&EPA
United btates
Environmental Protection
Agency
May 1982
Annual Report
to the President
The Protection of
Our Environment
Anne M. Gorsuch
Administrator
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The Honorable
Ronald Reagan
The White House
Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. President:
This month marks the com-
pletion of my first year serving
as your Administrator of the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. This report sum-
marizes some of the major
efforts and accomplishments
during that time to further the
mission for which the Agency
was founded: the protection of
our environment, and to do so
within the framework of the
initiatives of your Administra-
tionregulatory reform, better
science, state and local in-
volvement, and improved,
more efficient management.
With your enthusiastic support,
EPA has made progress in
pursuing its critically important
mandate.
Significant environmental
gains have been registered in
the following broad and
important categories:
The Health of Our Citizens.
First and foremost, EPA is
pledged to safeguarding the
health and welfare of the
American people and the pro-
tection of their environment.
Our reforms, in all instances,
hone true to that objective.
Improved efficiency at EPA
translates directly into better
environmental protection.
Better Science. Sound en-
vironmental regulation can
only be as good as the scienti-
fic foundation upon which it is
based. The Agency frequently
finds itself at the frontier of
health-related research, in an
ongoing effort to determine
the risks to humans posed by
synthetic substances and waste
products. To assure the best
possible scientific information,
EPA has undertaken a number
of reforms in the area of
research and development.
Regulatory Reform. Regulatory
reform is one of the major
pillars of your economic re-
covery program and an area in
which EPA is making a sub-
stantial contribution. The
Agency has actively been re-
viewing its entire body of
regulations to eliminate need-
less red tape. The result of this
effort conservatively will
add up to a savings of
$6 to 7 billion as a result of
our first year's work.
Elimination of Backlogs. One
of the most immediate and
pressing tasks confronted upon
taking charge of EPA was the
elimination of costly, time-
consuming delays as the
Agency ground down under the
weight of its own backlog of
paperwork. With the adoption
of procedural reforms and
more businesslike management
structures, all backlogs have
been addressed and many have
been drastically reduced.
State Partnerships. We are
strengthening positive working
relationships with state and
local governments. The major
laws EPA administers provide
for delegation of key program
responsibilities to the States,
should they decide to accept.
In accordance with your
philosophy of New Federalism,
we want to make sure that the
responsibilities transferred are
substantive, and not token.
Improved Management. Finally,
we are improving the basic
organizational structure of the
Agency. We have initiated re-
forms that promise to produce
a more streamlined organiza-
tionone that will be more
responsive in delivering the
highest quality environmental
protection at the lowest practi-
cal public expenditure.
Such innovations in environ-
mental protection are a tradi-
tional Republican mainstay.
EPA was founded under a
Republican Administration.
Seven of its 11 years of
existence have been under
GOP leadership, and the cause
of national conservation goes
back to President Theodore
Roosevelt, a Republican. This
Administration carries forward
that tradition. I am confident
that the quality of America's
land, air and water will be
better for our efforts.
We have only made a start
in this first year, but it is a
start in which we take pride.
Sincerely,
Anne M. Gorsuch
May 1982
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Introduction
The creation of the U.S. En-
vironmental Protection Agency
("EPA") on December 2,
1970, was the product of an
effort to streamline the Federal
Government and a desire to
respond positively to the en-
vironmental concerns of the
country.
PriortoEPA.the Federal Gov-
ernment's environmental con-
trol functions had been spread
across several federal depart-
ments and agencies, including
Interior, Agriculture, Health,
Education and Welfare, and
the Atomic Energy Commis-
sion. Fifteen programs were
brought together to make up
the new Agency, which began
with a Fiscal Year 1971 oper-
ating budget of $303 million
and 7,198 permanent
employees. Today EPA's
operating budget is approxi-
mately $1.3 billion and em-
ploys just under 10,000 perma-
nent employees.
