United States	Pollution Prevention Office	August 1989
Environmental Protection	Washington, DC 20460
Agency
&EPA
Pollution
Prevention
News
Inside:
2
3
4
Reports from
EPA Offices:
Water, Region 9
Resources
Upcoming
Events in
September and
October
Your comments and letters arc
welcome. Please write:
Pollution Prevention News,
U.S. EPA,
401M Street SW (PM-219),
Washington, DC 20460.
Editorial Staff
Priscilla Flattery, Editor
Gilah Langner
Design & Layout
Free Hand Press
DOD Issues Prevention Directive
On July 27, 1989, Deputy Secretary of De-
fense D.J. Atwood issued a new directive that
applies across the board to all DOD departments
and agencies, in essence calling for the integra-
tion of environmental objectives into the over-
all mission of DOD. According to the directive,
"It is DOD policy that hazardous material shall
be selected, used, and managed over its life cycle
so that the Department incurs the lowest cost
required to protect human health and the envi-
ronment. The preferred method of doing this is
to avoid or reduce the use of hazardous material.
. . Emphasis must be on less use of hazardous
materials in processes and products, as distin-
guished from end-of-pipe management of haz-
ardous waste."
The directive gives responsibility to the
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Production and
Logistics) for ensuring that adequate guidance,
reporting, information exchange, and programs
exist to implement the directive. Among other
requirements, DOD components will be re-
quired to begin economic analyses of hazardous
material decisions at the earliest possible stage
and to substitute the use of less hazardous mate-
rials whenever possible. The heads of military
services and defense agencies within DOD are
directed to designate lead offices to coordinate
their actions, develop Hazardous Material Pol-
lution Prevention Plans to implement the di-
rective within 180 days, and present annual
briefings on the status of their efforts. For fur-
ther information, contact Sam Napolitano,
(703)325-2211.
Editor's Corner
As we suspected, the TRI (Toxic Release
Inventory) data recently released by EPA is
yielding a lot of very interesting information.
It is particularly interesting to examine the
TRI data in lightof other estimatesofpollutant
emissions. You may recall that the TRI data
from 1987 showed a staggering total of 10.4
billion pounds of pollutants being released into
water, land, and air by about 17,500 facilities.
And yet, as unsettling as these figures are, they
still don't tell the whole story.
Take, for example, air emissions. According
to the TRI data, 2.7 billion pounds of volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) were released into
the air in 1987 from regulated facilities. But
what about air emissions from industrial facili-
ties that were not required to report releases?
(Only manufacturingfacili ties with 10 or more
employees, handling one or more of the 300
TRI chemicals, are required to submit annual
release information to EPA.) And what about
non-industrial air emissions, from cars, trucks,
Industrial Uses
§88 and Product
M (22%)
::x*
Mobile
Sources
(51%)
End ol
Lite Cycle I •
Annual U.S. VOC Emissions — NAPAP Estimates
paints, and a host of other sources? In short,
what are total VOC emissions in the United
States?
One estimate was recently made by National
Acid Precipitation Assessment Program
(NAPAP), an umbrella organization for federal
continued on page 2
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Pollution Prevention News - 2
August 1989
Reports from EPA Offices
Water Programs Promote
Prevention Ethic
by Elisabeth La Roe, Office of Water
Regulations and Standards
Water programs have been practicing
pollutionpreventionforyears, and welcome
the new emphasis the Agency and Congress
are placing on prevention. We view pre-
vention as an essential part of our basic
mission to restore and maintain the Na-
tion's waters. We see this as an opportunity
to move our programs more fully into a
resource protection mode.
Water programs are fortunate. We have
a variety of tools to promote prevention,
ranging from traditional top-down regula-
tory schemes in the NPDES and pretreat-
ment programs to "bottom-up" approaches
in the newer, geographic-based programs
such as nonpoint source (NPS), National
Estuary Program (NEP), wetlands, and well-
head protection (WHP). The latter pro-
grams are very prevention-oriented, relying
heavily on education and public awareness
to change individual and land use behavior
to prevent pollution from occurring rather
than controlling after-the-fact pollution.
The pollution prevention strategy now
being developed for water programs places
highest priority on natural resource conser-
vation, supported by the Agency's water
management hierarchy. We plan to incor-
porate the pollution prevention ethic broadly
into our activities to conserve the natural
resources—water, wetlands, ground water,
estuaries and coastal waters — that consti-
tute the legacy we leave to future genera-
tions. In addition, we will promote and
