&EPA
Awards
Popular Science recognizes
some of the finest in pollution
prevention and energy
efficiency.
Lf- Education
Deja Shoe and the greening of
America's business schools
Plus: Tivo views on P2
education.
Consumer Labeling Initiative
reveals surprising and not-so-
surprising facts about
consumers and product labels.
/ Information
Four Compliance Assistance
Centers invite industries to drop
in, electronically speaking.
What's Mow on
thoWob
PPN goes surfing in a
tea of environmental Web sites.
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics
Washington, DC 20460
February-March 1997
EPA 742-N-97-002
Pollution
Prevention
News
Project XL Agreement
Reached with Weyerhaeuser
In January, EPA reached agreement
with Weyerhaeuser Co. and Georgia
state officials on participation in
Project XL by Weyerhaeueser's Flint River
pulp mill in Oglethorpe, Georgia. Project
XL (for excellence and Leadership) is the
Clinton Administration's innovative effort
to reinvent environmental regulation by
allowing more flexibility in exchange for
greater protection of public health and the
environment. EPA Administrator Carol M.
Browner said, The Project XL agreement
will enhance the pollution prevention
program for the Flint River, a crucial
economic and recreational benefit for
Georgia citizens."
Under the agreement, Weyerhaeuser
will implement changes in its facility to
meet tough standards of superior environ-
mental performance. Regulatory flexibil-
ity will be provided in exchange for the
agreement which may be revised or
terminated at any time during the 15-
year agreement period. The agreement
goals include:
>• Reduction in water use to approxi-
mately 10 million gallons a day (com-
ConUnucd on page 2
EPA Reorganization Announced
In an organisational restructuring an-
nounced on Feb. 27, EPA Administrator
Carol M. Browner has created several
new offices to improve the Agency's ability
to accomplish its highest priorities. The
reorganization is intended "to serve better
the entire Agency and the American people
for many years to come," noted Browner.
Among the changes are a new Office of
Children's Health Protection in the
Office of the Administrator, to be headed
by Dr. Philip Landrigan, an expert on
environmental health and pediatrics from
Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The new
office is charged with reviewing and
setting child-protective environmental
standards, starting with five of the most
significant current EPA standards; re-
searching and setting new policies on
children's unique susceptibility and
exposure to pollutants; and expanding
community right-to-know and education
on children's health.
Another change is the new Office of
Reinvention, also within the Office of the
Administrator, to be headed by J. Charles
Fox, currently Maryland's Assistant
Secretary for the Environment. The Office
of Reinvention will oversee Agency-wide
initiatives such as the Common Sense
Initiative and Project XL, and consolidate
the full range of Agency initiatives out-
lined in the March 1995 Reinventing
Environmental Regulation report issued
by President Clinton and Vice President
Gore. The new organization will also be
available to assist regulated entities in
seeking innovative and flexible new ways
to meet strong environmental standards.
The reorganization will also draw
together EPA's statistical information
resources to create a new Center for
Environmental Information and Statistics,
housed in the Office of Policy, Planning,
and Evaluation, to be operational by
January 1, 1998.
-------
2 Fbllution Pre entioui News
February-March 1997
News and Notes
Morning Dialogue
Sessions Explore P2
The Pollution Prevention Trade Associa-
tion Workgroup, initiated by EPA’s Office
of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, has
started a series of monthly “morning
dialogue” sessions as a forum for trade
association staff to learn about pollution
prevention programs, ask questions, and
engage in discussions with officials
responsible for running the programs. So
far, topics have covered statutory integra-
tion, enforcement compliance notebooks,
ISO 14000, and TRI materials accounting.
The sessions occur on the second Friday of
each month.
For more information, contact Barbara
Bush, American Institute for Pollution
Prevention, 202-797-6569.
Race To Recycle In Mass.
An annual Race-to-Recycle contest is the
brainchild of WasteCap, a non-profit
Boston-based organization that promotes
recycling and waste reduction to business.
The third annual contest will take place
this summer from July to September,
pitting Massachusetts office buildings from
across the state against one another to see
which can recover the most recyclable
materials. Last year the winner in the Very
Large-Size Building Category was One
Beacon St. in Boston, owned by Prudential
Real Estate Investors, with a 64% recycling
rate. For information, contact WasteCap at
617-236-7715. (Reported in Waste Age’s
Recycling 7lmes, Feb. 3, 1997)
Businesses For The Bay
A new voluntary program designed to
encourage individual businesses to set
their own annual pollution prevention
goals has been launched with the aim of
reducing chemical releases to the Chesa-
peake Bay. Participating businesses will
work with the pollution prevention offices
in their state to implement pollution
prevention measures. As part of the
program, the Chesapeake Bay Executive
Council will distribute Businesses for the
Bay Excellence Awards in 1997. For more
information, call 800-YOUR-BAY.
ILSR Seeks News of
Beyond-50% Programs
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR)
has a one-year, EPA-funded grant to study
trendsetters in public and private recycling.
