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EPA Region 10 Office of Air, Waste and Toxics
Annual Report FY2008
Rick Albright, Director
Jan Hastings, Associate Director
Vision:
The Office of Air, Waste and Toxics (OAWT) is a recognized leader in working
with other governments, the regulated community and the public to promote
clean air, control toxics and manage waste for a healthy environment.
Priority Areas:
• Supporting OAWT Core Programs
• Enhancing Tribal Environments
• Reducing Greenhouse Gases & Reaching for Sustainability.
Highlights for FY2008:
OAWT Plays Role in EPA Climate Change Efforts:
In 2008, OAWT researched and helped to produce the
Region's Climate Change Strategy. We developed
survey tools and provided expertise on air rules,
voluntary programs, energy production/use,
mitigation opportunities, integration options and
measurement. OAWT served as national
sublead for Climate Change and sponsored
monthly presentations on such topics as: the
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the
' Heat Island Effect Initiative, the life cycle
analyses of biofuels, the Energy Independence
^^^_ r Security Act, and the Greenhouse Gas Mandatory
Reporting rule development. In addition, OAWT
assisted on the GHG Mandatory reporting Rule workgroup, and coordinated
with the other Regions to ensure that regional perspectives were included.
OAWT Provides Forum for Info-Exchange on Climate Work:
In May 2008, OAWT brought together State Air Directors from throughout the
Region to exchange information on recent State and Federal climate activities.
In addition, participants identified a collaborative project to examine the
lifecycle carbon emissions from wood waste use/disposal options. At that
meeting, OAWT also announced plans for a Winter 08709' workshop that will
bring together state and tribal air staff to review the latest science on how
climate change will impact air quality (wildfires, PM2.5 levels, etc) and will also
provide participants an opportunity to discuss plans and needs for adapting
their air programs to climate change.
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EPA Launches Project on Alaska Climate Change, Solid Waste, and the
Yukon River:
EPA Region 10 OAWT has
funded a TV documentary on
the impacts of solid waste
and global climate change on
the Yukon River and efforts
by the Alaska Tribes on the
river to meet these
challenges. The documentary
is targeted for completion in
2009 and is being produced
by an award-winning
indigenous film maker and
crew.
^^
Aerial view of Charley River at Yukon. Photo by USGS.
OAWT Hosts Webinar Series on Climate Change and Waste:
The Waste Reduction Resource Conservation and
Stewardship Team hosted the West Coast Webinar Series
on Climate Change, Waste Prevention, Recovery and
Disposal, providing three free 2.5 hour web-based
educational opportunities on the connections between
climate change, materials management, and waste issues.
The three sessions covered: an introduction to climate
change and materials management; compost and landfill
issues; and accounting systems, modeling, and economic incentives.
The Unit also created a website as an ongoing resource - all of the materials
from the webinar series will be posted for download at any time. In fall 2008,
the Unit will be convening key western federal, state and local government
leaders to participate in an EPA Region 9 and 10 facilitated forum to discuss
how the Regions can work together to address climate change and resource
management opportunities more strategically.
Website: http://www.epa.gov/region10/westcoastclimate.htm
Energy Efficiency and
Renewables -
Prevention Technologies
for Climate Protection:
During 2008, the OAWT
Pollution Prevention (P2)
Team continued to re-focus
their tools to address the
H prevention of greenhouse
gasses through energy
efficiency and the promotion of renewable energy technologies. The Team
named greenhouse gas reduction as their only 2008 priority for P2 grants to
states, hired a Senior Environmental Enrollee to introduce the Energy Star
benchmarking tool to the Region's wastewater treatment plant managers and
delivered training to state and local technical assistance providers to be able to
identify, calculate and recommend greenhouse gas reduction opportunities to
their business clients. Efforts to assist the Region in walking the talk, included:
purchasing the Region's Renewable Energy Credits, investigating the efficacy
of using ZipCar in lieu of government vehicles, and benchmarking region-wide
employee air travel, to develop reduction goals and offset resulting greenhouse
gas emissions.