incorporate the Agency'shierarchy intoour
other programs, including effluent guide-
lines, permitting, and enforcement.
Water programs are placing special at-
tention on pollution prevention in our grass-
roots programs. A few examples may be
helpful. Agricultural runoff pollution from
nonpoint sources is one of the most serious
water quality issues we face today. Pollu-
tants are both conventional and toxic with
pesticides at the top of the list. Our pollu-
tion prevention approach is to encourage
agricultural practices that reduce the level
of pesticides used on farms, and to "target"
our early efforts to agricultural lands adja-
cent to critical aquatic resources such as the
near coastal waters.
A second planned activity is to acceler-
ate and combine our outreach efforts in the
NPS, WHP, NCW, NEP, and wetlands
programs to promote pollution prevention
through sound state and local land use prac-
tices and comprehensive, multi-objective
planning (including land conservancy).
With land use having a direct impact on
water quality, land use practices are key to
preventing needless pollution and avoiding
the need for costly controls at a later date.
Since land use is a state and local responsi-
bility, however, our role is to support and
reinforce states and local governments as
they make the difficult decisions that im-
pact water quality, to improve their knowl-
edge of sound land use practices, and to
provide a scientific basis on which to make
these public policy decisions.
For further information, contact Elisa-
beth La Roe, (202)382-7158.
EPA Region 9
The Pollution Prevention Program in
Region 9 (covering Arizona, California,
Nevada, Hawaii, and Territories) has de-
fined two major objectives for its activities
over the next year. First, the program aims
to institutionalize the concept of multi-
media pollution prevention throughou t Re-
gion 9's media programs. This goal will
involve identifying and incorporating pol-
lution prevention themes into Region 9's
FY 1990 workplanning process; incorpora-
ting pollution prevention into state coop-
erative agreements; establishing a region-
wide pollution prevention communications
network; and augmenting in-house recycling
agencies working on acid rain issues.
NAPAP puts total annual VOC emissions
in the U.S. at 46 billion pounds. That's 17
times the amount of toxic chemicals re-
ported by TRI facilities. As the pie chart
shows, just over half the VOCs are coming
from mobile sources. Industrial production
and uses account for 22 percent of VOC
emissions. Non-industrial uses and end of
product life cycle (through fires and incin-
erators) accounted for the remaining 27
percent.
What does this tell us? For one thing, it
is becoming increasingly clear that we must
broaden our concept of the problem beyond
efforts. Region 9's Pollution Prevention
Team is being guided in these efforts by a
Pollution Prevention Steering Committee,
chaired by the Deputy Regional Adminis-
trator, with membership consisting of the
Deputy Directors of the Toxics, Water, and
Air divisions, the Director of the Office of
External Affairs, and the Assistant Regional
Administrator for Policy and Management.
A second objective of Region 9's pro-
gram is to initiate specific pilot projects.
One such project involves the South San
Francisco Bay whose waters show high
concentrations of heavy metals and other
toxic pollutants. Discharges from three
publicly owned treatment works (POTWs)
in San Jose/Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and
Palo Alto, and from several storm sewers are
believed to be the predominant sources of
the pollution. Efforts are underway in each
of the jurisdictions to reverse the environ-
mental degradation of the South Bay. The
Regional Water Quality Control Board is
requiring each of the major cities involved
to conduct a waste minimization study.
EPA will be working closely with the Re-
gional Water Quality Control Board to re-
search and assess the feasibility of new or
modified industrial processes to achieve an
overall net reduction in releases of toxic
metals and cyanides. Between now and July
1990, EPA also anticipates providing tech-
nical guidance and coordination to the Ci ties
of San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and
Palo Alto to implement the findings of the
project and the waste minimization studies.
For information on Region 9's programs,
contact Laura Yoshii, (415) 974-7460.
the universe of currently regulated facilities.
Which is not to say that currently regulated
facilities no longer need regulation or that
no more facilities should be regulated. What
we are saying is that focusing solely on the
current roster of facilities is simply not going
to solve the problem. The problem out there
is orders-of-magnitude greater than is indi-
cated by the already alarming TRI data.
And it is unrealistic to think that regulation
alone, whether by EPA or the states, can
handle that job. We will need a wide variety
of cooperative and regulatory approaches to
make a dent in these numbers.
Editor's Comer (from page i)

