Document ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0032-0404
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2005-08-18T04:00Z

Effluent
Guidelines
Program
Study
of
the
Tobacco
Industry
Section
304(
b)
of
the
Clean
Water
Act
requires
EPA
to
annually
review
and,
if
appropriate,
revise
its
technology­
based
regulations,
called
"
effluent
limitations
guidelines"
or
"
effluent
guidelines,"
that
limit
the
discharge
of
pollutants
to
waters
of
the
U.
S.
from
various
categories
of
industrial
facilities.
Every
other
year,
Section
304(
m)
of
the
Clean
Water
Act
requires
EPA
to
publish
a
plan
establishing
a
schedule
for
the
annual
review
and
revision
of
effluent
guidelines
required
by
Section
304(
b).
This
plan
must
also
identify
industries
discharging
more
than
trivial
amounts
of
toxic
or
"
nonconventional
pollutants,
such
as
nutrients,
for
which
the
Agency
has
not
yet
promulgated
effluent
guidelines.
EPA
must
establish
a
schedule
for
completing
effluent
guidelines
for
these
industries
within
three
years.
Section
304(
m)
also
requires
EPA
to
take
public
comment
on
its
plan
prior
to
issuing
a
final
plan.

During
the
comment
period
for
the
proposed
2004
Effluent
Guidelines
Plan,
EPA
received
public
comment
that
it
should
consider
wastewater
discharges
from
the
tobacco
manufacturing
industry
for
effluent
guidelines
rulemaking.
In
specific,
the
commenter
questioned
the
quantity
of
carcinogens
in
wastewater
discharges
associated
with
cigarette
manufacturing.
Because
this
industry
is
not
currently
subject
to
an
effluent
guideline,
EPA
is
conducting
a
study
of
the
Tobacco
Products
industrial
sector
to
determine
whether
this
sector
is
discharging
more
than
trivial
amounts
of
toxic
or
"
nonconventional
pollutants.
The
current
schedule
is
to
publish
the
draft
detailed
study
for
the
Tobacco
Products
industry
as
part
of
the
preliminary
2006
Plan
(
August
2005),
solicit
public
comment,
and
publish
the
final
study
with
the
final
2006
Plan
(
August
2006).
EPA's
decision
to
conduct
a
detailed
study
on
this
industry
does
not
mean
that
EPA
is
required
to
select
this
industry
for
an
effluent
guidelines
rulemaking.
EPA
will
make
such
a
decision
as
part
of
the
final
2006
Plan.

During
this
study,
EPA
would
like
to,
at
a
minimum,
collect
information
on
the
following
as
they
relate
to
tobacco
products
manufacturing:

°
source
and
types
of
process
wastewaters;
°
volume
of
process
wastewaters;
°
pollutant
concentrations
in
untreated
process
wastewaters;
°
applicable
treatment
and
pollution
prevention
(
flow
and
pollutant)
technologies;
°
effectiveness
of
applicable
treatment
and
pollution
prevention
technologies;
°
cost
information
related
to
applicable
treatment
and
pollution
prevention
technologies;
°
pollutant
concentrations
in
discharges
to
surface
waters
or
to
POTWs;
°
typical
discharge
destination
(
i.
e.,
direct
to
surface
water
or
indirectly
to
POTW);
and
°
typical
permit
restrictions.
In
particular,
EPA
is
interested
in
obtaining
any
in­
plant
or
wastewater
discharge
monitoring
data
that
have
previously
been
collected
at
tobacco
manufacturing
sites.

For
additional
information,
please
contact
Jan
Matuszko
at
(
202)
566­
1035
or
matuszko.
jan@
epa.
gov.