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Environment - Summer 2001 Newsletter

 

Governor Helps Cal/EPA Celebrate 10th Anniversary

Hundreds of Cal/EPA, board, department and office employees celebrated the agency’s tenth anniversary in cool, breezy weather in the building’s courtyard.

Adding to the festivities, a visit by Governor Gray Davis who spoke to the crowd and praised the work of the agency and all the people in the Cal/EPA family.

“As we mark this milestone, I want to express my appreciation--and that of a grateful California--to the extraordinary public servants at Cal/EPA,” Governor Davis said.

“For the last decade, you’ve been the great guardians of our health and the health of our environment. Your hard work has resulted in cleaner air, cleaner water and a better quality of life for us all.

“Future generations will owe you a big debt of gratitude,” the governor added.

“By nearly every measure, California’s environment is healthier today than it was 10 years ago. Our air is cleaner. Our water is purer. Our land better protected.”

Agency Secretary Winston H. Hickox introduced the governor and the two former Cal/EPA secretaries who shared the stage, James Strock and Peter Rooney. Secretary Hickox spoke of the agency’s and the Davis administration’s commitment to maintain and increase protection of California’s air, water and land.

The July 17th celebration was the third major event in our courtyard since nearly 3000 employees started working in the City of Sacramento’s Joe Serna Jr. Cal/EPA Headquarters Building.

Although partially occupied since late last year, the building was officially dedicated in April.

Photograph of Gov. Gray Davis with Agency Secretary Winston H. Hickox and former secretaries Peter Rooney and James StrockPhotograph of Gov. Gray Davis with Agency Secretary Winston H. Hickox and former secretaries Peter Rooney and James Strock.

The striking piece of architecture is officially the City of Sacramento’s Joe Serna Jr. Cal/EPA Headquarters Building. A new landmark for the city’s revitalized downtown, the building is a unique example of cooperation between a municipal landlord, the state as tenant and the private sector providing management.

From My Corner

Photograph of Winston H. HickoxBy Winston H. Hickox, Agency Secretary

As you know, 2001 has been dominated by energy concerns. The issues affect all of us, in our working lives and as consumers.

Many of our colleagues have spent innumerable hours wrestling with the electricity situation. Toward the end of spring, gasoline also become a major topic.

The design of the Cal/EPA Headquarters Building (and our major commitment to energy efficient office equipment) has given us a head start in making sure we help conserve electricity. During Stage Three events, we have done our part and more to help keep the lights on by reducing our needs to the bare minimum.

Living and working in the Central Valley, we are used to hot summers. Having to turn our thermostats up to 78 (at home or at work) is not comfortable, but people in this building are persevering with remarkable good cheer.

California is totally committed to solving this problem in such a way that the state has more generating plants and a stabilized electricity market. By the end of next year we expect to have gotten past the discomfort of high thermostats in the summer, although sensible efficiency and conservation measures will always be a good idea. During the current energy situation we are making sure the state’s environmental needs are not overlooked. Many power plants have already been required to install state of the art pollution control equipment. The balance soon will. By the end of next summer we expect that their total air emissions will be lower... despite the fact that they are running longer hours and producing more electricity.

We also have to cope with a new gasoline problem. As part of his commitment to the state’s environment, Governor Gray Davis ordered the oxygenate MTBE removed from gasoline by the end of last year. Oxygenate is in the gas that most Californians use because of a clause in the 1990 version of the federal Clean Air Act. However, MTBE has polluted California water and we need it removed.

Based on 1980s technology, oxygenate in the form of MTBE or ethanol was a good idea because it helped reduce NOx, a precursor to smog. However, technologies in the automobile and oil industries have progressed so that oxygenate is no longer necessary except in special circumstances. That is why the state petitioned the US EPA for a waiver so California could produce an exceptionally clean burning gasoline without any oxygenate. Our Air Resources Board has demonstrated that this gas (called RFG-3, the third generation of reformulated gasoline) would help us meet clean air standards and would be cleaner and less costly to produce than the gas required under the eleven year-old Clean Air Act. Despite the fact that the law anticipated such an event and specifically authorizes such a waiver, the US EPA turned us down in mid-June.

