Also See: What's New for National Programs and/or What's New for EPA

1. Grace Hill Settlement House Implements Diesel Emission Reduction Plans for St. Louis
Grace Hill received $2 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to implement the diesel emission reduction project. When the project is complete, hundreds of vehicles across St. Louis will be retrofitted, repowered or replaced with clean diesel technology.

All told, more than 575 vehicles have been targeted for retrofits, repowers and/or replacements as well as idle reduction technologies. Project activities will target public fleets including those of the City of St. Louis, St. Louis Fire Department, St. Louis Lambert International Airport and St. Louis area school buses. The project also will assist small companies with cleaning up their diesel fleets. Targeted vehicles will include a tugboat, airport ground support equipment, delivery trucks, long-haul trucks, school buses and emergency response vehicles.

2. EPA Files Complaint against Nevada Businessman for Solid and Hazardous Waste Violations in Indian Country
EPA is citing a Gardnerville, Nevada, businessman with violating federal law governing the safe handling and disposal of solid and hazardous waste.

The businessman operates an auto dismantling business and an un-permitted illegal waste disposal site that has resulted in open dumping and illegal disposal of hazardous waste over an 80-acre site.  The facility is located in Indian Country located near Gardnerville, Nevada, in Douglas County.

The auto dismantling and illegal waste disposal site not only contained waste from the on-site dismantling of automobiles, but also contained large quantities of waste accepted from off site. Wastes included abandoned automobiles, trailers, tires, car batteries, construction waste, used oil, used appliances, televisions and computer monitors, waste paint, and aerosol cans.

EPA’s administrative complaint alleges that the businessman violated the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) by:

• Open dumping of solid waste;
• Open burning of solid waste;
• Failing to notify EPA of its waste handling activity and to apply for an EPA identification number;
• Failing to label containers of used oil; and
• Failure to respond to releases of oil to the environment.

Under RCRA, EPA can assess a civil penalty of up to $37,500 per day, per violation.  

3. Two New Scrap Tire Market Development Grants to Increase Reuse of Scrap Tires in Michigan
The MI Department of Natural Resources and Environment has announced two grants totaling $303,100 that have been awarded to Michigan companies to provide for the increased reuse of scrap tires. Steel Supply and Engineering of Grand Rapids will receive a $265,000 grant to reimburse 50 percent of the cost to purchase equipment, and conduct research and development on a new commercial stair step that contains recycled tires. The village of Mattawan in Van Buren County will also receive a $38,100 grant to reimburse 50 percent of the cost to apply and test a road surface made from ground tires. This new road surface containing scrap tires could extend the life of the road, while providing greater resistance to cracking.

4. NH DES Settles with Auto Salvage Yard
The New Hampshire Attorney General and Department of Environmental Services Commissioner announced that a settlement has been approved between DES and James Bonia d/b/a Tri-State Car Crushing, an automotive salvage yard in Lempster, New Hampshire. The settlement resolves violations of the State’s solid waste, hazardous waste, and groundwater protection statutes and regulations.

The case arose when the State filed a lawsuit against Mr. Bonia on April 15, 2008 seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction and civil penalties. In its lawsuit, the State alleged that Mr. Bonia violated State laws by operating an unpermitted solid waste facility, improperly managing and storing hazardous wastes and regulated substances, failing to report and clean up spills of hazardous wastes and regulated substances, failing to protect monitoring wells from being damaged or buried, and failing to perform groundwater monitoring as previously agreed.

5. ANR seeks Vermonters' help with salvage yard survey
The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation's Compliance and Enforcement Division is asking Vermonters to complete a short survey on salvage yards in their communities. During the 2009 legislative session jurisdiction for regulating salvage yards was transferred to ANR. Presently there are only 75 salvage yards that have a state license to operate. Based on information from a number of sources the agency believes that there are an additional 200-300 salvage yards which are operating illegally. The agency needs to identify these unlicensed salvage yards and educate them so they can into compliance with state and local laws.

The goal of the online survey is to help identify all the salvage yards located in Vermont. The survey seeks basic information about the salvage yard, including the owner's name, address and types of activities that take place at the yard.

Vermonters are encouraged to complete surveys on each yard in their communities. This information collected will be used in a 2010 legislative report and to help in planning additional steps to obtain compliance with state law.

The survey only takes only a few moments per salvage yard to complete. Please click here to visit the survey website and complete the survey.