EPA is charged with pro-
tecting the nation's environ-
ment by:
administering laws passed
by Congress,
ensuring compliance with
those laws, and
performing research to sup-
port its activities.
EPA is responsible for en-
suring compliance with these
laws and is committed to a
vigorous enforcement program.
The Agency's enforcement
philosophy is to encourage
voluntary compliance by com-
munities and private industry,
but to adopt a firm posture
where cooperation is not forth-
coming. Most laws adminis-
tered by EPA contemplate a
partnership with States to
perform direct enforcement
activities needed to meet en-
vironmental standards. States
now shoulder a substantial
share of this enforcement
responsibility.
The major laws administered
by EPA include:
Clean Water Act, as
amended, is the basic authority
for water pollution control
programs. The goal of the Act
is to make national waters
fishable and swimmable.
Safe Drinking Water Act, as
amended in 1977, permits
EPA to regulate the quality of
water in public drinking water
systems and the disposal of
wastes into injection wells.
The Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act of 1976
("RCRA") authorizes EPA to
establish regulations and pro-
grams to ensure safe waste
treatment and disposal.
Federal Insecticide, Fungi-
cide and Rodenticide Act
("FIFRA"), as amended, di-
rects EPA to regulate the
manufacture, distribution, and
use of pesticides and conduct
Science provides much of
the base for environmental
protection. EPA's research ac-
tivities span the spectrum of
research interests: developing
and standardizing techniques
to detect pollutants; assessing
their impact on human health
and the environment; develop-
ing and evaluating techniques
for pollution control; and trans-
ferring information to the
public.
These functions constitute
the principal work of EPA. Its
activities enter into nearly
every aspect of daily life, just
as the environment it protects
affects all Americans, as well
as citizens of our neighboring
countries.
research into their health and
environmental effects.
Toxic Substances Control
Act of 1976 ("TSCA"), pro-
vides authority to regulate the
manufacture, distribution and
use of chemical substances.
Clean Air Act, as amended
in 1977, provides the basic
legal authority for the nation's
air pollution control programs,
and is designed to enhance the
quality of air resources. I
Comprehensive Environ- )
mental Response, Compensa- I
tion and Liability Act of 1980
("Superfund") establishes a |
program to deal with release of
hazardous substances in spills
and from inactive and
abandoned disposal sites.
Marine Protection, Re-
search, and Sanctuaries Act of
1972 permits EPA to protect
the oceans from the indiscrimi-
nate dumping of waste.
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The Health
of Our Citizens
Of all the tasks, large and
mundane, for which EPA is
responsible, the overriding
goal is the protection of the
physical health of the Ameri-
can people. Every program ad-
ministered by the Agency
directly affects the air we
breathe, the food we eat, the
water we drink and swim in,
and the land on which we live
in short, all those things
which directly affect human
health.
The Agency takes pride in
the substantial progress which
has been made during the past
year toward making our world
a healthier, and therefore more
pleasant one in which to live.
Some of the Agency's most
notable accomplishments can
be found in the actions EPA
has taken in response to the
health threats posed by dis-
posal of pollutants, including
hazardous waste. Under the
Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act ( RCRA):
The almost 58,000 generat-
ors of hazardous wastes are
now required to properly
identify these wastes, ensure
they are sent to legitimate
hazardous waste management
facilities, properly package and
label them, and maintain vital
records of the amounts, types,
and ultimate disposition of
these materials.
Over 14,000 transporters of
hazardous wastes are required
to comply with a manifest
system to ensure that ship-
ments are sent to and received
by legitimate hazardous waste
management facilities.
Almost 10,000 hazardous
waste facilities are now regis-
tered with EPA. To determine
if these facilities are meeting
EPA's standards, over 2,000
inspections have been carried
out by EPA Regional personnel.
Over half the states have
been authorized to carry out
their own hazardous waste
programs on an interim basis.
