# U.S. EPA- Priorities and Strategies

for Advancing Environmental Protection and Public Health Flexible Packaging Association: EHS Summit January 29, 2015 G. Alan Farmer, Director

Resource Conservation and Restoration Division U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 Atlanta, GA

## • EPA Overview

• Regulatory Updates o Air 

## o Water o Waste o Enforcement



## • Partnership and Sustainability Opportunities 

# Outline

## EPA’s Strategic Plan 

## EPA’s Strategic Plan • The Plan identifies five strategic goals to guide the Agency’s work: 

### • Goal 1: Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality • Goal 2: Protecting America’s Waters • Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development • Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution 

### • Goal 5: Protecting Human Health and the Environment by Enforcing Laws and Assuring Compliance 

## Cross- Agency Strategies • Working Toward a Sustainable Future • Working to Make a Visible Difference in Communities • Launching a New Era of State, Tribal, Local, and International Partnerships • Embracing EPA as a High - Performing Organization

## 1. Making a Visible Difference in Communities Across the Country 

## 2. Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality 3. Taking Action on Toxics and Chemical Safety 

## 4. Protecting Water: A Precious, Limited Resource 5. Launching a New Era of State, Tribal, and Local Partnerships 6. Embracing EPA as a High 

## Performing Organization 7. Working Toward a Sustainable Future 

# EPA: Meeting the Challenges Ahead

Administrator Gina McCarthy

## EPA FY 15 Budget: $8.179 Billion

Total EPA STAG FY 14 EPA Program and Operational Funding 43% of EPA’s Funding is for State and Tribal Assistance Grants

Source: EPA BAS 6.0 2014 ENA (v1) and 6.0 2015 ENA (v1)

EPA FY 14 Budget Total: $8.2 Billion



# EPA Budget

## Regulatory Updates- Air

# EPA’s Action to Reduce Carbon Pollution

• Building a 21 st 

## century transportation sector • Cutting energy waste in homes, businesses, and factories
• Reducing methane and HFCs
• Preparing the U.S. for the impacts of climate change
• Helping lead international efforts to 

## address global climate change
• Reducing carbon pollution from power plants (e.g., EPA’s “Clean Power Plan”)
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### President’s June 2013 Directive to EPA: 

### Develop carbon pollution standards, regulations or guidelines, as appropriate, for: 1. New power plants • Proposed January 8, 2014 • Final Summer 2015 2. Modified and reconstructed power plants • Proposed June 2014 • Final Summer 2015 3. Existing power plants • Proposed Guidelines June 2014 • Final Guidelines Summer 2015 • State Plans due Summer 2016 

## GHG NSPS Requirements for Fossil Fuel - Fired Power Plants

http://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplanThis proposal will:
• Reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants, for which there are currently no national limits
• Maintain an affordable, reliable energy system and will help m ove us toward a cleaner, more stable environment for future generations
• By 2030, reduce nationwide carbon dioxide emissions, from the power sector by approximately 30% from 2005 levels, with significant reductions to begin by 2020
• Cut hundreds of thousands of tons of harmful particle pollution, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides as a co - benefit • Proposal will avoid an estimated 2,700 to 6,600 premature deaths and 140,000 to 150,000 asthma attacks in 2030 • Provide important health protections to the most vulnerable, such as children and older Americans
• Lead to health and climate benefits worth an estimated $55 billion to $93 billion in 2030
• From soot and smog reductions alone, for every dollar invested through the Clean Power Plan - - American families will see up to $7 in health benefits 9 

## Summary - 111(d) Existing Power Plant Proposal

# NAAQS Reviews: Status Update

(as of January 2015) Ozone Lead Primary NO2 Primary

SO2 Secondary NO2 and SO2 PM CO Last Review Completed (final rule signed) Mar 2008 Oct 2008 Jan 2010 Jun 2010 Mar 2012 Dec 2012 Aug 2011
Recent or Upcoming Major Milestone(s) 1 August 2014

Final REAs Final PA Dec 1, 2014 2 Proposed rule Oct 1, 2015 2 Final rule May 2014

Final PA 2014 Proposed rule June 2014

Final IRP Fall 2014 2 nd Draft ISA REA Planning Document Summer

2014 Final IRP Fall 2014

Draft IRP Feb 9- 11,

2015 Kickoff workshop (see 79 FR 71764) TBD 3

10 1 IRP – Integrated Review Plan; ISA – Integrated Science Assessment; REA – Risk and Exposure Assessment; PA – Policy Assessment 2 Bold and underlined dates indicate court- ordered or settlement agreement deadlines 3 TBD = to be determined

Additional information regarding current and previous NAAQS reviews is available at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs

## Air Toxics – Report to Congress

• On August 21, 2014, EPA released the Second (and final) Integrated Urban Air Toxics Report to Congress

