Latest Developments From the Environmental Protection Agency

11/21/2002

From: David Deegan of the EPA, 202-564-7839, deegan.dave@epa.gov

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 -- Following are some recent Environmental Protection Agency developments. For more information on any of these subjects, call the appropriate contact.

JOINT U.S.-CANADA AIR QUALITY PROGRESS REPORT RELEASED

Contact: David Deegan 202-564-7839, deegan.dave@epa.gov Cathy Milbourn 202-564-7824, milbourn.cathy@epa.gov

The United States and Canada today jointly announced the sixth biennial Progress Report on acid rain, ozone and other transboundary air quality cooperation as part of the 1991 United States-Canada Air Quality Agreement. The 2002 Progress Report emphasizes continued success in reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), the major contributors of acid rain. Today's report states that both countries continue to be on target for meeting reduction requirements of SO2 and NOx. The report outlines new requirements for the Ozone Annex to the Agreement signed in December 2000, has the full text of the Ozone Annex, and is the first to provide ambient air quality data for ozone, NOx and hydrocarbons for all sites within 500 kilometers of the U.S.-Canada border. The report details joint efforts on transboundary particulate matter (PM) analysis. In addition, the report includes the second five-year comprehensive review of the Air Quality Agreement which assesses the Agreement's effectiveness. The review concludes that the United States and Canada continue to successfully fulfill the obligations of the Agreement, but that work remains to be done. Sulfur dioxide emissions from all affected utility units in 2001 achieved about a 32 percent reduction from 1990 emissions levels and a five percent reduction from 2000 levels. Nitrogen oxide emissions from all utilities in 2001 also continued a downward trend achieving a 30 percent decline from 1990 emissions levels and an eight percent reduction from 2000 emissions. The report also cites analysis of a national long-term wet deposition network (called the National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network (NADP/NTN)), which shows continued dramatic reductions in sulfate deposition, up to 30 percent over the past decade. Copies of the report, "United States-Canada Air Quality Agreement 2002 Progress Report" are available at: http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/usca/2002report.html.

$3.75 MILLION AWARDED FOR REGIONAL ASSESSMENTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS

Contact: Suzanne Ackerman 202-564-7819, ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov

EPA has awarded cooperative agreements totaling more than $3 million to two universities to study the potential impacts of climate change to their regions and to develop possible response strategies through its Global Change Research Program. This program sponsors assessments of the possible impacts of climate change on air quality, water quality, human health and ecosystems through public-private partnerships that include academic researchers, decision makers, resource managers and other stakeholders. These agreements also support the President's Climate Change Research Initiative by providing input for decision making by governments, communities and the private sector on climate change. Pennsylvania State University will coordinate a multi-institution team of researchers to assess climate change in the Middle- and Upper-Atlantic region. The team will also develop a web-based climate change information system, describe current land use patterns and project future land use changes. Researchers at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University will study how stakeholder groups in the Gulf of Mexico region apply climate change data to decision-making. The research will compile data on the decision-making process that is applicable to the entire region and will recommend ways in which information can be made available in a more useful form to improve stakeholders' ability to respond to climate change. The cooperative agreements were awarded through a competitive solicitation process with independent peer review. To learn more about EPA's Global Change Research Program and these projects, see: http://www.epa.gov/globalresearch/.

EPA SCIENTIST NAMED PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY (SETAC)

Contact: Suzanne Ackerman 202-564-7819, ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov

Anne Fairbrother, D.V.M., Ph.D., a research scientist in EPA's Office of Research and Development, has been named President of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America for the 2002-2003 term. SETAC is an international professional society of 5,000 biologists, chemists, toxicologists and environmental engineers, and applies a multidisciplinary scientific approach to global environmental problems. Fairbrother is Chief of the Risk Characterization Branch in the Western Ecology Division of the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Ore. Her current research addresses the potential risk of environmental contaminants on complex ecosystems. Fairbrother has published more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and has received top EPA honors, including the Bronze Medal for Significant Research, an Innovative Research Program award and a Technical Achievement Award.

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Contact: Teresa Libera, 202-564-7873, libera.teresa@epa.gov

MAN SENTENCED FOR CFC TAX FRAUD CONSPIRACY

Douglas E. Castle, of Huntington, N.Y., was sentenced on Nov. 7 in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut in New Haven for conspiracy to defraud the United States of taxes due on hundreds of tons of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant gasses (CFCs). His sentence included 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Castle admitted that he assisted his co- defendants Barry Himes, John Mucha and Richard Pelletier in their conspiracy. Castle set up a shell company in Wyoming that was used to import CFCs. He also used a false loan agreement to conceal the receipt of income and processed more than $1.3 million of CFC sales from offshore bank accounts and a Nevada bank account through his New York bank. CFCs are highly regulated because their release into the atmosphere damages the earth's ozone layer, which protects people, animals and plants from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation. The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Customs Service. It was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's office in New Haven.

DETROIT ENVIRONMENTAL FIRM TO PAY $5.5 MILLION FOR ILLEGAL HAZARDOUS WASTE TRANSPORTATION AND DISPOSAL

U.S. Liquids of Detroit Inc., which does business as USL-City Environmental Inc., in Detroit, Mich., pleaded guilty on Nov. 13, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit to violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act. Between Aug. 1 and Aug. 15, 1999, USL transported hazardous waste without a permit to an un-permitted landfill and also discharged hazardous waste into the Detroit River. According to the plea agreement, USL will pay a $4.5 million fine and provide $1 million to non-profit organizations for the purpose of conserving, restoring and protecting the watershed of the Detroit River. In addition, USL must develop an environmental compliance program. The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI with the assistance of EPA's National Enforcement Investigations Center. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit.