Office of November 1984 the Administrator Washington DC 20460 v>EPA Accomplishments Report FY1984 ------- EPA Accomplishments: FY 1984 This report presents EPA's performance in fiscal year (FY) 1984. The results reflect the first full year of operation of EPA's new management system. Modeled after successful corporate systems, the Strategic Planning and Management System (SPMS) sets broad goals and objectives, calls for managers to make specific program commitments, and tracks progress against them. This report tells how well EPA did against its targets for FY 1984 (October 1, 1983 to September 30, 1984). In short, EPA managers and staff can take considerable pride in their accomplishments. We have made dramatic strides in enforcement across the board and have exceeded expectations in water and hazardous waste permitting, both critical areas for achieving environmental results. There are, of course, areas where we need to improve performance or intensify our efforts such as in approving municipal pretreatment programs or State issuance of water permits. In other areas we need to set more challenging targets. Nonetheless, EPA has achieved significant success overall in meeting its program objectives and commitments for FY 1984. WATER BOY 1 2 3 QUARTERS ------- Highlights of FY 1984 Increasing the level of EPA's enforcement activities was one of the Agency's highest priorities. The response was outstanding. In every program, EPA and the States addressed almost all of the significant violators targeted at the beginning of the year. The air program addressed 99 percent of the sources targeted, the water program addressed 97 percent, and based on only 11 months of data, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) program addressed over 102 percent of hazardous waste handlers. FY 1984 was the second best year in the Agency's history for enforcement activity. EPA's Regional offices issued 3,036 administrative orders and referred 263 civil actions and 35 criminal actions to Headquarters. Another measure of enforcement success is the number of actions forwarded to the Department of Justice (DOJ). In FY 1984, 240 civil cases and 31 criminal cases were referred by EPA to DOJ for further action. As the charts show, EPA also made good progress in improving compliance among Federal facilities in each program area. During the fiscal year, EPA removed imminent threats to numerous communities from uncontrolled hazardous waste sites by conducting over 200 removal actions. EPA also exceeded targets for identifying hazardous waste sites requiring long-term cleanup or remedial efforts and conducted over 1,300 site inspections. In addition, work was initiated at over 240 priority sites to remove leaking drums and other immediate dangers, develop long-term engineering solutions, and undertake remedial cleanup projects. EPA also surpassed targets for making final permit determinations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for facilities handling hazardous wastes. Of particular significance has been EPA's success in permitting or prompting the closure of land disposal facilities, operations that pose the greatest potential for environmental harm. EPA and the States have moved forward in protecting the Nation's water quality. Final water discharge permits with updated limits on toxic pollutants have been issued for over 3,000 industrial and municipal sources. Construction of new municipal treatment works also continues with EPA exceeding its targets for issuing construction grants. EPA and the States have moved closer towards the goal of protecting and enhancing the Nation's air quality. Both Headquarters and Regional offices have improved their performance in processing revisions to State Implementation Plans (SIPs) in a timely way. EPA has worked especially closely with areas in nonattainment to design plans to achieve acceptable air quality. This year EPA has also made significant progress in requesting data necessary for reregistering thousands of pesticide products registered before 1972. Many of these products were originally registered without important health and environmental effects data. EPA met its target in FY 1984 for establishing 25 standards to collect data necessary for reregistration. In addition, EPA exceeded its expectations for the Asbestos-in-Schools Inspection Program. EPA has completed nearly 2,000 inspections to ensure that schools monitor for any unsafe exposures to asbestos materials. REDUCING NUMBER OF FEDERAL FACILITIES IN SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLJANCE LEGEND I I KioKMto TO niinjiuici SAODMtUD pimura RCRA TSCA TMOCT EPA's Strategic Planning and Management System Fundamentally, EPA's