Agriculture Burning in
Idaho -
Federal Rule Change
Announced:
In August 2008 OAWT
published a rule that modifies
Idaho's State Implementation
Plan and allows for a
resumption of agricultural
field burning in Idaho. This
approval marks an important
milestone in Idaho's collaborative efforts to include stakeholders throughout the
development of a new burn program for the state. In 2007, the 9th Circuit Court
of Appeals determined that air quality Rules initially approved by EPA did not
allow crop residue burning in Idaho and that EPA's subsequent rule clarification
was legally erroneous. The Court vacated our approval and remanded the
matter to EPA. Idaho made a new submission, which we approved because it
meets the requirements of the Clean Air Act. Our approval allows agricultural
burning, but only with advance permission from IDEQ, who must consider
existing air quality and other factors in any burn decision.
Regional Smoke
Management Meeting a
Success:
Teaming up with the Forest
Service, the State and Tribal
Air Programs Unit of OAWT
co-sponsored a regional
smoke management meeting
in Portland, Oregon in April
2008. Sixty five
representatives from States,
Tribes, Local, and Federal
agencies involved in both the
regulation and conduct of agricultural and silvicultural burning met to discuss
how to improve communication in planning burn activities. A group of north
Idaho and eastern Washington State and Tribal smoke managers met in June
2008 for 3 days of training in improved technical tools and communication.
Air Permits - Tools for Protecting Air Quality:
In FY2008, OAWT issued seven non-Title V permits to sources located on four
Indian Reservations establishing emission limits. The extraordinary effort was
done with a very short lead time, utilizing a regulatory mechanism only
available to Region 10, namely, the Federal Air Rules for Reservations
regulation. In addition, OAWT drafted a pair of Title V and non-Title V permits
allowing Warm Springs Forest Products Industries to build a new waste to
energy power plant on the Warm Springs Reservation. Using wood waste
generated by forest thinning policies, the project could prevent thousands of
tons of uncontrolled pollution that would otherwise be caused by burning the
wood waste in situ. The recent national economic downturn may impact
whether the plant construction ultimately goes forward.
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Beaufort Sea
OAWT Issues Permit to Regulate Drill Rig Air Emissions:
Ujt— (H x On June 18,2008, OAWT
„'"•' issued a revised minor air
-| quality permit to Shell to
jj regulate air emissions from
| the Kulluk floating drilling rig
and its support vessels to
, conduct exploratory oil and
Bas drilling on the Outer
ontinental Shelf of the
Beaufort Sea, north of
N.W. Territories Alaska. OAWT issued the
permit after considering
numerous public comments opposed to the permitting action. Issuance of the
permit responds to a September 2007 remand from the Environmental Appeals
Board. OAWT coordinated this complex and contentious permitting action with
the Office of Environmental Assessment, Office of Regional Counsel, and
Alaska Operations Office. In addition, OAWT worked with the Headquarters
Offices of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Air and Radiation, Enforcement
and Compliance Assurance, and General Counsel.
Collision Repair Campaign Trainings Reduce Air Toxics Emissions:
In FY2008, the Air Toxics Team collaborated with state, local
and tribal governments, non-governmental organizations
and industry associations to reduce Hazardous Air
Pollutants (HAP), Volatile Organic Compounds
(VOC) and Particulate Matter (PM)
emissions from auto body shops.
This training, education and
outreach campaign serves as
an opportunity for shops to
work towards early
compliance with the new auto
body rule (40 CFR Part 63
Subpart HHHHHH).
This year the team built Spray Technique Analysis and Research (STAR)
painting training capacity at all of the technical schools in Washington State,
leveraged training equipment from Washington State Department of Ecology,
and coordinated workshops in Idaho, Oregon, and Alaska. In addition, the
team is hosting the first workshop of its kind to certify shops and their
employees for compliance with the training requirements in the auto body rule.
This workshop, held at Lake Washington Technical College, is called the
Collision Repair Crash Course and combines training from Design for the
Environment with painting training to minimize emissions.