• The report highlights some of the results achieved through EPA’s air toxics regulations, including: • 66% reduction in benzene • Nearly 60% reduction in mercury from man - made sources like coal -fired power plants • 84% decrease of lead in outdoor air • Removal of an estimated 1.5 million tons per year of air toxics from stationary sources, and approximately 3 million tons per year of criteria pollutants as a co - benefit of air toxics reductions • The removal of an estimated 1.5 million tons per year of air toxics from mobile sources -- a 50% reduction in mobile source air toxics emissions
• Even with this progress, additional work remains to improve our understanding of air toxics and to effectively reduce remaining risks, particularly in overburdened communities

http://www2.epa.gov/urban -air-toxics/second - integrated - urban -air-toxics- report-congress

## Regulatory Update- Water

## National Water Priorities

• Protecting Populations at Risk • Improving Integrity of Nation’s Drinking Water and Clean Water 

### Quality • Providing Safe & Sustainable Water Resources and Infrastructure • Assuring High Quality and Accessible 

### Water Information • Controlling Nutrient Pollution

## Protecting Water: Understanding Nutrients

• Nutrient pollution is one of the costliest and the most challenging environmental problems we face • Nutrient pollution is expected to continue to grow • U.S. population growth • Stormwater runoff • Sewage treatment plants • Air deposition • Agricultural livestock and row crop runoff 

### • Cleaning up already degraded waters will require significant resources

## EPA’s Focus on Stormwater 

# • Incorporate green infrastructure into sites as they are being developed and redeveloped 

##  Cost- effective to control stormwater at its source 

##  Prevents water quality degradation in healthy waters 

##  Helps restore impaired waters 

# • Incentives for green infrastructure:  Off-site mitigation, banking or trading programs 

# • Employ innovations in use by developers & communities 

##  Integrate curb cuts into parking islands to allow water to infiltrate 

##  Cisterns

## Waters of the U.S. Proposed Rule

• Clarifying protection for streams and wetlands under the Clean Water Act • Rulemaking was requested by many 

### stakeholders • Supported by peer- reviewed science • Provides more benefits to the public than costs • Input on Proposed Rule is Important to EPA • Extensive outreach conducted by Regions and HQ • Comment period closed on November 14, 2014 • Over 900,00 comments received • Plan is to submit a final rule to OMB by Spring, 2015 www.epa.gov/uswaters

## Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG) Program Plan (304(m))
• Preliminary 2014 Effluent Limitations Guidelines Plan published Sept. 16, 2014; final to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in March, 2015 • 60- day comment period ended November 17, 2014; comments received 

### from 9 industry organizations, one State organization, and several Non Government Organizations • Key actions/decisions in Final 2014 ELG Plan: • Continue Preliminary Study of Metal Finishing • Continue Detailed Study of Petroleum Refining • Continue Detailed Study of Centralized Waste Treaters (CWTs) accepting oil and gas extraction wastewater • Continue gathering information on long term impact of Nano- materials • Announce progress made in investigating Pesticide Chemicals Manufacturing, Formulating, and Packaging- examine unregistered pesticides manufactured for export • Announce no further investigation warranted for Brick and Structural Clay Products Manufacturing

## Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG), Cont.
• Next Steps : • Submit Final Plan to OMB (March, 2015) • Publish Final 2014 Plan (June, 2015) • Prepare Preliminary 2016 ELG Plan (note: EPA issues an ELG Plan every two years): • Report on 2015 Toxicity Rankings Analysis (TRA) • Report findings/proposals/decisions from studies/investigations • Publish Preliminary 2016 Plan (Nov. 2015)

## Regulatory Update- Waste

## Coal Ash Spills

Kingston Coal Ash Spill, 2008 Duke Energy Coal Ash Spill, 2014• Residuals from the combustion of coal at coal -fired power plants (fly ash, bottom ash, flue gas desulfurization material, and boiler slag)
• One of the largest U.S. industrial waste streams (~ 122 million tons generated in 2012)
• Approximately 60% disposed in landfills and surface impoundments
• 1980 “ Bevill Amendment” excluded certain large -volume wastes generated primarily from the combustion of coal or other fossil fuels from regulation as hazardous wastes under Subtitle C of RCRA • EPA was required to submit a report to Congress and make a determination either to promulgate regulations under RCRA Subtitle C or that such regulations were unwarranted • Currently, CCRs are not subject to any federally enforceable standards for waste management
• Concern about risks from structural failures from surface impoundments, groundwater contamination, and fugitive dust
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# Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR)

www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/industrial/special/fossil/ccr- rule/index.htm

### • EPA finalized the rule on December 19, 2014, to treat CCR as a RCRA 

### Subtitle D non - hazardous waste. • Regulates disposal units; requires composite liners, GW monitoring, structural stability requirements, corrective action, and closure/post -closure care • Self- implementing; rule effective 6 months after publication

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# CCR Rule

www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/industrial/special/fossil/ccr- rule/index.htm