success in FY 1984 reflects the skill and dedication of EPA managers and their counterparts in State and local governments. A key factor in motivating and directing these managers was the new Strategic Planning and Management System (SPMS). In the past two years, EPA has significantly improved its planning and management process. Well in advance of each coming fiscal year, the Administrator and Deputy Administrator establish clear goals and objectives and priority activities. Both Headquarters and Regional managers are involved in defining appropriate strategies to fulfill these goals. An important thrust is to direct efforts where we will achieve the greatest environmental results. While we are making progress in this respect, we need to evaluate our program commitments regularly to determine what difference we are making in environmental terms. Equally important to EPA's success has been the follow through built into the SPMS. Biweekly and quarterly reports track and hold managers accountable for their performance. Over the past year, EPA Headquarters' activities have been closely monitored through the Action Tracking System (ATS). EPA Regional efforts are tracked primarily by quarterly reports. Both reports are supplemented by personal reviews by the Deputy Administrator. This system is reinforced by tying EPA managers' pay raises or bonuses to performance tracked in the SPMS. The success shown in FY 1984 is proof that overall the system is working. BOY 1 2 3 QUARTERS BOY 1 2 3 QUARTERS BOY 1 .2 3 4 QUARTERS ------- Hazardous Wastes EPA's highest priority is to reduce the serious threats to public health and the environment posed by uncontrolled hazardous waste sites and by the handling and disposal of hazardous wastes. In FY 1984. the Agency made substantial progress in addressing both of these major problem areas. SUPERFUND ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITY FOR FY 1984 RESPONSIBLE PARTY SEARCHES 200 150- 100- 50- ENFORCEMENT MANAGED RI/FS INITIATED Uncontrolled Hazardous Sites Uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites may seriously contaminate the environment and threaten human health. Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or "Superfund"), EPA has made considerable progress in addressing the problems posed by these uncontrolled hazardous sites. All Superfund Enforcement Targets Exceeded. One of EPA's top 10 priorities is to negotiate responsible party cleanup at Superfund sites where possible. This includes pursuing legal means to recover cleanup costs at sites where Federal funds were used. Cost recovery settlements returned $3.4 million to the fund in FY 1984, raising the total amount recovered to $6.1 million for the history of the program. EPA plans to place more emphasis on cost recovery as EPA spends more cleaning up sites. Private party responses totaled $145.65 million in FY 1984. As the chart shows, EPA exceeded all enforcement targets. LEGEND COST RECOVERY CASES REFERRED TO HQ 40-i 30- 20- 40-, a- m Accelerated Actions To Remove Imminent Threats. EPA has set as its highest priority the identification and stabilization of those hazardous sites that pose imminent threats including the potential for fire or explosions or for contamination of a drinking water supply. As the chart illustrates, EPA initiated 204 immediate removal actions in 1984 to address such imminent threats. In addition, the Agency completed removal actions at 205 sites in FY 1984, almost double what was accomplished in FY 1983. SUPERFUND REMOVAL ACTIVITIES INmATED 250- 200- 150- 100- 50- 01234 COMPLETED 250-1 200- 150- 100- 50- 1234 QUARTERS LEGEND QUARTERS 1234 QUARTERS Assess Sites for Action. EPA's second highest priority is to complete the longer-term environmental restoration of hazardous sites. Starting in 1980, EPA and the States began a concerted effort to identify all uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. To date, this effort has produced an inventory of over 18,500 potential sites with the possibility of as many as 22,000 eventually being identified. EPA must review these thousands of sites to determine which require attention and establish their relative priority. The first step of this process is a preliminary assessment in which all available background information on a site is collected. EPA completed I.898 preliminary assessments in FY 1984, bringing the total number to over 10,500. Completed 1,311 Site Inspections. The next step in EPA's effort to identify priority hazardous sites is a site inspection. EPA has found that about 1 in 3 sites that have received a preliminary assessment require a site inspection. EPA set a target of 1,300 site inspections for FY 1984 