For more information please, contact: Gary Kessler, Director, DEC Compliance & Enforcement Division, 802-241-3820.

6. New Maine Recycling Law Puts Onus on Manufacturers
Maine has passed a law that will require manufacturers of consumer products to practice "product stewardship," or to take responsibility for the collection, recycling and disposal of unwanted goods.

Titled Act to Provide Leadership Regarding the Responsible Recycling of Consumer Products, the bill is one of the first of its kind, and could have an impact on the producers of a wide-range of goods, including tire and automobile manufacturers.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection, by January 2011, will draw up a list of products it believes should be covered by the bill. A 30-day public comment period has been incorporated into the act as well.

California and Minnesota are considering similar bills, though the California Chamber of Commerce, for one, appears against such legislation, as it fears the cost of such "product stewardship" would be passed along to consumers. Supporters, meanwhile, claim that local governments cannot afford to pay for proper disposal or recycling methods.

7. Washington State moves to ban copper in brake pads
When a driver hits the brakes, friction releases copper shavings that fall onto the road and are eventually washed into rivers, where environmentalists say the metal could pose a hazard to marine life - especially salmon, one of the Pacific Northwest's most prized products.

Washington State responded to the problem by becoming the first in the nation to pass a law to phase out the use of copper in brake pads. The move could eventually make copper-free pads the industry standard in the U.S.

The new law bans brake pads containing more than 5 percent copper starting in 2021. The allowable amount could drop almost to zero in 2023 if manufacturers show it is possible. alifornia lawmakers have considered similar legislation, and industry officials expect other states to follow Washington's lead.

The auto industry did not oppose the legislation.

Many brake pads are made of steel, brass and copper fibers - materials designed to create friction and draw off heat. Some contain ceramics, Kevlar and other nonmetallic compounds. he irony is that copper replaced asbestos as a key ingredient in brake pads in the early 1990s after asbestos was banned as a health danger. Though a federal appeals court overturned part of that ban in 1991, manufacturers continued to use copper.

The industry believes it can produce a safe and reasonably priced brake pad without copper. One alternative may be ceramic brake pads, which have grown in popularity in recent years.

Read more: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/04/12/1380755/washington-state-moves-to-ban.html#ixzz0lZNXb85z

8. Florida DEP Expands Public Access to Contaminated Site Information
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has launched the Contamination Locator Map - a web tool that enables the public to search for waste cleanup sites near their homes, neighborhoods, or any identified location on a Florida map.

CLM includes locational information for nearly 17,000 contaminated sites including 13,527 petroleum sites, 101 Brownfield sites, 44 Superfund sites, and 3,256 other waste cleanup sites such as dry-cleaning, hazardous waste and state-owned lands.

In September 2009 the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) recognized DEP with an ECOS State Program Innovation Award for creating and implementing this public access Web tool. DEP was one of three states to receive awards for outstanding innovation. ECOS is a national non-profit, non-partisan association of state environmental agency leaders.

Visit the CLM site at www.dep.state.fl.us/mainpage/programs/waste.htm by clicking on the CLM button.

9. Indiana's Institutional Controls
Indiana's Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) Office of Land Quality has a variety of programs to address the clean up of contaminated land and groundwater. For example, one program focuses on leaking underground storage tank sites, and another on currently operating industrial sites.

IDEM uses the Risk Integrated System of Closures (RISC) to provide consistency across cleanup programs. When any amount of contamination above a residential closure level is left on site, a legal measure called an Institutional Control (IC) may be needed. An IC protects human health and the environment by restricting property activity, use, or access. As an example, the RISC guidance may allow a site to be remediated only to levels appropriate for industrial or commercial uses. In this case, an IC would be required that would restrict the use of the property to non-residential purposes in the future.

A list of sites with ICs, called the IDEM Institutional Controls (IC) Registry [PDF], is now available for viewing on IDEM's Risk Integrated System of Closure (RISC) website. When fully populated, this registry will provide a list of all sites where RISC guidelines allowed for a risk-based closure with some type of land use restrictions or engineering controls after remediation.

The IC Registry is being rolled out in phases as site records get scanned in IDEM's Virtual File Cabinet. IDEM cleanup programs listed in the IC Registry include the Leaking Underground Storage Tanks Program, Voluntary Remediation Program, State Cleanup Program, RCRA Corrective Action, Federal Programs, and the Indiana Brownfields Program (administered by the Indiana Finance Authority).

Updated 6/3/10

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