As part of EPA's efforts to
administer RCRA, EPA had, by
March 1982:
Issued compliance orders at
300 facilities, with penalties in
appropriate cases.
Filed 62 civil actions in
Federal court.
One of EPA's priorities in
1981 was also its newest duty:
to administer the Superfund
program which was enacted by
Congress in December 1980
to deal with the release of
hazardous substances in spills
and from inactive and
abandoned disposal sites.
To implement Superfund,
EPA first had to establish an
effective organizational sys-
tem. To this end, the Agency:
Supervised the merging of
the RCRA and Superfund pro-
grams under a newly establish-
ed Assistant Administrator for
Solid Waste and Emergency
Response.
Began new accounting pro-
cedures to ensure proper fund
management.
Instituted a Superfund com-
munity relations program to
promote the local support that
is crucial to achieving Super-
fund's goals.
Under Superfund, EPA can
take either removal or remedial
action. Removal actions are
short-term or emergency in
nature, similar to those under-
taken to clean up accidental
spills of oil and hazardous sub-
stances. To date, EPA has
authorized $20.8 million for
removal actions at 61 loca-
tions.
The remedial program is
intended to clean up problem
hazardous waste sites. By April
1982, the Agency had:
Allocated over $45 million
for cleanup at 48 sites.
Compiled and published (in
October 1981) an Interim
Priority List of 11 5 sites.
Depending on current circum-
stances at each site, funds are
available and clean-up work
can begin.
EPA revised the National Oil
and Hazardous Substance
Response Plan to reflect and
implement the new authorities
under the Superfund legisla-
tion. In addition to streamlin-
ing the existing oil response
mechanism under the Clean
Water Act, the new plan sets
out the criteria and procedures
for using Superfund money to
respond to hazardous sub-
stance spills and sites. The re-
vision is the cornerstone of the
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Superfund's 115 top
priority hazardous
waste sites
Superfund program and is
written in the spirit of regu-
latory reform. The provisions
are concise, its language is
nontechnical and the require-
ments are flexible. In addition,
the plan establishes a strong
federal-state partnership for
implementing the Superfund
program.
Hazardous waste sites are
evaluated by state and EPA
personnel, including Field In-
vestigation Teams stationed at
EPA Regional Offices. Staffed
under contract by 180 trained
professionals with a breadth of
technical skills, the teams car-
ried out 2,347 preliminary
assessments, 1,769 site in-
spections, and 279 field
investigations during 1 981.
Making the most out of the
limited monies in Superfund
requires that every effort be
made to have any private
parties responsible for a site,
manage and finance its clean-
up.
The Superfund legislation
authorizes judicial and ad-
ministrative action to compel
responsible parties to under-
take cleanup. Where use of
these mechanisms does not
abate hazards, the Agency will
proceed with remedial actions
and is empowered to seek
recovery of all the funds ex-
pended. EPA established a
task force in February 1982 to
notify as many responsible
parties as had then been
identified of their potential
liability should fund monies be
used at sites with which they
were associated. EPA believes
these communications give a
clearer picture of whether pre-
litigation private-party cleanup,
administrative or judicial
orders to compel clean-up, or
fund-response with cost-
recovery, would be appropriate
at individual sites. As of April
1982, EPA had:
Issued notice letters to over
850 individuals or firms at 75
sites on the list.
Issued notice letters to 29
responsible parties at 7 sites
not on the list.
While Superfund and the re-
lated solid waste clean-up
activities received considerable
publicity in 1981, there were
other less publicized, but none-
theless important, activities
taken by EPA to help protect
the health of our citizens.
EPA set in place a coordi-
nated fish monitoring strategy
to determine levels of toxic
contamination in the Great
Lakes, and surveyed sediments
in 17 harbors and river mouths
on the Great Lakes to deter-
mine toxic sources and
trends.