ILSR is looking for information on waste
reduction and recycling programs that have
achieved 50 percent and higher recovery
levels. The study is aimed at identiQying
successful models that can be replicated
nationally, and at countering critics of
recycling and other forms of materials
recovery who assert that the effective limit
for such programs is 25-30% of the
wastestream. ILSR can be contacted at
2425 18th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009,
tel: 202-232-4108, fax: 202-332-0463.
Weyerhaeuser
Continued from page 1
pared to the industry daily mill average
of 25 million gallons);
A 50% reduction in wastewater from the
bleach plant, which will reduce the
amount of chlorine compounds and
pollutants discharged into the Flint
River—a critical community priority;
Enhancement of wildlife in 300,000 acres
of Weyerhaeuser’s forest lands; and
Updating of the mill’s environmental
management system to conform to new
international standards (ISO 14001),
which emphasize careful design and
pollution prevention.
Strong community involvement is an
essential feature of Project XL. The
Weyerhaeuser project was developed with
substantial involvement of local citizens,
including participation in three public
meetings. The agreement calls for public
access to data and continuing public
monitoring of the project.
The major product of the Flint River
mill is fluff pulp, the absorbent component
in diapers. The mill, which opened in
1981, and has 500 employees, was de-
signed as a state-of-the-art facility using
less water than most mills of its kind.
For more information, contact: Nancy
Birnbaum at 202-260-2601.
-------
3 Iki&lution Prewntion News
February-March 1997
Pollution Prevention Technology Nabs
Popular Science’s Reader’s Choice Award
n EPA Design for the Environment
project was one of 100 winners in
Popular Science magazine’s “Best of
What’s New” awards for 1996. The Liquid
CO 2 Dry Cleaning project was also the
recipient of the Reader’s Choice Award
through a vote conducted on the Internet.
Funded in part by the President’s Environ-
mental Technology Initiative, this new
option for dry cleaning clothes was devel-
oped by scientists at Los Alamos National
Laboratory and Hughes Environmental
Systems. The method uses carbon dioxide
liquefied under 800 to 1,000 pounds of
pressure. When the CO 2 returns to its gas
state, the dirt just falls out of the clothes!
Repressurized, the CO 2 can be recycled, and
the only waste generated by the process is
the dirt removed from the clothing.
Liquid CO 2 dry cleaning is expected to
be marketed by June 1998, and could
eventually replace perchioroethylene, a
toxic chemical and possible carcinogen
that has been the mainstay of the dry
cleaning business for 60 years. The dry
cleaning industry is under severe pressure
from state and federal regulators to
develop an acceptable alternative to
conventional chemical dry cleaners,
particularly perchloroethylene. The new
technology should cost about the same but
use less energy than the current treat-
ment. It can clean any material that is
currently dry cleaned, and can also clean
furs, leathers, and sequins.
Three spots on Popular Science’s top 100
list also went to several energy technologies
developed with support from the Depart-
ment of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy. They are:
Solar Two, the world’s most techni-
cally advanced solar power plant. The
tower uses an innovative molten salt
technology to capture and store the sun’s
energy—even at night and in bad weather.
Located in California’s Mojave Desert,
Solar Two uses 1,926 heliostats (mirrors)
in a circular formation around a 300-foot
tower. The mirrors track the sun’s path,
o’
focusing sunlight onto a central receiver to
generate a clean, inexhaustible supply of
energy.
Solar Two
is ajoint
effort of
DOE and a
consortium
of electric
utilities and
high tech
companies
led by
Southern
California
Edison.
Anew
aerosol-
based
technology for sealing air leaks in
HVAC ducts, developed by Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory scientist Mark
Modera. In typical homes, sealing these
leaks can reduce heating and cooling
energy costs from 15 to 30 percent, and
saving as much as one quadrillion BTUs
per year in the U.S. Using Modera’s
system, grilles are temporarily sealed,
aerosolized adhesive particles are blown
into the duct system and flow to the
leakage sites, creating a sealant.
Flexible solar electric shingles
roofing modules, developed by United
Solar Systems Corp., in collaboration with
Energy Conversion Devices Inc., both of
Troy, Mich. These solar electric modules,
resembling conventional asphalt roofing
shingles, are composed of amorphous
silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells deposited on
flexible stainless steel. These overlapping
shingles replace ordinary architectural
roofing materials. The modules can
produce 5-6 watts AC/square foot peak
power in full sun conditions and produce
approximately 25 watt-hours/square foot
on average for daily energy output. This
technology also won the Grand Award in
Environmental Technology.
Awards
Solar Two power towet an
advanced solar thermal central
receiver in Barstow. CA.
-------
4 Fbllutio,i Preventiaii News
February-March 1997
Education
The areening Of Management Education
For more information on
the BELL and LA-BELL
programs, contact MEB/WRI at
1709 New York Ave. NW,
Washington, DC 20006,
tel: 202-638-6300,
fax: 202-737-1510,
Internet: http://www.
wri.org/wri/meb/
“Deja Shoe, the Environmental Footwear
Company, sought to revolutionize the
manufacture of footwear by developing
products made completely from recycled
materials, eliminating the use of toxic
adhesives, and minimizing other negative
impacts on the environment. How can
Julie Lewis, the company’s founder and a
trained chemist with strong environmen-
tal convictions, couple environmental
strategy with management principles to
out-compete industry giants such as Nike
and Timberland?”
