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Greenbytes: November 9, 2005 Edition

In this Issue

Greetings from EPA New England. We hope you find this edition of Greenbytes useful and we encourage you to give us feedback. For information on subscribing or unsubscribing see the section at the end of this message.


Feature: Green and Clean Heating Tips
Robert W. Varney, Regional Administrator, EPA New England

With projections for an exceptionally cold December and January in the Old Farmers Almanac, and almost daily news reports warning of sharply rising heating costs, every New Englander is preparing for an expensive heating season. While encouraging energy efficiency and conservation, EPA’s New England office wants to remind residents that there are environmental and health concerns associated with some heating sources.

All combustion sources, like your furnace, fireplace or wood stove, produce carbon monoxide. This gas is odorless and tasteless so our senses don’t detect it even at lethal levels. Early signs of overexposure are easily missed because these same symptoms - dizziness, headaches, fatigue and nausea - mimic those of the flu. Generally, carbon monoxide is vented outside the home through a chimney or exhaust vent and is not a problem. However, if exhaust systems are not properly designed or well maintained, this poisonous gas can remain within the living space.

Some heating sources create a risk for carbon-monoxide poisoning when improperly used. Some improper uses include opening gas-oven doors for spot heating, using propane space heaters in areas that are not well ventilated, and venting gas-fired dryers into living spaces. While no one wants to heat the outside, it is essential that combustion sources requiring ventilation are not used in confined spaces.

Due to high fuel prices, heating with wood is being promoted as a cost-saving, renewable source of energy. However, heating with wood may emit more pollutants into the air than the heat sources it replaces (e.g., oil or natural gas). Burning wood produces smoke, which contains particle pollution and other contaminants. Particle pollution is especially a concern because it can cause serious health effects, especially in children and older people. Exposure to particles can aggravate lung disease, causing asthma attacks and acute bronchitis, and may also increase susceptibility to respiratory infections.

Use of EPA-certified wood or pellet stoves that are properly installed produce less particle pollution than older stoves and can be a good supplement to an oil or gas furnace. All wood stoves manufactured since 1988 must be EPA certified, which means they use 1/3 less wood than older stoves to produce the same heat. And EPA-certified wood stoves emit 50 to 60 percent less air pollution. EPA-certified stoves are easy to identify because they carry a special label and hang tag.

Some wood-burning devices, however, such as outdoor wood-fired boilers can produce large quantities of air pollutants. These boilers, which are becoming more popular in some areas, typically consist of a firebox that heats water in a steel sleeve around their outer walls. The water is then piped into a nearby building to provide heat, hot water or both. Although the concept may be appealing, these boilers commonly produce excessive amounts of smoke and can negatively impact nearby residences.

It is also important to properly weatherize your home. Insufficient insulation and gaps around doors and windows can make a home even colder in the winter. Sealing gaps and holes can cut down on heating needs from wood stoves.

Here are just a few tips to follow for a healthy heating season:

For more information visit: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/combust.html .

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Brief Bytes

Rule Finalized to Help States Reduce Ozone Pollution to Meet Stronger Federal Standards
Rules and guidance released this week outline for state, local and tribal governments how to develop plans to reduce ozone pollution in areas that do not meet EPA's health-based standards. The Phase 2 Ozone Implementation Rule signifies EPA's commitment to working with communities to develop cost effective plans to address ozone pollution by outlining emissions control and planning requirements for states to address as they develop their plans showing how they will reduce ozone pollution to meet the 8-hour ozone standard.

A recent EPA analysis found that full attainment of the 8-hour ozone standard will annually help avoid hundreds of premature deaths, thousands of hospital admissions, hundreds of asthma emergency room visits, more than one million restricted activity days, and more than 900,000 school absences.

The Phase 2 Rule requires states to demonstrate through modeling that nonattainment areas will attain the 8-hour standard as expeditiously as practicable. These demonstrations must include data on reasonably available control measures and reasonably available control technologies. The rule also outlines new source review requirements for areas not meeting the 8-hour standard. The Phase 2 rule also includes a requirement that certain areas now using cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline (RFG) must continue to use RFG until they meet the 8-hour standard and are designated as attainment. In addition, areas that were previously reclassified as "severe" for the 1-hour standard, and did not attain the 1-hour standard before it was revoked, must continue to use reformulated gas at least until they attain the 8-hour standard.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/ozonedesignations

New Hispanic Environmental Health Website
EPA has launched a new website in Spanish dedicated to providing information on different environmental issues and their effects among Hispanics residing in the United States. The new page, "El medio ambiente y su salud" (The Environment and Your Health), will focus on a different issue every month. For the first month in this series the key issue is asthma. In this new page, EPA offers general information about the disease, its environmental triggers, asthma FAQs, and environmental health studies of Hispanics and asthma.