EPA prepared eight health
advisory documents to inform
state authorities and water fa-
cility operators of health risks
posed by unfamiliar contami-
nants. These include toxicolo-
gical information as well as
monitoring and removal
data.
EPA initiated the review of
ocean dumping regulations to
assess the comparative risks of
land versus ocean disposal.
To protect our water, EPA
conducted 110 on-scene oil
response actions, monitored
over 5,000 removals, com-
pleted over 2,000 spill preven-
tion inspections and conducted
25 damage assessments.
Final standards for disposal
of Uranium Mill Tailings at in-
active sites are complete.
In EPA's toxics program,
actions are being taken to ob-
tain more testing data when
valid concerns about new
chemicals are raised. EPA
banned importation of two
new potentially dangerous
chemicals pending submission
of additional data.
Emphasis has been placed
on finding acceptable PCB dis-
posal methods. Two high-
temperature commercial in-
cinerators for PCBs have been
approved, as well as incinera-
tion aboard the ship Vulcanus.
EPA also has approved two
chemical destruction processes
which reduce PCBs to easily
disposable substances and
allow the residual oil to be
cleaned and reused.
In January 1982, the U.S.,
including two EPA representa-
tives, participated in an inter-
national meeting of experts
concerning protection of
stratospheric ozone. Further
cooperation is anticipated in
this area.
EPA has released a long-
awaited study of environment-
al pollution in the Niagara
frontier which affects both the
U.S. and Canada. This com-
prehensive review reveals that
substantial progress has been
made in controlling many of
the water contamination prob-
lems in the Niagara frontier.
EPA is undertaking additional
actions to provide further
assistance in the area,
Both the Administrator and
Deputy Administrator have
been personally involved in
high-level and technical meet-
ings with Mexican officials to
further U.S.-Mexican coopera-
tion on environmental issues
and to develop new ap-
proaches to the existing air
and water pollution problems.
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Better
Science
EPA's new administration
firmly believes that there can-
not be good regulation without
good science. Without ade-
quate scientific understanding,
steps necessary for the protec-
tion of human health might
never be taken and, converse-
ly, wholly unnecessary regula-
tions might be foisted upon
the public. To avoid these pit-
falls, EPA is taking steps to
improve the scientific basis of
its regulations, including
selecting 15 to 25 rule pro-
posals each year for special
review by its Science Advisory
Board.
Other activities to produce
better scientific and technical
understanding include:
Insisting that any proposed
regulation whose rationale de-
pends on scientific assump-
tions undergo a thorough peer
review by knowledgeable
scientists to test the validity
of those assumptions; and
The production of certain
Air Quality Criteria documents
that serve as the primary
scientific basis for the estab-
lishment or revision of nation-
al ambient air quality stand-
ards under the Clean Air Act:
CO (Carbon Monoxide), No,
(Nitrogen Oxides), HC (Hydro-
carbons), SO./PM (Sulfur
Oxides and Paniculate
Matter).
Comprehensive health as-
sessments are near completion
for seven chemical solvents:
Carbon Tetrachloride, Methyl
Chloroform, Methylene Chlo-
ride, Chloroflurocarbon 113,
Tetrachloroethylene, Trichloro-
ethylene, and Toluene. This
information will be submitted
to the Science Advisory Board
for public and peer review.
This is the first time EPA has
prepared a single document
which addresses the varied
scientific health assessment
needs of EPA's many regu-
latory programs.
Several projects (which in-
fluence the Agency's approach
to health and risk assessment)
are in varying stages of com-
pletion:
Exposure assessment guide-
lines have been developed for
Agency-wide use.
Guidelines for mutagenicity
risk assessment have been re-
viewed and are being revised
based on the public comments.
They will receive peer review
by the Science Advisory Board.
Guidelines for risk assess-
ments on reproductive toxicity
are under development. A
workshop has been success-
fully completed and proceed-
ings have been published.
Notably, this workshop in-
cluded prominent academic
and industry scientists and is
a cornerstone for the continued
development of the Agency's
reproductive toxicity guide-
lines.