## Modifications to RCRA Rules Associated with Solvent Contaminated Industrial Wipes Final Rule
• Also referred to as the “RCRA Wipes Rule”; (40 CFR 260 and 261) • The Solvent Contaminated 

### Industrial Wipes Rule (Wipes Rule) was originally proposed in November 2003 • The rule affects contaminated industrial (disposable and non 

### disposable) wipes • Some wipes are excluded from landfills depending on the type of secondary hazardous waste it contains 

### • The final Wipes Rule was published on July 31, 2013 and effective on January 31, 2014 • States may, but are not required to, adopt this rule

## Hazardous Waste Manifest Revisions – Standards &

Procedures for Electronic Manifests Final Rule 

##  Also referred to as “E - Manifest Rule”  Purpose : allows for submittal of hazardous 

## waste transport manifests in electronic format  Key considerations: ease of use and, ease of data retrieval 

##  EPA worked with affected industry, states and the general public in the development of this rule  The rule was finalized on February 2, 2014 

## and was effective on August 6, 2014.  EPA is in the process of developing a fee schedule. It will be in subsequent rulemaking.

## Regulatory Update- Enforcement

# EPA’s National Enforcement Initiatives

Cutting Air Pollution That Affects Communities’ Health: MACT Standards
Clean Water: Keeping raw sewage and contaminated stormwater out of waters; Preventing animal waste from contaminating surface and groundwater Reducing Pollution from Mineral Processing Assuring Energy Extraction Sector Compliance with Environmental Laws Reducing Widespread Pollution from Largest Sources : New Source Review and Prevention of Significant Deterioration Sector Focus -- Utilities, Cement, Glass and Acid Sectors
Clean Communities: protect people from exposure to hazardous chemicals and require polluters to pay for cleanup of contaminated sites

## Next Generation Compliance Effective Rules Advanced

Monitoring

Electronic Reporting Transparency Innovative Enforcement

## Partnership and Sustainability Opportunities

## Product Lifecycle

Waste Management vs. Materials Management

## Sustainable Materials Management31 Durable Goods 24% Nondurable Goods 21% Containers and Packaging 24% Food Scraps 20% Yard Trimmings 9% Other Waste 2% Disposed Tons = 164,720 tons MSW Disposed by CategoryAn additional 24 million tons diverted from landfills (a corresponding value of $2.6 billion) 104 billion gallons of water saved (equivalent to the average water usage of 1.8 million people the population of Boston, Charlotte and Atlanta combined)



## = A 10% increase in our national recycling rate would result annually in: A savings of 55 million metric tons of CO 2 (equivalent to taking 10.1 million vehicles off the road) 

## CO 2

Sources: U.S. EPA Municipal Solid waste data, RecyclingMarkets.net, WaRM , WRAP, PE Americas, BUWAL, and NRDC

## Packaging Dialogue 2010

 At the request of state and local governments 

###  Funded by EPA and convened in the Summer 2010 • 4 meetings have been held in Washington DC and Kansas City in 2010 and 2011 

###  Project Focus • The dialogue is focused on packaging and printed materials found in the municipal waste stream from households, businesses, institutions, and locations away from homeWaste recovery

research and recommendations aimed at policy makers:

7/29/2015 35 www.ameripen.org“ Eleven SE states united to develop

and promote sustainable recycling programs” SERDC works to: Unite industry, government and non -government organizations to promote sustainable recycling in the Southeast. Recycling isn’t just about smart use of natural resources. It’s about delivering valuable commodities to some of our most important businesses. 

### Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC)

# SERDC 120 Statement Engage industry in voluntary public/private partnerships to make strategic , one - time, leveraged investments that sustain higher levels of recovery through the adoption of proven best practices in 

### municipal recycling programs.PARTNERSHIP

Seeding private dollars to unlock a larger public match. APPLIED KNOWLEDGE Technical assistance as well as education and outreach. 

### The Recycling Partnership STRATEGY Creating a systems solution to a systems problem. LASTING IMPACTS One time contributions, self- sustaining improvements. STRENGTHENED SUPPLY CHAIN40 420 Million new pounds Paper 280

Million new pounds Glass

60 Million new pounds HDPE & PET Steel 30 Million new pounds 180 Million new pounds Cardboard

15 Million new pounds Mixed Plastic Non - bottle 10 Million new pounds Aluminum 5 Million new pounds Cartons 

## 1BILLION new pounds 

# OVER 10 YEARS One time intervention =



## PERMANENT NEW SUPPLY

## Tools & Resources
• EPA Sustainable Materials Management Tools– Tracking, Food Recovery Challenge, 

## Calculators:  http://www.epa.gov/smm/wastewise/retrac.htm  http://www.epa.gov/smm/foodrecovery/index.htm  http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/tools/warm/ 

## • EPA and State Pollution Prevention Networks:  http://www.epa.gov/p2/  http://www.epa.gov/p2/pubs/assist/index.htm 

## • Pollution Prevention Resources Exchange Centers:  http://www.p2rx.org/

# Questions?

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