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U S ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY • WASHINGTON. D C. 20460
Joint Environmental Work With USSR Is Booming
Environmental specialists of the United States and the Soviet
Union last year held more than 60 workina meetings, ranging
from individual visits to seminars and group tours of a dozen
or more persons, EPA Administrator Russell Train announced last
month in Moscow.
"A tremendous amount of mutuallv beneficial information was ex-
changed," Train told the third session of the two-nation joint
committee on environmental nrotection. In the coming year, he
said, the joint committee plans to accelerate the program of
cooperative research and technology development.
The joint committee sets policv and oversees the operation of all
working committees in various fields of pollution research and
control, parks and wildlife, urban planning, climate, Arctic
studies, and earthquakes. EPA is the leading agencv on the U.S.
side for many of these fields. Train and Dr. Yuri A. Izrael, head
of the USSR Hydro-Meteorological Service, are co-chairmen of the
joint committee.
The working committee on air pollution recently signed two "pro-
tocols" — specific agreements for joint development work. Under
one, a two-nation team will design "scrubbers" to remove sulfur
oxides from stack gases of two 100-megawatt power plants to be
built and paid for bv the Soviet Union. The other protocol sets
up negotiations that mav result in allowing U.S. experts to evaluate
a Soviet dry process for quenching coke.
Automakers to Be Quizzed on Fuel Economy Plans
If the nation's auto manufacturers apply — as thev are expected
to do — for a postponement of stricter pollution standards for
1977 models, thev will be asked by EPA what thev are doing to
improve gas mileage.
The Clean Air Act provides that EPA may grant a one-year delav
in the stricter emission standards scheduled for 1977. Public
hearings would be held on such a reauest. EPA Administrator
Russell E. Train said that, since fuel saving is a vital factor
in judging the worth of pollution control, he would ask at the
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hearings what automakers were doing to meet President Ford's
goal of an average 40 percent increase in automotive miles oer
gallon by 1980.
"The auto companies have said thev cannot meet the President's
fuel economy goal without a freeze on safety and emission stand-
ards," Train said. "In the (expected) suspension hearinas I
intend to fullv explore all the issues..."
Train emphasized that only Congress can change the pollution
reductions required by the law. He urged automakers to "make
their case, as they see it, for a change in the law in a forum
in which there is an opportunity for in-depth probing of their
claims." He said he is sensitive to "the very real problems
that the auto industry's condition poses for many workers and
the economy as a whole."
Under the Clean Air Act manufacturers may ask — after Jan. 1,
1975 -- for a one-year suspension of the scheduled 1977 limits
on hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide in auto exhausts.
EPA Sets Rules on 'Significant Deterioration'
"Significant deterioration" of air quality where air is already
cleaner than the Federal standards require was defined recently
by EPA and regulations adopted to prevent it.
Under the new rules, proposed last August, all areas of the
country will be divided by individual States into three classes,
according to present air quality:
* Class I - Pristine areas, like parks and wildernesses,
where almost no change from present Quality will be r>er-
mitted.
* Class II - Areas where moderate changes will be allowed,
under definite constraints.
* Class III - Areas where substantial industrial growth may
be permitted, but not enough to bring pollution levels
above the national limits.
The rules spell out how much added pollution — in micrograms of
particulates (smoke, dust, etc.) and in sulfur dioxide per cubic
meter of air -- is considered significant for each class.
States will decide which areas are in Class I and Class III, after
public hearings and subject to EPA approval. Until they do so,
all areas not already in violation of the national standards are
put in Class II, "moderate" change allowed.
All plans for building new stationary sources of air pollution
(power plants, smelters, etc.) in 18 different industries will
be reviewed by the States. This review will augment the new-
plant emission standards that already apply in 12 industries.
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The new regulations "encourage, but do not dictate, State land-
use decisions within a framework that supports the goal of
clean air preservation," said Administrator Russell Train. EPA
is "soliciting additional comment and will modify the regulations
later, if workable procedures can be developed," he said.
