tp://www.epa.gov) • EPA WHAT IS PROJECT XL? SUM MARY OF THE ELMENDORF PROJECT SUPERIOR ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE FLEXIBILITY United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of the Administrator [Mail Code 1101] EPA-100-F-99-028 December 1999 (ht Project XL: Elmendorf Air Force Base POL KCONOM INNOVA'l CY cs ON 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 are being used to assist EPA in redesigning its current regulatory and policy-setting approaches through a collaborative process. Project XL encourages testing of cleaner, cheaper, and smarter ways to attain environmental results superior to those achieved under current regulations and policies. It also requires substantial involvement by stakeholders, i.e. the people and organizations affected by EPA's decisions. EPA hopes that these projects will provide opportunities for everyone to think "outside the box" of our current system and to find solutions to obstacles that limit environmental performance. The project streamlines the application, implementation, management, and renewal process for Elmendorf Air Force Base's (EAFB's) Title V permit, through reduced monitoring and record keeping. EAFB estimates that total monitoring, record keeping, reporting, and overall permit management costs will decrease by about 80 percent, yielding about $1.5 million in savings over six years. These realized cost savings will be directed toward pollution prevention (P2) opportunities. The Final Project Agreement (FPA), EPA's sixteenth XL project, was signed on December 15, 1999. EAFB will spend the savings derived from streamlining its environmental management costs on P2 opportunities. A P2 project identified in the FPA involves installing a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station, purchasing new CNG vehicles, and converting certain base fleet vehicles to allow them to use CNG as an alternative fuel. EAFB has assembled a list of other feasible P2 opportunities available at the base, along with the estimated costs and environmental benefits of each opportunity. EPA, the State of Alaska, and EAFB have expressed a preference for projects that reduce hazardous air contaminants. A supplemental agreement setting forth the specific additional P2 opportunities to be implemented will be developed with the assistance of stakeholders. The traditional Alaska operating permit program currently treats the entire EAFB installation as a single air contaminant emission source. This Page 1 ------- requires EAFB to have 106 sources of regulated contaminants to be addressed in its permit. Under these circumstances, the costs of obtaining and maintaining a Title V permit would be substantial. Under this FPA the permit applies to only a small segment of EAFB , including one source that is a major stationary source and several others that are subject to new source performance standards. The other sources at EAFB that will not be permitted will instead obtain limits on their potential-to-emit to ensure that they are not considered major sources. This will simplify monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting associated with Title V, and result in significant cost savings that will be applied to P2 projects. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Stakeholder meeting are held on a regular basis to develop and update pollution prevention projects at the base. In addition, Trustees for Alaska have submitted comments on the project. The comment and EPA's response are attached to the FPA. APPROACHES TO BE TESTED Can redirecting resources from monitoring and record keeping to P2 projects improve the environment? Should the regulation of military facilities be modified so that they can reduce monitoring and record keeping and increase their investment in environmentally-beneficial projects? Which P2 projects provide the greatest benefits at military facilities? CONTACTS FOR ELECTRONIC INFORMATION EPA HQ: State Contacts: Project Sponsor: Ted Cochin Bill MacClarence Dave Bennett 202-566-2181 907-269-7575 907-552-2760 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- 566-2173. Page 2 ------- |