In future months EPA will have similar pages on other environmental health issues of special concern to Hispanics such as lead poisoning prevention, radon, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and mold, among others. This new website presents information both in Spanish and English. It is part of the agency's overall efforts to educate Hispanics, researchers and health care providers on how environmental health issues affect the different Hispanic communities throughout the nation.

To view this new page, "El medio ambiente y su salud," visit: http://www.epa.gov/espanol/asma.htm

This new page is part of EPA's Spanish portal. To view EPA's consolidated Spanish site, visit: http://www.epa.gov/espanol/

Brownfields Development To Be Accelerated
The “All Appropriate Inquiries” rule, announced by EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson recently at the national Brownfields Conference in Denver, is expected to increase private cleanups of brownfield properties while reducing urban sprawl, affecting more than 250,000 commercial real estate transactions nationwide annually. The rule's process of evaluating a property for potential environmental contamination and assessing potential liability for any contamination at the property increases certainty of Superfund liability protection, and improves information about environmental conditions of properties.

The rule was developed collaboratively with stakeholders representing diverse constituencies such as realtors, bankers, environmental interest groups, the retail industry, environmental justice organizations, and state, tribal and local governments. Over the last decade, EPA's brownfields program has attracted more than $7 billion in public and private investments for the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield properties in cities and towns across the nation, creating more than 33,000 thousand jobs. During this time, more than 7,000 properties have been assessed for environmental contamination.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

New Web Address for Pesticide Product Database
EPA’s Pesticide Product Database, formerly available through the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, will now be available through Purdue University’s Center for Environmental Regulatory Information Services. This interactive database offers brief registration information on approximately 90,000 pesticide products, including registration number and name, company number and name, registration date, cancellation date and reason (if canceled), and EPA product manager name and phone number. Also offered are databases containing chemical ingredient information, searchable by common, technical, synonym, CAS number, or trade names, and firm information, searchable by firm number or name.

The new URL is: http://ppis.ceris.purdue.edu/ Click icon for EPA disclaimer..

Tool Helps States Show Air Quality Improvements from Commuter Programs
With new guidance from EPA, state and local air pollution control agencies can demonstrate air quality improvements from commuter programs that encourage carpooling, public transit or other commuting alternatives that cut emissions by reducing the number of cars on the road. EPA released its guidance document to use in determining pollution reductions for their State Implementation Plans (SIPs) and transportation conformity determinations required by the Clean Air Act. EPA is also releasing its updated COMMUTER Model, which is a software tool for estimating the benefits of these programs, such as changes in vehicle miles traveled, emissions, and fuel consumption.

Programs like EPA's Best Workplaces for Commuters (http://www.bwc.gov) cut the number of vehicles on the roads, leading to reductions in air pollution. Best Workplaces for Commuters is a partnership program between EPA and the U.S. Department of Transportation, and private and public-sector employers throughout the country. Transportation planners use these types of reductions in SIP and conformity determinations. Areas that are do not meet federal standards for particulate matter and ozone may be eligible to use these credits as they demonstrate how they will meet EPA's national air quality standards.

Many tools are available for quantifying the effectiveness of voluntary emission control measures. One of them is the newly revised COMMUTER Model. The model will allow planners to calculate their emission credits by including information such as number of employees, trip length, local travel information, vehicle fleet mix, and season. The model can also be used to forecast changes in emissions, vehicle miles traveled, and volume and value of fuel saved.

The document "Guidance for Quantifying and Using Emission Reductions from Best Workplaces for Commuter Programs in State Implementation Plans and Transportation Conformity Determinations," as well as the COMMUTER model and user manuals are available at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/conform/policy.htm

WasteWise Partners Reduce Waste; Increase Recycling
EPA recently recognized 34 WasteWise partners, including several Massachusetts businesses, for significant waste reduction and recycling achievements. Now in its eleventh year, WasteWise is a voluntary partnership that promotes reducing, reusing, and recycling waste. WasteWise partners design their own waste reduction programs to achieve both environmental and economic benefits that suit their individual needs. Partners now number over 1,400, with 250 endorsers. Through their combined waste reduction activities, partners have eliminated more than 65 million metric tons of carbon equivalent--roughly the same as keeping about 52 million cars off the road for one year.