A s businesses grapple with new
opportunities and challenges in
environmental protection, business
schools are grappling with the need to turn
out managers and executives with a new
appreciation of the links between industry
and the environment. Professors are
“greening” the curriculum of B-school
courses, injecting environmental issues and
examples in all of the core courses. Case
studies, as the excerpt above indicates, are
based on real-life examples of the intersec-
tion of environment and business. Partner-
ships between business leaders and
university students and faculty are spur-
ring two-way learning.
One outfit that is aiming at “greening”
business schools is the non-profit Man-
agement Institute for Environment and
Business (which merged with the World
Resources Institute in October 1996).
MEB/WRI’s three-year old BELL (Busi-
ness-Environment Learning and Leader-
ship) program began with the curricula of
25 business schools. It is currently in the
process of expanding to 50 schools, with
the eventual goal of reaching all 700
business schools in the United States.
“Our goal is to infuse environmental
concepts into the core curricula of all
business schools. Because environmental
considerations pervade all activities in
the modern firm, students entering the
work force in any functional specialty
must have some training in environmen-
0
tal management,” says Rick Bunch,
director of the Bell Program. BELL
Schools currently include Carnegie-
Mellon University, Dalhousie, Dartmouth
College, George Washington University,
Howard University, Idaho State Univer-
sity, and numerous others.
MEBIWRI’s’s curricular efforts have
taken the form of a series of seven teaching
modules in the areas of accounting, public
policy, environmentalism, finance, strategy,
marketing, and operations management.
Each module provides readings and
discussion notes on essential environmen-
tal considerations, as well as a syllabus
with teaching points and selected readings
from texts and journals. Case studies —
developed by a variety of institutions such
as Harvard Business School, MEB/WRI,
the National Pollution Prevention Center,
etc. — add both details and texture to the
curriculum. For example, a simulation
exercise involving hydropower and salmon
in the Columbia River Basin illustrates the
complex nature of sustainable develop-
ment. AT&T’s Columbus Works plant offers
a classic example of how total quality
management techniques can be used to
eliminate an environmental hazard.
MEBIWRI has developed the BELL
program in a southerly direction as well.
LA-BELL (Latin America BELL) is a
network of management faculty and
business executives formed to strengthen
the role of the private sector in pursuing
goals of sustainable development in
Latin America.
A recent new venture by MEB/WRI —
called, indeed, New Ventures — will
identify and promote the entrepreneurial
spirit among students, supporting the
initial planning and evolution of selected
sustainable projects. The idea is to serve
as a link between sustainable enterprises
and groups of investors, helping entrepre-
neurs find initial funding for their projects
and making them attractive to the invest-
ment community.
-------
S L’bllution Prewntion News
February-March 1997
Next Steps and Long-Term Needs
Education
David Allen, Beckman Professor of Chemi-
cal Engineering, Center for Energy Stud-
ies, University of Texas at Austin
Exciting activities are underway in curricu-
lum development, technical assistance, and
campus ecology. While I am very enthusias-
tic about these activities, I do have con-
cerns about their long-term viability.
Most pollution prevention efforts at
universities and other educational institu-
tions have been the result of grassroots
efforts. Dedicated individuals or small
groups, working in isolation, have generally
been responsible... There are, of course,
exceptions. The program at Tufts Univer-
sity, which has had support from the
highest levels of the University Administra-
tion, and which has permeated the entire
campus, is a dramatic counter example.
Still, most of the efforts are the result of
individuals, and they can disappear as
quickly as they appeared. Therefore, the
next step in promoting pollution prevention
at educational institutions should be to
encourage long-term commitments to
pollution prevention... Let me suggest some
ways to encourage engineering programs to
make such long-term commitments:
(1) Have employers demand that the
students they hire understand pollution
prevention principles.
(2) Have accrediting boards look for
pollution prevention and design for the
environment activities in degree programs.
(3) Have new editions of leading text-
books for each discipline incorporate
pollution prevention.
These are just a few simple, self-evident
suggestions. My main point is that pollu-
tion prevention at educational institutions
needs to enter a new phase in its develop-
ment. The past decade has shown us that
successful programs in curriculum devel-
opment, technical assistance, and campus
ecology can be developed. The goal for the
next decade should be to make these
activities the rule, not the exception.
Two views on
integrating pollution
prevention and
education, from two
noted practitioners
in the field.
Excerpted from EPA’S
“Pollution Prevention 1997:
A National Progress Report,”
available from the Pollution
Prevention In formation
Clearinghouse (202 -260-
1023) in May.
New from NPPC
The National Pollution
Prevention Center for
Higher Education has
released an expanded and
revised 1997 edition of the
Directory of Pollution
Prevention in Higher
Education: Faculty and
Programs. (186 pgs., $20).
Also available are two new
cases studies: “3M: Waste
Minimization,” and
“Chrysler Corporation (A):
the Jefferson North Assem-
bly Plant” ($2 each). Th
order, send a check payable
to University of Michigan!
NPPC to NPPC, 430 East
University, Ann Arbor, MI
48109-1115, tel: 313-764-
1412, fax: 313-647-5841.