With the help of a student volunteer, the Air Toxics Team developed a
geographic information system database of over 3500 auto body shops in
Region 10, co-located with schools, childcare facilities, and environmental
justice communities to help target shops posing the greatest risk to our most
vulnerable populations. This tool will help state and local air agencies prioritize
inspections and target outreach.
Through implementing best business practices in our training and outreach
materials, which include installing and maintaining control equipment and using
safer paints and solvents, toxics exposures are expected to be reduced by
90%. Small business auto refinishing shops adopting best business practices
WEST COAST COLLABORATIVE
Public-private partnership to reduce diesel emissions
can reduce toxic paint emissions by roughly 30%,or 2,200 pounds per shop,
while saving as much as $13,000 annually. It is estimated that implementing
best practices in 1,000 shops will reduce HAP and VOC emissions by 3.5
million pounds annually.
Air Planning Efforts for PM 2.5 Non-Attainment Areas:
In FY2008 OAWT air planning staff began preparing Technical Support
Documents that support designating PM2.5 Non-Attainment areas, including
Anchorage, Juneau, Tacoma, Klamath Falls, Oakridge, Franklin County, and
Pinehurst. The documents are the most technically sophisticated yet for
designation under any standard. The sophistication of tools used and the level
of technical analysis ensure that our decisions are based on the best available
science.
West Coast Collaborative - EPA Region 10 Walks the Talk:
The West Coast Collaborative
cosponsored the first Faster
Freight - Cleaner Air
conference in Puget Sound,
which is aimed at moving
goods more efficiently
through our ports and
reducing associated air
quality impacts. At this conference, the Ports of Seattle, Tacoma and
Vancouver, B.C. announced a joint strategy to reduce air pollution by 30% by
2010. EPA and other members of our Collaborative aided in the development
of the strategy.
Also this year, the West Coast Collaborative Clean School Bus Program
awarded eight projects in Regions 9 and 10 totaling $1.4 million in retrofits and
school bus replacement efforts. In addition, we announced a request for
proposals for diesel emissions reduction projects totaling $5.1 million for
Regions 9 and 10. We will be making our award decisions this fall.Notably,
EPA Region 10 set an example for diesel emission reductions by making in-
house improvements this year. The region began using biodiesel in its two
emergency response trucks and one of the response trucks has been
retrofitted with a diesel filter. Also, the Region has replaced its 28 foot
aluminum dive boat engine with a 2007 Volvo Penta "tier 2" engine, which is
substantially cleaner than the old engine. In addition, several Superfund
cleanup projects in Regions 9 and 10 have implemented retrofits or clean fuels
into their effort.
OAWT Works Cross-Border to Protect Air:
In FY2008, OAWT participated in the Georgia Basin Puget Sound International
Airshed Group to exchange information, cooperate and collaborate on
international airshed issues. Key topics included developing a Paniculate
Matter Annex on individual Agency/Government efforts to reduce greenhouse
gases and adapt to climate change, improving air quality in the marine sector,
permitting new or expanding stationary sources of emissions, and developing
sustainability efforts for the 2010 Olympics. The information exchanged at
these meetings has, and will continue to help agencies across the border
collaborate on projects such as developing educational DVDs on air quality
effects to human health, developing standards for cleaner marine fuels,
developing a matrix of climate activities and understanding where there are
gaps in mitigation and adaptation efforts for air quality on both sides of the
border, and developing sampling protocols for visibility for Canada.
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Tribal Air Program Milestones:
~ In May 2008, OAWT hosted
the first meeting of tribal air
managers to coordinate air
planning, in much the same
way that EPA has been
meeting with state and local
air managers for some years.
Many tribes in Region 10
have been developing
capacity to manage air
pollution impacting their
communities for ten years or
more with OAWT grant and
technical support.
Nine tribes have now established their eligibility for Treatment in the Same
Manner as States (TAS) for grant eligibility under Clean Air Act §105, and
several of these tribes have eligibility under additional Clean Air Act sections.