These projects serve to
bring uniformity and consist-
ency to future Agency risk
assessment activities. The peer
and public reviews afford in-
creased opportunity for indus-
try and academic involvement
in the development of the risk
assessment process.
Further steps toward better
science include the following:
EPA sponsored an Inter-
national Hazardous Waste
Symposium in October 1981.
The Symposium contributed
significantly to advancing
world-wide knowledge of
proper methods for dealing
with the hazardous waste dis-
posal problem.
EPA participated in the Or-
ganization for Economic Co-
operation and Development
("OECD") Chemicals Program.
In June 1981, the OECD Coun-
cil reached an agreement bind-
ing on member countries that
test data on chemicals
produced in one country will
be accepted as valid in all
others for assessment pur-
poses.
Under the U.S.-Canada
Memorandum of Intent on
Transboundary Air Pollution,
five bilateral work groups un-
der EPA chairmanship are pro-
viding technical support for the
negotiations. The final techni-
cal reports will assist the
Administration in its negotia-
tions and in the resolution of
major scientific uncertainties
concerning acid precipitation.
EPA completed analysis of
14 chemicals leading to the
development of water quality
criteria documents; initiated
research on the toxic effects of
some organic compounds; and
gathered additional scientific
data to revise criteria docu-
ments for the 65 water pol-
lutants which will form the
basis for the development of
water quality standards.
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Regulatory
Reform
When the Reagan Administra-
tion took over EPA manage-
ment, it found that success in
protecting the environment
appeared to be measured by
the ever-increasing amounts of
tax dollars being spent on
producing regulations. A pro-
gram of vigorous regulatory
reform and relief was clearly
necessary. The Agency's po-
tential to provide regulatory
relief to the American
economy amounts to as much
as $6-7 billion in direct costs.
Within this opportunity, top
Agency management had two
goals:
To focus on activities that
would produce significant en-
vironmental protection without
stifling economic growth; and
To revise existing regula-
tions to provide industries and
states greater flexibility in
meeting our nation's environ-
mental goals.
Since beginning its regu-
latory reform program, EPA
has produced significant pay-
offs. Without compromising its
responsibility to protect the
environment, EPA has suc-
cessfully implemented the
following regulatory reform
and relief measures:
EPA responded to the Presi-
dent's request for regulatory
relief for the auto industry by
announcing the Agency's in-
tent to change several regu-
latory requirements. As a
result, air quality protection is
being achieved at a greatly
reduced regulatory cost bur-
den. Relief measures taken
include: consolidating the CO
and NO. waiver proceedings;
assuring adequate time to meet
regulatory requirements; al-
lowing manufacturers to self-
certify high-altitude vehicles
and forego assembly-line test-
ing at high altitude; reducing
the number of annual assem-
bly-line tests; streamlining the
preproduction testing program;
deciding not to pursue on-
board controls for refueling
hydrocarbon emissions, and
deferring the 1983 truck noise
standard to 1986. These initia-
tives, and others planned to be
taken, should save manufac-
turers and consumers more
than $4 billion over the next
five years.
EPA has made progress on
paperwork reduction. In Octo-
ber 1981, the Agency com-
pleted an inventory of its
information collection activi-
ties, and for the first time, now
has a complete information
collection budget linked to its
fiscal budget. In specific
program areas, improvement
has been dramatic. For
example, reporting burdens
under RCRA have been re-
duced by about 3 million hours
without affecting program
quality.
The Agency established a
small business ombudsman in
EPA's Office of Policy Analysis
to help small businesses that
experience difficulties in
meeting or understanding
regulatory requirements.
EPA is aggressively moving
to expand the cost savings
from emissions trading. The
best known example of
emissions trading is the use
of "bubble" tradesso named
because a firm is allowed to
place an imaginary bubble over
all its sources of air pollution
at a particular site and develop
its own alternative for reduc-
ing air pollution to the total
amount allowed under the
bubble. These trades can be
accomplished within a plant or
firm or by transactions among
firms.