Two-and-a-haIf years ago the Sierra Club won a law suit against
EPA, reauiring the Agency to set "significant deterioration"
rules. A year later the Supreme Court upheld that decision.
t
AEC Study and Impact Plans Found Deficient
EPA recently issued three critiaues of Atomic Energy Commission
actions. Reviewing an AEC nower plant safety studv and commenting
on two environmental impact statements, the Agency:
* Said AEC's estimates of possible casualties from an
unlikely catastrophic accident were too low, that ten
times as many people might be killed or injured;
* Rated "inadequate" AEC's plans for handling highly
radioactive wastes from nuclear power plants, parti-
cularly wastes containing plutonium and other manmade
elements; and
* Expressed reservations on AEC proposals to permit the
use of plutonium-uranium mixtures in commercial reactors.
The reactor risk study, completed last summer at a cost of $3
million under the leadership of Dr. Norman Rasmussen of MIT,
tried to calculate the probabilities that accidents would occur
in the 100 nuclear power plants expected to be operating in the
U.S. in 1980 and to estimate their consequences.
AEC invited EPA to review the 14-volume study. The first phase
of this review was completed recently by EPA's Office of Radi-
ation Programs; the complete review will be finished in Mav.
The statistical methods of accident risk assessment won praise
from EPA reviewers; "an innovative forward step," said Dr.
William D. Rowe, deputy assistant administrator, in a letter
accompanying the 33-page review.
But the Rasmussen study's assumptions of what might happen after
an accident are dubious, said Rowe. In the worst case of a
reactor meltdown and the release of large amounts of radioactivity,
the human damages might be ten times as great as the studv esti-
mates .
The underestimate stems from two factors, he said: (1) Health
effects of radiation exposure would be two to five times as
great as AEC assumes. Rowe cited a study, made for EPA two years
ago by the National Academy of Sciences, that takes long-term
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effects into account. (2) AEC is "overly optimistic" in assum-
ing that neople could be evacuated from an exoosure area. Such
failure could double or Quadruple fatalities and injuries. In
combination, the two factors could multiply casualties bv ten.
In their second critique, EPA's radiation experts said the
Commission had concentrated on temporary storage of high-level
wastes and the so-called "transuranic elements," like Plutonium,
rather than on permanent, safe disposal.
"Although interim storage is reasonably treated" in the draft
environmental impact statement, said Dr. Rowe, "the Question
of ultimate disposal is not... We recommend that the final
statement concentrate on this aspect," rather than on con-
struction of surface storage facilities from which the wastes
will have to be retrieved later.
The third criticism said AEC had not provided enough technical
information for adequate judgment of the environmental risks
of using "mixed oxide" fuels in light-water-cooled power reactors
(Mixed oxide fuels would contain both uranium-235 and Plutonium
recycled from spent fuel rods.)
Such recycling of plutonium "appears at best to be marginally
acceptable" from the cost-vs.-benefit standpoint, said Sheldon
Meyers, Office of Federal Activities, in a letter accompanying
a 46-page preliminary comment sent to AEC's Directorate of
Licensing. Before reactor operators are permitted to use the
mixed oxide fuels, Meyers said, AEC should (a) provide a better
program of safeguards, (b)establish satisfactory rules for han-
dling transuranic wastes, and (c) make accident analyses for
specific reactor designs.
Risk-Benefit Study Set for Industrial Chemicals
The balance between risks and benefits of many kinds of industrial
chemicals is being studied by the National Academy of Science
under a $100,000 contract with EPA. Results of the study, due
in June, are expected to assist the Agency in deciding whether
and how to regulate the use of such compounds, all of which are
hazardous in some degree.
NAS exoerts are concentrating on substances whose uses have al-
ready been curtailed by government or industry, includinq per-
sistent pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) , and polv-
brominated biphenyls (P"BBs) .
A seminar for representatives of regulatory agencies, the chemi-
cal industry, and public interest groups launched the NAS study
in September. Next month the Academy will hold a working session
for panels of experts to combine and analyze the information
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gathered. A public meeting to present preliminary findings is
planned before the final report in June.