The list of awardees is at: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/reduce/wstewise/about/win05.htm

More information: http://www.epa.gov/wastewise/

Annual Report: Acid Rain Program Maintains Air Pollution Cuts
Widely acknowledged as one of the most successful environmental programs in U.S. history, EPA’s Acid Rain Program has significantly reduced acid deposition in the U.S. by cutting sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from power plants. The newly released Acid Rain Program 2004 Progress Report describes the environmental advances and public health, technology, and market-based improvements accomplished by the program.

In 2004, electric power generation sources reduced their annual SO2 emissions by about 34 percent - a decrease of over 5 million tons when compared to 1990 levels. Compared to 1980 levels, SO2 emissions from power plants have dropped by 7 million tons, or more than 40 percent. NOx emissions were down by about 3 million tons since 1990 and had decreased to nearly half the level anticipated without the Acid Rain Program. Other NOx regulations that also affect power plants, such as the NOx Budget Trading Program in the eastern United States, also contributed to this reduction.

The Acid Rain Program has provided the most complete and accurate emissions data ever developed under a federal air pollution control program, and it made that data available and accessible for agencies, researchers, affected sources, and the public by using comprehensive electronic data reporting and Web-based tools. The program is recognized as a leader in delivering e-government, automating administrative processes, reducing paper use, and providing online systems for doing business with EPA. The program has resulted in nearly 100 percent compliance through rigorous emissions monitoring and allowance tracking, and an automatic, easily-understood penalty system for noncompliance.

Most importantly, these emission reductions have led both to significant cuts in acid deposition and remarkable health benefits for people. In 2004, sulfur dioxide and sulfate concentration levels in atmospheric deposition (key indicators of acid rain) continued to be approximately 30 percent less than pre-Acid Rain Program levels. Levels were cut by even greater amounts, approximately 50 percent, in certain areas. The emission reductions to date have resulted in reduced formation of fine particles, improved air quality, and ecosystem protection.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/cmprpt/arp04/index.html

Approach Finalized to Ensure Endangered Species Protection From Pesticides
EPA has finalized its approach to field implementation of the agency's Endangered Species Protection Program for pesticides. The goal of the program is to carry out EPA's responsibilities under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act in compliance with the Endangered Species Act, while at the same time not placing an unnecessary burden on agriculture and other pesticide users. If EPA determines that use of a pesticide poses a risk of harm to listed species or their designated critical habitat that merits additional restriction, the pesticide label will refer the user to the Endangered Species Protection Bulletins, which contain the enforceable, geographically-specific use limitations for the pesticide. These bulletins, which will be available by web or phone, will generally include a map of the county or parish to which it applies, a description of the species being protected, a list of the pesticides of concern and their use limitations. This approach is intended to ensure that use of the pesticide will not jeopardize the species or adversely modify critical habitat.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/espp/

EPA Calls for Speakers at 2006 National Environmental Partnership Summit
The EPA-sponsored National Environmental Partnership Summit, planned for May 8-11, 2006 in Atlanta, Ga., is issuing a call for speakers. The theme of the summit, which draws environmental leaders and innovators from every level of government, industry, and the non-governmental community, is: “Stewardship in Action: Our Responsibility - Our Environment.” Proposals are being accepted on pollution prevention, compliance assistance, superior environmental performance and sustainability.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/assistance/networking/forum/index.html

Nominations Being Accepted for Prestigious "Green Chemistry" Awards
Nominations for the 2006 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards are now being accepted. These awards recognize innovative chemical technologies that incorporate green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture and use -- and that have broad applications in industry. Nominated technologies should reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances from a chemical product or process. Any individual, group or organization, both nonprofit and for-profit, including academics, government and industry, may nominate a green chemistry technology for these awards. Self-nominations are welcome and expected. Typically, five awards are given each year: one to an academic researcher, one to a small business, and the others to larger companies for specific areas of green chemistry. Each nominated technology must have reached a significant milestone within the past five years in the United States. Nominations must be postmarked by Dec. 31 , to be eligible for the 2006 awards, which will be presented at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., on June 26, 2006.

Examples of last year's nominations and award winners:
http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/docs/award_entries_and_recipients2005.pdf

More information: http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/howto.html

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Press Releases

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Meetings & Conferences

Index of November meetings

Index of December meetings

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What's New on the Web

RSS Now Available for EPA New England info:

Job Opportunity - NPDES permits

Storm Water NOIs - NH

Storm Water NOIs - MA

Air Quality Planning Unit - Contact info

EPCRA - updated info

Electronics recycling outlets - updated

Industri-Plex Superfund Site - Institutional Control document

Raymark site - updated

Peterson/Puritan site (RI) - Blackstone River info pamphlet

GE - Housatonic site - IMPG proposal

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