To date, 19 air "bubbles"
have been approved by EPA.
These will save industry
approximately $40 million.
At least 90 others are under
development and could pro-
duce savings of $200 million.
In addition, the adoption of
generic emissions trading rules
by many states will produce
greater reliance on the trading
process and is expected to
produce savings of nearly
$1 billion.
EPA has reduced the time it
takes for the Agency to act on
State Implementation Plan
(SIP) revisions through new
processing techniques that in-
clude conducting administra-
tive procedures in parallel with
the state. EPA now comments
on proposed SIPs concurrently
with the state's public com-
ment period (instead of after).
The improved techniques have
resulted in a savings of up to
70% over the previous aver-
age time.
EPA's toxics program is en-
couraging negotiated testing
agreements as substitutes for
rulemaking, to allow appro-
priate and necessary testing to
begin earlier and test data to
be generated more quickly.
Similarly, the Agency's tox-
ics program is issuing test
methodologies as guidelines
rather than as requirements.
This provides greater flexibility
as well as the ability to take
advantage of the latest test
methodologies.
Progress has been made in
overhauling the much criticized
and expensive sewage treat-
ment construction grants pro-
gram. This regulatory reform is
based on the idea of producing
only those regulations that are
mandated by law or which are
necessary for effective pro-
gram management. Guidances
are to be discretionarynot
regulations in disguise. A
serious problem in years past
was lack of local funds to
provide plant maintenance.
EPA's new regulations require
the approval of a user-charge
system before a community
receives money for certain
grants. This approach will fos-
ter fiscal responsibility and
should provide environmental
benefits for many years to
come.
Major reforms in the con-
struction grants program were
accomplished through EPA's
1981 legislative initiatives to
streamline the program, re-
direct its focus from public
works to environmental needs,
and reduce the long-term
federal commitment by 60%
from $90 to $36 billion. As a
result of prompt Congressional
action on this effort, the pro-
gram was reauthorized for
FY 83-85 at $2.4 billion
annually (down from $5 billion
in FY82).Overa three-year
phase-in period, eligibility
categories will be restricted to
present treatment needs, the
Federal share will be reduced
to 55%, and states will be
given greater flexibility in
allocating funds.
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State and Local
Involvement
EPA's new leadership views
the Agency's relationship with
states and localities as a true
partnership. The previous pat-
ern of EPA dictating to the
states, treating them at best as
junior partners, not only makes
for bad relationsit also
makes for bad regulations, and,
therefore, poor environmental
protection. This Administration
believes that the people most
affected by a problem should
have a significant voice in de-
ciding the solution. Therefore,
one of EPA's primary goals in
this first year has been to in-
crease the involvement of
state and local governments in
the Agency's decisionmaking
and actual operation of pro-
grams for pollution abatement
and control. In seeking to dele
gate more authority and de-
cisionmaking to the states,
EPA has accomplished the
following:
More than doubled the num-
ber of states which now operate
the New Source Performance
Standards program.
Increased by 50% the states
which operate the Hazardous
Air Pollutant program.
Increased by 60% the
states which have interim
RCRA Phase I authorization.
Perhaps most importantly, a
combination of Federal pro-
grams and state initiatives
have built, over the last de-
cade, a highly-trained, well-
motivated workforce in state
and local environmental agen-
cies across the country. The
air quality program alone has
invested nearly one-half billion
dollars in state programs.
States have moved into this
area strongly, strengthening
their statutes and providing
real financial support, to the
point where Federal contribu-
tions now represent less than
half of the operational costs of
state environmental programs.