The Challenge for Higher Education
Jonathan W. Bulkley, Director,
National Pollution Prevention Center,
University of Michigan
In my view, certain pollution prevention
and sustainable development activities in
industrial settings have moved ahead of
the present curriculum in many colleges
and universities. In part, this is the result
of the economics associated with waste
clean-up and other associated liabilities.
Accordingly, it is desirable for colleges and
universities to establish enhanced link-
ages with pace-setting industrial locations
where very innovative and creative
pollution prevention activities are under-
way. The linkages can take a variety of
forms including joint faculty-industry
research efforts, student pollution preven-
tion internships with industry, faculty
joining industry for special projects/tasks,
and industry leaders teaching innovative
courses at colleges and universities.
From a personal view, on this campus
there are two pollution prevention activi-
ties which I have observed that are both
exciting and productive. First, in a number
of sponsored research pollution prevention
projects, a diverse group of students have
come together to work in a very productive
and useful way. The key to this success is
the leadership offered by the director of
the research effort.
A second example again relates to
students. In this case, the NPPC has
experience with the placement of pollution
prevention interns in industry, not-for-
profit organizations, and government. The
quality of effort by these young people
from a variety of backgrounds, disciplines,
and universities has clearly demonstrated
that a group of exceptionally talented and
capable young people are coming forward
to work and help solve these problems that
need pollution prevention and sustainable
development concepts and approaches.
-------
Ib11utk i Pre tion News
February-March 1997
Labeling
An initial report on EPA’s Consumer
Labeling Initiative (CLI) addresses
the difficulties consumers have in
reading and understanding the environ-
mental, health and safety use information
contained on product labels. CLI is a year-
old cooperative effort between EPA and a
wide range of stakeholders to foster better
public health protection and pollution
prevention by improving the information
labels of home and
garden pesticide and
hard-surface cleaning
products.
The Phase I Report
presents the results of
preliminary qualitative
research designed to
evaluate consumer
understanding and use of product labels.
Researchers conducted 135 in-depth one-
on-one interviews with users of products
in three categories — indoor insecticides,
outdoor pesticides, and household hard-
surface cleaners — in five major cities
across the U.S. The qualitative research
was used as a means for identifying and
probing issues related to the product
labels, not to provide statistically repre-
sentative responses. The findings, never-
theless, are ifiuminating.
According to the research, consumers
generally do not read labels either for
product selection or product usage.
Consumers do read labels if the product is
new to them or if there is a concern or
expectation of hazard if the product is
used incorrectly. One respondent noted,
“This is stuff I’ve been using so long, I
don’t remember the first time I looked at
it. Honest, the way labels are written, I
wouldn’t know whether an ingredient was
good or bad.”
Both a literature review and the con-
sumer research indicated that consumers
feel that household chemical products are
safe if used according to directions. Pur-
chasers of insecticides and outdoor pesti-
cides read the label primarily to under-
stand product efficacy and directions for
use. Consumers with children or pets are
more likely to read precautionary labeling
for pesticide products before purchase. Not
one respondent indicated having ever read
the disposal information on a label.
As far as label comprehension, consum-
ers in the study wanted less technical
language on product labels, and for
pesticide labels, larger type size and
better color contrast. There was a consen-
sus that when there is a significant
potential hazard, the label should promi-
nently instruct consumers to read the
label. Most consumers in this study
simply do not read the parts of a label
that are confusing to them. When they
did read the labels, consumers judged the
labels on household cleaning products not
regulated by FIFRA to be easier to read
and understand than those on FIFRA-
regulated products. Consumers also
consistently misinterpreted the EPA-
mandated labeling, “Hazards to humans
and animals” as a stand-alone statement
meaning “hazardous to humans and
animals.” There was also a universal lack
of understanding of the phrase, “It is a
violation of Federal law to use this
product in a manner inconsistent with its
labeling” which consumers interpreted as
a protective statement by manufacturers
to avoid liability for any injuries caused
by not following instructions.
The report recommends undertaking a
quantitative assessment of consumer
comprehension, behavior, and satisfaction
with labeling, and formation of a Product
Label Consumer Education Task Force
which would emphasize to consumers the
importance of reading labels. The report
also recommends that the Office of Pesti-
cide Programs consider three interim but
immediate label improvements: (1)
broader use of common names for active
ingredients in addition to approved
chemical names; (2) use of the heading
“first aid” instead of “statements of
practical treatment;” and (3) inclusion on
labels of phone numbers for general or
emergency information.
Do Consumers Read The Labels?
Not Often, Says CLI Report
contained on the
“Consumers generally
do not read labels either
for product selection or
product usage.”
The CLI report is available
on the Internet at:
http://www.epa.gov /
opptintr/labeling/phase 1
or from the Pollution
Prevention Information
Clearinghouse
(tel: 202-260-1023,
fax: 202-260-01 78).
For more information,
contact Julie Lynch at
202-260-4000.
041
-------
7 Ikillution Prewntion News
February-March 1997
Information
H ow does a small business stay on
top of the latest environmental
requirements and technologies?
Compliance Assistance Centers — one of
the 25 regulatory reinvention initiatives
proposed by EPA under the Clinton Admin-
istration — are designed to answer that
question. Developed by EPA’s Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assistance,
there are currently four centers in opera-
tion in the areas of agriculture, metal
finishing, printing, and auto service and
repair. The centers function as communica-
tions centers rather than physical “walk-in”
centers. Each of the existing centers
represents a sector with large populations
of companies (e.g., haifa million auto
service and repair shops, 3,500 metal
finishing shops) that generally wish to
comply with the law but may not know how
to comply or where to go for help.
The ultimate goal of the Compliance
Assistance Centers is to provide small
businesses with an understanding of their
environmental requirements and encourage
them to take appropriate steps to improve
their compliance picture. The centers are
also an efficient way to provide state and
local based officials with sector-specific
information on federal regulations and
pollution prevention practices to prevent
duplication of effort. Each center provides,
via the Internet or through telephone and
fax-back/mail back service, the following:
Sector-specific, multi-media federal
regulatory explanations made available
through easy access to federal regula-
tions, interpretations, and compliance
guides; also, state and local informa-
tion, where available.
Compliance tools that can be down-
loaded and used by small business,
regulators, inspectors, and technical
assistance providers to self-audit,
determine emissions and wastes, and
calculate the costs of complying.
Process-specific training for regulators and
technical assistance providers to better
understand the businesses they deal with.
A place to ask questions and get an-
swers, through chat rooms, specialized
conferences/forums, and access to
experts who can answer compliance and
technical questions.
Information on technologies and tech-
niques that can help small businesses
comply, with an emphasis on pollution
prevention methods that save money.
Each center carries a range of pollution
prevention information, from case studies
to lists of vendors of pollution prevention
equipment. Each center is operated by a
partnership of private sector trade associa-
tions, universities, and government
agencies.
Successes To Date
Despite limited publicity to date, the
centers have already been making their
mark. For example: the National Metal
Finishers Resource Center, open since
October 1996, already has 1600 registered
users, 48% of which are metal finishers;
GreenLink, the auto service and repair
center, has been open since June 1996 and
has received 322 phone calls and fax-back
requests and almost 100,000 visits to its
home page (26,000 in January 1997 alone).
Four New Ones
Four new Compliance Assistance Centers
are under development covering chemical
manufacturers, municipal/local govern-
ment, transportation, and printed wiring
board manufacturers. These areas were
selected based on the potential for multi-
media risk reduction and the population of
small businesses that aren’t being reached
through traditional compliance monitoring
and enforcement activities. In the chemi-
cal industry, for example, over 60 of
manufacturers have fewer than 10 em-
ployees. The municipal sector consists of
39,000 units of local general purpose
government. The new centers will be
opening in 1997-98.
How to Reach Them:
National Metal Finishing
Resource Center
http://www.nmfrc.org
Greenlink: the Automo-
tive Compliance Informa-
tion Assistance Center
http:/ /www.ccar-
greenlink.org
1-888-GRN-LINK (476-5465)
Printer’s National Com-
pliance Assistance Center
http:/ /www.hazard.
uiuc.edu /pneac/pneac.html
National Agriculture
Compliance Assistance
Center
http:/ /es.inel.gov loeca /ag/
aghmpg. html
For general information on
the centers, contact Lynn
Vendinello, EPA,
202-564-7066.
Compliance Assistance Centers
Open Doors For Electronic Information
o’
-------
$ } 3 bllutio,i Preventiom News
February-March 1997
Information
What New On The Web?
Sustainable Development Indicators
Since January 1994, the Sustainable
Development Indicators (SDI) Group has
provided a federal forum for the exchange
of ideas, methods, and data related to
sustainable development indicators. Made
up of representatives from 12 federal
agencies, the group has a mandate to
identify, organize, and report on national
sustainable development indicators. The
group has selected 32 proposed indicators
as measures of progress towards sustain-
able development in the United States. The
list has been widely reviewed—both on the
Sustainable Development home page on the
Web, and by groups as diverse as high
school students active in sustainable
development and corporate executives from
Fortune 500 companies. You can add
comments or learn more about SD! efforts
at httpil/venus.hq.nasa.gov/iwgsdi.
Real-Time Air Pollution Data—http//
www.epa. gov/oar/oaqpslrealtime
Avisitto a Web
site hosted by
EPA’s Office of
Air Quality and
Planning Stan-
dards yields real-
time air pollution data for the states of
CA, CO, DE, IL, KY, MD, MI, NJ, PA, TX,
UT, and WI. Each state’s offerings vary,
but many include information about air
pollution, current weather conditions, air
quality and pollution forecasts, and wood
and coal burning conditions.
Enviro-OuIz—-http://www.well.comf
user/earl/qulz3.html#207r
Thst your knowledge of recycling, waste
generation, and other environmental
subjects. This quiz, created by Earl
Vickers, is one of three quizzes originally
included on the Awesome Possum game
cartridge (© Time Warner Interactive) and
now posted by the Well, a self-described
“literate watering hole for thinkers from
all walks of life.” Questions range from:
“How many species vanished from the
world’s tropical forests in the past 20
years?” to How much do sidewalk oxygen
vendors in Mexico City charge for a
minute of fresh air?”