Governor Davis gave me three months to evaluate the state’s alternatives and to recommend a course of action. I will be taking into account the state’s firm commitment to clean air and clean water and our need to keep gas prices from increasing unnecessarily. Given the prospect of ethanol driving up the pump price by 50 cents and of MTBE further polluting our water, California has its work cut out for it dealing with this additional challenge. I will keep you updated as this issue develops.

“E-Waste” Concerns Move to Front & Center

-waste” - the term used to describe end-of-life electronic products such as: obsolete computers, televisions, cell phones, and video cassette recorders— is one of the fastest growing waste streams in California. E-waste not only takes up valuable space in our nation’s municipal landfills, but contains lead, chromium and copper as well, constituents that are known to be hazardous to the environment. When electronic products end up in the landfill, their components can degrade and the hazardous materials they contain can contaminate the environment.

In California, an estimated 30 million computer monitors and televisions will be thrown away in the next five years. Each TV and monitor contains a cathode ray tube (CRT), the device that converts an electronic signal into the visual image that the viewer sees. A typical 17-inch computer monitor contains approximately 2.2 pounds of lead and an older 27-inch television can contain up to 8 pounds of lead. If all 30 million CRTs are disposed in municipal landfills, we will place as much as 100 million pounds of lead into our environment. Over time, the lead can potentially leach out and contaminate the surrounding soil and groundwater.

Faced with this disposal challenge, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) acknowledged that full hazardous waste management requirements are too restrictive for this waste stream. DTSC has drafted emergency regulations that place CRTs in the “universal waste” rule. As universal waste, individuals will be able to collect CRTs without a permit and transport them to recyclers without hazardous waste manifests or registered haulers. Businesses that recycle CRTs will be subject to certain reduced permitting and management requirements intended to assure the safe recycling of the CRTs.

DTSC and the Integrated Waste Management Board (IWMB) are jointly leading an effort to tackle this problem. A key element: to increase the public and private sectors’ understanding of the hazardous waste regulations for CRTs and to make sure that waste CRTs are kept out of landfills. The IWMB has notified all solid waste local enforcement agencies (LEAs) in California to adhere to current guidelines until the new regulations are in place. DTSC will focus its enforcement efforts on protection of the environment from the indiscriminate disposal of CRTs to unauthorized locations

Many communities around the state stage household hazardous waste collection days that allow the public to drop the E-waste off at centralized locations. By and large, the materials used to manufacture electronic products are recyclable. The plastics can be recycled to make new plastic products; the metal parts and wiring can be reclaimed; and even the CRTs can be recycled. CRT glass can be recycled by being broken and crushed and used to manufacture new CRT glass. Monitors and CRTs can be sent to secondary smelters, who use the glass as a substitute for sand (a fluxing agent) or as a lead source. DTSC and the IWMB have placed information on the management and recycling of CRTs on their websites, located at: www.dtsc.ca.gov/Current Affairs and www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Electronics/.

In addition to the focus on recycling end-of-life electronic products, DTSC and the IWMB are pursuing new approaches for addressing the E-waste dilemma. Along with other states’ agencies, DTSC and the IWMB are negotiating on the National Product Stewardship Electronics Initiative, a forum to construct voluntary end-of-life management efforts that encourage manufacturers, governmental agencies, and environmental groups to work together to reduce the public and environmental risks of old electronic equipment. The National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI), which includes representatives from the electronics manufacturers, government agencies, environmental groups, and others, met formally for the first time on June 21st and 22nd in San Francisco to develop a joint plan in the United States for managing used electronics.

Additionally, the IWMB co-sponsored E-waste meetings earlier this year with the regional U.S. EPA office and has initiated development of guidelines for the procurement and end-of-life management of electronic products by public agencies. By passing new regulations, directing inter-agency efforts, working with industry and educating the public, Cal/EPA is on the way to resolving the e-waste problem.

What you can do: An old TV or CRTs is not e-waste just because you no longer use it. If it is still usable you can pass it along to a friend or someone else who can use it. Or you can safely store it in a closet or garage. Intact CRTs are not hazardous; they are if improperly disposed of. (See the web sites mentioned above for more information.)

ARB Programs Focus on Reducing Air Pollution

In April, the California Air Resources Board (ARB)approved more than $600,000 for two research projects to study the effects of air pollution on children’s health.