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August 1989
3 - Pollution Prevention News
Resources
Waste Minimization
Guidebook
l				
Waste Minimization: Manufacturers'
Strategies for Success. National Asso- j
ciation of Manufacturers. 1989.
Contact Theresa Buckley, 1331
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 1500,
Washington, D.C. 20004-1703, (202)
637-3155. $19.95 NAM Members/
$29.95 Non-Members.
This is a guidebook intended particu-
larly for small manufacturers interested in
undertaking voluntary initiatives to re-
duce the volume of waste they generate.
The publication includes case studies of
successful waste minimization efforts and
lists of contacts and resources available to
manufacturers for assistance and advice.
Also included is a step-by-step guide
to establishing and implementing a waste
minimization program in a manufactu-
ring facility. The guide notes that a suc-
cessful waste minimization program starts
with three elements: (1) a formal, written
policy on waste minimization philosophy,
practices, and objective; (2) the commit-
ment of top management to supporting
and providing resources for the program;
and (3) appointing a program leader with
ultimate responsibility for the success of
the program. The larger the industrial
operation, the more important it is for
the program leader to pull together a
waste minimization team that includes
representatives from all major depart-
ments involved in waste generation and
management. (See Figure 1.)
With a waste minimization team in
place, the first step is to establish an in-
ventory of wastestreams using in-house
sources such as manifests, generator re-
ports, audit reports, inventory and usage
records, monitoring data, permits, pro-
duction records, etc. The guide book
stresses the importance of visiting each
major process unit and/or waste genera-
ting site in the course of compiling this
information, and the need to get first-
hand information and input from the op-
erators and maintenance personnel who
understand daily and year-to-year opera-
tions. Subsequent steps in getting a waste
minimization program underway include
prioritizing waste streams and processes,
developing and evaluating options for
SUGGESTED WASTE MINIMIZATION TEAM
ORGANIZATION
Production
Corporate
Management
and
Program
V Leader y
Environmental
Engineering
Health
Source: ENSR Corp./NAM
Figure 1.
waste minimization, selecting and imple-
menting feasible options, and monitoring
progress.
Model State
Legislation Available
Hazardous Waste Reduction Act. Con-
tact R. Steven Brown, Director, Cen-
ter for Environment and Natural Re-
sources, Council of State Govern-
ments. P.O. Box 11910, Lexington,
KY 40578. (606)231-1882. Free.
The Council of State Governments has
developed model state legislation for haz-
ardous waste reduction, based on bills and
programs in five states — a waste reduction
plan requirement for industry introduced in
Oregon; New York State's small generator
audit assistance program; Kentucky's tech-
'
usexbeuse
¦Mm** mMU
nical assistance center; North Carolina's
proposed cross-media, state-wide 30% pol-
lution reduction goal; and Minnesota's haz-
ardous waste generator fee schedule.
The Council of State Governments is a
national, non-partisan organization of all
50 states that functions as a research arm,
clearinghouse, and source of legislative ideas
for state officials.
Industrial Overviews
Hazardous Waste Minimization: Indus-
trial Overviews. 1989. Editor: Harry
M. Freeman, U.S.EPA. JAPCA Re-
print Series RS-14- Air & Waste Man-
agement Association, P.O.Box 2861,
Pittsburgh, PA 15230. (412) 232-3444.
$20 Members/$30 Non-Members.
The Air & Waste Management Asso-
ciation has published a collection of 13 ar-
ticles appearing in its journal JAPCA over
the last two years on the subject of waste
minimization. The articles summarize what
is currently being done to minimize wastes
in selected industries, providing diagrams
of typical processes and an outline of fea-
sible technologies for reducing waste. In-
dustries covered include the chemical in-
dustry, electronic products, paint and al-
lied products, metal finishing, petroleum,
foundries, pesticide formulation, and auto-
motive repair. Several articles also discuss
federally sponsored R&D on waste minimi-
zation and waste minimization efforts in
the Department of Defense.
Source: Hotordoiu Wasu MMmfeMion: InAuoia! Overuuws
WASTE MINIMIZATION TECHNIQUES |
ReCYCUNO
MMTB'OmiTE
SOURCE REDUCTION
p^JUUUI