Visualizing Global Warming with
CO-VIS—-http//www.covislnwu .edu
The CoVis Project, a team of collaborating
researchers from Northwestern University,
the University of Illinois in Urbana-
Champaign, the Exploratorium in San
Francisco, and Belicore in New Jersey,
helps high school students and teachers
explore issues of scaling, diversity, and
sustainability. Using state of the art
scientific visualization software, specially
modified to be appropriate to a learning
environment, students have access to the
same research tools and data sets used by
leading-edge scientists in the field. As an
example, CoVis’s Geosciences Webserver
offers lesson plans for students to explore
the issues of natural variation and unnatu-
ral variation in global warming patterns by
examining seasonal patterns using the
Greenhouse Effect Visualizer; investigating
Mauna Loa’s carbon-dioxide data set;
exploring the past century of average global
temperatures; and exploring how much
energy is added to the earth system if the
average global temperature increases.
The Nature Conservancy—
http://www.tnc.org
The Nature Conservancy’s Web site is
chock full of photographs (over 300), audio
and video clips, and short descriptions of
this non-profit group’s efforts to purchase or
manage parcels of land in order to protect
important natural resources. Clicking on a
world map allows a user to learn about
Nature Conservancy programs in that
country. Nature Facts offers weekly tidbits
about wildlife and conservation. A Species
Spotlight and Preserve Profile provides
information on rare species and habitats. A
Scientific Resource Center allows research-
ers and conservationists to access to
Surfing the Web has
become a daily (and
nightly) pasttime for
“Web-sters” with a
passion for computers
and the environment.
The number of envi-
ronmental and
pollution prevention-
related web sites is
mushrooming. More
and more sites are
offering full multi-
media presentations,
rather than simply
text files. Here are a
handful of sites we
recently came across.
o’
-------
9 Fbllution Prevention News
February-March 1997
Information
technical data from the Conservancy’s
biological and conservation databases.
PROCOR Technologies, InC.—
http//procor.misi.netlarticles.htm
PROCOR is a software and professional
engineering services firm specializing in
material waste prevention. The company
provides software and engineering solu-
tions to help industry cut production costs
by reducing the generation of hazardous
and solid material waste. As an example,
its MatSTAR engineering tool integrates
environmental information with manufac-
turing information to help cut production
costs by reducing raw material waste. A
number of pollution prevention articles are
posted on PROCOR’s Web site, including:
Building a Successful Material Waste
Prevention Program
Using a Waste Per Unit of Production
Analysis as a Material Waste Preven-
tion Tool
Materials/Waste Exchanges
WANTED: Acetic acid, content 16% or
greater. Taking a leaf from newspapers’
successful classified ads, many states are
in the business of operating materials
exchange programs to help demand meet
supply. Specifically, the exchanges match
up businesses and other organizations
that generate unwanted but usable
materials with businesses that can use
the products as raw materials. With
search capabilities, widespread availabil-
ity of computers, and ease of filling out
forms, the Internet is a natural venue for
exchanges of solid and hazardous waste
materials. And indeed, most of the
established waste exchanges have taken
their catalogues online. For example:
CALMAX—http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/
mrtlcalmaxlcalmax.htm
Calmax, a free service provided by the
California Integrated Waste Management
Board, is designed to help businesses find
markets for materials they have tradition-
ally discarded. The CALMAX Catalog can
be searched for Wanted or Available
Reducing Packaging Waste
Reducing Waste Oil
Horizontal Drum Dispensing Leak
Prevention
The Importance of the Total Cost of Waste
PPD Comes to the Web—
httpllwww.epa.gov/
opptintr/p2homel
0
EPA’s Pollution Prevention
Division has arrived on the
Web with a Pollution ________
Prevention Home Page,
accessible through the
general EPA Web site. Included on the P2
Home Page are background information on
pollution prevention, information on P2
and finance, accounting, Pollution Preven-
tion Incentives to States grants, environ-
mentally preferable products, and more.
Also available are links to other EPA
offices and to resources outside EPA.
materials, by any of 15 different material
types and by 15 different regions in
California. A new addition to CALMAX is
KIdMAX, which specifically targets
California’s schools for donations of free
materials.
Chicago Board of TMde Recyclables—
httpllwww.cbot-recycle.coml
indexst.htm l
CBOT has taken a slightly different
approach to its exchange program, aimed at
allowing business users to spend as little
time as possible online. Rather than having
buyers read the postings of items for sale,
one by one, to find what he or she wants, in
the CBOT Exchange buyers fill out a form
online and then wait for the Exchange to
contact them by e-mail when the items
they are looking for are available.
For a listing of waste exchanges operat-
ing on the Internet, check IMEX’s listing
(http-J/wwwmetrokc.govflhwmp/
cesqg/exchl.html).
Lots More Sites...
For detailed listings of
Internet pollution prevention
sites and help finding your
way around the Internet,
check out the “Guide to
Accessing Pollution Preven-
tion Information Elect roni-
cally” (1997, 74 pp.), com-
piled by Lisa Regenstein,
• Northeast Waste Manage-
ment Officials Association.
