EM News Focus

42 May 2004EM

EMNews Focus

Clean Air Act Advisory Committee to Study Waysto Revise State Implementation Plan ProcessThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) CleanAir Act (CAA) Advisory Committee will study ways to trans-form, and possibly replace, the process by which statesformulate detailed plans for implementing the CAA’s re-quirements. “Now is the time to think again on the CleanAir Act,” said Rob Brenner, deputy assistant EPA adminis-trator for air and radiation, in announcing the study at aMarch 24 advisory committee meeting. The committee willestablish a special subcommittee, Brenner said, to reviewthe recommendations in a Jan. 29 report issued by the Na-tional Research Council on Air Quality Management in theUnited States. The report said the nation has made tremen-dous progress in reducing air pollution since the CAA wasenacted in 1970, but that significant challenges remain. Thesubcommittee will study several of the report’s recommenda-tions, including transformation of the state implementation plan(SIP) process. SIPs describe how states will attain EPA air qual-ity standards for a variety of pollutants and how theymaintain compliance.

Focus on Five RecommendationsBrenner sent a memorandum March 5 to committee membersproposing that the subcommittee focus on five recommend-ations in the National Research Council report:

• strengthening scientific and technical capacity, such asenhanced air pollution monitoring and improved moni-toring;

• expanding national and multistate pollution controlstrategies, in place of single-state programs;

• transforming the SIP process by replacing the plans withmultipollutant air quality management plans;

• developing integrated programs for criteria and hazard-ous air pollutants; and

• enhancing the protection of ecosystems and the publicwelfare.

At the meeting, Brenner proposed asking the subcommit-tee to complete its study of how these recommendations canbe implemented by the end of the year. Anyone on the advi-sory committee may serve on the new subcommittee, Brennersaid, and it will solicit participation from a range of stake-holders in industry, state and local governments, andenvironmental groups. Brenner told BNA the subcommitteewill study possible responses to the National Research Coun-cil report, but not make recommendations for wholesalereforms to the CAA.

S. William Becker, executive director of the State and Terri-torial Air Pollution Program Administrators and Association of

Local Air Pollution Control Officials, told BNA that replac-ing the SIP process with a set of specific requirements foreach industry across a range of pollutants would improveair quality, while reducing the bureaucracy involved in en-forcing the CAA. It also would increase certainty for industry,Becker said.

Task Force on Title V

At the same meeting, William Harnett, director of EPA’s Infor-mation Transfer and Program Integration Division, told BNAthat the agency is planning to convene a task force on imple-mentation of Title V of the CAA. Enacted by Congress in1990, Title V requires states to issue permits to stationarysources establishing all the emissions limits that apply tothem under various CAA programs. Harnett said EPA pro-posed a rule in 1994 on implementation of Title V, but neverfinalized it. The agency realized that before it goes aheadand finalizes the rule, it wants to learn from the experienceof 14 years of issuing Title V permits. Harnett said EPA willpublish a notice in the Federal Register soliciting participa-tion in the task force and also will seek input from a varietyof stakeholders.—by Steve Cook, BNA

Ellis Environmental Group, Gainesville, FL, has been awardedan environmental services contract by the U.S. Air ForceCenter for Environmental Excellence. Ellis and a team ofsubcontractors—Fluor Federal Services, Golder Associates Inc.,Clean Ventures/Cycle Chem, and Austin Brockenbrough &Associates—will share the $10 billion worth of potential workover the next eight years, providing services in the areas ofdesign, construction, and environmental restoration at U.S.Air Force bases worldwide.

Startech Environmental Corp., Wilton, CT, has signed acontract worth more than $34 million with Italian companyFP Immobiliare srl to manufacture and deliver two 50-ton-per-day Plasma Converter Systems to process electronicwaste and specialty waste at a new FP Immobiliare facilitynear Rome.

Business Briefs

News Focus is compiled from the current edition of Environ-

ment Reporter, published by the Bureau of National Affairs

Inc. (BNA). For more information, visit www.bna.com.

May 2004 43EM

Steril-Aire USA Inc., Cerritos, CA, and UltraViolet Devices Inc.,Valencia, CA, have entered into a worldwide nonexclusivelicense agreement, covering a number of Steril-Aire’s patents andUltraViolet Devices’ ALTRU-V products. The license is limited

to certain applications and a subset of the Steril-Aire patentportfolio relating to coil and drain pan irradiation.

Point Carbon, Oslo, Norway, and Environmental SoftwareProviders (ESP), Mountain View, CA, have announced a part-nership, which will provide a cutting-edge package of software

and services to support companies involved with the Euro-pean Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Together,ESP and Point Carbon’s information and technologies will

deliver comprehensive support for EU ETS compliance andrisk management.

AgCert, Alberta, Canada, and ITOCHU Corp. of Japan havesigned an agreement for ITOCHU to market AgCert’s green-house gas emission reductions. Under the agreement, ITOCHU,one of the world’s largest trading companies, will market upto five million tons of AgCert’s carbon dioxide equivalent emis-sion reductions in Japan. ITOCHU will market emissionreductions derived from projects in Canada, Brazil, and Mexicothat are consistent with the Kyoto Protocol.

PERSONALIAA&WMA member Mark McMillan, an environmentalhealth scientist and air quality planner for the ColoradoDepartment of Public Health and Environment in Den-ver, CO, has been appointed as a consultant to the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Science Advi-sory Board. McMillan will be serving on an ad hoc expertpanel advising EPA on its Air Toxics Research Strategyand its Multi-Year Plan.

Advertiser Page No. Reader Service No.

Advanced New Source Review 33 8Apex Instruments Inc. 12 40BGI Inc. 17 6Custom Stack Analysis, LLC 13 5Dürr Environmental Inc. 3 3Enviance Cover III 9IUAPPA 27 7Lakes Environmental Software Inc. Cover II 1Thermo Electron Corporation 1 2

5 4Trinity Consultants Inc. Cover IV 10

Advertisers’ Index

Theories, Methodologies,Computational Techniques,and Available Databasesand Software

Volume I - Fundamentals

AIR QUALITYMODELING

from the Air & WasteManagement Associationand the EnviroCompInstitute

A must-have reference for modelers,instructors, and air quality specialists,featuring:

• An overview of air modelingfundamentals

• Case studies and profiles of activemodeling groups

• Comprehensive lists of availablesoftware and databases

Available in book or CD-ROM.

For more information and to purchasea copy, please visit the A&WMA Book-store at www.awma.org/bookstore orcall 1-412-242-3444.

NEW!

Edited by Paolo Zannetti