Stephen L. Johnson, Associate Deputy Assistant Administrator (September 1999)
Remarks by Stephen L. Johnson
Associate Deputy Assistant Administrator
EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances
Local Government Advisory Committee and
Small Community Advisory Committee Meeting
Alexandria, VA
September 9, 1999
Introduction
It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you, Diane, for giving me this opportunity
to join EPA's other program offices, and for the opportunity to talk about
some of the areas in the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic
Substances where we would welcome the input and involvement of local
governments.
I. Pesticides
Local governments are affected by pesticide issues in a number of ways. For
example, because most local governments purchase and apply pesticides to
public property, they are significant pesticide users. They also often have
responsibility for carrying out state-mandated waste disposal programs --
which can be problem when pesticides are involved.
-- For this reason we welcome local government involvement with our
Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP). This is a voluntary
program in which EPA forms partnerships with a wide variety of public and
private organizations to promote pollution prevention strategies, and the use
of Integrated Pest Management, or IPM - an approach to pest control that
aims to reduce reliance on the use of toxic pesticides.
-- Current PESP partners include about a half dozen local governments and
municipal agencies, ranging from one of our local community governments
-- Chevy Chase, Maryland -- to a consortium of nearly 20 water and waste
management agencies from the communities surrounding San Francisco
Bay.
-- The San Francisco Bay Area Storm Water Management Agencies Association illustrates the value of local government involvement. This
group of agencies discovered that urban -- not agricultural -- runoff into the
Bay included enough pesticide residues to pose risks to the Bay's
ecosystem.
-- This group has worked very creatively with local hardware and gardening
stores to educate consumers in ways to minimize urban pesticide runoff.
-- We know that pesticide runoff is a major problem in many areas, and the
way the Bay association tackled this specific local problem could be
replicated across the country.
Another PESP member is the New York City Board of Education, which
raises the issue of pesticides in schools. Schools are significant users of
pesticides. And since our children may face pesticide exposure in schools,
there is growing public interest in schools' adopting IPM/reduced pesticide
approaches.
-- In some states there have been legislative campaigns to mandate IPM in
schools, but in most places these are voluntary efforts that depend on local
interest and local agencies to seek out EPA or state agency assistance to help
design IPM pest control strategies for their schools.
-- This is an opportunity for community action and for you to let us know
how we can best reach schools with the IPM message.
I mentioned that pesticides can pose thorny problems for waste disposal,
which is often a local responsibility. EPA is currently involved with other
agencies in a Consumer Labeling Initiative -- or "CLI" as it's known. CLI is
designed to improve labeling of many consumer products including
pesticides. The instructions for disposal of pesticide products are sometimes
at odds with state regulations.
-- By participating in the CLI, several local governments have given EPA
valuable information that has helped the Agency to understand the practical
realities of local waste disposal.
-- We hope that this flow of information continues. Knowing what does and
does not work at the local level is invaluable to federal regulators.
We have learned that information on proper use of pesticides needs to be
targeted to specific groups and communities. One of the more disturbing
pesticide issues we have encountered in recent years was the illegal
diversion and use of a very toxic agricultural pesticide for residential pest
control in very low-income communities. This use has occurred in both
rural communities and in large cities. The cost of clean-up or total
replacement of homes contaminated in these incidents a few years ago was
close to $100 million.
-- EPA is working with a number of state and local governments to educate
targeted groups from elementary schools to nursing homes about proper use
of pesticides.
-- We could use your input on how we can best reach citizens and other
groups with this information. ( Contact: Kennan Garvey 703-305-7106).
II. Chemicals
Under the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, we review all new
chemicals before they can be produced or imported, and maintain a database
of all chemicals in commerce in the United States. We can require additional
testing for chemicals of concern, and we focus our regulatory efforts on
several highly toxic chemicals, such as PCBs, lead and dioxin.