Send check for $15.00 ($7.50
• for non-profits and govt.
agencies) to NEWMOA, 129
Portland St., Boston, MA
02114-2014.
-------
10 Ikillution Prevention News
February-March 1997
Resources
Designing Safer Chemicals: Green
Chemistry for Pollution Preven-
tion, ACS Symposium Series No. 640,
covers the design or redesign of chemi-
cals with the intent of making them
safe for people and the environment.
Edited by Stephen C. Devito and Roger
L. Garrett, U.S. EPA. Available from
American Chemical Society ($89.95, 264
pages), 1155 16th St. NW, Washington,
DC 20036, tel: 800-ACS-9919.
i l For consumers, the American Council
for an Energy-Efficient Economy has
issued the 5th edition of Consumer
Guide to Home Energy Savings, an
illustrated handbook ($7.95) of practical
steps that consumers can take to make
their homes more energy efficient while
saving money and energy. ACEEE has
published five recent studies on utili-
ties, including: What Have We
Learned from Early Market Trans-
formation Efforts? which reviews 11
efforts to affect the market for high-
efficiency products; DSM Programs in
an Era of Tight Budgets, which
provides guidance on how to get the
most “bang for the buck” from utility
Demand Side Management programs;
and Partnerships: A Path for the
Design of Utility/Industrial Energy
Efficiency Programs, which examines
lessons learned from several partner-
ship programs that utilities are using.
Th order, contact ACEEE at 2140
Shattuck Ave., Suite 202, Berkeley, CA
94704, tel: 510-549-9914, fax: 510-549-
9984, e-mail: aceee.ix.netcom.com
EPA’s Annual Report of the Office of
Pesticide Programs notes that more
than half of the 22 new pesticide active
ingredients registered in fiscal year
1996 were safer, reduced-risk pesti-
cides, such as biologicals. This contin-
ues a trend that began several years
ago. The Office of Pesticide Programs
has nearly completed plans to create a
new Antimicrobial Division to expedite
the registration of antimicrobial pesti-
cides with significant public health
uses. Also in 1996, a significant number
of partners and supporters joined the
Pesticide Environmental Stewardship
Program. To review the 1996 annual
report, check EPA’s home page on the
Internet: httpi/www.epa.gov. Copies of
the report can also be obtained from
OPP’s Communications Branch at 703-
305-5017.
A Financing Guide for Recycling
Businesses: Investment Forums,
Meetings and Networks is a new EPA
publication is intended to help recy-
cling/reuse businesses find needed
financing, to help this sector of the
economy grow and become more estab-
lished. Produced by the National
Recycling Coalition and Kirkworks, the
guide provides information on sources
of capital, financing strategies, and
business planning. It also provides a
detailed guide to state and local recy-
cling and economic development
agencies on how to set up a “recycling
investment forum,” an event that
introduces recycling companies to
potential investors. To order, call the
RCRA/Superfund Hotline at 1-800-424-
9346 (Document #EPA-530-R-96-012).
Making the Connections: Two reports
from the Land Use, Transportation, Air
Quality (LUTRAQ) project spearheaded
by 1000 Friends of Oregon have just
been published: Volume 7 is a 40-page,
full-color Summary of the LUTRAQ
Project ($12), with examples of how
various cities are addressing problems of
integrated land use and transportation.
Volume 8 is a 75-page Technical Report
($10) on the state of knowledge about
the relationship between transportation
and urban form, with a step-by-step
cookbook for developing an integrated
transportation and land-use plan. Th
order, contact LUTRAQ at 1000 Friends
of Oregon, 534 SW Third, Suite 300,
Portland, OR 97204.
-------
11 1 l1ution Prevention News
February-March 1997
Air Regs
Agreement Reached
with Lawn Equipment
Manufacturers
M anufacturers representing over 90
percent of the industry that
makes millions of engines used in
lawn and garden equipment have signed a
Statement of Principles with EPA estab-
lishing a framework for Phase 2 emission
standards. A proposed rule is expected in
Fall 1997. If adopted, the standards are
expected to reduce hydrocarbon plus
nitrogen oxide emissions by approximately
40 percent from the Phase 1 levels. (The
Phase 1 standards become effective with
the 1997 model year.) The engines in-
volved in the agreement contribute about
7% of ozone-forming pollutants from
mobile sources. This program, which will
cover new equipment sold nationwide,
does not affect existing lawn equipment.
Further control from lawn and garden
equipment will depend on technologies
which are expected to become cost-effec-
tive in future model years. Special empha-
sis is being placed on cleaner, more
durable engine technology, such as over-
head valve (OHV) technology with supe-
rior combustion chamber and cylinder
head design. Manufacturers of Class 2
engines are expected to shift their produc-
tion completely to OHV or comparably
clean and durable technology as a result of
these standards. The signatories also
agreed to work on a voluntary fuel spillage
reduction program.
For more information, contact Betsy
McCabe, 313-668-4344.
Utility NOx
Emissions To Drop
EPA issued a final regulation under the
Clean Air Act on December 13, 1996 that
will reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions
by nearly 900,000 tons per year from coal-
fired electric utility boilers beginning in
2000. This represents a 15% reduction
from current utility levels and a 5%
nationwide reduction from all sources.