and exceeded that target by conducting 1,311. A total of 3,613 site inspections have now been completed. Where a site has been found to pose an imminent threat, EPA has initiated emergency removal actions as described above. The National Priority List Expanded. The final step in identifying sites for priority attention is their ranking for placement on the National Priorities List (NPL). Sites are ranked based on such factors as the type, quantities, and toxicity of wastes; the number of people potentially exposed; and the importance of underlying aquifers. EPA has now placed 538 sites on the NPL with an additional 248 proposed for listing. ------- Numerous Clean-up Procedures Initiated. Once a site has been listed on the NPL, a carefully designed field investigations and engineering study is performed called the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS). In FY 1984, EPA initiated 98 RI/FS studies, substantially exceeding its target (see chart below). EPA FY 1984 SUPERFUND SITE REMEDIAL ACTIVITIES INITIATED 100 -i 75- 50- 25- Remedlal Investigations/ Feasibility Studies Engtneerfng Designs 20-i 10- Ul tfi fc c> Remedlal Actions also started final engineering designs for 19 sites in FY 1984. Although short of the target of 32 designs, it still represents a significant increase over the six engineering designs started in 1983. Actual construction began at 13 sites exceeding the FY 1984 target and bringing the total number to 33. This is in addition to the 380 emergency removals described previously, over 125 of which were completed at National Priority List sites. Final restorations have been completed at six sites and responsibility given back to State governments for managing the sites to prevent future health or environmental damage. Cleanup activities have also been completed at five other sites although monitoring efforts to verify the effectiveness of these cleanups are still underway. Active Hazardous Waste Handling Facilities Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), EPA's fundamental means for controlling newly-generated hazardous wastes is to establish requirements for hazardous waste generators, transporters, and facility operators. There are now some 1700 land disposal and incineration facilities and over 3000 storage and treatment facilities that are currently operating under "interim status standards" To remain in operation, these facilities must now meet more stringent standards and obtain final permits. Issuing finaj permits for these individual facilities is one of EPA's highest priorities. Enforcement Efforts Outstanding. A priority for FY 1984 was to achieve a high level of compliance by hazardous waste handlers with RCRA regulations including both interim status standards and final permit requirements. EPA and the States conducted 4,115 PROGRESS IN RETURNING MAJOR RCRA HANDLERS WITH CLASS I VIOLATIONS TO COMPLIANCE 600 -i inspections of RCRA facilities in 1984, almost 25 percent above the target of 3,301. EPA and the States also exceeded their targets for returning significant RCRA violators into compliance (see chart). Of the 535 identified at the beginning of FY 1984, 186 significant violators have been returned to compliance and another 249 have been subject to enforcement actions. This leaves 100 violators in the pending status, which is better than the FY 1984 year-end target of addressing all but 107. Targets For RCRA Permitting Exceeded. In FY 1984, EPA made final permit determinations to issue or deny permits for 741 facilities, exceeding its target of 730 by eleven. Of significant note are the 112 final determinations for disposal and incineration facilities, over a third more than the 83 targeted. Permitting these facilities is particularly significant as they pose the greatest potential health and environmental impacts. Since the inception of the RCRA permit program in 1982, 284 permits have been issued. Of that number, 203 or 71 percent were issued in FY 1984. .TARGET BOY 1 234 QUARTERS LEGEND I I UTimNUTocMnMiiu E3 IUUICT ra mroMiMNT AcnM LEGEND QUARTERS TARGETS ARE THROUGH SEPTEMBER. WHILE STATE ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARC REPORTED THROUGH AUGUST. ------- Air Despite considerable progress in improving air quality over the past decade, air pollution is still a significant environmental problem in many areas of the United States. Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is responsible for working with the States to improve and protect the Nation's ambient air quality. Traditionally, EPA efforts have focused on the "criteria air pollutants": ozone, carbon monoxide, airborne particulates, sulfur dioxide, lead, and nitrogen dioxide. These air pollutants are generated by a number of sources and are often a problem in major metropolitan areas. EPA is also concerned with "hazardous air pollutants" that are usually local problems, typically found in the vicinity of specific industrial sources. For example, arsenic is a hazardous air pollutant emitted by processes such as cooper smelting and glass manufacturing. Criteria Air Pollutants' Enforcement of Stationary Sources Improves. Enforcement of air quality standards is critical for assuring continued improvement and maintenance of the Nation's air quality. EPA and the States have made significant progress in enforcing air pollution controls. In FY 1984, EPA returned to compliance 126 of the 271 significant violators targeted. Another 51 of these significant violators were put on acceptable schedules for attaining compliance and 92 are subject to enforcement actions (see chart below). These significant violators are large emitters of air pollutants usually found in areas where ambient pollution standards are exceeded. Returning these significant violators to compliance is essential to achieving good air quality. Overall, 92 percent of all major sources were in compliance and another 2 percent met approved schedules for eventual attainment. Compliance by those sources required to meet the stricter New Source Performance Standards (NSPS's) was also good with 90 percent in compliance and another 2 percent meeting attainment schedules. In order to confirm these compliance rates, EPA and the States have recognized the need to improve the frequency at which sources are inspected. In FY 1984, EPA and the States conducted inspections at nearly 90 percent of the major source facilities. For those facilities required to meet NSPS's, EPA and the States conducted inspections at 88 percent of the facilities. EPA enforcement efforts led to the issuance of 116 administrative orders. EPA Regional Offices also referred 79 cases for civil court action, surpassing the FY 1984 SPMS target of 48 cases. EPA efforts at enforcing air pollution requirements at Federal facilities were also notable. EPA addressed all of the Fedeial facilities targeted as significant violators. By the end of FY 1984, 300 or 92 percent of all Federal facilities with major pollution control requirements were in compliance and another 4 percent were on approved PROGRESS IN RETURNING AIR VIOLATORS TO COMPLIANCE REDUCTION OF SIGNIFICANT VIOLATORS ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITY THROUGH 35/ENDING AS OF OCTOBER 1,1983 TARGET 500- 400- 300- 200- 100- FOURTH QUARTER BOY 1 2 3 QUARTERS LEOEKD t~n «nu«iiiDToe»i»u»ii« P?q on *eevM»u noouus gMUICT TO BOTHtmOIT «CnON NMIIM MTIM* schedules for attaining compliance. Moreover, all 10 Federal facilities required to meet the more stringent New Source Performance Standards were in compliance by the end of the fiscal year. Progress In Approval of SIPs. Since 1970, State Implementation Plans (SIPs) have been the chief regulatory means to reach the healthful levels of air quality as defined by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for each criteria pollutant. A SIP lays out what control technology will be applied to which sources in an area to reduce air pollution to meet the standards. Responsibility for completing, implementing and enforcing SIPs rests with the States, with support from EPA. Although air quality has generally improved, many of the SIPs have proven inadquate to meet national air quality standards by the deadlines established by the Clean Air Act. In some cases, pollution control measures required by SIPs have not been implemented or enforced. A high priority for EPA is to have SIPs that will ensure attainment of national health-related standards as expeditiously as possible and no later than December 31, 1987. In FY 1984, EPA made final determinations on 398 SIP actions. Most of the SIPs, 89 percent, were processed on time. Most of the others were on hold pending resolution of court cases or new policy formulations. •INCLUDES SOURCES ON ACCEPTABLE SCHEDULES ------- EPA also tracks SIPs that require special attention. The first of these are the 1982 ozone/carbon monoxide SIPs for those areas without extensions to the 1982 deadline. By the end of FY 1984, EPA made determinations on 35 of the 47 SIPs required to be submitted for action by the States. In addition, nine areas of the country were determined by EPA to be in serious noncompliance with the 1982 attainment deadlines. Although sanctions will be proposed, progress to correct the deficiencies is good. Other SIPs receiving special attention are those for lead. EPA and the States met virtually all 1984 SIP development due dates. Start