Solid Waste
Under RCRA, the states have
the primary responsibility for
managing solid, including
hazardous, waste. The first
task is to gear up the priority
hazardous waste regulatory
programs for which Congress
intended states to be primarily
responsible. In FY-1981 and
1982, EPA will provide a total
of $71.7 million to the states
for developing their own regu-
latory programs and will com-
plete the basic regulatory
framework.
The second major task fac-
ing states under RCRA is to
evaluate nonhazardous waste
disposal facilities on the basis
of EPA criteria which place
restrictions on facilities that
allow open burning or are in
wetlands, floodplains, habitats
of endangered species, or re-
charge zones for principal
sources of local drinking
water. EPA has published the
first installment of an inven-
tory of nonhazardous disposal
facilities that fail to meet the
criteria.
The third task is to develop
and implement comprehensive
plans for managing non-
hazardous solid waste. Devel-
opment of the state plans has
been a long and arduous
process. To aid these efforts in
FY-1981, EPA:
Provided technical assist-
ance and $8 million in finan-
cial assistance to the states to
help them develop their plans.
Received state plans from
over half the states for review
according to EPA guidelines.
Approved 14 state plans
with the remainder expected to
be approved in 1982 and
1983.
Water
As the result of a recent legal
settlement between EPA and a
number of industries, the
burden of underground injec-
tion control regulations has
been lessened without weaken-
ing their effectiveness.
There are now more flexible
standards for judging the
mechanical integrity of injec
tion wells, a reduction in
routine monitoring require-
ments by well operators and
greater leeway for states to
define the extent of their
underground drinking water
sources. These changes are ex-
pected to result in economic
savings of $65 to $75 million
over the next five years.
During 1981 seven addition-
al states agreed to accept
delegation of the construction
grants program, bringing the
total to 45. This is an import-
ant step toward the Presi-
dent's goal of a New
Federalism.
Toxics and Pesticides
Improved information flow
among states has been fos-
tered. Through a grant to the
National Governors Associa-
tion ("NGA"), states now have
access to the computerized
Chemical Substances Informa-
tion Network. NGA also acts
as a clearinghouse to publicize
state toxic substances manage-
ment practices and to allow
experts from one state to ad-
vise their counterparts in
another.
EPA has employed retired
engineers in its ten Regional
Offices to help states and local
districts inspect asbestos in
schools and advise on appro-
priate containment or removal
techniques where warranted.
Air, Noise and Radiation
Work is underway to trans-
fer from EPA to the states
responsibility for ensuring that
new plants satisfy new source
performance standards
("NSPS") and National Emis-
sion Standards for Hazardous
Air Pollutants ("NESHAPS").
Currently, approximately
67°o of the NSPS and
NESHAPS compliance work
is being administered either
partially or fully by the states.
Systems now in place will
result in this figure totalling
over 87% by the end of
FY 1982.
In addition to the Clean
Air Act, the Office of Air,
Noise, and Radiation also ad-
ministers and manages
national programs relating
to noise abatement and control
and radiation programs. In
1981, the Office of Noise
Abatement and Control be-
gan phasing out the Federal
noise program.
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Reduction
of Backlogs
Twenty-one states re-
quested training assistance
as EPA transfers control of
noise programs to them.
Nine state training sessions
have already been conducted
with 16 more scheduled in
FY 82. Approximately 500
state and local noise officials
will have been trained before
the noise program is com-
pletely phased out as a federal
responsibility.
Approximately $1.5 mil-
lion in noise control equip-
ment was made available to
states, localities, and
universities from EPA.
Fifteen states requested
assistance from EPA in
designing public support
programs.
Twenty-four states will
have active noise abatement
programs in place by Sep-
tember 1982.
EPA provided support to
the Conference of State Radi-
ation Program Directors in
the form of technical expertise
and financial grants.
The Agency has assisted
several states and Indian
nations on special radiation
surveys by direct involvement
or by equipment loan.