-- A new voluntary program is underway in which industry is making
available health and environmental effects information on the
approximately 2,800 High Production Volume chemicals that are used in
millions of consumer products and emitted into the atmosphere. If the
information is not available, the company producing the chemical will either
voluntary conduct the testing or EPA in many cases will require it under a
rule that we hope to issue by the end of this year. This is the first time that
this information will be generally available to the public for the chemicals
most widely used in the United States.
-- As this health and environmental effects information begins coming in
over the next couple of years, we will be making it available to citizens via
the Internet.
-- We would like local governments to advise us on how to prepare citizens
for the influx of this information, how best to present the information, and
how to get the word out that it is available. (Contact: Barbara Leczynski
202-260-3945).
III. TRI
Our office also operates the Toxics Release Inventory, with which I believe
you are all familiar. This program is moving to a new office at EPA that will
handle only information, but TRI will continue to operate as it does now,
and we will continue in our efforts to expand it. Two regulations are pending
now that will add several new chemicals to the TRI list and lower the
reporting thresholds for others. The first regulation targets PBTs, or
persistent bioaccumulative toxics, such as mercury and dioxins and furans,
which persist in the environment, bioaccumulating in animals and humans
as they move up the food chain. The other rule would lower the reporting
threshold for lead emissions.
-- EPA is always interested in learning from local users how we can improve
TRI's overall presentation to make it more useful -- for example, should we
be presenting it in a different format or providing different analyses of the
information? We also need your advice on how we can best advertise its
existence and teach citizens how to access and use it. (Contact: Christine
Augustiniak 202 260-3949).
IV. Lead
-- As you are probably aware, Title X of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1992, which amended TSCA, provided a
comprehensive national approach to dealing with lead-based paint in the
nation's housing and assigned to EPA a major leadership role.
-- At its core, the law seeks to empower citizens with information so they can
take steps to protect themselves and their families. Specifically, it gave
citizens the right to know about lead in a home or apartment before buying
or renting. And as of last June, a rule went into effect requiring renovators to
give homeowners and tenants information on how to protect themselves
from lead hazards before a renovation begins.
-- Under Section 402 of Title X, EPA has established lead abatement training and
certification/standards. So far 27 states have been authorized to conduct programs
for certifying and training for lead abatement. These states receive annual grants
totaling $13 million to run the programs. We would like to see more states step
forward, and I hope that you could bring that message home with you. We are now
considering broadening the certification and training rules to cover renovations.
-- Under Section 403 of Title X, EPA proposed standards for lead in soil and dust, and we hope to make that rule final ......
-- The fact is that despite much progress, nearly one million children continue to
have unsafe levels of blood, and the recent survey shows that blood lead levels
remain higher among children in low-income families, especially those living in
older, deteriorated housing.
-- Most of the problem can be traced to ingesting lead dust from peeling and
chipping paint. We would appreciate your advice on how best to deliver the
message that these types of exposures can be reduced or avoided.
-- We need your advice, not only on the best media to deliver the message --
such as TV, through libraries, schools, churches, or doctors -- but on the
message itself. What are the words and symbols that will be most effective
in the communities we are trying to reach? These communities are often
located urban low-income areas in which a majority of residents may be
people of color and Hispanics, as well as in lower income rural
communities. (Contact: Clarence Lewis 202-260-2850).
V. Pollution Prevention
Most broadly our pollution prevention office is charged with implementing
the 1990 Pollution Prevention Act, which made the goal of eliminating
sources of pollution a national policy. Our office has operated numerous
programs -- including TRI, PESP, and Design for the Environment-- to
promote the use of safer chemicals and technologies.
-- Although local governments are involved in many of these pollution
prevention efforts, our P2 program is especially interested in hearing from
you on local governments' experience with "green" procurement.
-- EPA is responsible for federal green procurement, but we're very
interested in also reaching local governments. EPA has established a
program with the National Association of Counties to encourage "green"
procurement on the local level. Any information you could supply on how
local governments are approaching "green" procurement would help make
this program more effective.
-- We would like to know, for example, if local governments need
information from us or standards for "green" products. (Contact: David
Kling 202-260-3575 or Julie Shannon 202-260-2736)