Dates Met for Majority of I/M Programs. As a result of the inadequacy of a number of SIPs in bringing about attainment of air standards, some areas have had to incorporate vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) programs within their revised SIPs. EPA tracks the implementation of these I/M programs in the Strategic Planning and Management System. This fiscal year, 10 I/M programs began operations as scheduled. States are also implementing. programs which discourage people from using leaded fuel in cars designed for unleaded. This practice destroys the catalytic converter, resulting in higher carbon monoxide emissions and makes it more difficult for the State to achieve the ambient standards. During FY 1984, States implemented 12 new programs to remedy this problem. Delegation of NSPS Slips. By the end of FY 1984, EPA had given authority to the States to control sources subject to New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for 1,772 of the 1,932 applicable NSPS categories nationwide. This represents a drop in overall NSPS delegation to States from 95 percent to 92 percent. This was due to the addition of newly applicable NSPS regulations. Good Progress on Development of Regulations. In FY 1984, EPA finalized five of seven targeted NSPS and proposed another seven standards for public comment. Final NSPS limits included those developed for dry cleaners, synthetic fiber production, and refinery equipment leaks. Those that were proposed included limits on industrial boilers and the storage of volatile organic liquids. These are national standards for the "criteria air pollutants" designated by the Clean Air Act. EPA also proposed for public comment two of the three National Ambient Air Quality Standards due for revision. The proposed standards are for nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter. Finally, EPA met its targets for developing mobile source standards. The Agency proposed standards for particulate and nitrogen oxides emissions for heavy duty diesels. Hazardous Air Pollution EPA establishes National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS) to set Federal emission limits for new and existing sources of hazardous air pollutants. At the beginning of FY 1984, compliance with the NESHAPS was 93 percent. By the end of FY 1984, NESHAPS compliance slipped to 92 percent. This slippage is most likely due to greater discoveries of noncompliance as a result of a major increase in the number of NESHAPS inspections conducted in FY 1984. Of special note: compliance among the 10 Federal facilities subject to NESHAPS requirements was 100 percent. Development of NESHAPS Regulations Progressed. EPA promulgated final standards on five of the seven NESHAPS targeted for FY 1984, including standards for asbestos, and benzene. The Agency also proposed regulations for benzene emissions from coke ovens. In addition, EPA made decisions on 3 of the 20 to 25 pollutants being considered for listing as hazardous air pollutants. Specifically, EPA decided not to list toluene or pplycyclic organic matter, but did list coke oven emissions. ------- Water The EPA, in partnership with State and local governments, has responsibility for protecting water quality. These efforts have historically focused on reducing pollution of surface waters such as rivers, lakes, streams, coastal waters, estuaries, and wetlands. Today, efforts are also underway to prevent contamination of ground waters or underground formations of water-saturated rock and sand. EPA controls water pollution by placing limitations on discharges through a national permit system. For this permit system to work, compliance with the limits in the permits must be enforced by EPA and the States. Surface Waters Obtaining Compliance a Major Success. One of the most important measures EPA tracks is our success in returning to compliance significant violators of water pollution discharge permits. "Significant violators" discharge pollution in quantities that threaten to degrade the environment or harm human health. Of the 1,024 significant violators identified at the beginning of FY 1984, all but three percent have been brought back into compliance or addressed by an enforcement action. EPA also tracks compliance rates for all facilities with permitted discharges. As a result of EPA and State enforcement efforts, the compliance rate for facilities on final effluent limits increased to 94 percent for industrial facilities and 89 percent for municipal facilities. As the charts show. these compliance rates exceed the FY 1984 targets for industry and municipalities. An important check on the validity of compliance statistics is the level of inspections. In FY 