•EPA
                         United States
                         Environmental Protection
                         Agency
                                                         Office of the
                                                         Administrator
                                                         [Mail Code 1802]
EPA-100-F-99-014
November 1999
(http://www.epa.gov)
                       Project XL:
                       New  England Universities
Laboratories	
WHAT IS
 SUMMARYOF
 THE LABS
 PROJECT
SUPERIOR
ENVIRONMENTAL
PERFORMANCE
                        Project XL, which stands for "excellence and Leadership," is a national initiative that
                        tests innovative ways of achieving better and more cost-effective public health and
                        environmental protection. The information and lessons learned from Project XL will
                        be used to assist EPA in redesigning its current regulatory and policy-setting
                        approaches.  Project XL encourages testing of cleaner, cheaper, and smarter ways to
                        attain environmental results superior to those achieved under current regulations and
                        policies, in conjunction with greater accountability to stakeholders.  Project XL has
                        committed to a goal of 50 pilot projects.  Because of this limited scope, it is vital that
                        each project  tests new ideas with the potential for wide application and broad
                        environmental benefits. As of November 1999, fifteen pilot experiments are being
                        implemented, twenty-five additional projects are in various stages of development, and
                        twenty XL pre-proposal ideas are under consideration.

                        This pilot allows participating laboratories at the University of Massachusetts-Boston,
                        Boston, MA, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA and University of Vermont,
                        Burlington, VT (the "Universities") to implement flexible, performance-based
                        standards for managing hazardous wastes in their laboratories.  The site-specific rule
                        enables laboratories at the three Universities to replace existing requirements for
                        hazardous waste generators with a comprehensive Laboratory Environmental
                        Management Plan designed by each University and including certain minimum
                        performance criteria.

                        The rule defines laboratory waste as a hazardous chemical that results from laboratory
                        scale activities and includes excess or unused hazardous chemicals that may or may
                        not be reused outside their laboratory of origin.

                        Under the rule, the Universities will not be required to make a RCRA hazardous
                        waste determination with respect to laboratory waste until it reaches a central on-site
                        location.  This should allow the Universities' Environmental Health and Safety
                        professionals to more effectively manage the laboratory waste at the institutional level
                        and increase reuse and recycling opportunities. The New England Laboratory final
                        project agreement, EPA's 15th XL project, was signed on September 28, 1999.

                        This XL Project is designed to achieve environmental results that are superior to what
                        these Universities currently achieve in laboratories under the current RCRA
                        regulatory system. A primary aim of the project is to allow the Universities to develop
                        and implement an Environmental Management Plan that defines the policies and
                        procedures for managing all hazardous chemicals, including laboratory wastes under a
                        logical, integrated scheme. Under the EMP, environmental professionals at the
                        Universities will determine, at hazardous waste accumulation areas, whether there are
                        any opportunities throughout the University for reuse of laboratory waste or whether
                        the laboratory waste is a solid waste that is hazardous. The elements of the
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  FLEXIBILITY
STAKEHOLDER
INVOLVEMENT
APPROACHES TO
BE TESTED
  CONTACTS
FOR ELECTRONIC
INFORMATION
Environmental Management Plan are defined in the rule.  The Universities will monitor
environmental management system effectiveness for laboratories, and collect data to
measure improved environmental performance with respect to the minimization of
unused or virgin hazardous chemicals that when disposed are currently required to be
disposed as hazardous waste.  They will also monitor the reuse or recycling of used
hazardous chemicals formerly managed as waste.

The Laboratory XL project is expected to result in increased pollution prevention. The
Universities have set specific pollution prevention  goals including a 10% reduction in
the overall amount of hazardous waste generated from participating laboratories (from
baseline), and a 20% increase (from baseline) in reuse of laboratory waste over the
life of the project. The Universities participating in this XL project will report each
year on their progress in meeting their goals. The Universities will also conduct
environmental awareness surveys and training for all laboratory workers.

The Laboratory XL pilot provides the Universities with a temporary conditional
deferral from  two specific RCRA regulations dealing with Hazardous Waste
Determinations Satellite Accumulation Provisions. The regulatory changes set forth
are conditioned upon the Universities' compliance with the Minimum Performance
Criteria and the Laboratory Environmental Management Plan.

The university and research communities are diverse and active.  Stakeholder
involvement at both national and local levels has been extensive.  As this XL project is
implemented, the stakeholder involvement program will ensure that: (1) interested
parties are apprised of the status of project implementation and (2) national and local
stakeholders have access to information sufficient to judge the success of this pilot.

•  Will the use of performance-based standards as part of the EMP enhance
   environmental results beyond those achieved by existing regulatory requirements in
   the laboratory setting?
•  Will the  integration of OSHA-based health and safety requirements for hazardous
   chemicals with the RCRA generator requirements and elements of ISO 14001
   environmental management system voluntary standards result in a more consistent
   and resource efficient scheme for regulating laboratories?
•  Will the  use of an Environmental Management Plan result in the increased
   implementation of pollution prevention and waste minimization activities and more
   environmentally informed students and researchers?
EPA Region I:
EPA HQ:
State:

Sponsor:
George Frantz                                617-918-1883
Sherri Walker                                202-260-4295
Jim Miller (MADEP)                          617-292-5 5 74
Steve Simoes (VT DEC)                       802-241-3878
Thomas Balf (Nexus Environmental Partners)    617-951-1181
More information about Project XL is available on the Internet at
http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL, or via Project XL's Information Line at 202-260-
5754.  For further information on the Universities XL project, go to the University of
Vermont's Lab XL project web page at http://esf.uvm.edu/labxl.
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