One of the studies will determine children’s exposure to pollutants while riding on school buses, waiting at stops and waiting near idling buses during loading. The $500,000 study will also use different school bus commute scenarios, sampling locations and bus fuel types, such as compressed natural gas and buses using soot traps, to characterize the range of children’s exposures during their daily school bus commute. This study is a follow-up to a two-year in-car study conducted by the ARB and South Coast Air Quality Management District that found exposure to some air pollutants and toxic compounds may be ten times higher inside vehicles than in ambient air. Results are expected in 2003.

Another study will focus on sources of air pollution and their levels inside portable classrooms. The $126,000 allocation furthers work in the California Portable Classrooms Study being conducted by the ARB and Department of Health Services (DHS). The Portable Classrooms Study will measure indoor air pollutant levels and environmental conditions in 240 classrooms at 60 schools, including both traditional classrooms and portables. Results from the study, expected in 2002, will bolster the main study by providing more information on mold spores and floor dust pollution concentrations, greatly increasing the available information on student and teacher classroom exposures to air pollutants. Two other ARB programs continue making steady progress in reducing air pollution.

The ARB’s Carl Moyer incentives program, funded with $98 million over the past three fiscal years, reduces smog-forming and cancer-causing air emissions from diesel engines. The reductions are achieved by paying equipment owners to reduce soot and nitrogen oxide emissons below the levels required by regulation.

Estimated emission reductions from the program’s first two years are about 2200 tons per year (TPY) of NOx and about 70 TPY of soot.

Moyer funding is used to reduce emissions in trucks, buses, boats, locomotives, forklifts, airport equipment and a variety of other off-road equipment.

Another ARB program showing continued success in pollution reduction is the heavy duty diesel truck inspection program. When the program was revived in November, 1999, the failure rate for trucks with excess smoke ran around 8%. Since the beginning of this year, the overall failure rate has dropped to and remains around 4%.

However, failure rates as high as 12% have been found as ARB teams recently have started setting up on surface streets in low income areas rather than on major freeways. Inspectors are finding that trucks that stick to surfaces streets and never go on freeways have both more violations for excess smoke and a higher rate of safety violations.

The program uses an electronic sensing device to measure
the darkness or opacity of the smoke coming from a truck’s exhaust pipe. Trucks with excess smoke receive a notice of violation. The owner must pay a fine and fix the smoking truck.

CIWMB Sponsors Conversion Technology Forum

With energy development a primary concern throughout the state, the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) recently sponsored a two-day forum on Conversion Technologies for Municipal Residuals.

The forum provided a dialogue for more than 160 stakeholders interested in discussing issues and barriers that face the commercialization of conversion technologies. These non-combustion technologies – such as gasification, hydrolysis, and anaerobic digestion offer the potential of integrating energy and other product development with the diversion of yard trimmings, wood, agricultural residue and low-grade paper residues. Currently organic materials make up 40 percent of materials disposed, while non-recyclable paper makes up an additional 30 percent of landfilled materials in California.

CIWMB Chair Linda Moulton-Patterson said “We are extremely interested in examining new and innovative opportunities utilizing conversion technologies since 15 million tons of organic materials are still sent to California landfills each year. With these new technologies, we can convert these resources into high-value products such as energy, ethanol and other fuels, citric acid and a number of industrial products.”

With a number of conversion projects currently on the drawing board, speakers highlighted several barriers that exist; including lack of financing, availability and cost of feedstock, processing costs, development of regional markets, permitting issues and statutory limits on diversion credits.

As a result of the forum, CIWMB Board Members unanimously approved recommendations to promote the establishment of a formal interagency working group on conversion technologies and related biomass issues in coordination with Cal/EPA, Resources Agency, Technology Trade and Commerce Agency, other State agencies, and the Governor’s Office. Board members also approved initial planning for upcoming educational workshops targeting local elected officials; research on existing funding programs; development of new proposals for research & development and lifecycle assessment funding; and provisions to provide permit assistance in coordination with Cal/EPA for project applicants.

Cal/EPA Secretary Winston H. Hickox stated, “The statewide energy needs of California have become a catalyst for the development of these newly emerging technologies. CIWMB has once again taken a leadership role in uncovering additional mechanisms to divert more of California’s organic resources from landfills while providing the state with the opportunity to generate new energy in the process.”

Celeste Cantú Named Executive Director of State Water Resources Control Board

Photograph of Celeste CantuCeleste Cantú was named the State Water Board’s new Executive Director April 2001. Cantú comes to the SWRCB after serving as the Chief Consultant for the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy. She has also worked as the California State Director for the USDA’s Rural Development program and spent 12 years as the Executive Director of the Imperial Valley Housing Authority.