1984, EPA focused its inspection efforts on municipal facilities, exceeding its target by 20 percent (5364 actual inspections; 4475 targeted). One consequence of the emphasis appears to be that EPA fell short of its target for inspecting industrial facilities by 11 percent (3069 actual; 3463 targeted). Nonetheless, these levels of inspection activity made the compliance rates credible. Permitting Efforts Continued. Through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), EPA and the States issue permits placing limitations on pollution discharges from industrial, municipal and Federal facilities. EPA's seventh highest priority is to update all NPDES permits consistent with new technology-based effluent standards. These standards require additional monitoring and place new discharge limits on a number of toxic pollutants. As the chart shows, progress in FY 1984 towards meeting this objective continued. For those permits where EPA has direct issuing authority, the Agency exceeded the FY 1984 SPMS target of 585 by permitting 645 facilities, eliminating almost 70 percent of the backlog of expired major permits. Where NPDES permitting authority has been delegated, the States completed the permitting of 992 facilities, eliminating only 35 percent of their backlog. EPA will be meeting with the NPDES REPERMITT1NG BY EPA INDUSTRIAL 500 T 400- 300- 200- 100- NUMBER WHICH HAVE EXPIRED OR WILL EXPIRE BY: EOY 83 EOY 8* MUNICIPAL 2501 200- 507 •10 15 BO- K LJ 0-100- L_ o m p 123 QUARTERS National Governors' Association to identify means to improve State permitting efforts in FY 1985. REDUCING NUMBER OF MAJOR INDUSTRIALS IN SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPUANCE WITH FINAL EFFLUENT LIMITS WITH CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE/INTERIM LIMITS BOY 1 2 3 QUARTERS BOY 1 2 3 QUARTERS LEGEND I I mumo TO eoimuNci JOO-i 250- 200- 150- 100- 50- REDUCING NUMBER OF MAJOR MUNICIPALS IN SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPUANCE WITH FINAL EFFLUENT LIMITS WITH CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE/INTERIM LIMITS BOY 2 3 QUARTERS BOY 1234 QUARTERS HNBIH* ------- Pretreatment Targets Not Met. In many communities, industrial plants discharge their wastes directly into the municipal sewage system. An EPA priority is to implement a pretreatment program whereby industry would remove toxic substances before sending any discharge to a municipal treatment plant that would otherwise disrupt the treatment process or prove harmful to the environment. As a first step, EPA is requiring the submission of pretreatment regulatory programs from the 1,530 municipalities whose treatment plants receive industrial discharges. For FY 1984, EPA set a target of approving 397 of these municipal pretreatment programs but only approved 229 of them. The States achieved approximately 60 percent of their target, approving 180 of 327 programs. To improve performance in this area, EPA and the States are working with a number of municipalities to help develop proper control programs. EPA will also take administrative and enforcement actions as necessary to prompt recalcitrant municipalities to submit proposed programs. In FY 1984, EPA issued 314 administrative orders; the States issued 128 orders. Through these actions, EPA expects to expedite submission and approval of acceptable municipal pretreatment programs in FY 1985. If necessary, EPA will proceed with direct implementation of pretreatment programs where a municipality or State lacks the legal authority to implement the program. Construction Grant Targets Met. The Construction Grants Program provides grants to cities and counties to restore the quality of the Nation's waterways through the construction of cost-effective and environmentally sound municipal wastewater treatment facilities. As the chart shows, EPA exceeded its planned FY 1984 target by 26 percent for construction grants obligations with over $3.7 billion obligated. EPA also fell within the plus or minus 5 percent range of the target of $2.7 billion dollars for actual outlays of construction grants. CONSTRUCTION GRANTS OBLIGATIONS AND OUTLAYS OBLIGATIONS OUTLAYS 3DOOn ?000- 0-* Ground Water Ground water is a major source of water for agricultural and industrial purposes. It is also an important source of drinking water for about half of all Americans and about 95 percent of people living in rural areas. There is increasing evidence that ground water supplies are being contaminated in a number of locations around the country. Established Office of Ground Water. EPA currently is addressing ground- water contamination problems under several statutes. For example, the Superfund