• EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of the Administrator [Mail Code 11011 EPA-100-F-00-002 February 2000 (http://www.epa.gov) Project XL: Albuquerque Pretreatment Project PE I NV E » 'I C t WHAT IS PROJECT XL? SUMMARY OF THE ALBUQUERQUE PROJECT SUPERIOR ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE FLEXIBILITY 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. 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. It is vital that each project tests new ideas with the potential for wide application and broad environmental benefits. As of January 2000, eighteen pilot experiments are being implemented and thirty-five additional projects are in various stages of development This project aims to reduce the amount of pollutants released into the environment from industries and businesses in Albuquerque by integrating pollution prevention (P2) activities with the existing Industrial Pretreatment Program (IPP). The City of Albuquerque's proposal allows the present IPP program to shift resources from certain less productive requirements towards innovative activities likely to yield superior environmental results. Albuquerque will also initiate a variety of outreach efforts designed to increase the number of businesses using P2 techniques. The Final Project Agreement (FPA), EPAs nineteenth XL project, was signed on February 3, 2000. Albuquerque will attempt to initially reduce loadings of aluminum, cadmium, chromium, copper, cyanide, fluoride, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, silver, and zinc by 10 - 25%. In addition to reducing pollution loadings for these 13 pollutants of concern and improving the area's overall water quality, this project will reduce mass and concentration loadings of influent, effluent and biosolids. To help reach these goals, Albuquerque plans to increase the number of businesses using P2 techniques by 25 new businesses per year. Albuquerque will modify some permits for burden reduction, replace certain permits with general use permits, and revise its enforcement response plan. These changes will allow Albuquerque to shift resources to cover P2 outreach and other costs associated with reducing certain pollutants by 10-25%. Page 1 ------- STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT APPROACHES TO BE TESTED CONTACTS Albuquerque held public meetings to request input on the project. These meetings were publicized through local newspapers and personal contacts. Comments on the project and EPA's response are attached to the FPA. Is sewer sub-basin monitoring a better method to determine where certain pollutants predominate in a watersshed? FOR ELECTRONIC INFORMATION Regional Contacts: EPA/XL HQ: State Contacts: Project Sponsor: Adele Cardenas Chad Carbone Patricia Gallagher Robert Hogrefe 214-665-7210 202-260-4296 505-827-0677 505-873-7030 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. Page 2 ------- |