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Pollution Prevention News - 4
August 1989
Upcoming Events in September, October
Title
Suonsor
Date/Location
Contact
The Next Frontier in
California Dept. of
Sept. 12, Los Angeles, CA
Mari Olsen
Curbside Recycling
Conservation, Plastic
Sept. 14, San Francisco, CA
(213)487-1544

Recycling Corp. of CA


Haztech International '89
Haztech International
Sept. 12-14, Cincinnati, OH
Ursula Barril
Conferences &. Exhibitions

Sept. 27-29, San Francisco, CA
(800) 468-7644
Metal Waste Management
EPA, California Dept. of
Sept. 12-13, Pasadena, CA
Deborah Hanlon
Alternative Symposia
Health Services
Sept. 18-19, San Jose, CA
(818)449-2171
Recycling/Composting Solid
Biocycle, Maine Dept. of
Sept. 13-15, 1989
Celeste Madtes
Waste and Sludge
Env. Protection, others
Portland, ME
(215)967-4135
North American Waste
Renew (Texas Water
Sept. 17-20, 1989
Sheri Estes
Exchange Conference
Commission)
San Antonio, TX
(512)463-7754
Waste Expo's "Solutions"
National Solid Waste
Sept. 19-20, Philadelphia
Patti Jo Barber

Management Association
Oct. 10-11, San Jose, CA
(202) 659-4613
Succeeding at Waste
Univ. of Wisconsin, Dept. of
Sept. 27-28,1989
Pat Eagan
Reduction/Minimization
Engineering Professional.
Madison, WI
(608) 263-7429

Development


11th Canadian Waste
Environment Canada
Sept. 27-29,1989
Johanne Leveille
Management Conference

Montreal, Que.
(514)384-4010
1989 Recycling Conference
Recycling Office,
Oct. 4-5, 1989
Abby Pel ton
&. Exposition
Westchester County Govt.
White Plains, NY
(914) 285-2588
Environmental Hazards
Hazmat World, EHMI,
Oct. 10-12,1989
Bob Myhelic
Conference/Exposition
Tower Conference Management
Hartford, CT
(312)469-3373
6th Annual Environmental
Environmental Exposition,
Oct. 16-18, 1989
Linda Siecke
Exposition
Inc.
Asbury Park, NJ
(201)782-0062
HazWaste Expo Chicago '89
Hazardous Waste Management
Oct. 16-19, 1989
Robert McCarty

Magazine, Transportation
Rosemont, IL
(215)683-5098

Skills Program


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Protection Agency
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