Three tribes, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Reservation, and the Quinault Tribe, are actively participating with EPA in air
pollution regulatory control on their reservations under the FARR through
administrative delegation from EPA; OAWT expects delegation to a fourth tribe,
the Coeur d'Alene, to be final by the end of September 2008. The Swinomish
Tribe is working on developing a Tribal Implementation Plan for outdoor
burning as a means to assume regulatory responsibility for management of air
pollution generated within reservation boundaries.
OAWT Registers Over 100 Air Pollution Sources to Date Under FARR:
To date, over 100 air pollution sources on reservations have registered with
OAWT as required under the FARR. OAWT continues to call burn bans in
collaboration with tribes across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, pursuant to the
FARR and now based on the lower trigger levels of the new PM2.5 24-hour
National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 35 ug/m3. Burn bans have proven to
be effective in improving air quality, particularly when they are issued in
conjunction with burn bans called for adjacent counties by State and local air
agencies. In March 2008, Region 10 received delegation from the EPA
Administrator for the authority to promulgate revisions to the FARR.
EPA Hosts Alaska Tribal Air Quality Workshop:
In November 2007, Region 10 and OAQPS hosted an air quality workshop in
Anchorage for Tribes in Alaska. The workshop focused on building
relationships between Tribes, EPA, and the Alaska Department of
Environmental Conservation through interactive discussions on the different
ways to address air quality problems.
OAWT Gets Feedback on the Value of Tribal Solid Waste Plans:
I The OAWT RCRA Tribal Waste Team funded the Alaska
Native Tribal Health Consortium to get feedback from
Alaska tribes on solid waste plans and the value of the
planning process. The results showed that plans are
useful for most tribes - 90% of tribes with plans or in the
process of writing them reported their plans to be
somewhat or very useful. The results also showed that
Villages with a written plan were 8.6 times more likely to
have made solid waste improvements than those who
6
Pumphouse Road Tire Pile, Photo by EPA.
were not sure or in still in the process of writing a plan. These findings are
helpful to OAWT and can help inform the national Office of Solid Waste tribal
waste program.
Eight Open Dumps Cleaned Up at Yakama Nation:
This year Yakama Nation,
with technical assistance
from the OAWT RCRA Tribal
Waste Team and funding from
EPA and Washington State
Department of Ecology,
cleaned up and closed 8
illegal open dumps, including
the tire pile pictured at left.
3625 tons of waste, including
360,000 tires, was removed
for proper disposal. The tire
project at Yakama Nation has
paved the way for other tribes
to partner with the state to
remove tires. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are consolidating
waste tires for removal by the state in the fall of 2008.
OAWT Funds Highly Successful Meth Lab Waste Training:
The OAWT RCRA Tribal Waste Team has helped fund a new training course to
teach tribal staff how to identify abandoned meth labs and properly deal with
the hazardous waste products of this activity. The Tribal Solid Waste Advisory
Network (TSWAN) and the University of Washington teamed up to present the
three day training which included classroom work and hands-on mock mobile
methamphetamine scenes set up by the Washington State Patrol Drug Task
Force. This training was extremely successful with many participants saying it
was the best training course they had ever taken. The success of the training is
attributed to the use of hands-on mock scenes where students visually identify
and actively assess the hazards of the meth lab waste products. Tribes from
across the country are contacting TSWAN seeking this training and Cherokee
Nation is pursuing a training partnership to expand the effort.
Tribal Solid Waste Circuit Riders Reach Out to Alaskan Villages:
In FY2008, the RCRA Tribal
Waste Team circuit riders
provided in-person technical
assistance to over a dozen
villages and tribes throughout
the region. Circuit riders
traveled over 2600 miles,
visited 11 dump sites and
landfills, assessed and
inventoried solid waste site
conditions, and met with tribal and village contacts. In addition, circuit riders
teamed up with the Alaska Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North
America, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, and regional
health corporations in Alaska to deliver Rural Alaska Landfill Operator Training
courses in Bethel and Dillingham. The extensive on-the-ground experience and
knowledge of the circuit riders is a key factor in their success and ability to
build lasting relationships with tribes.