The study seeks to develop systematic methods for judging the
costs and efforts of regulating environmentally harmful sub-
stances against the social benefits for which they were developed.
Briefly Noted
i
LAND USE COORDINATION ~ EPA will soon establish a small policy
office to coordinate programs related to the use of land and to
improve its ties with State and local governments on land use
matters. The new office will not launch and carry out "some
great new thrust" by EPA, said Administrator Russell Train, but
instead provide "clearer direction" to the Agency's existing
authorities.
TWO PESTICIDES — Intent to ban two pesticides — heptachlor and
chlordane — for most uses was announced recently bv EPA. These
chlorinated hydrocarbon compounds have been found to produce
cancer in experimental animals and to persist in soil, foods,
wildlife, and human tissues. Actual cancellation may be delayed
for public hearings held at the request of manufacturers.
VINYL CHLORIDE RECALL — Pesticide officers in EPA's regional
offices throughout the country have completed the recall from
manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of spray-can pesticides
in which vinyl chloride gas is used as the propellant. Inhalation
of this gas, previously thought to be harmless, is now suspected
of causing cancer.
EPA Enforcement Actions - Air Pollution
* Region III, Philadelphia, reoorted that the Pennsylvania Electric
Co. had signed consent orders Dec. 3, establishing compliance
schedules for achieving control of sulfur oxide and particulate
emissions from nine power plants.
* Region IV, Atlanta, issued administrative orders Dec. 9, charg-
ing violation of standards for particulate emissions at eight
power plants of the Tennessee Valley Authority in Kentucky,
Alabama, and Tennessee.
* Region V, Chicago, issued a notice of violation to the Jones
& Laughlin Steel Co., Cleveland, Ohio, on Nov. 29, charging
the firm with violating Ohio regulations for particulate
matter and visible emissions.
* Region V, Chicago, has begun the first criminal actions under
the Clean Air Act's Section 112, which sets national standards
for "hazardous" pollutants. (Asbestos, beryllium, and mercury
have been so designated.) Four demolition contractors in Chi-
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cago are charged with knowingly violating regulations to con-
trol asbestos dust.
* Region VI, Dallas, issued a notice Nov. 13 charging Ideal Basic
Industries, Baton Rouge, La., with violating Louisiana regula-
tions on particle emissions.
* Region VII, Kansas City, reports the conviction of the Independ-
ent Stave Co., Lebanon, Mo., for violating an EPA administrative
order requiring compliance with Missouri rules on particle
emissions. Sentencing was deferred, but the company faces
possible penalties, under Section 113 of the Clean Air Act, of
nearly $4 million.
* Region IX, San Francisco, has served an administrative order on
Texaco, Inc., Carson, Calif., charging violation of Los Angeles
County's sulfur dioxide emission regulations.
EPA Enforcement Actions - Pesticides
* Region I, Boston, assessed a civil penalty of $4,650 against
Sterling-Clark-Lurton Corp., Maiden, Mass., for improper pre-
cautionary labeling on three wood preservatives, Penta Dip
Clean Non-Staining, Creosote, and Penta Dip Redwood Stain.
* Region II, New York, assessed a civil penalty of $900 against
Chemical Compounding Corp., Jersey City, for selling an adul-
terated and misbranded product, Central Vetsco Ridzall.
* Region III, Philadelphia, assessed Misco Products Corp., Read-
ing Pa., a civil penalty of $2,000 for selling the misbranded
and adulterated Quat Germicidal Cleaner.
* Region IV, Atlanta, issued a stop-sale order to Parramore &
Griffin Seed Co., Valdosta, Ga., halting distribution of a
chemically deficient product, Pee Gee Malathion 5% Dust.
* Region V, Chicago, issued three stop-sale orders: to Hawkins
Chemical, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., and Arrowhead Chemical,
Inc., Superior, Wise., both for a product, Zingo Sewer Cleaner,
that was not registered and had improper caution statements on
the label, and to Haviland Agricultural Chemicals Co., Grand
Rapids, Mich., for a product, Haviland Malathion Dust No. 5,
found to be chemically deficient.
