Agenda Packets - 1987/09/14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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FL-11. Regulation of Incinerator Emissions r In Minnesota, permits granted for mass burn and RDF facilities require substantial application of pollution controls to limit release of harmful substances. To the extent that these latest efforts in congress and at the Environmental p_otection Agency reflect the need for additional efforts to protect the environment from serious affects of unregulated discharges, the League agrees that such assurances should be obtained to the greatest extent possible to protect the health and well-being of individuals, communities, and the environment. While recycling and :caste minimization policies promote a healthy environment and can be utilized to reduce the need for landfills, those approaches alone cannot meet the demand for solid waste disposal management. According to a science advisory panel study of current EPA methods cf 4' dealing with incinerator emission issues, that agency reeds to further examine actual human health risks from ash produced from incinerator operations. At the same time, legislation introduced in both the House and Senate would regulate ash by-products as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as well as to bring municipal incinerators under Clean Air Act regulation. Senate sponsors favor stringent regulation of materials said to he toxic by-products of such mass burning or resource recovery methods. Emission limits on air pollutants such as particulates; acid gases, heavy metals, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, etc., based on best demonstrated achievable control technologies, would be required under the Senate bill (S. 1565). The Eouse bill would require application of environmental regulation listed above for municipal incinerators. Other legislation also introduced in the Senate (S. 1566) would require EPA to develop methods to test the toxicity of incinerator -produced ash by-products as well as to test for potential exposure. The objective would be to require local incinerator operators to report results of ash testing and to develop plans to dispose of the ash under provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Areas of concern for cities include the prospect of expanded require- , ments to meet in order to comply with Clean Air Act standards for new potential pollutants identified by either Congress or EPA. It is - 7� -