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Work at Hanford, Photo by Dept. of Energy.
Technical Assistance/ Oversight for Hanford Cleanup:
The Hanford Federal Facility
is one of the most complex,
I challenging, and
environmentally-significant
waste sites in the nation, and
perhaps the world. The 586
square mile Hanford
reservation housed the
world's first full-scale nuclear
reactor and produced the first
plutonium for the nation's
nuclear arsenal. Since shut-
down of production activities
in 1988 and 1989, the sole
mission of Hanford is cleanup of production facilities, infrastructure, waste
disposal units and the resulting contaminated soils and ground water in the
area.
Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) oversees the non-Superfund
cleanup and waste management activities at Hanford. The OAWT role includes
program planning and tracking, oversight of the Hanford Dangerous Waste
permit and Ecology's nuclear waste permitting program, technical assistance
for thermal treatment and risk assessment at Hanford's Waste Treatment Plant,
and support for PCS cleanup.
In FY2008, OAWT focused resources on state program support and oversight,
including working toward the critical re-issuance of the Hanford Dangerous
Waste permit. OAWT management and staff worked closely throughout the
year with Ecology to provide technical assistance and to ensure that the
Hanford dangerous waste program and re-issued permit will effectively regulate
waste management, closure and corrective action. Ecology has already made
considerable strides toward a successful re-issue of the Hanford Dangerous
Waste permit.
BP Exploration (ALASKA) Inc. Corrective Action Order on Consent:
~ In FY2008, the RCRA
Corrective Action and Permits
team completed negotiations
and issued a 3008(h) Order
M to BP Exploration (ALASKA)
• jjfjl 1 Inc. (BPXA). The Order
requires investigation and
cleanup of releases at or from
BPXA's Prudhoe Bay facility
on the North Slope of Alaska.
The Order establishes an
innovative process for
effectively managing
thousands of units which are at different phases of investigation and/or cleanup
and are located throughout the site's 385 square miles.
Work at Prudhoe Bay Facility, Photo by EPA.
Velco Corrective Action Complete:
In FY2008, the RCRA Corrective Action and Permits Team completed
corrective action at the Velco Facility in Eugene, Oregon. The Facility has filed
an Easement and Equitable Servitudes with Lane County to ensure that the
portion of the property where manufacturing occurred will not be used for
residential purposes. Completion of corrective action enabled Region 10 and
the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to terminate the 21-year-old
3008(h) Order.
Federal Green Challenge Launched:
On Earth Day 2008, EPA launched the Federal Green
Challenge - a project that asks federal facilities in Region
10 to reduce their carbon footprints. Facilities are
challenged to set a goal of at least a 5% reduction in the
next year in two of the four focus areas: energy,
transportation, waste, and water. The program provides
tools to establish a baseline, work toward reductions, and
measure results at year end. Challenge-takers will share
results with each other and the public, and even get
recognized through the Champions of Green Government Recognition
program.
Reaching Out - Digitally:
~ This year, the Waste
Reduction, Resource
Conservation and
Stewardship Team decided to
test reaching out and
educating our customers
without creating the
environmental impacts of a
meeting. To that end, we
have hosted two webinar
series-the RCC Web
Academy and the West Coast
Forum on Climate Change,
Waste Prevention, Recovery and Disposal. We have reached an average of
350 people per webinar. Total attendance at the 12 webinars has topped 4,000.
If we had tried to reach these people by conventional methods, we
conservatively estimate 350 people would have had to travel to at least two
meetings - spending $500 and traveling 500 miles on each meeting. That
would have created 457,000 pounds of carbon equivalent GHGs and required
participants to spend about $350,000. We actually spent less than 10% of the
total with an average cost of $8.25 per person per webinar. Not only did we
save the environment and money, our customers loved it. On average, across
all the webinars, 97% of participants thought it was useful and over 60% said
that they were going to act on something they learned.
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Lead Program Tackles Renovation and Repair Work:
»rk:
CJilfef
M2 ^
-EAD
Awareness
Program
This year, EPA promulgated a major new component of the Lead Program - the
most important effort in the last decade to help fight lead poisoning in children.
The OAWT Lead Program now regulates renovation, repair and painting in
order to reduce lead hazards created from this type of work. This represents a
huge expansion of the program and the OAWT Lead Team is taking an active
role to strategize for success. The Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance has estimated that there are approximately 7-15 million regulated
renovation, repair and painting events per year nationally.
The OAWT Lead Team has been involved since the very start - participating on
the rule development workgroup that helped write the rule. In addition, the team
worked proactively to create a communications strategy and conduct extensive
outreach and compliance assistance throughout the region with states, tribes
and local governments. Management and staff have met with representatives
from Idaho, Oregon and Washington state agencies to plan for possible
delegation of the program. Because the program has the potential to generate
annual licensing fees, states are taking a serious look at running the renovation
program.
QAWT Works to Improve TRI Data Quality:
In FY 2008, the Toxics
Release Inventory (TRI)
Program provided direct
assistance to 98 facilities to
improve TRI data quality
reported to EPA. The validity
of TRI data is crucial because
it is used by the public, non-
governmental organizations,
and government agencies to
protect the health of the
public- particularly vulnerable
populations. Importantly,
program offices throughout
EPA actively use TRI data in
efforts to identify toxic chemical sources to assist with regulatory and other
pollution control activities.
10
Coordinating with Yakama Nation and Yakima County on Asbestos
Waste:
OAWT came to an agreement with Yakama Nation, Yakima County Solid Waste
Department, and the Yakima County Landfill regarding a long standing
asbestos disposal issues. As a result of the agreement, EPA will act as the
receiver of demolition/renovation notifications and waste shipment records from
activities on tribal lands at Yakama Nation. This information will then be shared
with Yakima County by the Yakama Nation. While this is not required per the
NESHAP, resolving notification and disposal and protecting human health was
paramount to the positive outcome. OAWT is working with Yakama Nation to
develop Standard Operating Procedures that will satisfy all parties, stay within
the regulatory requirements of the NESHAP, and ensure coordination to protect
human health.
Protecting Firefighters from Potential Asbestos Exposure:
~ In FY2008, OAWT worked
cooperatively with the Oregon
Department of Environment
Quality (ODEQ) to clarify the
residential burning
requirements of the federal
Asbestos National Emission
Standards for Hazardous Air
Pollutants (NESHAP). Many
home owners donate
unwanted residential
buildings to local fire
departments for training
purposes, or "Burn to
Learns." While these are
great training opportunities, there are regulations that apply and must be
followed before the burn training can commence.
The asbestos NESHAP requires an asbestos survey be conducted and
asbestos found to be removed prior to burning - the temperature of a burning
structure is normally not hot enough to destroy asbestos fibers that may be
present, thereby causing potential exposure to the firefighters and others in the
area. Once this clarification was brought to the attention of the ODEQ, they
immediately took steps to correct their procedures to ensure compliance with
federal regulations and protect citizens.
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•Contact Information •
Rick Albright, Director
Office of Air, Waste and Toxics
Ph: 206-553-1847
Janis Hastings, Associate Director
Office of Air, Waste and Toxics
Ph: 206-553-1582
Laura Castrilli, Contact
Corrective Action Permits Team
Ph: 206-553-4323
Nancy Helm, Unit Manager
Federal and Delegated Air Programs Unit
Ph: 206-553-6908
Lisa McArthur, Unit Manager
Resource Management and State Programs Unit
Ph: 206-553-1814
Christina Colt, Unit Manager
Solid Waste and Toxics Unit
Ph: 206-553-0058
Mahbubul Islam, Unit Manager
State and Tribal Air Programs Unit
Ph: 206-553-6985
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