An unglamorous, but none-
theless important, task facing
EPA's new leadership in
1981 was the elimination of
backlogs which had accumu-
lated throughout Agency
programs. Were these back-
logs allowed to stand, or
worse, to continue growing,
opportunities for innovation
and reform in environmental
protection would have been
thwarted. This was not per-
mitted to happen. Significant
progress has been made in
this area.
In the past three months,
the Office of Pesticides and
Toxic Substances has reduced
its backlog of chemical re-
views from 417 to 123, a
71% reduction. Similarly,
the backlog of amended regis-
tration reviews has been re-
duced 56%.
EPA is now firmly on
schedule to produce six
effluent guidelines standards
this fiscal year and an
additional ten next year.
In the previous five years,
only one such guideline,
although required by law,
had been produced.
In 1979, the Agency re-
ceived 70 applications for
301 h waivers under the
Clean Water Act. These are
requests from publicly
owned treatment works for
a variance from secondary
treatment requirements when
discharging into marine
waters. Of these 70 applica-
tions, 30 involved discharges
of more than 16 million gallons
per day. When the new Ad-
ministration took office last
year, a few of these applications
were finally coming to,
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Improved
Management
Effective environmental
protection requires that every
dollar be spent wisely and
efficiently. We owe it not
only to our environment, but
also to the American tax-
payers.
Accordingly, new proced-
ures have been instituted
to control costs, eliminate
fraud, waste and abuse, and
streamline operations to make
them more efficient, effec-
tive and responsive.
Some of the more note-
worthy management accom-
plishments at EPA during the
first year of the Reagan Ad-
ministration include:
Budget Reform
The 1983 budget increases
funding for hazardous waste
and Superfund by $36 million,
maintains a strong enforce-
ment program, preserves es-
sential research and develop-
ment, maintains the wastewater
treatment construction grants
program at $2.4 billion, and
substantially reduces the
regulatory burden on state
and local governments.
The 1983 budget is a
sound and effective environ-
mental protection plan which
will cost $85 million less
than in 1982 and $237 mil-
lion less than in 1981. Re-
ductions in the last two years
are in marked contrast to
the increases which had
occurred in every prior year
of EPA's existence.
Management Accountability
The Agency designed and
began operating the Ad-
ministrator's Accountability
System, which enables the
Administrator to identify at a
glance:
major initiatives being
carried out on schedule,
areas where successful
performance may require
additional attention, and
the specific manager re-
sponsible for results.
Grants Administration
The Agency is revising grant
regulations and procedures
to strengthen management
and simplify administrative
requirements for recipients.
This will streamline the
process while better guarding
against waste, fraud, and
abuse. The revisions will
also eliminate unnecessary
requirements, limit the paper-
work required of grantees,
and develop consistency
across all of EPA's financial
assistance programs.
Contracts Administration
EPA has institutionalized the
review and approval of con-
tract expenditures at the
highest Agency levels
(Assistant Administrators)
to ensure that Agency re-
sources are used in the most
efficient and cost effective
manner.
General Administrative
Procedures
The Agency has eliminated
or simplified many of its
forms and records, is auto-
mating aspects of its person-
nel and financial management
systems, and has refined
and fully automated the
Merit Pay System.
Consolidated Financial
Assistance
A consolidated financial
assistance program will make
it easier for states to do
business with EPA. The con-
solidation allows a single
application for all program
funds, a single comprehen-
sive public review, a coordi-
nated EPA review, consoli-
dated reporting by the
grantee, a single evaluation,
and an integrated audit.
The mechanism is flexible
so that a state may consoli-
date some of its assistance
while continuing to be
eligible for categorical
awards under other programs.
Efficiencies concerning
cash management, overtime,
leased space, publication dis-
tribution, audit resolutions,
telephones, travel expenses,
procurement, contract proc-
essing, library subscriptions,
printing and the purchase of
capital equipment have been
undertaken, resulting in sav-
ings of hundreds of
thousands of dollars to the
American taxpayer.
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