and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) address contamination of ground water from hazardous waste sites and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) addresses contamination from pesticide use. To coordinate these and a number of other ground-water protection efforts, EPA established the Office of Ground-Water Protection. The Office has recently completed a ground-water protection strategy that aims to coordinate the actions of Federal, State and local governments to protect this critical resource. Delegating the UIC Program. Another high priority in EPA's efforts to protect ground water is the implementation of an underground injection control (UIC) program. EPA's strategy is to require permits for facilities that present the greatest threat to underground sources of drinking water. EPA estimates that nearly 60 percent of all hazardous waste disposal occurs by underground injection. Given the large and growing number of injection wells nationwide";..EPA must rely heavily on the States to implement control programs. In FY 1984, EPA delegated full authority for the UIC program to 17 States missing the target of 24 but bringing the total number of States with full authority to 29. These 29 States contain almost 80 percent of all the Nation's injection wells. In FY 1985, EPA will shift its emphasis from regulatory development and State delegation to the actual testing and permitting of wells. LEGEND •IVKl. 1 2 3 QUARTERS ------- Pesticides and Toxic Substances Earlier sections of this report describe EPA's progress in controlling harmful exposures by regulating air emissions, water discharges, and the disposal of chemical wastes on land. This section describes progress EPA has made in controlling the risks from pesticides and other commercially produced chemical substances. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA has authority to ban or restrict the manufacture and use of new and existing pesticides and chemical substances to prevent or control unreasonable risks to human health or the environment. Pesticides Enforcement of Pesticide Regulations Excellent. Nearly all States have direct authority for enforcing pesticide regulations. Both EPA and the States take a variety of enforcement actions to ensure compliance including administrative orders, criminal referrals, warning letters, orders to stop sale or use or recalls and import detentions. In FY 1984, EPA and the States conducted over 53,000 inspections, issued nearly 6,300 Administrative Orders, and referred more than 140 criminal cases. EPA Met Registration Standards Target. Under FIFRA, EPA has authority to control the risks of pesticides primarily through a registration process. All proposed uses of a pesticide product must first be approved by EPA. In addition to registering new pesticides, one of EPA's highest priorities is to reregister approximately 45,000 pesticide products that were registered before 1972, many with little or no chronic health effects data. EPA's objective is to require the necessary acute and chronic health and environmental effects data for these pesticides and review them with today's registration standards. PESTICIDE REGISTRATION STANDARDS CUMULATIVE NUMBER OF STANDARDS ESTABLISHED As a first step in its reregistration effort, EPA is requesting and reviewing information on approximately 578 basic active ingredients used in pesticide products. EPA is establishing registration standards that identify health and environmental effects data required to reregister any pesticide product containing these active ingredients. EPA met its target of issuing 25 registration standards in FY 1984 (see chart). A total of 90 registration standards have now been completed covering 26 percent of the volume of pesticides in use. Approximately 445 additional standards are necessary to cover the universe of active ingredients used in pesticide products. EPA Exceeded Targets for Data Call-Ins. To accelerate the reregistration process, EPA is requesting industry to submit the data needed to make a decision on existing pesticides. In FY 1984, EPA exceeded its data call-m target of 70 by requesting information on 81 pesticides. Requests for information focused on chronic toxicity and the potential for ground-water contamination. EPA Surpassed Target for Special Reviews. If major health or environmental concerns are raised about a currently used pesticide, EPA will initiate a Special Review. This can result in an immediate suspension, permanent cancellation, or restriction of some or all uses of a pesticide if it should be found to present an unreasonable risk. EPA completed 18 Special Reviews in FY 1984, bettering the target of 15. New Pesticides Registration