Cantú was born and raised in the town of Calexico on the California-Mexico border, and received her BA in Urban Planning at Yale University. After earning her MPA at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Cantú returned to her home in Southern California.

As the Executive Director, Cantú will plan, organize and direct all activities of the SWRCB, including statewide policy development, and coordinate efforts with the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards. “I think what we’re doing here is among the most important work that needs to be done,” she said.

Richard Katz Appointed to State Water Resources Control Board

The State Water Resources Control Board added a new member to its ranks March 6 when
Governor Gray Davis appointed Richard Katz, a Southern California political affairs expert who spent 16 years in the State Legislature. He is awaiting Senate confirmation.

A resident of Sylmar, Katz owns Richard Katz Consulting, a planning and communications firm in the San Fernando Valley. From 1980 to 1996, Katz served in the State Assembly, and in 1990, was named the Sierra Club Legislator of the Year for his exemplary record on environmental issues. He currently serves on a number of organizations, including the League of Conservation Voters, and the Environmental Leadership Forum.

Katz, who earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University, will take his position alongside current Board members Arthur G. Baggett, Jr. (chair) and Peter S. Silva (vice chair).

It is the mission of the State and Regional Water Boards to preserve and enhance the quality of California’s water resources and assure their proper allocation and effective use.

OEHHA To Develop Public Health Goal For Chromium 6 (Hexavalent Chromium) In Drinking Water

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has joined with the Department of Health Services (DHS) to announce two significant developments in the study and regulation of chromium 6 in drinking water. Public concern about this chemical has been growing since the movie Erin Brockovich placed the possible dangers of chromium 6 in the spotlight.

DHS has asked OEHHA to establish a specific Public Health Goal (PHG) for chromium 6, also known as hexavalent chromium, to identify the level at which there is no significant human health risk when this contaminant is in drinking water. Establishing this PHG is the first step toward the development of a state drinking water standard for chromium 6. California law requires DHS to set drinking water standards based in part on the PHGs published by OEHHA. The standard will be the first one in the nation specifically for hexavalent chromium.

At the same time, OEHHA announced that Cal/EPA, on behalf of OEHHA, has asked the University of California (UC) to establish a blue-ribbon panel of expert scientists from throughout the nation to review questions on the potential of chromium 6 to cause cancer when it is ingested.

“California is looking at the potential health impacts of chromium 6 in drinking water in a greater level of detail than anywhere else in the United States,” said OEHHA Director Joan E. Denton, Ph.D. “Chromium 6 is known to cause cancer when it is inhaled. This blue-ribbon panel of national experts on chromium will ensure that we put the best science to work in assessing the health risks that chromium 6 in drinking water may pose.”

UC will select up to 13 scientists to serve on the blue-ribbon panel. The panel will provide recommendations to assist OEHHA in developing the PHG and will also assist DHS and OEHHA in conducting their assessment of potential risks posed by chromium 6 in public water systems serving the San Fernando Valley. Senate Bill 2127, approved by the Legislature and signed into law last year, requires this assessment to be completed by the end of this year.

OEHHA has asked that the chair of the panel hold one public workshop and then present its recommendations this summer. OEHHA expects to publish a final PHG for chromium by Spring 2003.

In February 1999, OEHHA published a PHG of 2.5 parts per billion (ppb) for total chromium, of which chromium 6 is a component. However, chromium 6 is the most toxic form of chromium. Limited data collected by DHS during the past two years have led health officials to suspect that chromium 6 comprises a larger percentage of total chromium typically found in water than was believed when OEHHA published the PHG for total chromium. More recently, DHS promulgated emergency regulations requiring California water utilities to monitor their drinking water specifically for chromium 6 and report their findings to DHS.

Currently, the California drinking water standard is 50 ppb for total chromium, which is twice as stringent as the federal standard of 100 ppb.

It is important to note that PHGs are not a “boundary line” between “safe” and “dangerous” levels of contaminants in drinking water. PHGs represent desirable goals for healthful drinking water that may or may not be immediately achievable. In developing drinking water standards, state law requires DHS to consider economic and technical feasibility as well as the PHGs in setting these standards.