NOx emissions are implicated in respira-
tory illnesses, premature mortality, and
other health effects, as well as damage to
crops, buildings and monuments, and
increased acidity of lakes and streams.
The final rule sets specific NOx emis-
sions limitations, but EPA is encouraging
states to adopt an “emissions cap and
trade” program instead. A cap-and-trade
program gives utilities the flexibility to
offset excess emissions at one plant with
reduced emissions at another, as long as
the total amount of emissions is lower
than would have been achieved by simply
meeting the individual plant-by-plant
emission limits.
For more information, contact Peter
Tsirigotis in EPA’s Acid Rain Division, at
202-233-9133.
EPA flains Its Eye
On Locomotives
On Jan. 31, 1997, EPA proposed the first
standards to protect human health from
air pollution from diesel locomotives. Air
pollution from diesel locomotives includes
nitrogen oxide, which causes smog, and
particulate matters, or soot. A typical
locomotive can produce as much nitrogen
oxide in one year as 3,000 passenger cars.
Smog causes serious respiratory illness
and exacerbates asthma attacks in chil-
dren. Particulate matter has been associ-
ated with cancer and premature death.
The new standards would be phased in
beginning Jan. 1, 2000. The standards
would apply to new engines as well as
many older engines each time they are “re-
manufactured,” or given major repair,
throughout their service life which can last
40 or more years. When fully phased in
the standards will reduce nitrogen oxide
emissions by two thirds or 600,000 tons
annually. Locomotive-produced hydrocar-
bons (another contributor to smog) and
particulate matter would be cut in half —
reduced by 15,000 tons and 10,000 tons
respectively.
The proposed rule is available electroni-
cally via the EPA Internet server via the
dial-up modem on the Technology Trans-
fer-Network (‘Vl’N), at 919-541-5742.
Three new EPA
regulations tackle
nitrogen oxide (NOx)
emissions from lawn
equipment,
locomotives, and
utilities.
Editorial Staff:
Tom Tillman, Editor
Rob Hohnan
Gilah Langner
Free Hand Press, Layout
To be added to our mailing
list, please write:
Pollution Prevention News
U.S. EPA(MC7409)
401 M Street SW
Washington, DC 20460
or fax to:
Pollution Prevention News,
202-260-2219
Printed with vegetable oil-based
• inks on 1(K)% recycled paper
(50% post-consumer).
-------
12 Pollution Prevention News
February-March 1997
Calendar
DATE/SITE EVENT
April 14-16 '97 Recycling Symposium
Chicogo, IL
April 29-Moy 1 Copenhagen Waste and Water 97
Bella Center
Copenhagen, Denmark
April 7-9 Total Life Cycle
Auburn Hills, Ml Conference & Expo
May 4-6 Pollution Prevention: Tools for
East Rutherford, NJ Making It Really Happen
June 2-3 1 6th Annual Northeast Resource
Burlington, VT Recovery Conference & Expo
June 3-4 1 Oth Annual Pollution Prevention
Albany, NY Conference: Progress Over a Decode:
Lessons Learned
June 8-13 AWMA Annual Conference
Toronto, Ontario
June 23-25 1 997 Green Chemistry & Engineering
Washington, D.C Conf: Implementing Vision 2020
for the Environment
July 16-17 Partnership for the 21st Century:
Baltimore, MD Greening Federal Purchasing
Aug. 1 7-22, 1 997 The Practice of Pollution Prevention:
Crested Butte, CO A Critical Evaluation
Moving? Please enclose mailing label!
SPONSOR
Technical Association for the
Pulp and Paper Industry
CONTACT
E-MAIL/WWW
Kelley Dedmon kdedman @ tappi.org
Tel: 770-446- 1 400 http://www.tappi.org
Fox: 770-446-6947
Vogn Isaksen
Tel: 45 39 66 12 00
Fax: 45 31 51 96 36
SAE Intl.
American Institute of
Chemical Engineers
Northeast Resource Recovery
New York State Dept. of Environmental
Conservation, Business Council of
NY State, Environmental Business
Association of NY State
Air and Waste
Management Association
American Chemical Society,
U.S. EPA, NRC, NSF, CMA, others
Federal Environmental Executive,
EPA, US Conf. of Mayors
Engineering Foundation
Justine Petruska soe@sae.org
Tel: 41 2-772-8547 http://www.soe.org
Fax:412-776-5760
Tel: 800-242-4363
xpress@aiche.org
http://www.aiche.org
Tel: 603-224-6996
Fax: 603-226-4466
Dorothy O'Hare
Tel: 51 8-457-2553
Fax:518-457-2570
Maureen Brown mbrown@owma.org
Tel: 41 2-232-3444 x31 22 http://www.owma.org
ACS Meetings Dept.
202-872-6286
LeeSalviski,OFEE
202-260-1297
Td: 21 2-705-7836
Fox: 21 2-705-7441
United States Environmental
Protection Agency (MC7409)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Ponalf\r fr»r Pi-iirota TTon tQAA
engfod@aol.com
BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT NO. G-35
Forwarding & Return Postage Guaranteed
Address Correction Requested
------- |