Targets Met. As the chart shows, EPA continues to meet its commitments for new pesticide registration. The program has done an excellent job of expeditiously reviewing applications to register new products, new uses of old products, and changes in product labels. PESTICIDE REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS NUMBER OF FY 1984 APPLICATIONS PROCESSED SIZE OF BACKLOG 400-i 300- 200- 100-1 NO. OF PENDING APPLICATIONS WHOSE TIME LIMIT HAS BEEN EXCEEDED 1234 QUARTERS 400 300- MICNOCD OLD HCeUTHATIOM CHEMICALS RECEIPTS: U.2S2 8,671 8 ------- EPA Issues Fewer Emergency Exemptions. An emergency exemption may be granted to allow a State to authorize the use of a pesticide for purposes EPA has not yet registered. An EPA audit of this program led to concern for possible abuse or at least overuse of these exemptions. EPA is now reviewing emergency exemptions more circumspectly. In FY 1984, EPA denied requests for 113 emergency exemptions (compared to only 18 denied in FY 1982). The Agency received fewer applications for emergency exemptions than expected (510 against a projected 924), and was able to take action on all of these as well as reduce the backlog. Eighty-Nine Percent of Tolerance Petitions Reviewed. Pesticide use often results in low-level residues in food. EPA must determine the highest level of pesticide residue to be tolerated in each food commodity. EPA set a target to review 600 tolerance petitions in FY 1984 but completed only 531. The difference is due in part to certain complex scientific issues that require in-depth risk assessment. EPA expects to improve its performance in the next fiscal year. Toxic Substances Enforcement Effort Was Outstanding. In FY 1984, EPA excelled in its efforts to enforce regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The Agency accomplished 150 percent of its FY 1984 SPMS target of 2695 TSCA inspections. For example, EPA inspected hundreds of electrical transformers and capacitors for leakage of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). EPA also undertook over 1700 enforcement actions, greatly increasing TSCA enforcement efforts. Of particular note are the nearly 2,000 inspections conducted under the Asbestos-m-Schools program, over 75 percent more than expected. As a result, EPA issued 1025 notices of noncompliance and 82 administrative orders. Much of the successs in school inspections is attributable to the efforts of senior citizens through an EPA grant with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). EPA also exceeded its FY 1984 SPMS target for conducting laboratory audits by nearly 25 percent, completing 162 audits. The laboratory audits are essential to ensure that the data developed by EPA contractors and industry are reliable. EPA Moves Ahead on Existing Chemicals. The Agency has developed a multi- faceted approach for determining which chemicals to select for initial review, thoroughly evaluate, test further, or regulate. An early step is to require the environmental and health data necessary to assess the effects •f the chemicals of concern. An nteragency Testing Committee (ITC) was established under TSCA to refer suspect chemicals to EPA for further testing. In FY 1984, EPA made final decisions for testing on 31 chemicals, satisfying requirements for newly referred ITC chemicals and eliminating the backlog of previou^lv referred chemicals. Eleven final test rules or negotiations resulted from these reviews. In FY 1984 EPA initiated evaluations of health and environmental effects data for 48 chemicals suspected of posing threats to human health or the environment. More importantly, the Agency took 16 risk management actions (againt a target of 14) by issuing chemical advisories or proposed or final regulations to ban or limit the production, distribution, use or disposal of chemical substances (see chart below). For example, EPA is taking steps to regulate MBOCA, a TSCA EXISTING CHEMICAL REVIEWS For FY 1984 INITIATED 50-, 40- curing agent used in plastics manufacturing which has been shown to be carcinogenic in several species of animals. Another example is MDA, a high production chemical also shown to have serious carcinogenic potential. Review of New Commercial Chemicals Continues. Another of EPA's primary tasks under TSCA is to review the potential risks of new chemicals before industry introduces them into commerce. In FY 1984, EPA reviewed over 1,500 premanufacture notices for new chemicals. As a result of EPA's review, over one-third of these chemicals were suspended, withdrawn, referred for follow-up, or subjected to orders that prohibited or limited their manufacturing, distribution, use or disposal. 1 2 3 QUARTERS ------- |