* Region VI, Dallas, assessed two civil penalties: $3,200 against
Thompson-Hayward Chemical Co., Houston, Texas, for shipment of
the unregistered Biotrol XK Wettable Powder Biological Insect
Control, and $1,600 against Humco Laboratory, Inc., Texarkana,
Texas, for selling the adulterated Chloroform and Benzene Mix-
ture.
* Region VII, Kansas City, civil penalty assessments include
$3,024 against PBI Gordan Corp.) Kansas City, Kan., for dis-
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tributing Vigoro Rose Flower and Shrub Spray, Acme Sevin SOW,
and Acme 10% Chlordane Dust, all misbranded and bearing unac-
ceptable claims; $2,898 against James Varley and Sons, St.
Louis, Mo., for the misbranded products, Harris Rust-Go Cleaner
and Beaver Bug Out; and $1,650 against A.I. Root Co., Council
Bluffs, Iowa, for a falsified report.
* Region VIII, Denver, has ordered Auto Chlor Systems, Inc., of
Denver, to halt all sale of its Auto-Chlor Solution-CL, found
to be adulterated and misbranded. The Region also assessed
Lystads, Inc., Grand Forks, N.D., a civil penalty of $1,200
for selling the misbranded and adulterated Sterisol Sanitizer.
* Region IX, San Francisco, assessed two civil penalties: $4,000
against Leffingwell Chemical Co., Los Angeles, for distributing
Hi-Par and Nutra-Spray Basic Copper Carbonate, both with unac-
ceptable claims and directions for use; and $1,000 against
Morgan-Gallagher, Inc., San Francisco, for distributing the
misbranded and adulterated Acidso. The Region also issued a
stop-sale order on two products of Grant Laboratories, Oakland,
Calif., Grants Roach Control and Grants Fly Kill, both deficient
in active ingredients.
EPA Actions in the Federal Register
Official action of all Federal agencies appear in the federal
Register, published each weekday bv the Government Printing
Office and available at most libraries. Single copies are
sold by GPO (Washington, D.C. 20402) for 75 cents each; annual
subscriptions $45. Below are some of the 77 actions published
Nov. 25 through Dec. 20.
November 25 - Revisions approved in air pollution compliance
schedules for Kansas (pp.41177-80).
November 26 - Revised compliance dates for gasoline vapor
recovery rules in eight States (pp. 14252-3); notice of
intent to cancel registration of pesticides containing
heptachlor and chlordane (pp.41298-300).
November 29 - List of 48 pesticides whose manufacturers claim
priority in filing data on safety and efficacy before regis-
tration (pp. 41576-9).
December 3 - Guidelines for motor vehicle manufacturers to use
in applying for one-year suspension of emission standards for
1977 models (pp. 41899-902).
December 4 - List of 64 pesticide applicants claiming supportive
data priority (pp. 42022-4) .
December 5 - Regulations adopted for defining and preventing
significant deterioration of air quality in clean-air areas
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(pp. 42509-17); revised regulations on liability of refiners
of branded gasoline (pp.42356-61); one-vear exemption granted
to State of Maine to use Fenitrothion to control the spruce
budworm (p. 42416).
December 6 - List of 41 pesticide applicants claiming supportive
data priority (pp. 42714-6).
December 12 - Revisions in rules regarding availabilitv of
unleaded gasoline, particularly in rural counties (pp. 43281-9);
revisions in air quality implementation plans for Arizona
(p. 43277) and Kansas (pp. 43278-81).
December 16 - Withdrawal of a proposed rule setting Oregon water
standards less stringent than neighboring States for dissolved
gases (pp. 43557-8); list of 30 pesticide registration applicants
claiming priority in filing supportive data (pp. 43579-80) .
December 17 - Revisions proposed for air pollution control plans
in Wyoming (p. 43639) and Puerto Rico (p.43640); 20 pesticide
applicants claiming supportive data priority (pp.43655-6).
December 18 - Rules adopted setting policy and scheduling imple-
mentation plans for controlling salinity in the Colorado River
(pp. 43721-3).
Januarv 1975. Contents may be reprinted without permission.
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