Document ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0032-0455
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2005-08-18T04:00Z

From:
Betsy
Bicknell
To:
Matuszko.
Jan
Date:
5/
3/
05
3:
19:
55
PM
Subject:
tobacco
I
had
a
nice
chat
with
J.
R.
McCollum
from
the
Alcohol
and
Tobacco
Tax
and
Trade
Bureau.
He
alerted
me
to
the
two
forms,
attached,
that
tobacco
products
plants
are
required
to
file
with
the
TTB
when
applying
for
a
permit
to
produce.
He
says
TTB
has
been
using
these
forms
since
the
mid­
to
late
1970s.
He
wasn't
certain
whether
plants
that
existed
when
these
forms
were
developed
were
required
to
file.
He
suggested
that
EPA
request
copies
of
all
forms
filed
by
tobacco
products
plants,
through
the
FOIA
process.

Mr.
McCollum
also
said
that
for
EPA
would
need
to
FOIA
to
obtain
facility
information:

­
facility
name
­
address
­
company
that
owns
the
facility
­
type
of
product(
s)
manufactured
­
non­
tobacco
activities
on
site
(
e.
g.,
printing,
con­
generation
of
electric
power)
­
quantity
of
production.
____
I
will
draft
a
FOIA
request
for
the
information
we
are
looking
for
and
send
it
to
you
to
OK.
I
think
that
we
may
get
better
response
if
you
put
it
on
EPA
letterhead.

The
following
website
has
information
about
submitting
FOIA
requests
to
TTB
http://
www.
ttb.
gov/
foia.
htm
____

McCollum
has
worked
for
ATF/
TTB
for
30
years
and
is
retiring
June
5.
He
provided
a
few
insights
about
the
business:

The
Fed
gov't
gets
as
much
revenue
from
tobacco
products
as
it
does
from
alcohol.

There
are
about
158
­
160
tobacco
product
plants
that
pay
taxes
to
TTB.
Tobacco
stemming
and
redrying
facilities
are
not
included
­
they
don't
need
to
pay
tax
as
they
don't
produce
a
finished
product.
About
30
facilities
make
cigarettes.
The
industry
is
very
concentrated,
with
6
­
8
companies
having
more
than
90%
of
the
business.

Tobacco
products
facilities
on
Indian
Reservations
are
required
to
pay
Federal
Excise
Tax,
so
they
would
be
included
in
the
files
of
environmental
forms
and
in
the
facility
statistics.

I
asked
if
cigar
plants
generated
wastewater.
Mr.
McCollum
remembered
one
facility
with
a
large
air
conditioner/
condenser.
He
also
said
that
cigar
makers
add
flavorings
(
e.
g.,
chocolate)
so
they
may
have
some
small
vessel
cleaning
discharges,
but
he
was
hard
pressed
to
recall
wastewater.
(
I
conclude
that
any
discharges
are
very
small
volume).

Mr.
McCollum
says
that
Reynolds
is
planning
to
shut
the
Macon,
GA
plant
that
it
acquired
when
it
bought
Brown
and
Williamson
last
summer.
The
plant
dates
from
the
late
70s
early
80s.
The
state
is
considering
turning
the
site
into
a
prison.

Mr.
McCollum
notes
that
domestic
cigarette
production
is
down.
Exports
have
dropped
from
250
billion/
yr
to
143
billion/
yr
in
the
last
10
yrs.
Imports
increased
from
2
billion/
yr
to
20
billion/
yr
in
that
time
period.
For
the
1st
half
of
2004,
Colombia
accounted
for
40%
of
the
imports.
Philip
Morris
has
produces
Marlboros
in
China.

Mr.
McCollum's
direct
e­
mail
is:
Joseph.
Mccollum@
ttb.
gov
CC:
johnston.
carey@
epa.
gov