DPR Takes Sting Out Of Pest Control

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) conducted a well-received public outreach campaign this spring that alerted California consumers to the hazards of pesticide misuse, while urging homeowners and gardeners to use non-toxic pest management. DPR Director Paul E. Helliker took a personal interest in alternative solutions after a swarm of honeybees invaded an exterior wall of his Sacramento home in April. Helliker--who previously kept bees as a hobby--decided to establish his own backyard hive rather than exterminate the beneficial insects. Three Sacramento TV stations filmed the scene as Helliker, dressed in beekeeper’s coveralls, helmet and netting, gently moved the bees into their new home. (Neither Helliker nor bystanders sustained any stings during the process.)

Photograph of dressed for success against honey beesDressed for success (against honey bees) DPR Director Paul Helliker explains how to deal with pests without pesticides.

The Director also held an informal press conference to promote DPR’s support for integrated pest management (IPM). It stresses working with nature to make it difficult for pests to survive, while encouraging beneficial insects and plants to thrive.

Later in April, DPR launched a pesticide safety campaign in Southern California, following two explosions linked to overuse of insect foggers, better known as “bug bombs”. A gas pilot light ignited 18 foggers in a small San Diego apartment, ripping open the ceiling and tearing kitchen cabinets from the walls. A few days earlier, a Los Angeles woman sustained burns when 30 foggers exploded in her home, blowing off the roof. In both cases, foggers were overused and other safety instructions on the product labels were ignored.

In response, DPR issued a special consumer alert to print and broadcast news media and distributed English and Spanish-language versions of a new fact sheet on insect fogger safety. (See www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/factshts/factmenu.htm.)

Reporting an Environmental Accident/Incident

Office of Emergency Services (916) 262-1621
(California only) (800) 852-7550

Warning Center (24 Hour) (916) 262-1621
Water Pollution 1-800-952-5400
South Coast AQMD 1-800-CUT-SMOG

Reporting an Environmental Crime/Violation

Toxics (916) 324-2448
Illegal Handling of Hazardous Waste 1-800-69-TOXIC
Sacramento (916) 255-3618
Berkeley (510) 540-3739
Glendale (818) 551-2800
Cypress (714) 484-5400

Air Pollution (916) 322-6022
Complaint Hot Line 1-800-952-5588
Water Pollution 1-800-952-5400
Landfills (916) 341-6406
Pesticides (916) 445-3920
Smoking Vehicles 1-800-END-SMOG
Cellular (Statewide) #SMOG

Cal/EPA Environmental Hotline

1-800-CLEANUP (Nationwide)
www.1800cleanup.org

Cal/EPA Border Environmental Program

http://bep.calepa.ca.gov

CalGOLD: California Government On-line To Desktops

www.calgold.ca.gov

Use your appliances wisely:

  • Turn off appliances, lights and equipment when not in use.
  • To help prevent electricity outages, run major appliances after 7 p.m.
  • Do your laundry efficiently by using the warm or cold water setting for washing your clothes and always use cold water to rinse clothes.
  • Conserve energy by running your dishwasher only when it is fully loaded, and turn off the dry cycle to allow dishes to air dry instead.

Inexpensive energy solutions:

  • Choose Energy Star ® products. Purchase compact fluorescent light bulbs. They use a quarter of the energy and last five to ten times longer than conventional light bulbs.
  • Replace air conditioner filters. Dirty filters restrict airflow and can cause the system to run longer, increasing energy use. Replace or clean filters monthly for maximum benefit.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Programs

  • 20/20 Energy Rebate: In many areas of California, residential, commercial and industrial customers are eligible for this voluntary program which will provide rebates to customers who reduce their summer 2001 electricity usage. Customers should call their local utility to inquire about eligibility. Customers of participating utilities will receive a 20% rebate on their summer electric bill if they cut back their electricity use by 20% over last summer’s level. Alternative energy households are not eligible.

SCE Web site and 800 number 

1-800-736-4777

PG&E Web site and 800 number

1-800-933-9555 (residential customers)
1-800-468-4743 (commercial, industrial customers)

SDG&E Web site and 800 number 

Check out www.flexyourpower.ca.gov for more information and ways to save money.

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Last updated: May 25, 2005
California Environmental Protection Agency, http://www.calepa.ca.gov/PressRoom/Newsletters/
General Public Contact, cepacomm@calepa.ca.gov (916) 323-2514