Date: January 4, 2010
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has targeted the electric power generation, transmission and distribution industry, along with the petroleum refining, chemical and coal product manufacturing industries, for development of new rules making them accountable for funding of any environmental cleanup from hazardous releases. The announcement comes six months after EPA began similar efforts to regulate financial assurances of hard rock miners and satisfy a February 2009 court order directing EPA to identify industries that would be subject to possible laws requiring companies to prove they can pay for cleanups under the Superfund law. According to the EPA, the chemical manufacturing industry generates about 19.8 million tons of hazardous waste and the petroleum and coal products industry generates 4.2 million tons. Coal ash is currently exempt from reporting as a waste, but EPA has committed to writing new rules to address what it calls "the significant cleanup costs that can be generated by this industry sector." The three industries combined contribute about 25 percent, 530 million pounds, of the total amount of on-site releases of hazardous substances, according to EPA. Hard rock mining represents the other 75 percent, EPA said. The agency expects to have the hard rock-mining financial obligation rulemaking finalized by 2011 but did not provide any such timeline for the three newly named industries.
EPA said it is also studying whether to develop financial assurance requirements for the waste management and remediation services, wood product manufacturing, fabricated metal product manufacturing, electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing, and facilities engaged in the recycling of EPA-regulated materials.
EPA PRESS RELEASE:
EPA Identifies Three Industries for Financial Obligations in Cleanup of Environmental Releases
Action is a first step to ensure owners of these facilities, not taxpayers, foot bill for the cleanup of environmental releases
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken a significant step in an effort to help reduce the need for federal taxpayers to fund the cleanup of environmental releases. The agency has identified three additional industry sectors for which it will begin the regulatory development process for any necessary financial assurance requirements: the chemical manufacturing industry; the petroleum and coal products manufacturing industry, which primarily includes refineries and not coal mines; and the electric power generation, transmission, and distribution industry.
Financial assurance requirements help ensure that owners and operators of facilities are able to pay for cleanup of environmental releases and help reduce the number of sites that need to be cleaned up by federal taxpayers through the Superfund program.
The identification of these industry sectors is part of EPA's effort under Section 108(b) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as the Superfund law, to examine if financial assurance requirements will help promote better environmental outcomes. The action announced today is not a proposed rule or a final regulation.
EPA selected these particular industries based on a variety of information sources. These include the types of sites listed on the Superfund National Priorities List, which is intended to guide the EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation under the federal Superfund program, as well as data on hazardous waste generation from the National Biennial Report and data from the Toxics Release Inventory.
Last July, EPA issued a notice that identified the hard-rock mining industry as its priority for the initiation of the regulatory development process for financial responsibility requirements. EPA plans to propose any appropriate financial responsibility rules by spring of 2011 for classes of facilities within the hard-rock mining industry. For the sectors identified today, EPA also will begin the regulatory process for developing appropriate financial assurance requirements.
In addition, EPA has identified the following additional classes of facilities that require further study in order for the agency to decide whether to develop proposed regulations: waste management and remediation services, wood product manufacturing, fabricated metal product manufacturing, electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing, and facilities engaged in the recycling of materials containing CERCLA hazardous substances.
EPA will be accepting public comment on this notice for 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register.
More information: www.epa.gov/superfund/policy/financialresponsibility/index.html.
Contact Information: Latisha Petteway, petteway.latisha@epa.gov, 202-564-3191, 202-564-4355
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