•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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