimore is the
JZ flagship school of the Agency's "Campus
•^Executive" program, which assigns senior
£_EPA officials to university and college cam-
^pu%es to help promote programs of mutual
t. interest. In a pilot program last year, nine
^engineering student interns held summer jobs
~nn EPA research and development labs and
^hazardous waste cleanup programs. That
~"number will double this summer. EPA and
^Morgan State are also working together on environmental equity, Chesapeake Bay,
;^and education programs. Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski has been a firm
^supporter of this program.
, pina||yi tne Agency's Office of Research and Development is sponsoring a
^"Progress in Education" Program, which places several Native American students
t* in work-study jobs at three EPA laboratories.
47
-------
State Revolving Funds
(Water Treatment)
Strengthening Resources
Total Quality Management
Total Qualify Management (TQM), the
management philosophy now taking hold at
EPA and throughout the federal government,
is aimed at improving EPA's productivity and
effectiveness and die processes by which die
Agency q^erates. Bythe beginning of 1992,
nearly all of EPA's senior managers and almost
15 percent of die workforce had received
training in TQM.
TQM-style environmental protection
takes a customer-oriented approach to the
Agency's constituencies, including the
regulated community. It attempts to foster a
management culture diat promotes
creativity, focuses on systemic problems
instead of culprits, encourages die full
participation of all members of die
workforce, and establishes realistic mea-
sures of progress.
In one early example of TQM success,
EPA's Region 5 in Chicago took a look at
die Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act reports it was routinely sending to the
State of Michigan and found diat many of
diem offered no real benefit to die State. As
$3,500,000,000
Grants
to States
a result of die inquiry, die Region stopped
sending a number of reports and converted
others to electronic format for easier
transmission. The results: faster and better
communications, a reduction of 100,000
sheets of paper a year, and a cost savings of
$7,000. Similar time- and money-saving
projects are under way diroughout EPA
headquarters and field offices.
Management Integrity
EPA has made progress over die last diree
years in developing a culture of manage-
ment integrity, in which managers are
vigilant in identifying potentially significant
management problems. EPA's Senior
Council on Management Controls has
worked to spot and correct weaknesses in
die Agency's management systems. The
most important benefit of this effort is
-State and Locall
HELPING STATES and localities meet theirl
environmental needs is the purpose of EPA's!
grants program. In FY1993, EPA will provide!
$2.5 billion in grants to states for secondary!
wastewater treatment plants and another $532 \
million to states and localities for other)
environmental programs.
-public trust—trust in die Agency's steward-
ship of its resources and in its dedication to
die mission of environmental protection.
In one area, contracts management,
increased resources provided by die Bush
Administration to die Agency's Inspector
. General—$40.8 million proposed for FY 1993,
compared to $23.2 million proposed in 1989—
have enabled diat office to identify deficiencies
in audits, work order processing, oversight and
odier areas. As quickly as diese problems are
documented, EPA's Office of Administration
and Resources Management is instituting
Agencywide changes to improve contracts
management.
10
EPA Regions
EPA Region 1
JFK Building
Boston, MA 02203
(617) 565-3420
EPA Region 2
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278
(212) 264-2515
EPA Region 3
841 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215)597-6938
EPA Region 4
345 Courtland Street, NE
Atlanta, GA 30365
(404)347-3004
48
EPA Region 5
77 West Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 353-2072
EPA Region 6
1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, TX 75202
(214) 655-6444
EPA Region 7
726 Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66101
(913) 551-7003
EPA Region 8
One Denver Place
99918th Street, Suite 1300
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 293-1603
EPA Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA94105 |
(415)744-1020
EPA Region 10
1200 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206)553-1203
EPA Headquarters
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202)260-2080
-------
AN AVID
OUTDOORSMAN
and conservationist,
President Theodore
Roosevelt loved
hiking and camping.
In this 1903 photo,
he is shown with
John Muir, founder
of the Sierra Club.
"Leave it [the Grand Canyon] as it is. You cannot
improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and
man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for
your children, your children's children, and all who
come after you as one of the great sights which every
American, if he can travel at all, should see."
—President Theodore Roosevelt
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